NHTSA Complaint #11523443 — 2022 FORD F-350 SD

The vehicle has a Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR) of 30,000 LBS. While towing, the vehicle would show on the dash at intermittent times "Trailer not connected." When this occurs, the trailer brakes are no longer operating placing all braking on the tow vehicle with the potential for brake fade or complete brake failure and catastrophic loss. This intermittent failure of the electrical brake system does not occur on other tow vehicles that were equipped with after-market brake controllers, such as Tekonsha. The vehicle was brought into the Ford Dealership to look into the issue. Ford had the truck for nearly two weeks and could not figure out the problem. After much self-research, it was determined that the factory installed brake controller cannot discriminate between trailers using electric brakes and trailers using electric/hydraulic brakes. The fix is to install an actuator (ETrailer Code DX35FR - Adapter Module for BrakeRite Electric Over Hydraulic Actuator - OE Ford, GM Brake Controllers) on the trailer to provide resistance that will allow the factory installed controller to recognize the trailer/hydraulic brakes. A technician also advised that a work around would be to wire in small magnets to the wiring of the trailer to provide the resistance. The forums state that this occurs with trailers five years or older for which there are thousands on the road. This limitation/defect applies to the majority of trailers being towed on the highways today. Failure to advise drivers of this limitation/defect and the intermittent sequencing of the disconnection leaves non-professional, recreational drivers at significant risk of brake failure while towing up to nearly 30,000 pounds. NHTSA should investigate why standard after-market brake controllers have no issues of this kind while the "supposedly" state-of-the-art new vehicle controllers are limited. It is my understanding that this same issue is found with GM and possibly RAM products.