Some of the more popular wireless brake controllers on the market require you to use your mobile device to control them.
Of course, this is a huge drain on your mobile device. This is because Bluetooth takes up a whopping amount of power. Not ideal if you are towing for hours upon hours at a time.
Thankfully, you have companies like Tekonsha that have not only created a brilliant wireless brake controller, but they have created a wireless brake controller that doesn’t require you to have your phone battery leeched upon for hours on end.
It still works with Bluetooth, though.
On this page, we want to tell you absolutely everything that you need to know about the Tekonsha Wireless Brake Controller.
Table of Contents
Tekonsha Company
Tekonsha is a top manufacturer of all sorts of towing accessories. In fact, if you have been to a store that sells towing equipment, then we are pretty sure that there will have been some Tekonsha products on sale.
Their products are always robustly built. Honestly, when you buy something from Tekonsha, you can be sure that you are going to be ending up with something that is of exceedingly high quality.
What is the Tekonsha Wireless Brake Controller?
The Tekonsha Wireless Brake Controller is a system that works via Bluetooth. This means that you do not have to wire the brake controller into your vehicle. We will discuss how it is installed shortly.
The job of the wireless brake controller is to control the electronic brakes of the trailer attached to the vehicle. Again, we will talk about exactly how the braking system works shortly.
Read also: What Is The Average Cost To Install Trailer Brake Controller – (Facts & Numbers)
Features of the Tekonsha Wireless Brake Controller
As you may well know, there are a few different wireless brake controllers on the market. The Tekonsha is one of the simplest on the feature front. This is because there isn’t an app to connect it to or anything like that.
You just have a rather simple remote control that you place into your vehicle. Although, we are sure that people will love the simplicity of the whole thing.
👉 One of the wonderful thing about the Tekonsha Wireless Brake Controller is that it is going to deal with all of the braking settings of the vehicle automatically.
Follow the instructions to get it set up (more on that soon) and the braking system should work perfectly.
👉 However, Tekonsha knows that braking systems can change as you drive along the road. This means that there are some boost buttons in place. When you have been on the road for a while, you are expected to hit the boost button.
This will increase the gain of the Tekonsha Wireless Brake Controller. This will increase how heavy the brakes are when you press the brake in your vehicle. This is a handy feature as it means that you do not have to manually adjust anything.
You have the ability to up the gain three times.
👉 The system is going to be almost constantly checking to see whether there are any issues with the brakes too. If there are any problems, then you will be instantly given the diagnostics on the little remote control.
This will allow you to correct those issues nice and quickly.
Read also: Curt Wireless Brake Controller: 9 Facts You Should Know (Explained)
How Does the Teknonsha Wireless Brake Controller Work?
Obviously, the Tekonsha Wireless Brake Controller is not going to be connected to any brakes inside of your vehicle. So, how does it work?
👉 Well, when you brake, a little sensor inside of the brake controller will rattle a little bit. This tells the trailer that it also needs to be braking.
The trailer brakes in line with the vehicle. This all happens within a split second.
This means that you do not have to worry about the wireless brake controller taking too long to determine whether it needs to brake. This could be deadly.
👉 Of course, if the system gets it wrong i.e. doesn’t brake when you want, or brakes when you do want, then you can hit the manual override switch on the remote control.
However, this is something that you likely will never need to do. This is a rather sophisticated piece of equipment that just ‘works’.
Do You Need a Wireless Brake Controller?
If you have brakes on your trailer then, yes, you are going to need to have a brake controller installed. However, this does not necessarily mean that it has to be a wireless brake controller.
👉 The reason why we love the wireless brake controller so much is due to the ease of installation. If you opt for a wired contraption, then you will need to have a specialist install the electronics in the vehicle for you.
There will also likely need to be some holes drilled inside of the dashboard of the vehicle in order to get the controls up and running.
👉 You do not have to worry about that with the Tekonsha wireless brake controller. You can just put it in your pocket and carry it from vehicle to vehicle.
The ease of installation means that you can get it up and running within mere seconds in a new vehicle.
Therefore, we recommend the Tekonsha Wireless Brake Controller to absolutely anybody that uses multiple vehicles to tow things, or perhaps for those that want a quick, simple, and far more affordable installation.
How Is the Tekonsha Wireless Brake Controller Installed?
Installation of this system is pretty easy. Although, we do encourage you to read through the instruction manual to know exactly what you should be doing.
This is because the model may have upgraded ever so slightly since we wrote this article.
The wireless brake controller consists of two components:
- The remote control
- The wireless brake controller
The wireless brake controller is meant to rest on the trailer. You should place it just before the hitch. On one end of the controller, you will plug in the electrical system of the trailer.
You then plug the other end of the brake controller into the 7-way. Once your vehicle is turned on, then the brake controller will be powered.
👉 The remote control will plug into the power supply in your vehicle (sometimes known as the cigarette lighter).
This means that it will be running of your vehicle’s battery, which is a lot more convenient than some of those mobile devices out there.
Many of them run through the battery quickly. This barely saps any power from the system when it is plugged in.
👉 If you have used the Tekonsha Wireless Brake Controller before, then once both components are powered, the system will work.
If you are pairing for the first time, then there are instructions on the front of the remote control that will teach you how to pair it to the wireless brake controller.
👉 Once everything is switched on, you need to ensure that the brakes are properly configured. In order to do this, you are going to need to find a flat piece of road.
Once you have found a flat piece of road, hit a couple of buttons on the remote control and everything should start to sync up for you. You may want to test the braking system to make sure that it works properly.
What Happens if the Remote Control of the Device Fails?
If the remote control fails, the braking system will still work. It will just remember the settings that it had before the system failed. So, don’t worry.
Your trailer brakes aren’t just going to magically fail because the remote control lost connection with the controller.
What Happens if the Brakes Are Locking Up?
If the brakes are locking up, then this indicates that the gain of the controller is a little bit too high. This happens sometimes when the trailer is too light.
You can turn the controller down step by step until you find that the brakes stop locking up.
If the brakes are still locking up, even on the lowest setting, then you may either want to stop using the braking system (if your state allows you to do that) or load more items into the trailer to ensure that the braking is a little bit more even.
What Happens if the Braking is Too Slow?
If you are braking too slowly, it means that the brake gain is not high enough for the weight of the trailer. It is not able to provide the force of braking that the trailer needs.
This is countered by turning the gain of the controller up. If you still struggle to brake the trailer as much as you require, then we recommend that you remove items from the trailer.
It is probably far too heavy for the brakes that you have installed on the vehicle.
It is important that you correct the problem if the braking is too slow.
If it is too slow, then you are running the risk of the trailer crashing into your vehicle, or even causing problems for other drivers on the road if it swings from side to side.
You should always be keeping an eye out for the speed of trailer braking. This is because it will change while you are driving.
Where Can You Buy a Tekonsha Wireless Brake Controller?
The Tekonsha Wireless Brake Controller will likely be found in just about every single location that sells accessories for trailers.
There is a list of distributors on the Tekonsha website. In our experience, the distributors are pretty much everywhere. You likely have one in your local area.
Of course, you can always buy the brake controller online if buying from the local area is not feasible.
There is only one version of the Tekonsha Wireless Brake Controller available. This means that you do not have to pick and choose which one you want.
All of the other brake controllers are not wireless. Look out for the one that clearly states that it has a Bluetooth connection.
I really like this Tekonsha 90255 Brake Control. It’s not terribly expensive but gets amazing reviews. Just follow the link to Amazon where you can see current pricing.
👉 Purchase: If you are interested in this Tekonsha Brake Control, then just follow the link to Amazon where you can see current pricing.
Review of Tekonsha Trailer Brake Controller
Review of Tekonsha Trailer Brake Controller – Wireless Proportional Controller >> Check out the video below:
Tekonsha vs CURT Brake Controller
Both products works as advertised. Check out the comments and reviews of some of our readers:
Mark. P: “This is one Awesome tool,I have 4 I have 4 trucks,and several trailers.This tool will tell you the whole story with your trailer wiring.The ability to read amperage is very nice,setting up brake controllers.
And diagnosing brake problems,is fast and easy.I am very glad I found this tool,and probably will get its partner,for the trailer side.”
Mike. K: “This is a must have if you own various equipment trailers or any other trailers. This unit allows you to test a trailer quickly in the yard or in the shop and locate any wiring issue you may have. It’s small and very portable.
An absolute must for any company.”
Conclusion
The Tekonsha Wireless Brake Controller is a highly sophisticated piece of kit, and it is a true testament to what can be accomplished with braking technology.
If you need a braking system for your trailer, which you will almost certainly will do, then you need a controller to go with it.
I suggest at least checking out the Tekonsha option. It is affordable, and it is easy to install and use. What could possibly be better than that? Check out your local Tekonsha dealer today.
References
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