Curt Wireless brake Controller

[NVHoonigan]

Someone up the chain had said that when you put the hazards on it triggered the brake controller. That may have been the case previously but the app now has a toggle to remedy that if it happens on your vehicle.

Glad to hear they are making improvements based on feedback provided. Let us know if they do remedy the turn signal problem.

Sponsored

 

[Cav10x]

Here is my final verdict on the Echo brake controller. It is no go for me. I tried to get two of them to work and was unable. Curt support also had no good answer for me. Their last word to me was they tried it on a 2019 Ranger and it worked so there must be an issue with my truck. I tried both of the controllers on my Wife's 2019 VW Atlas but alas the controller is also not compatible with the Atlas. Out trailer lights work fine when plugged into either of our vehicles so I am inclined not to put stock in their assertion that my vehicle is the issue. When I plug a tester into both vehicles all of the lights work fine but when I introduce the Echo and put the test on that they no longer work correctly.

I really was hopeful that the device would work on both vehicles so we would only need one controller depending on what vehicle we decided to tow with.

 

[Deleted member 1634]

Here is my final verdict on the Echo brake controller. It is no go for me. I tried to get two of them to work and was unable. Curt support also had no good answer for me. Their last word to me was they tried it on a 2019 Ranger and it worked so there must be an issue with my truck. I tried both of the controllers on my Wife's 2019 VW Atlas but alas the controller is also not compatible with the Atlas. Out trailer lights work fine when plugged into either of our vehicles so I am inclined not to put stock in their assertion that my vehicle is the issue. When I plug a tester into both vehicles all of the lights work fine but when I introduce the Echo and put the test on that they no longer work correctly.

I really was hopeful that the device would work on both vehicles so we would only need one controller depending on what vehicle we decided to tow with.

If you just have the one trailer you'd like to pull with multiple vehicles, I would recommend a hard wired controller on the trailer itself. That's what we have on ours and it works nicely. Just plug the trailer into any vehicle and the brakes will work. I'm not sure how they're affected by the hazard usage issue which came up earlier in thread. I never drive with hazards on so I've never experienced that issue if it's there.

We have this one on our trailer: https://getautowbrake.com/. Though it requires some wiring. Works for us since the trailer came with it already installed so we didn't need to worry about wiring it ourselves.

Otherwise, we were looking into this one as well: https://www.amazon.com/Tekonsha-90250-Prodigy-Electronic-Control/dp/B001P0ZA86/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2UQ3WL2YYS9J0&keywords=wireless+brake+controller&qid=1572262580&sprefix=wireless+brake%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-4. Just plug in the middle of the harness and good to go.

 

[t4thfavor]

If you just have the one trailer you'd like to pull with multiple vehicles, I would recommend a hard wired controller on the trailer itself. That's what we have on ours and it works nicely. Just plug the trailer into any vehicle and the brakes will work. I'm not sure how they're affected by the hazard usage issue which came up earlier in thread. I never drive with hazards on so I've never experienced that issue if it's there.

We have this one on our trailer: https://getautowbrake.com/. Though it requires some wiring. Works for us since the trailer came with it already installed so we didn't need to worry about wiring it ourselves.

Otherwise, we were looking into this one as well: https://www.amazon.com/Tekonsha-90250-Prodigy-Electronic-Control/dp/B001P0ZA86/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2UQ3WL2YYS9J0&keywords=wireless+brake+controller&qid=1572262580&sprefix=wireless+brake%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-4. Just plug in the middle of the harness and good to go.

I'd recommend if you have multiple trailers, or multiple vehicles, that you get a hard wired one, and buy a few replacement pigtails for it. I have the Teknosha P3 pigtail wired in several family vehicles (at about 5-6$ each harness), so it's good for any trailer, from one of several vehicles. Most newer trucks that come with the tow package have the proper wires already tucked under the dash.

 

[Deleted member 1634]

I'd recommend if you have multiple trailers, or multiple vehicles, that you get a hard wired one, and buy a few replacement pigtails for it. I have the Teknosha P3 pigtail wired in several family vehicles (at about 5-6$ each harness), so it's good for any trailer, from one of several vehicles. Most newer trucks that come with the tow package have the proper wires already tucked under the dash.

To each his own. Depends on what you want to achieve and what sort of setup you have/want to have. The one we have works perfectly for us and I have no worries at all. Not perfect for everybody obviously though. I for one am just glad they have these different options and ways to do it, so that each of us can get what we want.

 

[TechnicallyReal]

Jut chiming in (I know this is an old thread) to say that I have an Echo I bought in Aug and it works wonderfully. I wonder if they updated the firmware or if there's a newer hardware revision now.

It even works with adaptive cruise (activating trailer brakes when acc activates the truck brakes). for this reason I think it also works with automatic emergency braking.. but I can't be sure of that one. BLIS works fine, everything does seem to just work - with one hiccup that is the truck an not the Echo. The Echo does not get power from the truck unless there's a trailer plugged into it. The Echo alone isn't enough to get the truck to register that something is plugged in. In other words, don't expect to be able to connect to the Echo with your phone unless you have a trailer to plug into the Echo.

 

[TechnicallyReal]

Chiming in again to say that I've updated my phone (Pixel 4 XL) to Android 11, and now I have major issues staying connected to the Echo. It's the phone's fault, but it's made the Echo feel useless to me. Bluetooth between my phone and the truck has gotten sketchy since that update as well, and I've had to re-pair it a few times.

 

[Skip]

I use the Curt Echo on my 2020 Ranger and it works great.

 

[TechnicallyReal]

Chiming in again to say that I've updated my phone (Pixel 4 XL) to Android 11, and now I have major issues staying connected to the Echo. It's the phone's fault, but it's made the Echo feel useless to me. Bluetooth between my phone and the truck has gotten sketchy since that update as well, and I've had to re-pair it a few times.

Turns out the Echo is fine!!

What was happening is the app had started saying that the 7-way had become disconnected whenever I used the brakes for the first time. This behavior started right after my phone was updated to Android 11. I also noticed that bluetooth to the stereo was kinda sketchy after that, too, so I figured it was something to do with Android. But then I tried an older tablet of mine and it did the same thing.

So then I bought the TowPro Elite from Ford and installed it today.. and it didn't work either.

Turned out that my trailer' brake wires got crushed by the suspension and eventually broke entirely ?

Silver lining.. the TowPro Elite is quite nice. It was a massive pain in the ass to install, though.

Sponsored