harleyfiremedic

Ok folks, New to the F150, just traded in my 09 Ranger for a 16 F150 XLT Sport, Supercab. It did not come with the built in Brake Controller. So... I need to add a brake controller. With all my searching I have done nothing but confuse myself. It did come with the wire adaptor to put in a Brake Controller. Everything I found says that the plug that the adaptor plugs into is plugged into the back of the "cubby" where the stock BC would be mounted.

SO here are my questions...
1) Is the only way to get to the plug, disassemble the dash and get to the back of the cubby?

2) If it is true that I have to disassemble the dash, then what would be the advantage of using any aftermarket BC?

3) If the plug is attached to the back of the cubby, is there any way to access that plug without the disassembly?

Any other thoughts or ideas on this subject will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

T

Steve@F150

I had the dealer install the Ford brake controller which fits into the truck exactly as original equipment. They also configured the truck's computer to acknowledge that a brake controller was installed.

If you go with an after market brake controller, you need to mount it somewhere so the driver has easy access. I doubt that an after market controller would interact with the truck's computer system so many of the trailer features would not be available.

My vote would be to get a factory unit and have it activated by the dealer. As I recall, you can see some U-Tube videos on how to install the factory unit in your vehicle if you want to do the work yourself. You still need a dealer to activate the system, however.

Hope this helps.

NavyMike

I just went through the same thing. The final solution was to buy the factory oem part and I installed it myself in 45 mins in my 2015. I needed a 7 and 8mm sockets and YouTube. The only trick for my truck is that I had to undo the shroud around the center console at the floor (7mm bolt around driver pedal).

I am going to the dealership to have the system flashed for $50.

ncz

Harley, NavyMike and I hashed this out all last week I think. I installed a Drawtite 5504 in mine. It looks good, fits the cubby pretty good(you have to take the cubby liner out. The DT 5535 will work also. The advantages are price and you don't have to flash it. Navy picked up the OEM pretty reasonable though and 50$ ain't bad to have it flashed. I had to have a BC for some training I was in this past week, but I think I am going to refit the OEM at a later date. I did not watch the youtube video, I wish I did, the dash part took most of the time to figure out. It would be a lot faster now. You may be able to get your hand to the back of the cubby and remove the plug but man its tight

Steve Osborne

the worst I think, would be the 4 bolts on the steel panel under steering and the 2 hidden on top of the stereo/heater trim panel.. the rest use lots of those pressure fit clips..

up to you....factory with sway control.....
aftermarket basic....