[John G]

We had the Tekonsha Prodigy 2 moved from our Outback to the Ascent so we could tow our Casita camper.
There are great youtube videos from Tekonsha about properly adjusting their devices, whether for the P2 that we have or the P3 that FirstSubie mentioned.
If you decide on a different brand, there will probably be videos from that brand.
When we purchased our camper having a brake controller was highly stressed. The Tekonsha Prodigy has very good reviews both online and at the two RV dealers with whom we've consulted.
I was extremely pleased that the factory installed hitch/receiver on the Ascent came with a 7 pin connection on the left and a 5 pin on the right so I didn't need an adapter like I did with the Outback which had the Subaru hitch installed by the dealer. (We have a utility trailer for dump runs that uses the 5 pin.)
We don't get any bumping or play as we tow our Casita. The Ascent almost doesn't know it's there!

 

[Saskgal]

Trailer brakes are actually required unless you're towing the smallest of trailers. Page 390/391 of your owners manual. If you don't have a separate controller hooked up, your electric brakes are not being used. The Ascent is pre-wired for one to be mounted near the driver's feet.

"Adequate size trailer brakes are required when the trailer and its cargo exceed 1,000 lbs (453 kg) total weight."

I'm currently in the market for a ball mount. I'd like to get an adjustable height but this cushioned type looks interesting. So it will slide fore-aft inside the receiver hitch? That seems odd and like it might cause excessive wear. Thoughts anyone?

I’m a bit surprised neither Subaru nor the RV Dealer mentioned a brake controller to us when they put on the towing package (hitch mount & electrical wiring) on the Ascent & the RV Dealer set up the trailer for us! ? Hopefully we can get some answers from them tomorrow! Thanks for your information- my husband can’t believe this information was not provided to us as new trailer owners & it will take a phone call for him to believe that the trailer brakes aren’t working & that the Ascent has been doing all the braking!

Thx for the eye opener - still on the learning curve to learn more about our travel trailer!

Saskgal

 

[Saskgal]

We had the Tekonsha Prodigy 2 moved from our Outback to the Ascent so we could tow our Casita camper.
There are great youtube videos from Tekonsha about properly adjusting their devices, whether for the P2 that we have or the P3 that FirstSubie mentioned.
If you decide on a different brand, there will probably be videos from that brand.
When we purchased our camper having a brake controller was highly stressed. The Tekonsha Prodigy has very good reviews both online and at the two RV dealers with whom we've consulted.
I was extremely pleased that the factory installed hitch/receiver on the Ascent came with a 7 pin connection on the left and a 5 pin on the right so I didn't need an adapter like I did with the Outback which had the Subaru hitch installed by the dealer. (We have a utility trailer for dump runs that uses the 5 pin.)
We don't get any bumping or play as we tow our Casita. The Ascent almost doesn't know it's there!

Thx - I can’t believe nobody has talked to us about a brake controller until this thread! And we talked to a variety of Subaru & RV dealers this summer!!!

Saskgal

 

[RWH]

You might want to check the coupler latch adjustment on your trailer, too. I have towed several cargo trailers recently and the couplers were all too loose causing the symptoms discussed here. Two of them were new trailers that did not have their respective coupler latches properly adjusted prior to delivery. I have an anti-rattle clamp on my hitch that completely eliminates ball mount looseness in the receiver. Any banging is from the coupler / ball interface. I agree with others about the using a properly adjusted brake controller. Mine works well. I tow an Alto camper with my Ascent. Very stable and quiet while towing.

 

[Saskgal]

You might want to check the coupler latch adjustment on your trailer, too. I have towed several cargo trailers recently and the couplers were all too loose causing the symptoms discussed here. Two of them were new trailers that did not have their respective coupler latches properly adjusted prior to delivery. I have an anti-rattle clamp on my hitch that completely eliminates ball mount looseness in the receiver. Any banging is from the coupler / ball interface. I agree with others about the using a properly adjusted brake controller. Mine works well. I tow an Alto camper with my Ascent. Very stable and quiet while towing.

Thanks

 

[FirstSubie]

What kind of trailer do you have?

Remember too that there are controllers that sit on the trailer itself. At least the accelerometer box did, for this one trailer I rented. No idea if it was an old controller concept. The owner did mention having a wireless box to sit in the tow vehicle so I could trigger manually, but I wanted to use my Tekonsha P3, and it was easy for him to bypass his trailer-mounted controller and have my P3 talking to the trailer brakes.

F.S.

 

[3863]

I tow a travel trailer all the time with my Ascent. (5000+ miles this year) Here are some things I have noticed when reading through this thread. You have said yourself that you are new to towing and are not mechanically proficient. I will write this clear and concise so there can be no confusion. Please don’t mistake it for rudeness.

1. You MUST have a brake controller. It does not come with your new vehicle. Even if it has a towing package from the factory. The brake controller will help with sway, yes. But that is a secondary benefit. If you do not have a brake controller and you come up to a sudden stop on the highway, your car will stop but the inertia of the trailer could jackknife and even flip over taking you and your Ascent with it. You MUST install a brake controller. Go to your trailer dealer where you bought the T@B. They will most likely be able to install one for you. This is NOT an option.

2. I suggest you get rid of that massively heavy Subaru over-engineered ball mount. I initially used a product like what was described earlier (hitch tightener) along with the stock ball mount but have since seen the light. (I could explain my reasoning later if needed but I’ll keep this concise). The hitch mount needs to be factored in as part of your tongue weight. That alone should be enough reason to go from the Subaru behemoth to an aftermarket ball mount. It will give you many different and better options for hitch tighteners. And they will reduce your tongue weight! This is less than a $20 investment and well with it.

3. Whoever suggested drilling another hole into the stock behemoth ball mount is a dolt. Sorry for saying it, but it is true. DO NOT EVER MODIFY TOWING EQUIPMENT. This is a major safety concern. Before I get chewed out for this one, yes, I think that the over-engineered Subaru ball mount COULD structurally handle another hole. But why would you ever take on that liability. Buy another ball mount that reduces your tongue weight. You’ll get the same desired result. You’ll spend less time and money. You will not potentially degrade the safety of your equipment.

-Dimitrivich

 

[modelcar]

I'd suggest taking your rig to a decent RV shop and have it looked at by a pro. Lots of good advice here, but, with respect to all, it is from people who are just speculating.

All towing involves a bit of "shifting" during acceleration and braking, but if you have jarring with your hitch hookup creating the dramatic kind of issues you describe, then you need to have it professionally evaluated, for safety reasons.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

I’m a bit surprised neither Subaru nor the RV Dealer mentioned a brake controller to us when they put on the towing package (hitch mount & electrical wiring) on the Ascent & the RV Dealer set up the trailer for us!

IMHO, the trailer dealer is the one you need to look into the eye. They should have told you the trailer required a brake controller. With very few exceptions, tow vehicles do not come with a brake controller from the manufacturer and those few exceptions tend to be some specific pick-em-up trucks. They should know that if they are a reputable trailer dealer and if they set it up for you, they should have noticed the lack of a brake controller during that process since they couldn't actually test the brakes properly without it.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

Lots of good advice here, but, with respect to all, it is from people who are just speculating.

The majority of comments are coming from folks who tow; some of them quite regularly.

 

[Saskgal]

I'd suggest taking your rig to a decent RV shop and have it looked at by a pro. Lots of good advice here, but, with respect to all, it is from people who are just speculating.

All towing involves a bit of "shifting" during acceleration and braking, but if you have jarring with your hitch hookup creating the dramatic kind of issues you describe, then you need to have it professionally evaluated, for safety reasons.

Thanks - I agree. I do understand that everyone who contributed has an opinion & their own experience- which may or may not be useful to us. Gives me more ideas with which to think about & check out with the professionals. From everyone’s posts I can see what questions we need to ask! I really appreciate the responses because the hitch business is not as easy as either the Subaru nor the RV dealer left us feeling! There is so much more than towing capacity, hitch weight, ball size, electrical wiring ....! I feel better informed & hopeful that adjustments can be made to make travelling easier on my back & on both the Ascent & the trailer.

Thanks!

 

[Saskgal]

The majority of comments are coming from folks who tow; some of them quite regularly.

Thanks - exactly why I am asking the question on this forum - you have significantly more experience than we have re: towing & the Ascent!

I appreciate how much I am learning from everyone’s comments & how passionate everybody is about this topic & keeping us safe on the road. I find comments are like guide posts to direct My research - I understand not everyone’s suggestions will be a good fit for our situation.

Hopefully we can get som answers from the dealers today!

Saskgal

 

[Saskgal]

Thanks - exactly why I am asking the question on this forum - you have significantly more experience than we have re: towing & the Ascent!

I appreciate how much I am learning from everyone’s comments & how passionate everybody is about this topic & keeping us safe on the road. I find comments are like guide posts to direct My research - I understand not everyone’s suggestions will be a good fit for our situation.

Hopefully we can get som answers from the dealers today!

Saskgal

RV dealer apologized today for not informing us about brake controller. Not like didn’t we spent several days in 3 RV dealerships over the summer & none mentioned the brake controller- even tho we made it clear to them we were newbies to the trailer world (being tent campers for decades!) & we asked numerous times if there was anything else we should know about when purchasing & driving with a trailer (crickets for an answer re: this topic!). And Subaru dealer today passed it off as information the RV dealer was responsible for sharing with us.

So thanks everybody for enlightening us on a topic we have been sadly uninformed about - & which I now realize is a significant safety hazard - & we were thinking our trailer brakes were working when it was our Ascent brakes working well - or not so well as the trailer momentum bumped into the hitch! ?

We will be searching for & installing a brake controller in the next bit, & taking a closer look at the anti rattle tightener for the hitch - crossing our fingers the device will fit on our current hitch so we don’t have to find another solution!

Time is ticking & the weather changing - so hopefully we can get our Ascent & trailer figured out before the snow arrives!

 

[Jim_in_PA]

You will very likely notice a major difference when you have actual, working trailer brakes which you have not experienced so far. No controller. No electric trailer brakes. So your Ascent was doing ALL the work and the trailer was just pushing you hard each time you applied them.

 

[Kevin Williams]

You will very likely notice a major difference when you have actual, working trailer brakes which you have not experienced so far. No controller. No electric trailer brakes. So your Ascent was doing ALL the work and the trailer was just pushing you hard each time you applied them.

And I'm hoping you weren't towing in the mountains. That would be a definite safety hazard!

 

[Kevin Williams]

RV dealer apologized today for not informing us about brake controller. Not like didn’t we spent several days in 3 RV dealerships over the summer & none mentioned the brake controller- even tho we made it clear to them we were newbies to the trailer world (being tent campers for decades!) & we asked numerous times if there was anything else we should know about when purchasing & driving with a trailer (crickets for an answer re: this topic!). And Subaru dealer today passed it off as information the RV dealer was responsible for sharing with us.

Yes, the subaru dealer doesn't know what you are going to tow, so it's hard to say. If you tow a little utility trailer that's 500lbs or so, no brake controller needed.

Sadly, RV dealers aren't as diligent as they should be. They want to make a sale. One RV dealer (who isn't even a bad one) was trying to sell us a 4,000lb camper when our tow limit on our Outback was 2,800lbs! They only looked at the unloaded weight (which was 2750lbs) and not GVWR (4,000lbs)!

I'm glad you came to ask and now you know what to chase after at least until you get a good result.

 

[Saskgal]

And I'm hoping you weren't towing in the mountains. That would be a definite safety hazard!

No we were travelling on good old prairie highways & gravel

And I'm hoping you weren't towing in the mountains. That would be a definite safety hazard!

No - drove patched (& bumpy) prairie highways & gravel roads!

 

[Bobby Kinstle]

Adjustable hitches are even noisier.

 

[Robert.Mauro]

Adjustable hitches are even noisier.

View attachment 1661

I can also confirm that, lol.

 

[Saskgal]

Thoughts on brake controllers? Teshonka Voyager is what RV dealers are selling here - I haven't heard any Subaru Ascent owners sharing their experience with this proportional brake controller so I am assuming it is not a favourite or isn't compatible- instead many folks have mentioned the Teshonka P3, P2, & several have mentioned the Primus IQ. Why have you chosen the one you have? Have others had experience purchasing their brake controller online from Amazon or another online shop? Living in Canada purchasing from etrailer is not in the cards - due to cost of cross border shopping/shipping costs ... & getting anything but low end Reese & Teshonka Voyager brake controllers are not available locally.

Saskgal