This brake controller likes to keep things simple, with a thumbwheel on the front to adjust the output settings and a lever on the side for the sensitivity. The digital display is large and simple so you can read it with just a glance.
Features:
Specs:
Gain is the maximum amount of power that will be applied to your trailer's brakes. How much braking output you need is determined by the weight of your trailer; a heavier trailer will need more power to bring it to a stop. You want to go as high as you can without the trailer brakes locking up.
Adjusting the gain on the Dexter Predator DX2 is super simple. Use just one finger to move the wheel on the front of the unit up or down to increase or decrease braking power.
Once you have the gain set, you can fine-tune your braking by adjusting the load control. This controls the aggressiveness of your trailer's braking, meaning how quickly the brakes reach the maximum braking level. If your vehicle takes too long to come to a stop, increase the setting. If it stops too abruptly, decrease the setting.
Adjusting the sensitivity is just as easy as adjusting the gain. Move the lever on the left side of the unit forward or back.
Because the Predator DX2 operates with an internal inertia sensor, it must be mounted between -35 degrees and 90 degrees vertically. It also needs to be horizontally level and parallel with the direction of travel to function properly. During installation, the deceleration sensor lever must be positioned straight up and down.
The included pigtail harness provides a great solution for anyone who doesn't want to hardwire into their vehicle, which is probably all of us. Simply splice together the ends of the pigtail with those on the controller, and then you can easily plug into the port on your vehicle's built-in brake control wiring harness. You don't have to hardwire the controller directly into your vehicle, making installation easier and also ensuring that you can easily unplug and remove the controller whenever you want.
Note: If you don't already have a 7-way plug at the back of your vehicle, take a look at our exclusive 7- and 4-way brake-control installation kit (ETBC7 - sold separately).
Proportional braking means that your trailer brakes mimic your tow vehicle's brakes. If you slam on the brakes in your vehicle, your trailer brakes will activate with the same intensity; if you brake lightly, your trailer brakes lightly too. The trailer's braking is in proportion to your vehicle's braking. This saves wear and tear on the tires and the brakes on both your vehicle and trailer.
The Predator DX2 uses an internal 3-axis accelerometer to sense how your vehicle is braking so it can send the right amount of braking power to your trailer. It measures the inertia of your tow vehicle and activates the trailer's brakes to slow at the same rate. The result is uniform braking across your towing setup. No push-pull action - just smooth, proportional braking every time.
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Today on our 1991 Ford F150, we will be installing the Tekonsha PowerTrac electric brake controller, part number 39523 in conjunction with the ETBC7 Brake Controller wiring as well as the replacement brake control plug in harness for Tekonsha and Draw-Tite type brake controllers, part number 20127. We will begin our installation here at the rear bumper. We will need to install the bracket to the rear bumper that will hold our 7 pole connector. We will take the bracket and the hardware, put the bracket in place here in the redrilled holes. Slide the bolt through, put the washers on the other side and lock it down with the nut. With both bolts in, we can go ahead and tighten it down securing it to the rear bumper. We are now ready to put the 7 pole into the bracket. We will take our 7 pole connector and the hardware here, put the connector into place making sure that the wires pass through the bracket and with our connector in place, we will pass the bolts through the connector, through the bracket, put the nut on the other side and tighten them down.
With all four bolts in and tight, our 7 pole is secured to the vehicle and we are ready to wire it up. To wire it up, you will notice that the 7 pole has a 4 pole on the other side. This vehicle already has a 4 pole so we will simply plug it in to our new connector and lock it down with a zip tie. This will ensure that it never comes apart where we can then wrap it in electrical tape further securing it and keeping the elements out. With that connection made, we will go ahead and secure it back to our hitch here using a couple of zip ties. We will now move on to our ground and reverse light lead. The white wire here with the ringed eyelet our ground and the purple wire with the yellow butt connector on it is our reverse light lead.
We will not be hooking this up so we are going to go ahead and attach the purple wire to our white wire just to keep it out of the way. With that done, we will find a good grounding location and using a self starting screw, we will attach it here to the frame of the truck giving us a good ground. We will again make sure that all our wires are neatly tucked away and secured with some zip ties. We are now ready to work on our brake control wiring. We will take our duplex wire, remove the sheathing and attach the white wire to the blue wire here on our 7 pole. We will take the black wire and attach it to the black wire of our 7 pole.
With that done, we will go ahead and wrap it in electrical tape just to keep it out of the elements. We can then secure it to the hitch and begin running our wire up to the front of the truck. As we run it up to the front of the truck, we are going to try to stay away from anything hot such as the exhaust or any moving components such as the vehicles suspension or steering as we route the wire. Before we move back to the top side of the truck, we are going to take the included corrugated loom and wrap it around our 7 pole wiring just to give it a good look.Now that we are done underneath the truck here, we move up to the top side. Here in the engine compartment of the truck, we will route our duplex wire up where we can now cut the majority of the sheathing left off of the wiring.
Our white wire, we will route through the firewall of the truck and into the cab. The black wire will continue up the firewall and around to our battery. Here at our battery, we will need about an extra 8 feet of our duplex wire. This will be our power and ground for the brake controller. We will start here at the battery and work in the same way that we ran the black wire back to the firewall where we can then pass it through the same hole that we ran the white wire through. With that done, we will move into the cab where we will mount our brake controller.We will find a suitable location and using the self starting screws, we will attach the brake controller mounting bracket to the dash of the truck. With that done, we can now attach our brake controller to the bracket using the included screws coming with the brake controller. Now that we have our brake controller mounted, we will move over back to our wiring. We will take our replacement brake control plug in harness and the wires that we ran into the truck from the firewall. We will connect the white wire from the duplex wire to the white wire on the harness. We will connect the black wire on the duplex wire to the black wire on the harness. We will take the white wire that was by itself coming through the firewall and connect it to the blue wire of our wire harness. The red wire will need to make a connection at our brake light switch. We are going to go ahead and extend our red wire just to make sure we can route it without getting in the way of any steering components or other electric accessories.We will now locate our brake signal. Heres our brake switch where we will back probe our connector. We will want to connect to the wire that energizes when you press on the brake. Now that weve located it, we will now take the wire tap included with hour ETBC7 and connect the red wire to the solid green wire on our brake light switch. You may need to peel the sheathing from the brake light switch wiring in order to get enough wire to tap it. We will now go ahead and plug the harness we just assembled into the brake control harness and secure it up underneath the dash. With that done, we will just make sure that our wiring is all secured underneath the dash where we can reinstall the cover that we removed previously.With everything done there, we will move back out to the engine compartment. We will take our 20 amp fused breaker and attach it to the firewall here. We will have three wires, two black wires as well as one white wire. The black wire that is within the duplex wiring sheathing will cut off, strip it back, and attach our small ringed eyelet included with the ETBC7 kit. We can then take the ringed eyelet and put it over the silver side of the breaker. We will take the excess that we cut from the black wire and attach another one of the small ringed eyelets and we will put it on the copper side of our breaker. This wire will run to our positive terminal on our battery. We will take the 40 amp breaker included with the ETBC7 and attach it to the side of the truck here. We will now take the black wire thats by itself and attach a small ringed eyelet to it. With that done, we will take the small ringed eyelet and attach it to the silver side of our breaker. We will then take another piece of black wire, attach our small ringed eyelet and attach it to the copper side of the breaker. With both breakers in and all of our nuts tight, we will attach the large ringed eyelets to the other side of both black wires where we can now make our connections to the positive side of our battery. We will take the white wire and connect it to the negative side of our battery and with that done, our brake controller is in and we are ready to pull a trailer with brake.That completes our installation of the Tekonsha PowerTrac electric brake controller, part number 39523 in conjunction with the ETBC7 Trailer Brake Wiring Harness as well as the replacement brake control plug in harness for Tekonsha and Draw-Tite brake controllers, part number 20127 on our 1991 Ford F150. .
Exactly what I was looking for and needed ! It was delivered very quick . Actually I just ordered a complete wiring harness from you tonight . Your service and follow up is great
Purchased a Teckonsha Voyager brake controller and the ETBC7 install kit.
The instruction an video were very clear and easy to follow. Installed on a 2007 Ford Ranger Sport. Tech support was also very helpful on the one question I did have.
Exact fit for my Tekonsha brake controller. Fast shipping, great experience
The drawtite hitch and trailer wiring harness fit great. Instructions were clear and concise. Installation was a breeze. I am ready to tow my little trailer now. As soon as I get the brake controller installed, I will be ready for my big trailer.
If your truck comes with the tow haul package.... this item is literally plug and play. I had it wired up and all mounted inside of thirty minutes. It's literally 4 wires and the stock system wires are labeled along with the brake contoller. I haven't tested it yet but so far I am thoroughly impressed!
Perfectly wired directly to existing wiring that I had for the previous brake controller I replaced with the, Draw Tite I Command. This will make it a lot easier should I choose to upgrade the unit in the future.
Fantastic customer service from Joshua as well.
Class iii Draw Tite trailer hitch:
This part was quick and easy to order and I received it sooner than expected. My mechanic said the installation was easily accomplished and looks great on my car. I would not hesitate to order from etrailer again!
Exact fit to the controller I ordered it for. I used Deutsch connectors on the controller to easily remove it when I need to work on the truck! Having the spare wires there just in case the connections wouldn't work is nice !
I installed the Curt gooseneck on my 1993 GMC 2 Wheel Dr. 2500 truck. All the components have tight tolerances. It took me eight hours. With a socket and the wrench. Laying on my back. I did have to cut the wheel well lip about 3/8 of an inch off because I could not get that front angle bar to slide in without hitting it, no way around it unless you lift the bed up and I wasnโt going to do that!!. You have to cut it.instructions do not state that. Iโm very happy with the Hitch, it is definitely stout! I did have to make a notch on the outside brackets to go over my airbag bolt. I also had to remove the support bracket on the inside of the frame for the airbag and the crossmember for the spare tire to get the front angled bar in.
Works as expected. Prompt service from etrailer!
As always, etrailer delivers. Part was on time and a perfect match for the brake controller. What you don't get from Amazon is the technical support on how to install or use the equipment purchased from etrailer. That's why I keep coming back!
Works great no problems
These guys are great they had the installation kit it came with everything you need and even had a video for my specific vehicle to install the brake controller and wire in a 7 pin trailer plug
If you donโt have factory brake controller the etbc7 is an amazing kit they have comes with everything I mean everything
My truck was stolen and wrecked. I was able to retrieve the Tekonsha Brake controller from under the Dash board before it was hauled to the salvage yard, but not the wire harness. I was ale to order a replacement harness from eTrailer and reinstall the controller in my new truck. I had no problems at all. Thank you eTrailer for the great support.
Works as intended, but the plug on the back of the controller is a loose connection. Sometimes I would go to brake and find that I had no trailer brakes because the controller lost power. After a wiggle it would start to work again. I was able to shave the Molex plug a bit and now I don't have any problems with it.
The service you receive from etrailer is top notch. This brake controller has worked very well. I actually swap it between two of our vehicles. Just unplug it from one and plug it into the other.
Purchased this as part of all parts required to convert 1996 Jayco over to electric brakes. Very happy with results. Surprised to see after winter in storage that the battery supply still shows full charge.
The controller is on 24/ 7.I wish it turned on with the truck but this is more of a criticism of the truck not the controller I added a toggle switch so I can turn it off when I will not be using the trailer for a long spell.
Got here early and everything was fair price
Universal Installation Kit for Trailer Brake Controller - 7-Way RV and 4-Way Flat, Item # ETBC7
I installed this 7-pin plug kit on my 2008 Jeep JKU to add power and trailer brake control.
I also purchased :
Draw-Tite I-Command Trailer Brake Controller Item # 5535
and
Curt No-Drill Bracket Item # C57202
along with a little extra wire, just in case.
The kit quality was great. It shipped with everything I needed, sans the controller and bracket above. I used a cordless drill, a quarter inch drive socket set, screwdrivers, wire cutter/crimper, pliers, black electrical tape, half inch loom (plastic flexible conduit) and quite a few extra zip-ties I had laying around. I needed the Curt bracket to mount the 7-pin plug farther away from the muffler that runs parallel to the bumper in Wranglers.
I first ran the grey jacketed wire from the rear bumper all the way to the engine compartment. This was the hard part for me since I'm old and a little more round than I'd like. I didn't need to raise the jeep since it already has a 2 1/2 inch lift. I zip-tied the jacketed wire to the frame and brake lines until I found a spot in the frame I could run it through. I ran it out of the frame at the rear of the left front wheel well and up into the engine compartment. There is a (very handy) rubber plug in the firewall just to the left (outboard) side of the brake vacuum booster. I made a small slit in the rubber plug. I removed the outer jacket from the wire at that spot and fed the white (future brake controller wire) into the cabin of the jeep. I ran the black wire, in a wire loom/conduit across the top of the firewall to the battery. I had enough extra wire to run the brake controller power and ground wire from the battery, across the top of the firewall in the same conduit, and into the cabin through the same rubber plug/grommet. I drilled small pilot holes to mount the two circuit breakers. I then connected the wires at the 7-pin plug at the rear bumper. I again made a pilot hole and then mounted the ground wire with the self-tapping screw provided in the kit.
Here I'd like to mention, I would have been happier with heat-shrink connectors. I could have gone to town and bought some, or I could have soldered the connections. Instead, I just used the provided connectors and a LOT of black tape. If I have any corrosion issues later I will replace the connectors provided in the kit.
I wired and mounted the brake controller. This would have been super easy if I could fit under the dash. I dislike using the little blue inline wire connectors (self stripping connectors) but it was a godsend when working one-handed under the dash. I mounted the controller bracket and covered most of the exposed wiring with black tape for aesthetics.
If I was 20 or 30 years younger, I would have had this whole kit installed in about 1 1/2 hours. I am very happy with the quality of the materials. Many others have already noted the bracket is not quite perfect where it is designed for the four wire plug to slip in. The four wire plug had moved slightly on my 20 minute drive to work and would likely have fallen out if I went much further. I may put a wrap of electrical tape around the plug to tighten up the fit. Otherwise I will see if a zip-tie or a drop of superglue will hold the four wire plug in place. I was a wee bit skeptical about the sturdiness of the no-drill bracket as it's held in place by what looks like a hose clamp. I am happy to report, the clamp is heavy duty and well made. The no-drill bracket with the 7-pin and 4-pin receptacles are very sturdy and secure. The instructional videos on etrailer's website made the job easy to understand.
If I had this job to do over again, I would definitely use the same products from etrailer.
Worked Great.
Exactly what I needed
I am very satisfied with the Dexter Axle Predator Electric Brake controller. I purchased the Dexter brake controller to be compatible with Dexter car trailer axles on a 16 foot car hauler. The braking unit is very useful when towing in very steep and winding mountain terrain. I feel that the braking is a necessary safety item when towing in a hilly or mountainous environment and the Dexter Predator brake controller provides the great control and driver peace of mind knowing that a heavy load can be managed. The unit installs very easily with the proper adapter.
One year later I'm extremely pleased with this purchase. I often chuckle when I see stock hitches and the whole thing is visible while mine is neatly tucked under with everything hidden except for the 2" receiver. 10/10 have recommended etrailer on many occasions to friends and family for their service and know-how. Since installing my hitch I towed a pop up camper 1500+kms and do frequent trips to the dump or my local dirt and gravel yard for supplies. Love it!
My brake controller was a great match for my needs. I have a 4 brake trailer which gets the proper control from my Dexter unit. From empty weight to heavy load the adjustment is just a slight roll of the knob. I like the digital read out so I can glance down to check system operations. It does great f or me and fit right in to the factory wire set up in my truck
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