This proportional brake controller keeps towing simple with a straightforward design and user-friendly controls. Includes an LED indicator and a slide-bar manual override. Adhesive backing gives you the option of drill-free mounting.
Features:
Specs:
You can adjust the gain setting (also known as braking output) on the Hayes Energize III+ using the thumbwheel on the front of the module. This will set the maximum amount of power that will be applied to your trailer's brakes. You want to go as high as you can without the trailer brakes locking up. Typically, the gain is only readjusted when you experience changing road conditions or if you switch over from a heavy, loaded trailer to a much lighter, empty trailer, or vice versa. To get more power to your brakes, turn the wheel up. To get less power to your brakes, turn the wheel down.
The red LED indicator on the front of the module will light up when the brake controller is activated. This way you can keep your eye on your braking and be sure that it's working.
Once you have the overall power set, you can fine-tune the power output by adjusting the sensitivity of the internal sensor. This controls the aggressiveness of your trailer's braking, meaning how quickly the brakes reach the maximum braking level. You can adjust this when you're towing heavy loads and you need more umph to bring your trailer to a stop. Your tow vehicle doesn't need that much power to brake in time, but your heavy trailer does. Boost gets the braking power to your trailer brakes faster and with more intensity so that it doesn't push your tow vehicle forward. To increase the sensitivity for towing heavier loads, move the lever away from you. For a lighter load, move the lever toward you.
The Hayes Energize III+ comes with a built-in, easy-to-reach slide-bar manual override, great for stopping sway or controlling your trailer's momentum in emergencies. To engage the manual override, just push the slide-bar to the left, toward the center of the controller. This will activate the trailer's brakes and brake lights without you having to apply the brakes on your tow vehicle, perfect for limiting trailer movement while you're cruising.
The Hayes Energize III+ is easy to mount wherever you want it. Simply use the bolts or the double-sided tape to secure the included mounting bracket to your dash, and then install the controller in the bracket.
The included custom-fit adapter plugs into the port on your vehicle's built-in brake control wiring harness, which you'll find underneath the dash, to the left of the steering column, taped to another harness near the emergency brake pedal. Once you're plugged into your factory port, just plug the other end of the adapter into the controller. No hardwiring needed!
Because the Hayes Energize III+ operates with an internal inertia sensor, it must be mounted between -35 degrees and 90 degrees vertically. The brake controller also needs to be horizontally level and parallel with the direction of travel to function properly.
Note: If you don't already have a 7-way plug at the back of your vehicle, take a look at our exclusive 7- and 4-way brake controller installation kit (ETBC7 - sold separately).
The Hayes Energize III+ brake controller comes equipped with proportional braking to give you the best towing experience. Proportional braking means that your trailer brakes mimic your tow vehicle's brakes. If you slam on the brakes in your vehicle, your trailer brakes will activate with the same intensity; if you brake lightly, your trailer brakes lightly too. The trailer's braking is in proportion to your vehicle's braking. This saves wear and tear on the tires and the brakes on both your vehicle and trailer.
The Energize III+ uses a pendulum system to sense how your vehicle is braking so it can send the right amount of braking power to your trailer. It detects the inertia of your tow vehicle and activates the trailer's brakes to slow at the same rate. The result is uniform braking across your towing setup. No push-pull action - just smooth, proportional braking every time.
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hey everybody, Ryan here at etrailer. Today on our 2022 RAM 1500, we're gonna be showing you how to install the Hayes Energize III Trailer Brake Controller. But before we get into that, let's just take a minute check this out and make sure it's gonna be right for you. So you are wanting to pull your trailer around and it has brakes. You're gonna need a way to apply those trailer brakes. That way you know you can slow everything down as a whole unit as opposed just relying on your vehicle to do all the braking.
And that's where a trailer brake controller like this one is gonna come into play. So this one, it's good for trailers that have up to three axles. So that's gonna cover a lot of people's trailers out there. And one of my favorite parts about this particular one is it's super simple not a whole lot to it, but it has, in my opinion what's a really nice feature and that's the fact that it is a proportional type brake controller. And so the advantage of proportional type brake controller has over a time delayed type one is it's a little bit smoother.
You're gonna have a smoother braking transition and it's just a little bit more predictable at least in my opinion. So the way a proportional one like this works is the braking force is gonna match you know, the braking force and the truck the trailer's gonna match it. So let's say if you're, you know, maybe rolling up to a stop sign, you get about halfway on the brake pedal. Trailer is going to do the same thing. On the other hand, if you're going down the highway maybe there's an accident and you need to come to a emergency type stop and you stand on that brake pedal here in the truck the trailer is going to do the same thing.
And so you know it's gonna slow down as a whole unit and not, you know, you're not gonna have the trailer kind of pushing you around or trying to drag you back. So even though this one is proportional you are gonna have an adjustment which is the gain here which essentially just means how aggressive or how much power is gonna be sent back to the brakes. So you are able to fine tune that a little bit. So say maybe if you, just thinking of an example you have an enclosed trailer and it's empty, you know, you can dial that down some, you know, on the way to your destination you're maybe going to pick up a car or something heavy you get it inside and you can turn that up a little bit to get a little bit more braking power. You know, when you're loaded down real heavy, so.
It's good to be able to fine tune that to your particular item or load that you're carrying. It is gonna have a manual override lever as well. So when you slide this what this will do is apply just the trailer brakes. All right And so, a lot of times you'd use that in event of a sway situation. You know, you're going down the road, wind's blowing, you're hitting bumps the trailer might start getting a little squirrely on you. You can slowly apply the trailer brakes and kind of get it slowed down and back under control and right and straight behind you. Other than that though, you know, not really a whole lot to it. If you're looking for a really simple, easy to use proportional type brake controller this is one that's definitely gonna get the job done. As far as the installation goes, not bad at all. We actually install this in conjunction with the Curt adapter plug. And so literally you plug in to a connector under the dash, plug in the brake controller, mount it up, and that's really about it. So shouldn't run into too many issues but if you like to hang around, feel free to we'll go ahead and hook it up together now. To begin our installation we're gonna be here in the front seat of our RAM and what we're gonna need to do is locate the factory connector plug which is located behind this panel here on our dash. So we'll have to remove this starting by taking out two screws along the bottom. We going to take a seven millimeter to get 'em removed. (drill grinding) With the two screws out, this should just kind of pop out so if you grab the edges of it, we can let this come down. Now we should have room now without having to disconnect anything to find our connector plug. So if we look up and behind the panel there we're gonna have a handful of connectors that are just kind of taped up to some wiring. The trailer brake controller connector should be located within this bundle. So what I'm gonna do is remove the tape and hopefully we can drop it down and have a better look at it. So I just pulled the connector out of that tape and this is the one we're looking for. It has four pins in it so that's gonna be our trailer brake controller plug. And now what we can do is take our adapter here that we're using, simply just plug that right on it. So I went ahead and just dropped our connector, you know, below our panel here and we can reinstall the panel. But this is a good opportunity to see what we got going on the back. So we're gonna mount our controller, you know, somewhere on the right side of the panel. And really the only thing we have going on here is this piece. So you know about halfway down is where we wanna mount it. So just to kind of give you a visual what's going on the backside 'cause when you mount a controller up you know, you don't wanna drill into anything of importance. So we're in pretty good shape here and we'll just reinstall this the opposite way that we removed it. At this point you can mount up your bracket and we're gonna go right here in this location. When you do this, you know, make sure to try to get it as level as you can and we're just going to take the included screws, run 'em into the dash to get this secured. (drill grinding) Before we actually mount up our brake controller what I like to do is kind of pre tap the holes there in the side of it that we're gonna use as our attachment points and that's because you know, they're not threaded right out of the box. And so trying to hold it up to the bracket and get it started can kind of be a little tricky sometimes. So I just take the included screws and get 'em started. Just a quarter inch socket, you know, run it all the way down into all of 'em which I've done and that'll just make it a lot easier to mount this up. So we'll go ahead, plug the brake controller into the adapter plug. This snaps right into place and then we can mount this up to our bracket. And when you're doing this, there is a particular way you need to mount it. You want it to be facing toward the direction of travel and you can run it flat like this or up a little ways. I believe 35 degrees is what they recommend. So we should be in pretty good shape 'cause you still wanna find that happy medium. You don't want it to be banging on your knee or anything. So about like this is sufficient. So we'll go ahead, get our screws started and come back and snug 'em down. On the side of the brake controller once you have it mounted, there's this arm here it's called the deceleration arm. We wanna position that in a way to where it is facing straight down. What we can do now is test our controller to make sure it's working properly. So I just hooked up to a test box to do this. Chances are pretty good you're not gonna have one so you can use your trailer. But keep in mind if your trailer has an issue, you know, it might mislead you into thinking it's something on the brake controller side. But we'll do a couple of things here. One, we can hit the manual override button we can see that light illuminating and we're getting power back at our test box. And I'm also going to hit our brake pedal and we'll see that light come on so we know we got power getting sent back. So it looks like we're in pretty good shape. From here what I'll do is simply just clean up your wiring put it under the dash, zip tie it up so it's outta sight and that's really about it. Now when you are zip tying this make sure to stay away from moving parts, you know, your steering column and things like that. That way it don't get hung up. So here's how it turned out. After cleaning up the wiring and kind of tucking it under the dash. I did use about a six inch piece of wire loom to go over the brake controller wires just to kind of help it blend in and and clean up the look. And that'll finish up our look at and our installation of the Hayes Energize III trailer brake controller on our 2022 RAM 1500.
This controller was truly "plug&play". Installation was 30 min. Works perfectly. E-trailer has always been my go-to for all my truck and camper needs!
I love this trailer brake controller. It works really well and does exactly what it is advertised to do. Definitely recommend it!
This is my second order with etrailer. Both experiences with your company have been very positive. The knowledge and friendliness -along with following up on orders and satisfaction have been much appreciated. Brittany, the customer representative, is a huge asset to etrailer.
I opened the box and there was rattling around in controller. It was the f
Gsi. Dial!!! I Want my money back
The controller is not at all smooth in applying brakes. very abrupt in braking, have tried adjustments and mounting with no improvement. Would not recommend.
Controller installed easily. Unit applies brakes ok. My big concern is the
lack of the voltage setting being displayed. This is first controller I have
worked with. Video says good back unit. Ok that it is. But if I had known what I know now, would have purchased unit with digital voltage setting. Setting wheel to same spot each use is causing me to go through setting process each time. There is a difference with brakes with unloaded and loaded trailer.
It continues to do its job flawlessly. Have not had a single concern with it while towing. It allows for manual application of braking "pressure", but except for testing it at low speeds to verify operation, I have not had to touch it at all while highway towing, as it achieves smooth, even stopping power. Still very pleased with the purchase!
Works like it should. Easy install. Other models will offer more features, but for a part time camper puller like myself, it does the job
Works perfectly. 1 year and counting.
Easy to install and great customer service. One problem: writing on instructions was so small I had to use magnifying glass to read it and my vision is 20/20. This needs to be corrected by manufacturer. Instead of tiny writing in several non English languages, print it so the vast majority of customers can actually read it. This would probably eliminat e many customers calling etrailer for help in installation.
Remember the adage, "you get what you pay for"? Certainly applies here...I will never know if this unit was faulty when I received, or if it simply is poor quality. But the "gain" function on it does nothing, and therefore I can't dial in the sensitivity that is needed. Again, I don't know when/how it became inoperable, but I just ordered it's replacement. Am hopeful for a better experience...
Easy to install. Clear instructions.,Works great.
Appreciate the installation videos
Got tip off Utube for the wiring harness adapter for a 2019 Ram. Installation was plug and play. We have a 26 ft camper we will be towing. Very easy install.
This brake controller has worked great no problems at all I would recommend it to anyone using this style of brake controller.
work's great, thanks
Great service good people to deal with
The plug and play wire harness that I ordered for my pickup should have been 5-6 inches longer. Otherwise everything was fine.
Nicole was outstanding in knowledge and patience with me. She helped me get through my mistaken order and get me the right brake controller and adaptor harness for my truck. I installed it in less than and hour and it is working great. She also made the return of the controller and harness a breeze.
Perfect, exactly what I needed great price, fast delivery, easy installation. It only took about 30 minutes total. The hardest part was for an old man to get down that low in the floor well. Thanks again etrailer.
Best of the four brake controllers I've had so far in my truck. Easy to adjust on the fly if brakes are too strong or weak. Manual override felt solid unlike some controllers out there. The instructions could've been written a little clearer though. 4 prong square plug also fits Curt controllers if swapping. Overall nice controller for the money, should've bought this one first and saved the cash
Very pleased with the Hayes controller and the installation videos and information available at etrailer. My installation was hardwired due to an earlier install which removed a connector, so etrailer support was very beneficial plus their price was very competitive...a winning combination.
Simple install with wire harness from etrailer, plugin, adjust, done. Works and does what I anticipated.
Easy to assemble and etrailer made sure that I had everything I needed to install the brake control system. Order arrived on time and will definitely order from etrailer again.
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