Konrad

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Konrad has reviewed 1 Product(s).

It works, but only after you've purchased an additional after-market cable. Product description is also inaccurate.
Kaptain Karnage 3 years ago
Sooooo, I was super excited that the Mopar controller was finally available for the JL, as I've just bought an offroad trailer, and having the kind of control you get from these units was a must-have. Almost went for another brand, but the fit of the control knob and controller unit looked a bit clunky, and I figured the Mopar unit would have been designed and built for the JL, right? Just for reference, I installed this in a 2020 JLUR. Yeah, sadly, FCA's designers clearly never tested this kit on an actual JL of any kind. And no quality control was ever performed, because even the most inept quality control person would have caught this doozy. So, once installed, everything looks great. The looks of the controls match the rest of the controls. However, pressing the button in the middle that you press to manually activate the trailer brake, whilst it *does* activate the trailer brake, sends a nice little electrical pulse back down the red cable in the bundle, and your dash immediately lights up like a Christmas tree with two lovely errors, basically disabling the front collision avoidance system, and one other which I don't recall right now. Turning the engine off, and back on again, clears the two errors, until you press the button again. So, that's clearly a rather troubling design flaw, because had someone at Mopar actually tested the thing, the pretty lights on the dashboard would have been really hard to miss, along with that lovely chime that draws your attention to the dashboard. That controller really really really should not be sending anything back down that red cable, since that is what powers it. Luckily the hack to fix the problem is relatively straight forward: that red cable needs a diode inline to prevent any electrical pulse flowing back down it. Do a search for a Tekonsha 3073-P cable, and order one. I got mine from O'Reilly's in just two days. Make sure it's the P model. It's a straight swap for the OEM cable, and fixes the problem. Also probably better to do the cable swap before installing the controller box, because getting to those cables once it's installed is a PITA. One other thing is that their test procedure to determine how much gain to dial in on the controller may not work in all cases. My trailer has 35in tires, and I'm running BFG KM3's on it, which are super grippy. They want you to be able to lock the trailer wheels up when driving 25 MPH on a paved road surface, and then dial the gain back by one notch. That may work with an empty trailer, with smaller, regular (non offroad) tires, but on a fully laden offroad trailer with offroad tires, that ain't ever gonna happen. Also, the product description here is inaccurate. The controller does not mount to the left of the steering wheel. In the JLUR (and presumably other sub models, since from what I've seen that 12V socket is standard on all JLs), it mounts into the 12 socket just above the gear shifter (in the auto - not sure about the manual). So, in other words, to the right of the steering. There is no included control lever to activate the brakes independently of the vehicle braking system activation. This is done by pressing the center button on the controller. No levers involved. So, from the perspective of the visual integration into the JL's cabin, I'd say this is a better unit than the aftermarket ones. But it is deeply disappointing that a unit designed by Mopar specifically for the JL was never tested before signing off on the design.
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Mopar Trailer Brake Controller

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