express

I am picking up my Q7 tonight and will be towing with it very soon. My question is has anyone installed an electric brake controller yet. I had one on my Cayenne and suspect it will be a similar install.

captainy

I too need this. My dealer told me that there is some wiring missing from my Q7 which is supposed to allow easy connection of the electric brake controller. Apparently it was supposed to have been part of the tow package but was not installed in early production. I've been waiting 6 weeks now and still no news. Apparently it will be installed at no charge to me when they get parts and information. Meanwhile my pop-up sits in my garage. Since we don't seem to have a very convenient horizontal mounting point for the controller, I recommend using the same controller that I had in my Sequoia. Tekonsha Prodigy. It automatically adjusts for inclination.

I'll post more when I know more. Perhaps you could do the same. Thanks.

Theresias

May I ask about what that "brake control" does? (Maybe a link to the vendor?)

captainy

The link below shows the one I think is the best. Light trailers rely on only the brakes on your vehicle to stop them. Heavier ones have braking systems of theirwn (and need them). Some trailers come with what are called "surge brakes". In this case, when you brake your vehicle, the weight and momentum of the trailer causesit to try to keep pushing your vehicle forward. This energy is used to create a little forward movement which acts on a hydraulic cylinder just like you do when you step on your brake pedal. The hydraulic pressure created is used to apply the trailer's brakes. On the other hand, many RV trailers have electric brakes. In this case they require electrical current to apply pressure to the brake shoes by means of (usually) solenoids. This electrical current must be controlled because you don't want the brakes to be applied too hard or too soft. That's where the brake controller comes in. It sits up front with you and receives a signal from your brake pedal swith to know when to be ready to operate. Then it senses the deceleration causes by your vehicle's brakes and uses that to determine how much current to send to the electric brakes on your trailer. The harder you press your brake pedal, the harder the trailers brakes are applied. When you release the brake pedal, all the current stops and the trailer's brakes are released. Most models allow you to adjust the sensitivity to get a good match between vehicle and trailer brakes, and most also have a means to manually apply just the trailer brakes by means of a lever. This can be very helpful to stop trailer sway if it starts.

So if you have a trailer with electric brakes, then you need a brake controller. If you have no trailer brakes or surge brakes instead, then you don't.

Hope this helps.<ul><li><a href="http://www.tekonsha.com/prodig.html">http://www.tekonsha.com/prodig.html</a</li></ul>