Placement of Brake Controller in 2012 2500

[Cummins12V98]

Thanks,

I may do what you did but use velcro so there are no screw holes later if I trade it in. I have it between my knees above the hood release. It is in the way there.

 

[S.Morris]

Read and read a lot of threads on brake controllers - here and on the RV forums. There is a strong consensus - somewhat over 80% as far as my unscientific sampling goes - for the MaxBrake towing vehicle hydraulic pressure sensing approach. I have not often seen such a strong majority opinion. The concept makes more sense to me as well - it seems that it would inevitably be more responsive than the inertial type simply because braking cannot begin on the trailer until after the towing vehicle has started to slow. I am going to go the MaxBrake route.



Thanks to CRath for the idea of the velcro attachment method - I have a nice spot on the console as well. I think the only problem I may have is if a dog tail or dog paws and head are hanging over it so I can't see it.



Russell

The newer Prodigy P3 (of which I installed this winter, getting rid of an old Reese)is light years ahead of the old one. It CAN in fact be set for a certain trailer weight range and WILL apply certain voltage(which you set) as soon as the brakelight switch is energized, in effect taking up the old two second gap from the old inertia type. It still needs to be fine tuned for different trailers and or road conditions, but is a HUGE improvement.

Having never used or even seen MaxBrake, I can only surmise that they are the ultimate, and smoothest in operation, but to call the Prodigy 3 junk (if properly set up) is a bit of a stretch.

 

[HBarlow]

The newer Prodigy P3 (of which I installed this winter, getting rid of an old Reese)is light years ahead of the old one. It CAN in fact be set for a certain trailer weight range and WILL apply certain voltage(which you set) as soon as the brakelight switch is energized, in effect taking up the old two second gap from the old inertia type. It still needs to be fine tuned for different trailers and or road conditions, but is a HUGE improvement.
Having never used or even seen MaxBrake, I can only surmise that they are the ultimate, and smoothest in operation, but to call the Prodigy 3 junk (if properly set up) is a bit of a stretch.

Joe,

When (if?) Tekonsha ever produces a brake controller that operates off tow vehicle brake line pressure please come back and let us know.

I consider Tekonsha and all other inertia driven brake controllers poor subsitutes attempting to simulate or react to actual braking.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Joe,

When (if?) Tekonsha ever produces a brake controller that operates off tow vehicle brake line pressure please come back and let us know.

I consider Tekonsha and all other inertia driven brake controllers poor subsitutes attempting to simulate or react to actual braking.

I will be the Judge of all that tomorrow when I do my first tow with my newly installed MaxBrake.

I will let you all know if Harvey is telling the truth!

 

[HBarlow]

I will be the Judge of all that tomorrow when I do my first tow with my newly installed MaxBrake.

I will let you all know if Harvey is telling the truth!

Good to hear it. I'll be confidently waiting for your report.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Good news, my new MaxBrake works really well!

I still have it on the initial setting of 29 with Disk Brakes. It may be braking the trailer more than needed. Dutch said to turn the Gain down until the brakes no longer feel like they are working then up two. I just towed a few miles today, I still have 3 hours to go to set up camp for the night. So I will try adjusting it a bit more.

Really is nice to have the RV start stopping along with the TV instead of after!

 

[HBarlow]

Congrats on joining the club. Now you'll be preaching the advantages of a real brake controller along with the growing ranks of your fellow believers.

And thanks for the objective report as well. Testimony by an owner of a 2012 with OEM controller is a powerful statement.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Congrats on joining the club. Now you'll be preaching the advantages of a real brake controller along with the growing ranks of your fellow believers.

And thanks for the objective report as well. Testimony by an owner of a 2012 with OEM controller is a powerful statement.

Sorry not so powerful. I have a 2011, that is why I changed to the MaxBrake. If I had a 12 I would not have installed a MaxBrake. The 12 is a huge improvement over the 11's.

I changed from 29 to 28 on the gain, 29 was a bit too much power on the RV disk brakes.

I am very happy with how the controller works, very smooth and even, no jerking at all.

They really do need to update the look of the controller! I will probably paint it like SNOKING did.

Thanks Dutch and Di !

 

[HBarlow]

The '12 controller may be improved somewhat over the '10 and '11 but it is still the same worthless inertia activated design with the same fundamental limitations and flaws.

Ram engineers can continue tweaking their OEM brake controller endlessly but it will remain a poor substitute as long as it requires negative acceleration generated by the truck against a heavy load to initiate braking.

 

[Cummins12V98]

The '12 controller may be improved somewhat over the '10 and '11 but it is still the same worthless inertia activated design with the same fundamental limitations and flaws.

Ram engineers can continue tweaking their OEM brake controller endlessly but it will remain a poor substitute as long as it requires negative acceleration generated by the truck against a heavy load to initiate braking.

Harvey I understand you think nothing else can work as good or better than the MaxBrake.

As I have said before my Dad has used every type of controller from Kelsey Hayes that taps the brake line to everything between except MaxBrake. He said the 12 factory controller is far superior to anything he has ever used and is thrilled with it.

You said you drove a friends 12 Ram towing his RV a short distance and you were not impressed. I really don't think you gave it a fair chance.

There have been others on here that were going to install their MaxBrake from their old truck on their new 12 but after towing with the 12 with the vastly improved controller they sold their MaxBrake.

I am very impressed with the MaxBrake but I reaLLY DOUBT I WOULD ADD A MAXBRAKE TO A 12 OR 13 RAM.

I ended up leaving my gain at 29.

 

[mbirch]

Cummins12V98, It took me awhile to get my Maxbrake adjusted. I was traveling in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in some pretty steep country, I was using my temp gun to monitor the brake temp of the trailer, trying to get all the brakes adjusted the same. It felt like the Maxbrake was working fine but then when I checked my truck brakes they were just about smoking. I turned up the gain on the Maxbrake to share the load to the trailer brakes and got them to cool down. I think I was just used to the way the electric style controllers worked that I didn't know that the trailer brakes could work that good. I finally wound up with my gain at 26, but I think alot would depend on how well adjusted your trailer brakes are. It's amazing how fast and controlled you can stop a fifth wheel trailer when everything is working the way it should.

Glad you like your Maxbrake like the rest of us.

 

[HBarlow]

Cummins12V98, It took me awhile to get my Maxbrake adjusted. I was traveling in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in some pretty steep country, I was using my temp gun to monitor the brake temp of the trailer, trying to get all the brakes adjusted the same. It felt like the Maxbrake was working fine but then when I checked my truck brakes they were just about smoking. I turned up the gain on the Maxbrake to share the load to the trailer brakes and got them to cool down. I think I was just used to the way the electric style controllers worked that I didn't know that the trailer brakes could work that good. I finally wound up with my gain at 26, but I think alot would depend on how well adjusted your trailer brakes are. It's amazing how fast and controlled you can stop a fifth wheel trailer when everything is working the way it should.
Glad you like your Maxbrake like the rest of us.

Your final comment made me wonder - how many of us are MaxBrake or BrakeSmart owners?

Someone should start one of those polls to see if we can determine how many of us have real brake controllers.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Cummins12V98, It took me awhile to get my Maxbrake adjusted. I was traveling in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in some pretty steep country, I was using my temp gun to monitor the brake temp of the trailer, trying to get all the brakes adjusted the same. It felt like the Maxbrake was working fine but then when I checked my truck brakes they were just about smoking. I turned up the gain on the Maxbrake to share the load to the trailer brakes and got them to cool down. I think I was just used to the way the electric style controllers worked that I didn't know that the trailer brakes could work that good. I finally wound up with my gain at 26, but I think alot would depend on how well adjusted your trailer brakes are. It's amazing how fast and controlled you can stop a fifth wheel trailer when everything is working the way it should.
Glad you like your Maxbrake like the rest of us.

With mine at 29 at first thought it was too much braking on the RV. Now after 1,000 miles 29 makes it feel like I am only braking the truck without the trailer, as they say it is seamless braking!

What a treat.

 

[mbirch]

I guess we were used to it feeling like we had just thrown out a boat anchor when stopping or that we had no assistance from the trailer. I know Harvey has the Brakesmart so maybe he could answer this. My nephew bought a pickup with the Brakesmart controller and it has an option of adding on an exhaust gas temperature probe and has a screen for the readout, does that sound right?

 

[HBarlow]

I guess we were used to it feeling like we had just thrown out a boat anchor when stopping or that we had no assistance from the trailer. I know Harvey has the Brakesmart so maybe he could answer this. My nephew bought a pickup with the Brakesmart controller and it has an option of adding on an exhaust gas temperature probe and has a screen for the readout, does that sound right?

Yes, my BrakeSmart menu has the same choice listed and it is mentioned in the owner's manual. I've forgotten now, it's been years since I looked at the manual but I think it was a capability planned and intended for further development by the original designer/builder of the controller that never happened.

My impression at the time was whoever designed and built the original BrakeSmart controllers was a brilliant individual, probably an engineer, but for unknown reasons he was unable or unwilling to take the struggling infant company the next giant step into mass production. I think to make that huge step to turn a great idea into a major manufacturing operation requires the inventor to go public meaning hire a business attorney, form a corporation, arrange big time financing, sell shares to investors or the general public, give up a portion of his ownership, buy or lease land, build or lease a manufacturing building, equipment, hire employees, deal with labor, etc. , etc.

I'm sure it is an all consuming commitment requiring determination, a williness to sacrifice almost everything, and would probably require someone to be in good finanancial condition and good health to try it.

I first heard of BrakeSmart probably right here on TDR probably in 2002(?) and immediately bought one. It was priced at about $500 plus an adapter kit for the specific tow vehicle as I remember. I bought it from the original company in Dallas. The company was obviously small and just getting started but I was very impressed with the product and confident they would prosper and grow. If I had had a crystal ball and been able to see the future I would have paid closer attention - might have even been willing to invest. I paid little attention and the next thing I noticed was Dr. Performance in Weatherford bought the original company. That seemed understandable at the time and I wasn't worried. Dr. Performance went through the motions and made lots of excuses and promises for a year or two then went silent. The BrakeSmart product remained on their website for a long time but before long the MaxBrake showed up on SouthWest Wheel's website. SWW is and was a Dallas based company with an outlet in Lubbock.

The MaxBrake seems to be functionally identical although is packaged in a less attractive housing with fewer features. The towing consumer is fortunate to have the MaxBrake available in the market.

There have only been three trailer brake controllers worth owning since the 1940s. All three tapped into the tow vehicle brake system. The old original Kelsey-Hayes with no fancy electronics, the BrakeSmart, and the MaxBrake. All others are posers.

 

[mbirch]

Thanks for that follow up Harvey, I guess I wasn't just dreaming about the exhaust gas option on the Brakesmart.



And thanks to all the other TDR members that have helped me after buying my Dodge pickup. By reading articles in the TDR magazine and by watching this forum I have been able to keep up on as many of my own repairs as possible. I have replaced the brake controller with the Maxbrake, replaced my own balljoints, and made the year '08. 5 upgrade to the tierods and draglink. When I went in to the front end shop to have it aligned the guys comment was "we don't have too many people come in here that have replaced their own balljoints", kind of made me feel good.



So, thanks to all of you who have helped some of us ex-chevy guys get up to speed on keeping our Dodge diesels going.

 

[Darmeisner]

After reading way too many arguments about brake controllers (and people assuming) here's my deal. 2001 ( no fancy factory stuff here), bought 2nd controller (Primus) for new 9000# TT. It wasn't any better than the previous several inertia based controllers I had installed in several 5 yd dump trucks. Bottom line, bit the bullet and just installed... . wait for it... Maxbrake! At the risk of irititating some people, thank you Harvey for preaching the truth. I dragged my old TT over some lousy country roads and had a continual grin on my face. I now consider and feel the TV and RV are one. Thank you Di. OBTW, my new Maxbrake has a temporary parking brake for the trailer; used it today and it works great. I had noticed in previous threads that members were asking for one and now it's here.

 

[RVTRKN]

I must have bought one of the last Brakesmart controllers, I bought mine from Dr Performance in 07 for my new 07 C&C. I had a parking brake message show up on one of my first tows and got my trailer brakes hot. It never has returned and Dr Performance told me it was a future option but mine didn't have the capability yet. But I know what I saw, and I had to hit the manual brake button that reset it back to normal, lucky for me it was only half a mile before I noticed it. It is a nice edition to my C&C and I love the way it seems to stop the truck and trailer as one. I do recommend the Maxbrake, only because it has the same technology, but it seems they need to beautify it, as many TDR members have complained about that issue.

 

[AClayton]

I used my old 77' gasser in a pinch the other day to haul my enclosed trailer. The Cummins was getting its new Dana 80 installed so couldn't use it. Anyway, the old Chevy has the old inertia controller which works well but I immediately noticed the traditional bucking, jerking and lurching commonly found and considered normal for those types of controllers. I had gotten used to the seamless operation of the Maxbrake! I love mine!

Alan

 

[HBarlow]

After reading way too many arguments about brake controllers (and people assuming) here's my deal. 2001 ( no fancy factory stuff here), bought 2nd controller (Primus) for new 9000# TT. It wasn't any better than the previous several inertia based controllers I had installed in several 5 yd dump trucks. Bottom line, bit the bullet and just installed... . wait for it... Maxbrake! At the risk of irititating some people, thank you Harvey for preaching the truth. I dragged my old TT over some lousy country roads and had a continual grin on my face. I now consider and feel the TV and RV are one. Thank you Di. OBTW, my new Maxbrake has a temporary parking brake for the trailer; used it today and it works great. I had noticed in previous threads that members were asking for one and now it's here.

Another satisfied owner joins the ever-growing group who now understand the advantages and comforts of using a real brake controller.