I have a 2016 F-150 XLT SPORT SuperCrew and tow a new 2020 Grand Design 2600RB. This weekend was it's first trip down to Port Aransas, Texas. Scaled set-up before we left & the weights are very close to maximum. About 40 miles into the trip had the "AdvanceTrac system needs maintenance" warning show up on dash cluster. Shortly after that noticed I didn't have any trailer brakes, then the "hill assist is deactivated" flashed. Proceeded to Port A, didn't have any problems, since I drove big truck many years, and use tow/haul mode with the transmission in Manual. Got the truck back home to Austin, and to the dealer Tuesday, to find out there's a code for the ABS system reading a steering sensor out of calibration. Dealer says it's because of bigger sized tires. Went from OEM 265/60-18 to a 275/65-18, when I had 2K miles on the truck, we now have 63K, and towed a lighter trailer close to 7,000 miles.

Dealer says they can't calibrate speedo for the larger tires. Going to pick up truck from dealer tomorrow, and will see what happens. As soon as I get home I'm going to hook up trailer and see if I have trailer brakes... Has anyone ever had something like this happen?? Talked with a different Ford service Dept. and they said to bring it by, talked with Discount Tire and they never heard that happen either.

TIA

 

We towed our new travel trailer last weekend and had some issues. I had an "AvanceTrac needs maintenance" warning come up, then got the Hill Assist is deactivated... A bit further down the road realized I had lost trailer brakes and cruise control. Has anyone had this happen before?? Ford dealer checked and the steering angle sensor is throwing a out of spec code. They said it was caused by the oversize tires I'm running. I changed the tires at 2K, 61,000 miles ago, and have pulled our old trailer about 7,000 miles. It seems funny it's taken this long for it to manifest this condition. Dealer hasn't been able to adjust or fix anything. I finally have the truck home and hooked up the trailer cord for brakes & lights. Lights OK, brakes don't show on instrument panel when using the foot brake pedal, but do when you manually activate them with the controller, which is a FORD integral unit. I had the wife push the brake pedal, with me standing at the trailer and listening, I hear a buzzing sound, which I'm guessing is the electric magnets energizing. So, maybe, I still have trailer brakes.

It's been a while since I've pulled a trailer, but IIRC whenever I would hit the brake pedal previously, a box would flash in the instrument pod with the brake bars lighting up and the amount of gain in the system. Is this correct, or have I missed something??

 

Kevcarr, I merged the two threads you started on this topic, because we've learned that multiple threads, each containing a portion of the total information lead to confusing responses that can waste your time and cost you extra money. Please don't start multiple threads on the same topic.

I suppose your larger tires COULD be causing problems, they certainly put more strain on the powertrain when you are towing. And, yes, you should be seeing the trailer brake gain on the instrument panel when you apply brakes with a trailer connected. The buzzing sound you are hearing at the trailer is normal too, with electric brakes applied. So, from what you posted, there appears to be something wrong with the brake controller, since it's not activating the trailer brakes with the foot pedal.

Other members may have better information for you.

- Jack