Bendix Ultimate Tow+ Portable Brake Controller Explained
The award-winning Bendix Ultimate Tow+ Portable Electric Brake Controller takes a fresh look at trailer brake control, giving caravan, camper and trailer owners a plug-and-play system that can move between compatible tow vehicles without permanent hard wiring.
The Bendix Ultimate Tow+ Portable Electric Brake Controller kit gives caravan, camper and trailer owners a plug-and-play brake control solution without permanent hard wiring.
Bendix Ultimate Tow+: Portable Brake Control for Towing
There are plenty of things in the towing world that sound simple until you actually have to live with them.
Electric brake controllers are one of them.
If you tow with one vehicle, one trailer and one setup, life is relatively straightforward. Fit the controller, wire it in, set it up properly and away you go. But as most of us know, that is not how everyone tows in the real world.
Families swap tow vehicles. Businesses share trailers between utes. Farmers tow whatever needs towing with whatever vehicle happens to be available. Caravan owners upgrade their tow vehicle. Camper trailer owners lend gear to family members. Tradies move from one work vehicle to another. Somewhere in the middle of all that is the electric brake controller, quietly waiting to make life either easier or more complicated.
That is where the Bendix Ultimate Tow+ Portable Electric Brake Controller becomes interesting.
Rather than asking owners to permanently hard wire another controller into the dashboard, Bendix has taken a more flexible approach with an Australian-made, plug-and-play system designed to be fitted, used and transferred between compatible tow vehicles.
It is a clever enough idea that the Bendix Ultimate Tow+ was named Most Innovative New Aftermarket Product – Electrical at the Australian Auto Aftermarket Innovation Awards.
But the real story is not the trophy.
The real story is that Bendix has looked at the way Australians actually tow and come up with a brake controller that suits a more flexible world than the one most traditional controllers were designed for.
The award-winning Bendix Ultimate Tow+ Portable Electric Brake Controller is designed to give drivers adjustable brake control from inside the tow vehicle.
Why trailer brake control matters
A good electric brake controller is not a luxury item when towing a braked caravan, camper, boat trailer or work trailer. It is part of the towing safety system.
In Australia, trailer brakes become part of the compliance conversation once you move beyond small, lightweight trailers. Under the national light trailer requirements, trailers exceeding 750kg Gross Trailer Mass must be fitted with an efficient service braking system, while trailers over 2,000kg GTM require brakes operating on all wheels and an emergency breakaway braking system.
In other words, once you move into the world of serious campers, caravans, boat trailers and work trailers, brake control is not an optional extra. It is part of the job.
The controller’s role sounds simple enough. When the tow vehicle brakes, it tells the trailer brakes how much braking effort to apply. Get it right and the whole combination feels more settled, more controlled and less inclined to shove, snatch or push the tow vehicle around.
Get it wrong, and towing can become a white-knuckle exercise in physics, weight transfer and language best not repeated in front of children.
The 17.1 foot Gold Class LC17C Touring 2+1 proves that balance can be more powerful than sheer size.
How the Bendix Ultimate Tow+ works
The Bendix Ultimate Tow+ Portable Electric Brake Controller is built around a trailer-mounted control system and an in-cabin driver control interface.
The trailer-mounted section uses a patch harness that fits between the tow vehicle’s existing trailer plug and the caravan or trailer plug. The unit then secures to the trailer A-frame using reusable heavy-duty straps.
For tow vehicles fitted with a 12-pin trailer plug, the system draws power from the vehicle’s permanent 12-volt source. For vehicles using a seven-pin trailer plug, power is taken from existing lighting and power circuits through the cable and plug.
Inside the cabin, the driver control unit is powered by USB-A, USB-C or the supplied lighter socket adaptor. It then communicates with the trailer-mounted unit by RF link.
In plain English, the main control hardware lives on the trailer side of the equation, while the driver still has control over trailer braking from inside the vehicle.
That is the neat bit.
It gives the driver proper brake adjustment without requiring the same permanent vehicle installation as a conventional hard-wired brake controller.
The dash-mounted Bendix Ultimate Tow+ control unit gives drivers 30 levels of fine digital brake adjustment from inside the tow vehicle.
Plug-and-play brake control without the dashboard surgery
Anyone who has had accessories fitted to a modern vehicle knows the routine. There is wiring to route, trim to remove, modules to work around and a growing fear that some expensive electronic system will suddenly object to being disturbed.
The Ultimate Tow+ avoids much of that drama by using the existing trailer plug arrangement and a portable in-cabin controller.
For caravan owners, that could be useful when changing tow vehicles. Also f businesses, it could help when the same trailer is towed by multiple utes. For farmers and property owners, it could suit the reality of moving between paddock vehicles, work vehicles and road-going tow vehicles.
The important point is that the controller is not trapped in one vehicle forever.
That is what makes the Bendix approach different.
Thirty levels of brake adjustment
The Bendix Ultimate Tow+ gives the driver 30 levels of fine digital brake control, allowing trailer braking effort to be adjusted to suit the load, the road and the towing conditions.
That matters because towing is never a one-setting job.
A lightly loaded camper trailer on a dry highway does not need the same braking input as a fully loaded caravan on a wet descent. A boat trailer leaving the ramp may behave differently to a tradie trailer loaded with tools, timber and enough loose hardware to open a small branch of Bunnings.
The cabin control unit is mounted using commercially available phone-style mounts. The kit also includes magnetic mounting options for a vent, along with a 3M-backed mount to give users more flexibility in how they position the controller.
It is simple, adjustable and, most importantly, easy to live with.
Wet-weather towing is where a properly adjusted electric brake controller earns its keep, helping the tow vehicle and caravan work together under braking.
Built for the way Australians tow
Australia is a towing country.
Caravans, campers, horse floats, boat trailers, tradie trailers, farm trailers and weekend toys are part of the landscape. The problem is that towing setups are becoming more varied, while many traditional brake controller installations still assume one vehicle and one fixed setup.
The Bendix Ultimate Tow+ feels more in tune with how people actually use their gear.
It suits the owner who wants to tow a caravan with one vehicle, then move a trailer with another. And, it suits the business that has several utes but does not want to fit a brake controller to every single one. It suits the family that shares a camper trailer. It suits the buyer who may change vehicles but wants to keep a familiar braking setup.
Most importantly, it suits people who want proper brake control without adding unnecessary complexity.
That is the part that makes this product more than just a clever box with a logo on it.
Bendix’s Ultimate Tow+ Portable Electric Brake Controller was recognised at the Australian Auto Aftermarket Innovation Awards, taking out Most Innovative New Aftermarket Product – Electrical.
Award-winning towing technology from Bendix
Bendix CEO George Kyriakopoulos said the company was excited to receive the recognition for the Ultimate Tow+.
“Bendix is dedicated to developing braking solutions that increase efficiency, convenience and safety for our customers,” George said.
“Along with offering outstanding braking control when towing, the portability of the brake controller also saves time and cost for users while improving safety.
“As a company, we’re extremely proud and grateful of the industry recognition. Success like this keeps us motivated and energised to continue developing innovative products.”
The award follows previous success for Bendix at the Australian Auto Aftermarket Innovation Awards, where the company was recognised for its General CT Disc Brake Rotors and also received an Excellence in Manufacturing Award.
That gives the Ultimate Tow+ more weight than the usual new-product fanfare. Bendix is not just adding another towing accessory to the shelf. It is continuing to develop products aimed at real-world braking performance, convenience and safety.
The bottom line
The Bendix Ultimate Tow+ Portable Electric Brake Controller is the sort of product that sounds obvious once someone has gone to the trouble of building it.
A portable, plug-and-play electric brake controller makes sense for a lot of Australian users. It reduces the need for permanent hard wiring, gives drivers 30 levels of brake adjustment and brings proper trailer brake control to a wider range of towing situations.
For dedicated tow vehicles, a fixed brake controller may still be the traditional answer.
But for anyone who tows across multiple vehicles, the Bendix Ultimate Tow+ offers a smarter and more flexible way to manage trailer braking.
And the award is simply confirmation of what many caravan, camper and trailer owners may already be thinking.
This is not just another aftermarket gadget.
It is a practical answer to a very common towing problem.
Related Reading:
Bendix Ultimate Tow Brake Controller 12V & 24V compatible
Choosing the right brake fluid for your vehicle
Why you should replace brake pads and rotors together
Air Safe Hitch Review: Two Years Towing a Caravan
