Installed Max Brake

[AfterBurner]

All I can say is wow!



I've spent money on the most expensive inertia controllers on the market and even gave my oem controller a few months to impress me. Nothing, and I mean Nothing comes close to this controller (except brakesmart, probably). There is ZERO lag in the trailer brakes, they respond exactly when the truck brakes do; it's hard to believe until you try it. No more waiting on the intertia controller to feel the deceleration and then jab the trailer brakes on.



Spent about 3 hours on the install. If you knew what you were doing, you could probably do it in one hour. I spent a lot of time scratching my head trying to figure things out.



The underhood part, tapping into the brake line was super easy. Trying to find a hole in the firewall was not! Ended up making a small cut in one of the grommets and passing the wire (from sensor on brake line to controller) through there. Unplugged and removed the oem controller, with the intention of putting the maxbrake in it's place, but it did not fit. So, I put the oem controller back in place and stuck the maxbrake in the usual spot above the right knee.



The install was really that simple. The oem controller is unplugged so I get a message on the EVIC everytime saying I need to service the controller. A visit to the dealer should be able to reflash the computer to "uninstall" brake controller.



Something to know before you put an aftermarket controller on a 4th gen - the trucks no longer come with the standard blue receptacle for an aftermarket controller. So make sure you get the right adapter when you pick up your controller. The maxbrake came with two adapters, one for pre 4th gens and one for 4th gens.



If anyone has questions about this install just let me know



Forrest

 

[RMecum]

That's awesme Forrest! I have a MAXBRAKE on my '01 and I'm with you... I LOVE IT!

I'm going to retire next May and I'm buying myself a new truck as a retirement present to myself. If I end up ordering it I'm going to leave the brake controller off otherwise I'm going to do what you did. Having had a different controllers in 40 years of trailer towing I can say with authority that MAXBRAKE is THE BEST!

 

[HBarlow]

Congratulations on joining the ranks of those of us who know what towing with a real brake controller is like. Now you are a believer like the rest of us.

It takes some time for many to make the decision to spend $400 for the MaxBrake but I've never heard of anyone who had installed and towed with one who wanted his money back.

I've been using my BrakeSmart for about ten years and hundreds of thousands of miles now. After awhile you just take it for granted.

 

[stick]

I tried everything i could when i ordered my truck to delete the factory brake controller, but i couldn't get it done!

You will have to have the dealer get rid of the message on the EVIC.



Stick

 

[BIGNASTY]

All I can say is wow! Well that is getting to be a common statement when someone add's it to there truck. HB told me about it a long time ago and im sure my comment was the same as your's, Ya know the best thing is that if you pull different trailers (I do ) it works JUST AS GOOD I dont even mind letting the wife drive but I dont tell her that she will want to drive all the time.

 

[SPucillo]

Afterburner,

I have read about others leaving the stock controller plugged in to keep the warning indicator off.

Was there a reason you didn't do this?



I am going to buy one of these very soon! I thought my factory controller was good until I drove my friends truck with a Maxbrake. The best without a doubt.

 

[HBarlow]

I don't know anything about the new OEM brake controllers but I would think if you leave it programmed and operating the truck would have the OEM controller and the MaxBrake tied together on the blue wire, the output side of the brake controllers.

The controllers would be interfering with each other and possibly blow fuses or burn out the mini-computer in the MaxBrake.

 

[SPucillo]

Did some looking around. See the last post.

Possible To Remove OEM Brake Controller? - Dodge Cummins Diesel Forum

 

[HBarlow]

I followed your link to the amateur forum. I found exactly what I found several years ago when I did some reading on that forum. Amateur hour. The clueless discussing bad information.

One or two participants in that thread who probably considered himself or theirselves quite knowledgeable were using the Tekonasha Prodigy as benchmark. I have owned and used Tekonsha controllers. I consider them useless. A Tekonsha inertia based controller is actually worse than a $40 time based controller.

In short, I didn't find anything on that forum useful to the question you asked.

 

[SPucillo]

HBarlow,
I guess I wasn't clear in what I wanted to say.
My idea, which I will try when my Maxbrake gets here, is to leave the factory unit connected except for the wire going to the trailer. The Maxbrake needs a hot, gnd, brake switch, and output to the trailer.
I will tap in to the hot, gnd, and brake switch and run that to the Maxbrake. Then move the wire going to the trailer from the factory unit and connect it to the Maxbrake.
If I had a dealer down here that I trusted I would just go to that dealer and have them turn off the factory unit but so far I have had only bad experiences with them.

 

[HBarlow]

That makes sense to me. As long as the output wire from OEM controller to trailer brakes is disconnected I don't see why it would matter what the OEM brake controller is doing. That is cheaper and simpler than a trip to the dealer to struggle to explain to the unknowing that you want them to disable the OEM brake controller and find that they may not know how.

 

[RonD]

I am following this topic with great interest. I have not towed yet with this truck, so I don't know what my experience will be, not good I suspect, please keep us up to date on what takes place, and how the installation goes. As for myself, I would let the Dealer do the disable, they have Tech Support people that will just download the procedure to the Dealer if they don't know how to do it, also I would want to remove the factory controller completely, you can buy from the Dealer a replacement panel from a 1500 truck that has no controller, that would look better, and free up some wires for the replacement controller.

 

[CKelley1]

once someone has driven a truck with a maxbrake or a smartbrake they will never use another controller. it is like someone turned on a light switch

 

[SPucillo]

once someone has driven a truck with a maxbrake or a smartbrake they will never use another controller. it is like someone turned on a light switch

Yep, I was perfectly happy with the factory unit until I drove a truck with the Maxbrake. Now I see the light! The trailer brakes become an extension of the trucks brakes.

 

[RonD]

OK, it looks like a MaxBrake is going in my truck, I am going to have a chat with my local Dealer, who has a very good Service Department and see what is involved to disable the Factory Controller.

 

[Bater]

The underhood part, tapping into the brake line was super easy. Trying to find a hole in the firewall was not! Ended up making a small cut in one of the grommets and passing the wire (from sensor on brake line to controller) through there.

It was no different on my 3rd gen. I was looking for that magic grommet that I could just pop out, which either I missed, or didn't exist.



The only other significant install problem I had with my Max Brake, was that the brake line fittings weeped a touch. Tried a little more tightening, but figured I was close to that point where one more turn and you are screwed. Gave it a few days and all was well. The fittings must have seated themselves somehow.



Oh, and sometimes the little knurled screws on the bracket rattle loose and drop to the floor of the truck!



Andy

 

[AfterBurner]

Afterburner,

I have read about others leaving the stock controller plugged in to keep the warning indicator off.

Was there a reason you didn't do this?



I am going to buy one of these very soon! I thought my factory controller was good until I drove my friends truck with a Maxbrake. The best without a doubt.

I read that if you left the power to the oem unit you could unplug the harness for the trailer plug and you wouldn't get any codes. This was not the case. I did not want to make a mess of the wiring by splicing in the controller, and I'm not very good at electrical work anyways. So I unplugged the both harnesses to the oem unit, and taped up the one I didn't need.



I've hauled a little over 1k since the install, and this thing works like a dream. Still find myself anticipating the trailer jerk, but it never happens!

 

[SPucillo]

My Max brake is installed and I finally have had time to look at fooling the factory controller into thinking nothing is wrong. This is in lieu of going to the dealer and paying them to take the factory controller option off of the trucks computer.



Quick recap on the factory unit. There are two connectors, one is for CAN and the other is for the standard trailer brake system.



The CAN connector has 5 wires going to it, 2 on one pin, 2 on the other pin and one I think is a ground. This ground is only for the CAN bus. This connector must stay plugged in or you will get a "Service trailer brake" message.



The other connector is the standard brake connector in a new dodge form factor but the wires have the same function. The black is ground, the yellow/red is the fused B+ and hot even with the key removed, the green is the line to the trailer brake magnets, the white/purple is the brake light switch. If you just unplug this connector the computer will give you the "Service trailer brake" message.



My thesis was to unplug the brake connector and make jumpers that would keep the factory unit working but not able to interfere with the trailer brake operation by keeping the unit powered but disconnecting the brake light and trailer brake magnet wires.



In the pictures you can see the jumpers I made to test this and a quick test drive proved it worked as planned. The factory controller will show the gain when you manually squeeze the lever but will not turn on the brake lights nor energize the trailer brake magnets. It is just along for the ride.

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My plan is to tap into the Maxbrake harness and supply the power and ground. The yellow//red will tap in to the black on the Maxbrake harness and the black will tap in to the white on the Maxbrake harness. I will post pictures of this when it is done.



Afterburner,

You said it didn't work for you. Did you remember to also connect the ground wire? Otherwise it would not be powered up.

 

[SPucillo]

Here is the Maxbrake harness with the power and gnd taps. It would have been cleaner to use a male plug but I don't have one. Anybody have a PN? Worst case the spade falls off and I get a "Service trailer brakes" message.





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[HBarlow]

That's good information for those with a Gen IV truck.

A fellow TDR member once posted a link for a source for new MOPAR electrical connectors. Maybe someone will see your post and provide it again.