Question for Jeffs F-150 factory trailer sway control

gocamp · 10-21-2009, 10:22 AM

Jeff, do you happen to know if your f-150 does the selective wheel braking, selective power reductions on the truck only? or does it do selective wheel braking on both truck and trailer brakes? I would assume it’s just the truck but…. If you buy the truck with factory integrated Trailer brake controller, will the selective pulse braking do your trailer brakes too?

To fill others in, the new F-150 “NEW TRAILER SWAY CONTROL is advanced technology that’s standard on all ’09 F-150s. A yaw motion sensor in the AdvanceTrac® with RSC® (Roll Stability ControlTM) system can detect trailer sway through the motions of the truck. AdvanceTrac can then automatically take countermeasures, such as selective wheel braking and reducing engine torque, to help maintain control of both the truck and trailer."

Youtube video here

2009 Ford F-150 Towing Tests

JeffZ · 10-22-2009, 11:19 AM

I don't know if it does the selective braking on the trailer (my guess in no).. we have a prodigy controller (not the integrated brake controller from the factory).. I must admit though, we LOVE the truck.. It automatically downshifts to a lower gear when going down long grades and really was excellent when we went through some 10,000ft elevations in Colorado..especially going down hill.. We get around 23-24MPG (w/o a trailer, after putting in a toneau cover..) on the highway! Towing we get 15-16 on a trip (we have a heavier trailer)..We love the truck.

We haven't had any sway that we noticed, of course if someone was behind us they would probably say something different..

gharms · 10-22-2009, 11:23 AM

Wow, you are getting really decent mileage out of the big truck! Which Ford F-150 is it exactly? (Engine, 2 or 4WD, which model, etc) You have an Airstream trailer?

JeffZ · 10-22-2009, 06:52 PM

It's F150 SuperCab w/5.4L Short Bed 2WD. We are extremely please with the fit & finish of it and pleasantly surprised about the gas mileage.. We did put on an Undercover toneau cover, which we ended up putting our bike rack system on..works great and helped us get better gas mileage (highway)..

We needed to upgrade our tow vehicle as we did get the 19ft AS Bambi..

gharms · 10-22-2009, 10:44 PM

Jeff, that is a very nice rig and trailer you got there! Just out of curiosity, how does the Bambi compare to the Escape you had before (aside from size and building materials, of course)?

JeffZ · 10-22-2009, 11:35 PM

I would say that the build quality is definitely superior in the Escape. We had to take our AS in to a dealer 3 times for various issues.

gharms · 10-22-2009, 11:44 PM

Wow, I am surprised to read this, because those AS are not what you would call cheap... That's a shame!! I hope you are enjoying it though, and not thinking why you didn't get an Escape 19'. When starting to look for a TT, I looked myself online for AS also, because they just look great. They are in Germany known as the American icon trailers! The AS trailers are definitely something different, similar to the eggs. As in not just blending in, like the stickies do.

JeffZ · 10-23-2009, 12:06 AM

We realized that the 17 ft wasn't going to be a long term fit after we got it and we're seriously going for the Escape 19ft, but we stumbled on the Bambi at 40% off.. so we jumped at it.. and we must admit we do love the trailer (it is iconic), even though we had to take it in a couple of times to get it right.. The good thing is that we are about 1 1/2 hour from a local AS dealer..

gocamp · 10-23-2009, 11:21 AM

appreciate the reply, i thought since you had the truck manual I would ask. I am sure it's just the truck only but didn't know for sure. It sure is a neat feature and I have been trying to learn more. The auto downshifting down hill is pretty nice. You seem to sure get a lot for your money with the f-150. I don't think a lot of RV folks know about these neat features. Take care.

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