$1,200+ just so i can tow a trailer. awesome.

[DZink24]

I went to the dealer yesterday to discuss options for replacing my PDC in my '04. 2 years ago, they "fixed" an issue I was having with a turn signal lamp. fast forward 18 months, and come to find out now I have no trailer brakes. I took it to an independent trailer dealer, and he said the controller was garbage, but also the PDC isn't reading the new controller. he somehow bypassed the PDC and installed a new brake controller, it works like a champ. so everything was working, for a week. the next time I hook up, I have brakes, turn lamps, and brake lights. but now no running lights. unbelievable. I cannot believe the incredibly poor quality of the electrical systems on these trucks. I am done having them put band aids on. I'm already over $700 in the hole because of this issue, the PDC and front control module on this truck are obviously garbage, so I said get rid of them and install a new one.

 

[AEdelheit]

Or buy it yourself for sound $700 for both and be done with it,

 

[Bob4x4]

Sounds like your mickey mouserepair came back to haunt you.

 

[jelag]

I've owned 6 of these trucks... all towed almost every day, we never had a problem with any of them over their life of 500K miles... per truck... Our only change was to install a special 12+ and 12- that was 8 gauge wire to allow us less voltage drop to charge the trailer batteries and run the accessories.

 

[SierraRam]

Amazing how many of us have trailer brakes controllers and tow alot and we seem not to fry our electronics

 

[DZink24]

when the truck had less than 10,000 miles, the 4 ways would flash every time i hit the brakes. and that was before i even had a brake controller installed. i also do not have any dash lights behind my HVAC controls. there have been gremlins in this trucks electrical system since day 1.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I think the problem is that the electronics are happy as long as everything is perfect but hook up to a trailer that has a short and it gets interesting. Clearly the engineers at Dodge knew nothing of how trailers actually act and how often they have wiring issues or they would have stayed with good old fashioned fuses.

 

[JimB1]

In a 12 volt world components quickly show result of not getting rated supply. Majority cause is intermittent/loose ground and/or broken wire strands under insulation. Trouble shooting costs quickly make these a "mechanics rig", in this case, a sweet ride with most likely still a loose wire and certainly unhappy owner. Good luck.

 

[DZink24]

I think the problem is that the electronics are happy as long as everything is perfect but hook up to a trailer that has a short and it gets interesting. Clearly the engineers at Dodge knew nothing of how trailers actually act and how often they have wiring issues or they would have stayed with good old fashioned fuses.

exactly. a page out of the "if it isn't broke don't fix it" book. fuses worked fine for how many decades?? a . 75 fuse from a parts house, or a several hundred dollar VIN matched electronic instrument? i bet that auto engineer is fat and happy. .

and this is by no means a shot at the dealer, they did the job i asked of them at the time, and even went to bat for me against the warranty company.