2018 Tundra weak brake controller... did anyone ever figure out what to do with this?

Hey all!

So I currently have a 2018 CM 5.7L, and tow a 7k gvwr, 29' travel trailer (the coleman light 2515rl). I haven't had a chance to take it out much, but was planning to get back at it again here shortly, but one thing has been bugging me to no end and I've not had a lot of luck finding a solution.

My issue is that I've noticed the trailer brakes are simply not as strong as I'd expect. For example: when I first was trying to calibrate them while towing, I was told to initially set the gain on the integrated brake controller up to the point where the wheels lock up, and then scale it back. Even at a gain of 10, the wheels do not lock. In fact, if I were to get a slow roll going and take my foot off the pedals, then use the trailer brakes, I barely even feel a pull. And when I've tried to bring the vehicle + trailer to a stop while going at a decent speed, I definitely feel like the truck is doing most of the work. I definitely have to give myself a decent bit of stopping distance, at least more than I expected that I would despite constantly driving a gain of 10. Luckily I haven't taken the trailer far, and in Florida it's all flat around here (so no hills or grades of note)... but I do plan to take it up towards Tennessee eventually, and I'm pretty sure this would not work out well for me on those hills.

To confirm: my wife has stood behind the trailer and confirmed that the brake lights and such do work. And the IBC does register the trailer is there.

I've gone through some of the threads on the topic and it's a lot of back and forth on what folks ended up doing. I've heard some folks say they wanted to replace the IBC with a P3, but the 2018s made that a lot more challenging by getting rid of the connector for the universal harness. I haven't seen anyone who owns a 2018 5.7L say they have actually done it successfully. I've also seen a lot of folks just stop talking about the issue after bringing it up in a post (not saying if they resolved it or not), and some folks start talking about looking at other trucks.

It's been a little while since the issue first surfaced, so I was hopeful that perhaps the landscape had changed a bit. Has anyone here that has experienced this issue successfully resolved it, or found a way to replace the IBC with a P3 in a 2018 5.7L that didn't require splicing factory wires?

I love my Tundra for all other things, but when it comes to towing this thing gives me the heebie jeebies because of the IBC. If I can sort that out I'll be golden, so any advice or assistance y'all might have is greatly appreciated. If the only solution is to splice some wires, then I'll find a way to do it... but I do want to reserve that as an absolute last resort approach, both because I have no experience with it and also because the idea of it freaks me out a little!

Thanks!

 

Many use a p3 and there is a mount for them that fits in the factory location. Search in the towing forum here...there are threads about this exact issue.

 

As a long shot, have you adjusted the brakes on the trailer? I have found that if I have my brake adjusted so that they are adjusted by the star wheel so they are locked up, then backed off about 10 clicks, should just stop dragging when rotating them by hand. Try it, also I have found that the self adjusting brakes on my dump trailer need a little manual help at least once a year.

 

Yep, I've seen a lot of those; but unfortunately they changed the wiring harness in the 2018, thus the below excerpt from my post:

If you know of any posts of someone with a 2018 Tundra 5.7 that has successfully removed their IBC and replaced it with a P3 without having to splice wires, I'd be ecstatic to hear. But so far I've only seen no such posts. All the P3s I've seen have either been spliced, or were installed with a harness in a 2017 or earlier.

 

I have not! This isn't something I had considered. Is this something you can do to any Travel Trailer?

 

Have you had or do you know if the TSB software update has been done on your truck? I have a 2018 that I pull a 26’ TT with and yes the trailer brakes aren’t great but they seem to work so much better on this 18 vs the 17 I used to tow with.

Also I’m sure it’s been done but did you change your trailer brake setting to electric >5k lbs?
Other then that not much info to add. But I agree the factory trailer brake controller leaves a lot to be desired.

 

Mine works great in my 2018 with a 4500 lb. trailer.

 

Yes, easily done, go to the Dexter Axle website and look up directions. I pull one Axle up on ramps, this should elevate the other axle off the ground, adjust the lifted axle brakes, then switch axles, takes about half an hour to do all four brakes.

 

Do you have someone with another truck that can hook up your trailer and check the trailer brakes? My 2018 will lock up trailer brakes at a gain of around 3.

 

So I feel confident that I did indeed set it to electric > 5k, but that's definitely a good call to double check. On the TSB: I'm not sure if I have or not. I need to get the truck serviced soon, so I'll ask them about that and see if I can get them to do it. That would be great if it were all I need to do!

 

Oh man. Unfortunately I don't know any other folks who tow around here; everyone has cars. But knowing that you can lock yours up at a gain of 3 is a great frame of reference; I assumed it would be 7-9 that would do it, so I didn't think my situation was so bad off. Now I realize that something, either the trailer brakes or my IBC, is bit weaker than I originally thought.

 

Hey man,

I have been wondering the same exact thing. Did you ever figure this out? I have a P3 and almost spliced about a year ago, but decided to hold off. I have a rather light weight 26 ft travel trailer and wish I could install the P3. I get nervous every time a read about the factory IBC. I can feel the brakes on the trailer, but its definitely not the comfort I hear about with the P3. Its jumpy, but never actually locks up the brakes even at 10. I don’t like the timing mechanism. Curious if anyone has been able to successfully install the P3 even with splicing wires. I haven’t found anything on it.

 

I would say your trailer brakes need to be adjusted. Not hard at all. Chock wheels, Jack up trailer, remove wheel(s), remove the plastic tab out of the Brake drum, adjust star wheel accordingly.

 

After hours of research, I think someone found the fix to the notorious 2018 IBC replacement issue with a P3 and no known issues from what I can tell. I hope this helps someone. Disregard the 4-6 engine in link. Go straight to post #46 I believe (maybe 49).
https://www.tundras.com/threads/2018-tundra-with-4-6-engine-trailer-brake-install.25884/page-3