NHTSA Complaint #11474459 — 2022 TOYOTA TUNDRA

The Trailer Brake Controller is set to automatically be off until you setup a trailer. So yes, the problem is very repeatable, it's the default setting in the Tundra. I traveled a Rocky Mountain mountain pass towing a 6,500# trailer and had extreme brake fade because unknownst to me the Trailer Brake Controller was off because I didn't setup a trailer in the dash. I manually controlled the gears and kept in 2nd gear down the entire grade. My driving history is towing trailers with a old Ford Ranger ('95?) and 2014 Ford Expedition. The Ford has brake controls and I would use it to tow 3,000#. I don't remember if the Ford Ranger had a brake controller. So my experience is limited. I bought a brand new 22 Toyota Tundra and read the manual for pulling a travel trailer (TT). I upgraded my travel trailer from 3,000# to 6,500# GVWR. It was essentially my first towing trip with both vehicles. I plugged in the TT. Dashboard said "Trailer Detected". I turned the dial in the middle to "Tow Mode". Those signals said to me everything is good. My mistake: When I adjusted the gain manually in the dash it said "Trailer Brake Controller Off". In my mind, I interpreted that as the manual controller was off. Not sure why. I should have stopped there. But dash kept saying "Trailer Detected" so I kept driving. Long story short, after driving the pass and nearly losing the brakes I stopped what I was doing and spent 30 minutes playing in the dash and reading the manual more. I setup the trailer I was driving in the dashboard. No where in the manual does it say "trailer brake controller off until you setup trailer in dash." When I set it up in the dash, I realized that the brake controller defualt was off, even if it says "trailer detected". I could tell because the manual brake controller started working.