Part 1 - STOPPING IS NOT OPTIONAL

Part 2 - THE BRAKE CONTROLLER

Part 3 - Myth #1: Brake controllers that tap into the brake line or cable to the brake pedal are the only type that can stop ahead of the trailer

Part 4 - Myth #2: Proportional braking is the key to smooth trailer braking

Part 5 - Myth #3: RVers are simply stuck with inadequate trailer braking

Ease of use and functionality were next on our list. Ironically, because the gain control is automatic, we actually built in the user-friendliness of the TruControl™. The only setting is a quick configuration at set-up to adjust the initial power out. This is based on trailer and tow-vehicle weight and requires no adjustment after installation. TruControl™ is a true "forget it's there" product. Once installed, the driver never needs to touch it again. Installation is a standard 4-wire connection and dash mount, about 20 minutes for even the most electrically challenged RVer.

Last on the list was driver feedback. That part was easy. The display gives you battery voltage and, most importantly, amperage drawn from the trailer brakes. Here you can actually see what the TruControl™ does for you. Remember the 3 Amps per brake standard? On a 2-axle trailer, the display will show anywhere from 11 to 14 Amps, depending on your wiring. If you see10 Amps or less, you know you have a brake wiring problem. Which brings us to the last problem: those darn brake wires. Here we had this state-of-the-art brake controller and were still limited by the trailer's wiring. While we could overcome most of the problem by pumping out more power, you simply can't squeeze 18 Amps through 20 feet of 12AWG wire. To make matters worse, most trailer manufacturers wired their brakes in series, essentially daisy-chaining them together. If you think of electricity in terms of water, you can see the problem. The first brake gets the most power, followed the second, and so forth. By the time power gets to the last brake in the chain, it's a trickle. Not only are you not getting maximum braking efficiency, you're getting uneven brake wear.

No, we didn't re-invent electricity. We went with the old-fashioned solution: heavier wire. But wire in parallel. We ran one 10AWG wire (wire numbers go backward, smaller numbers mean heavier wire) from the blue brake wire in our trailer's junction box to a point between the axles. We then branched that off into four equal length 12AWG wires and tied them directly to the trailer brakes. We repeated the process for the ground wire. This was amazingly simple. We didn't even have to worry about polarity, as long as each brake got one positive and one negative (ground) wire. We tested that configuration and then tried again with 8AWG wire. This was done on a 33' Sunnybrook 2-axle trailer towed with a Chevy Avalanche and using the TruControl™ brake controller.

The results: the amperage reading on the TruControl™ started at 14.32Amps with the factory installed wiring. This is actually quite exceptional, few trailers have that kind of efficiency; most will see 12 Amps. With the 10AWG wire, the reading jumped to 15.44 Amps, a full 1.1 Amp increase. While that doesn't seem like a lot, remember that we started out at 14.32 Amps. A trailer at 12 Amps would have seen a 3 Amp jump.

Amperage isn't the only factor. Remember that trailer brakes wired in series experience uneven braking and wear. By keeping all our wires to the brakes the same length, we guaranteed equal power to each brake, and equal timing. When I slammed on the brakes at 60mph, I didn't get the usual lurch to one side that I did before the upgrade. The trailer maintained a perfect track behind the tow-vehicle.

When we tried the 8AWG wire, we found that we only experienced an additional 0.1 Amp increase. We're still limited by the 14AWG wires that come with the brake magnets and the connectors in the circuit. The slight increase in efficiency didn't justify the additional cost of the 8AWG wire (remember, we needed two 20' pieces).

• Part 7 - Conclusions and recommendation