Max-Brake Controller

[Grizzly]

I like Harvey have the BrakeSmart and am very happy with it. I did, however purchase a MaxBrake for my son's 04 3500 Dodge with a Cummins. He tows a 5th wheel, a boat, a small single axle trailer and a large tandem axle goose neck dump trailer. Not all at the same time. I was with him one day when he was hauling a heavy load with the dump trailer. His controller was jerking him around badly with the load. After he dumped the load, the trailer wheels were locking up when he applied brakes. . Since Christmas was not far away two years ago, I decided that a MaxBrake would make a great gilt.



He loves it with whatever he tows.

 

[CharlesHoward]

Well, I bit the bullet and ordered the MaxBrake from Dutch & Di since we'll be towing our Fiver a lot more in the future and the Pilot Time Based Controller that came with my truck no longer satisfies me as on any long deceleration I always have to let off the brakes/manage the braking so much...
Hope installation goes well and easily!

 

[CharlesHoward]

Darn, my installation failed... It took me a lot of bending/massaging effort and time to get the front brake line to screw into the Tee Fitting. I didn't expect that first step to be so hard. And after getting the brake line flare fitting snugged down and tight (no one has mentioned how hard it is to use the flare wrench in that tight space) it was crooked / crossthreaded and leaked leaving me with soft brakes. I'm not a mechanic and have never worked on brakes (however I was able to put together a leak free onboard air system). Took to my trusty garage and they were afraid redoing these brass fittings would leak more. Dutch and Di directed me to NAPA and I ordered a new Tee fitting and will let my garage install the new T and redo the front brake line flare fitting. I wonder how much shop time that will take. I know its my fault.
So my hopes for well and easily installation were dashed...

 

[jshumate]

I'm getting ready to buy a Maxbrake, but want to figure out where to mout it first. The space where I currently have a Prodigy II mounted isn't wide enough for the Maxbrake and if I mount it on the panel above it, I'm pretty sure that my leg would hit it. Where I'd like to mount it is behind the floor shift in a reased cavity. I don't think its deep enough without cutting out an opening in the back. Otherwise the controller will hit the shifter.

Does anyone know how to remove the box behind the shifter? If I could remove it, I could easily modify as needed. Here's a pic of my console.

Thanks for any help

 

[HBarlow]

I'm getting ready to buy a Maxbrake, but want to figure out where to mout it first. The space where I currently have a Prodigy II mounted isn't wide enough for the Maxbrake and if I mount it on the panel above it, I'm pretty sure that my leg would hit it. Where I'd like to mount it is behind the floor shift in a reased cavity. I don't think its deep enough without cutting out an opening in the back. Otherwise the controller will hit the shifter.

Does anyone know how to remove the box behind the shifter? If I could remove it, I could easily modify as needed. Here's a pic of my console.

View attachment 82783

Thanks for any help

Are you sure?

I don't have a MaxBrake, my controller is the original, the BrakeSmart. I think the BrakeSmart is a little wider than the MaxBrake. My Brakesmart fits in that space on my '08 and also fit on my '06 and '01.

 

[jshumate]

Pretty sure. I think it measured 4. 5" from the hood release lever and the console panel.

 

[JMetzger]

When I installed mine on my 02 I installed it just above & to the left of the hood release. I have a 6 speed & I do not have any problem with it interfering with using the clutch but mine is an 02 not an 06.

 

[TLane]

I'm getting ready to buy a Maxbrake, but want to figure out where to mout it first. The space where I currently have a Prodigy II mounted isn't wide enough for the Maxbrake and if I mount it on the panel above it, I'm pretty sure that my leg would hit it. Where I'd like to mount it is behind the floor shift in a reased cavity. I don't think its deep enough without cutting out an opening in the back. Otherwise the controller will hit the shifter.



Does anyone know how to remove the box behind the shifter? If I could remove it, I could easily modify as needed. Here's a pic of my console.





Thanks for any help

Yours looks similar to my '08. I pulled up the rubber inserts in the cup holders, under those there are screws that you remove, then the cup holder plastic will come off (you may have mess with the shifter boot). Then you can get to the screws that hold the insert above the cup holder and remove it.



Post a picture on your install, I'm saving my pennies to get a Max Brake.

 

[SnoKing]

Well, I ordered one this morning online from Plug-It-Right. I was looking at installing Kodiak Disc Brakes and read that my Prodigy(Original) will not work with electric over hydraulic brakes. If this works as good as everyone says, maybe I will just throw in some new brake shoes. Anyone need a couple Prodigy's, I have two!!!!

SNOKING

 

[Cummins12V98]

Well, I ordered one this morning online from Plug-It-Right. I was looking at installing Kodiak Disc Brakes and read that my Prodigy(Original) will not work with electric over hydraulic brakes. If this works as good as everyone says, maybe I will just throw in some new brake shoes. Anyone need a couple Prodigy's, I have two!!!!

SNOKING

I sold the last two at garage sales. The factory 2011 contriller workd good but the 2012 works like the Max Brake.

 

[HBarlow]

I sold the last two at garage sales. The factory 2011 contriller workd good but the 2012 works like the Max Brake.

Having driven a new '12 Ram 3500 pickup pulling a heavy fifthwheel weighing about 14k lbs. I am now familiar with new Ram OEM brake controllers and must disagree with you. The OEM brake controller does apply trailer brakes and does function adequately but IT DOES NOT work like a MaxBrake in any way and certainly does not work as well as a MaxBrake.

The OEM brake controller senses deceleration created by the truck's brakes which then creates trailer braking, just like all the variations of Tekonsha inertia activated controllers have done (poorly) for years. A controller that senses deceleration in order to create braking relies on truck braking to occur first and then applies braking. In simple terms, it is a reactive controller. The heavier the trailer the harder the truck's brakes must work to initiate trailer braking. It is much more sophisticated and effective than an aftermarket inertia activated controller but still has the same limitations.

The MaxBrake or its predecessor, the BrakeSmart, creates trailer braking instantaneously when the driver applies the service brake. It is a proactive brake controller and does not require deceleration or inertia to activate.

A friend of mine purchased a new '12 Ram 3500 dually recently. I traveled with him to the HitchHiker plant in Chanute, KS to inspect and purchase a nice used HitchHiker Premier. My friend had never towed a fifthwheel, particularly one that large, so I drove it first and parked it in a confined parking area at our motel overnight before we returned home. I like his new truck but was not impressed with trailer braking. The trailer brakes functioned but nowhere near as precisely or powerfully as trailer brakes do behind my '08 Ram with BrakeSmart controller.

 

[crispyboy]

HB,
I do not in any way doubt your expertise in towing as you have a lot of professional experience. I think you are over simplifying the integrated brake controller in the newer trucks when comparing them to the aftermarket controllers of yesteryear.
I would have to think that the new brake controller would get it's information from either a sensor in the brake fluid or from the abs sensors for the brakes. These new systems are very sophisticated. Think about how modern trucks build in the "towing stability" functions but applying individual brakes - the information has to come from the wheel sensor combined with a yaw sensor. These systems have to communicate extremely fast to be effective.
I guess my brothers experience with his new Dodge 2012 was different than yours when he recently towed 14k load (flatbed/farm tractor). When I inquired how things went he said it stopped as well if not better than his 2005 Ford f250 with the built in controller. He also said that the the Dodge would run circles around the older truck when pulling.

In the spring my intentions are to upgrade my Prodigy brake controller to the Maxbrake because of the rave reviews on this forum and I haven't been too impressed with the Prodigy.

 

[HBarlow]

HB,
I do not in any way doubt your expertise in towing as you have a lot of professional experience. I think you are over simplifying the integrated brake controller in the newer trucks when comparing them to the aftermarket controllers of yesteryear.
I would have to think that the new brake controller would get it's information from either a sensor in the brake fluid or from the abs sensors for the brakes. These new systems are very sophisticated. Think about how modern trucks build in the "towing stability" functions but applying individual brakes - the information has to come from the wheel sensor combined with a yaw sensor. These systems have to communicate extremely fast to be effective.
I guess my brothers experience with his new Dodge 2012 was different than yours when he recently towed 14k load (flatbed/farm tractor). When I inquired how things went he said it stopped as well if not better than his 2005 Ford f250 with the built in controller. He also said that the the Dodge would run circles around the older truck when pulling.

In the spring my intentions are to upgrade my Prodigy brake controller to the Maxbrake because of the rave reviews on this forum and I haven't been too impressed with the Prodigy.

Have you actually towed a heavy trailer with a MaxBrake or BrakeSmart? Until you do you don't really understand.

You may "think" that the Ram OEM controller uses wheel input but inspect one and come back and show us a photo or an official Ram print showing or describing a hydraulic brake line pressure sensor input. If it's there I'm all ears, completely willing to listen and learn.

 

[AClayton]

HB has personally towed with the new truck and I have not... ... need to make that clear. However, the instantaneous response of a controller that senses brake pressure has its advantages because the trailer brakes are applied right away. I'm not going to do the math for everybody here but I'd be willing to bet that there is a significant margin in stopping distance between the two, largely based on the reactive brake response vs the vague feeling you get when you apply the tow vehicle brakes and wait for the trailer brakes to activate. And in a panic stop, the reactive braking will always cause dragging of your trailer tires.

Something else I've noticed with the MaxBrake is the inherent advantage of your trailer brakes lasting longer due to the fact that they activate your brakes more proportionately and don't engage so quickly..... often jerking the brake arm violently-which connects to the shoes.

I love the MaxBrake and to date, is single-handedly the best one I've ever used!

 

[HBarlow]

We have had this ongoing discussion about the comparison of hydraulic brake line pressure sensing brake controllers to inertia activated controllers for years. The skeptics will always be here defending the Tekonshas and other aftermarket brands and now, the OEM Ram controller.

Experience has proven that the skeptics drop their argument and join us in our certainty of the advantages of MaxBrake and BrakeSmart controllers only after they have towed with one.

 

[SnoKing]

Funny story to relate. I was in Smiley's Welding shop a couple years ago, that does a lot of trailer work in Mount Vernon, Wa. I was talking to the guy behind the counter about wanting to install a Brake Smart Controller. The other guy standing there got into the conversion, stating about the risk and problems of T-ing into the vehicle brake system. How the T was not up to quality of the brake system components of trucks etc etc. Then he stated the Prodigy P3 was a much better controller. The counter guy then told me on the QT that this "guy" was the owner/engineer/head salesman or what ever dude from Tekonshas!!! He owned Prodigy!!!!

Snoking

 

[HBarlow]

I guess that story would come under the heading of an "oh ship" moment.

Only the owner or chief engineer of Tekonsha could actually believe that pos Prodigy is a good brake controller.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Having driven a new '12 Ram 3500 pickup pulling a heavy fifthwheel weighing about 14k lbs. I am now familiar with new Ram OEM brake controllers and must disagree with you. The OEM brake controller does apply trailer brakes and does function adequately but IT DOES NOT work like a MaxBrake in any way and certainly does not work as well as a MaxBrake.

The OEM brake controller senses deceleration created by the truck's brakes which then creates trailer braking, just like all the variations of Tekonsha inertia activated controllers have done (poorly) for years. A controller that senses deceleration in order to create braking relies on truck braking to occur first and then applies braking. In simple terms, it is a reactive controller. The heavier the trailer the harder the truck's brakes must work to initiate trailer braking. It is much more sophisticated and effective than an aftermarket inertia activated controller but still has the same limitations.

The MaxBrake or its predecessor, the BrakeSmart, creates trailer braking instantaneously when the driver applies the service brake. It is a proactive brake controller and does not require deceleration or inertia to activate.

A friend of mine purchased a new '12 Ram 3500 dually recently. I traveled with him to the HitchHiker plant in Chanute, KS to inspect and purchase a nice used HitchHiker Premier. My friend had never towed a fifthwheel, particularly one that large, so I drove it first and parked it in a confined parking area at our motel overnight before we returned home. I like his new truck but was not impressed with trailer braking. The trailer brakes functioned but nowhere near as precisely or powerfully as trailer brakes do behind my '08 Ram with BrakeSmart controller.

I assume you adjusted the brake output on the EVIC for heavy electric or heavy hydraulic?

So now that you have used both I believe what you say to be true. But there are others that have used both and say the 2012 controller is just as good. So a question, if you bought a 12 and knowing how well the controller works would you still spend the $350 for the Max Brake?

 

[Cummins12V98]

Funny story to relate. I was in Smiley's Welding shop a couple years ago, that does a lot of trailer work in Mount Vernon, Wa. I was talking to the guy behind the counter about wanting to install a Brake Smart Controller. The other guy standing there got into the conversion, stating about the risk and problems of T-ing into the vehicle brake system. How the T was not up to quality of the brake system components of trucks etc etc. Then he stated the Prodigy P3 was a much better controller. The counter guy then told me on the QT that this "guy" was the owner/engineer/head salesman or what ever dude from Tekonshas!!! He owned Prodigy!!!!

Snoking

That's funny. My friend has worked there for many years, at first I thought he may be the other guy in your story. If you talked to him he would have told you the Hydraulic controller was the best.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Funny story to relate. I was in Smiley's Welding shop a couple years ago, that does a lot of trailer work in Mount Vernon, Wa. I was talking to the guy behind the counter about wanting to install a Brake Smart Controller. The other guy standing there got into the conversion, stating about the risk and problems of T-ing into the vehicle brake system. How the T was not up to quality of the brake system components of trucks etc etc. Then he stated the Prodigy P3 was a much better controller. The counter guy then told me on the QT that this "guy" was the owner/engineer/head salesman or what ever dude from Tekonshas!!! He owned Prodigy!!!!



Snoking

That's funny. My friend has worked there for many years, at first I thought he may be the other guy in your story. If you talked to him he would have told you the Hydraulic controller was the best.