2008 Expedition needs brake controller

[SpikeC]

Greetings O wise and erudite Gurus of the 'Steamer Academy!
Mary has pulled the trigger on the '58 Overlander and I am now in charge of a few survival odds and ends. We formerly trailered horses all over the Western States, but have not pulled anything with our current truck, a 2008 Ford Expedition. It has the heavy duty towing package but no brake controller. I suspect that there have been a few advances in the technology of these devices in the last 10 or 15 years, and I am wondering if there is a Ford factory device available or should I be looking at some aftermarket unit. I have used the forum search facility to little effect thus far.
Thanks for any help!

Spike

[Pileus]

Ask your Ford dealer. My dealer installed the OEM Ford controller in my F-150. The OEM unit takes advantage of the sway control feature in the vehicles braking system. It also mounts in-dash so that you don't bump into it with your knees as would be the case with an aftermarket unit. The dealer will have to flash it with the computer. There was no extra cost for this when they installed the controller.

[SpikeC]

Thanks! I think that makes a lot of sense.

[SpikeC]

I just talked to my service guy at the Ford dealer and he said that in order to install a Ford controller I would need to get some vey expensive electrical doohickey and it would not be possible! He told me to use either a local trailer dealer or a U-Haul store.
Does anyone have any other suggestions with regard to brand or model?

[DKB_SATX]

How much do you want to spend?

I have a Tekonsha Prodigy P3 that works well for me, but seemed a bit fiddly to get set up. (I'm picky though, and tend to switch it in and out of boost mode depending on where I'm driving.)

The Maxbrake controller seems to be an excellent unit, it's much more expensive and requires more intrusive installation (it requires a sensor in the hydraulic part of your vehicle's braking system) but the payback for that is that it tailors your trailer braking to the actual pressure in the tow vehicle brake system.

The other expensive controller that has people talking is the DirecLink controller for OBD-II vehicles that has some control algorithm that calculates braking for the trailer based on the data being passed around the tow vehicles data bus.

I have no personal experience with either of the 2 higher-tech ones I mentioned, but for myself I'd look at the Maxbrake one if I wanted to spend another $300ish on brake controllers.

[SpikeC]

Thanks for the input, I am less concerned about cost as with function. The 08 Expedition is wired for a controller and comes with a wire bunch that a controller should be able to just plug into that integrates with the trucks computer system.

[SpikeC]

OK, I bought the Prodigy P2 and installed it today, with the Tekonsha hookup cable. Easy-peasy! We will be heading down to AZ to pick up the Overlander later this week.