What Stops Curt Echo Brake Controller From Falling Out of 7-Way

Question:

For a 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe SE Im considering the Curt Echo. I have a Prodigy P2 in a Subaru that I could also use in the Santa Fe, but driver room is tight in the new car up around the dash and I dont see a good safe spot for the P2 except to mount it right on the fuse cover. If I decide on the Echo I see a weak spot in the way the unit is just mounted to the vehicle by a slip fit into the seven way connector hanging off the rear bumper. This looks like it could pretty easily get pulled out or worked out by vibration with some rough driving. Is there anything you could recommend to make that connection more secure? Is there enough experience with this unit in use to know if its a problem? Thanks.

asked by: Ed M

Helpful Expert Reply:

That's a really good question, but the Curt Echo Mobile Trailer Brake Controller # C51180 will absolutely not fall out of the 7-way on your 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe.

There are a couple of reasons for this, starting with the fact that the connection between the controller and 7-way is really tight; you have to give it a good push to make sure it's all the way in the connector.

The other reason has to do with the tab on top of the Echo; part of the tab is silicone-coated to absorb vibration and it sticks up at the end so when you place it in your 7-way, the tab on the connector is in front of the tab on the Echo, which is really just a security factor to help hold it in place.

If you take a look at the accompanying photo you can see a perfect example of how the Echo # C51180 is held in place.

expert reply by: Kyle S

click to enlarge

Gar

7/12/2020

I just bought the ECHO for my 2020 Subaru Ascent with a factory installed hitch. When I insert the ECHO into the hitch recepticle it is very loose. I push it in all the way and lower the recepticle cover down to engage the overlapping plastic tabs. There is about an 8th of an inch space between the two tabs after the cover is lowered. Because the tabs have too much overlap and don't snug the ECHO in place, and the diameter of the ECHO is too small to fit tight in the recepticle, it is loose enough to move in any direction. When i plug the 7-pin connector from the trailer into the ECHO the weight of the cable pulls down the ECHO and the tab on the top of the ECHO falls away from the tab on the recepticle cover. It would only take a couple of bounces for it to fall out. Also I noticed that when it moves around within the recepticle it looses some connections and you get different colors and blinking patterns as it moves around. To get any consistancy of operation I've wrapped some duct tape around the E"CHO to make it fit tighter in the recepticle and I used rubber twisties or wire to wrap around the ECHO and the recepticle cover to pull them together. I think I will need to glue on an 8th inch thick piece of plastic to one of the tabs so that they will be snugged up against each other. This is a lot of extra work, and the tape and wrap arounds need to be replaced as they wear out.