Hooked1

I have a friend who has a boat trailer set up with electric brakes and an electric brake adjustment unit in his truck.
My boat just has surge brakes and I just use a round 5 to 7 connection with my truck.
My question is, what do I need to consider if I ever pulled "his" boat trailer with "my" truck (I don't have the electric brake controller)?
thanks (I know nothing of electric brakes)

autobaun70

just add a controller to your truck. Most late model trucks are wired fromt he factory to a 7 pin plug, you will possibly need to get a wiring adaptor from your dealer to hook up the controller. For some models, you can get a tekonsha (sp?) and a harness for your particular truck so that you just plug and play.

Sportfisher236

the tekonsha controller is all you'll need, and maybe stick a fuse in for the trailer breaks, you'll be ready to roll in less than 10 minutes

FireFly

Yes, add an in cab brake controller. If you don't then 2 things can happen:

If your vehicle does not have a built in controller the brakes will lock up on you as soon as you hit the brakes in the tow vehicle. BMW has one built in but it's not adjustable - brakes lock up.

Or you will have no brakes at all because the electric brakes need a controller to send the signal. There is no default surge brake on these trailers.