brake controller / sway bar

[bozbie]

New to escape 19' but not clear about brake controllers and sway bars.

Are they even needed (required) for a 19" trailer?

pulled by a Ram 1500 5.5L truck...

[thunderworks]

Boz . . . IMO, the sway bar may not be needed with your Ram (although it absolutely can't hurt and they're not very expensive), but legally, you need to have functioning brakes on your trailer. A controller is required. Many states mandate that trailers over a given weight (frequently around 1200lbs), have operational brakes.

[HABBERDABBER]

Your trailer comes with 4 electrically actuated brakes.
Wouldn't you want those brakes working, when and if you really needed them?


They're required by law, in most states, I assume, and for trailers over varying weights among state laws, which the E19 would be heavy enough to qualify.


Get the brake controller. You HAVE TO, by law........not me.

The E19 doesn't require a sway bar. OK if you want to do so, but 4 wheels on the asphalt, instead 2, reduce sway potential.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by bozbie

New to escape 19' but not clear about brake controllers and sway bars.

Are they even needed (required) for a 19" trailer?

pulled by a Ram 1500 5.5L truck...

The engine is irrelevant, and it certainly doesn't need any kind of sway bars.

If by "sway bars" you mean not sway bars at all but a weight-distributing hitch, then the answer is still "no, it doesn't need that", but you may want to use one anyway. There will likely be lots of opinions expressed on this, most completely ignoring the specific situation of your truck and trailer.

[cpaharley2008]

I believe the motor is 5.7 v-8 and I installed air shocks to keep squat to a minimum on mine....

[bozbie]

Gottaresearch air breaks

[bozbie]

Any ideas on a controller or company that’s reputable?

[cityofdestiny]

Originally Posted by bozbie

Any ideas on a controller or company that’s reputable?

I’ve had good luck with Tekonsha Prodigy controllers.

[bookerb]

Tekonsha P3 is what I see a lot of people recommend and is what I purchased. Works great.

[cityofdestiny]

Originally Posted by bozbie

Any ideas on a controller or company that’s reputable?

I know that Mopar sells branded ones as welll—at one time they were rebadging a Prodigy controller. No idea what they are doing now.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by bozbie

Gottaresearch air breaks

these are electric brakes, not air brakes. air brakes are used on big trucks, they use compressed air to release the brakes.

if your truck has the 7-blade circular RV socket on the back, its undoubtedly already wired for a brake controller, there should be a dodge specific plug somewhere under the drivers dash. you mount the brake controller on your dashboard where you can reach it with one hand while steering with the other in case you need to manually actuate the trailer brakes. Tekonsha makes a cable adapter for each brand truck so its a simple plug-in and mount operation.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by bozbie

Gottaresearch air breaks

Air brakes? No. The trailer brakes are electric, as John explained.
Jim mentioned air shocks, which are unrelated to braking.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by bozbie

Any ideas on a controller or company that’s reputable?

Any proportional brake controller will work well.