Attention: TDR Forum Junkies flawed
I picked up a new '06 QC dually Friday. Just the fact that Ford now has an integrated brake controller (how hard is that when everything needed is already in the ABS system?) was enough to make the decision over CTD very difficult. And I searched and searched for something that would sense hydraulic pressure but never saw mention of the brakesmart until yesterday. Now I'm relieved I can get a setup without the fundamental flaws of the Prodigy that I've got on my original setup.
Last winter I hauled logs through the Colorado mountains with studded snow tires, a 20k gooseneck trailer, and a Prodigy. It did well with frequent adjustments even in the slickest of conditions but there were two circumstances where the flaws of the inertia setup made me want to throw the damn thing in the trash right under my soiled trousers.
In the first case I was inexperienced and didn't have the boost set high enough on the trailer brakes on an 8 mile, curvy, 7% grade. An inertia system must sense that you are slowing down before it decides how much trailer brake to apply. So, as your service brakes begin to weaken the Prodigy lessens the voltage to the trailer brakes which puts even more stress on your service brakes. I think this is a fundamental flaw which the brakesmart overcomes, at least until the brakes are so gone that the pedal hits the floor.
The other big problem is that the inertia systems only work if you are moving. It's brown trousers time again when you are climbing a slick road up a hill and you make a perfect stop at a stop sign halfway up only to find that you start sliding downhill backwards completely out of control. No matter how hard you wail on the pedal you've only got 1 volt going to the trailer brakes.
Whatever brake control one gets, make sure that manual override is easily accessible and be ready to use it at all times!
The more minor problem I have with inertia systems is that they don't know you're travel speed and the vehicle's kinetic energy is proportional to the velocity squared. So when I've got my Prodigy dialed in to work just right at 55 mph that means the trailer wheels will skid when I'm driving 25 mph through the next town and my chin will be hitting the wheel a lot.
My concern with the Jordon is that the relationship between pedal travel and brake pressure is nowhere near linear.
Sorry if I got too technical.
Mark
I picked up a new '06 QC dually Friday. Just the fact that Ford now has an integrated brake controller (how hard is that when everything needed is already in the ABS system?) was enough to make the decision over CTD very difficult. And I searched and searched for something that would sense hydraulic pressure but never saw mention of the brakesmart until yesterday. Now I'm relieved I can get a setup without the fundamental flaws of the Prodigy that I've got on my original setup.
Last winter I hauled logs through the Colorado mountains with studded snow tires, a 20k gooseneck trailer, and a Prodigy. It did well with frequent adjustments even in the slickest of conditions but there were two circumstances where the flaws of the inertia setup made me want to throw the damn thing in the trash right under my soiled trousers.
In the first case I was inexperienced and didn't have the boost set high enough on the trailer brakes on an 8 mile, curvy, 7% grade. An inertia system must sense that you are slowing down before it decides how much trailer brake to apply. So, as your service brakes begin to weaken the Prodigy lessens the voltage to the trailer brakes which puts even more stress on your service brakes. I think this is a fundamental flaw which the brakesmart overcomes, at least until the brakes are so gone that the pedal hits the floor.
The other big problem is that the inertia systems only work if you are moving. It's brown trousers time again when you are climbing a slick road up a hill and you make a perfect stop at a stop sign halfway up only to find that you start sliding downhill backwards completely out of control. No matter how hard you wail on the pedal you've only got 1 volt going to the trailer brakes.
Whatever brake control one gets, make sure that manual override is easily accessible and be ready to use it at all times!
The more minor problem I have with inertia systems is that they don't know you're travel speed and the vehicle's kinetic energy is proportional to the velocity squared. So when I've got my Prodigy dialed in to work just right at 55 mph that means the trailer wheels will skid when I'm driving 25 mph through the next town and my chin will be hitting the wheel a lot.
My concern with the Jordon is that the relationship between pedal travel and brake pressure is nowhere near linear.
Sorry if I got too technical.
Mark
26k on SRW 3500 never know its back there. :-laf
