Brake Controller Location

[ShawnDavis]

I finally took the plunge and joined TDR - and bought a new 06 Cummins Laramie Quad Cab SWB truck last weekend. Well, the wife basically picked it out and I signed the papers (I did get to spec it. ) I'm out of town again, but I did get her out of it long enough to drive it about 10 miles last weekend. Long story short - It's a great truck!!!



Anyway, I've a Prodigy brake controller I pulled out of my ex-GMC and need to put in the Dodge for my 5th wheel. Where are you guys mounting the controller at? Any Pics would be greatly appreciated.



Regards,



SDD

 

[KBennett]

I don't know how the 2006's are inside but I pulled out my ashtray and mounted the Prodigy in it's place. Originally I thought I would have to have easy access to it but I don't so I will probably move it to the cubby down behind the shifter. Let me see if I can dig up some pics and I'll post them.

 

[03 H.O. Police]

mine is mounted to the panel under the steering column, on the right side at the bottem , no problem with entering or exiting and it is visible and adjustable from where u sit

 

[RMachida]

I don't know if the 06 has the same, but I installed mine in the cubby under the heater controls. Easy to reach and out of the way. I used to have it mounted to the knee bolster but I kept bumping it with my knee.

 

[jshumate]

Mine is also mounted on the panel to the right of the steering wheel at the bottom. My legs are too long to mount it on the knee panel higher up. At the bottom, its out of the way, just have to move my leg a little to see it.

 

[Crunch]

Mine is also mounted on the panel to the right of the steering wheel at the bottom. My legs are too long to mount it on the knee panel higher up. At the bottom, its out of the way, just have to move my leg a little to see it.

I'm starting to haul heavier loads, so I'm thinking of moving up to the electric brakes. Is the location you are referring to the panel that wraps around the drive shaft hump? I was looking at possible locations and didn't see too many options. I've even considered not attaching it, so I can remove it when I'm not towing. Also, a trailer salesman told me that there is a port under the dash to plug it in, eliminating the need to splice wires. Where is this port located?



Thanks.

 

[crobertson1]

This won't help with the '06, but for pre-'06s, you could use the location where I put my Prodigy. It is able to be removed if necessary, although, it's pretty out of the way there.

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[jshumate]

The location I'm referring to on my '06 is a narrow lip on the bottom of the panel to the right of the steering column. Its out of the way down there, but not the easist to see quickly.

The plug for the cable to plug into is located behind the emergency bracket.

 

[Crunch]

Mine is also mounted to the right of the steering column in front of my right knee. It doesn't interfere with with anything. The plug-n-play connection is up high near the firewall to the left of the steering column. You'll need the pigtail adapter to fit the Dodge plug. These are available at any trailer supply store. Hope this helps.

Thanks. I'm also one of those stange people who doesn't like to drill holes in my truck where there were none to begin with. The screws on the bottom of bothr sides of the knee bolster look like they will work. Am I correct in assuming the empty, blue plastic connecter on top of the cluster of connecters between the emergency brake and firewall is the correct one?



I also checked out the Prodigy/Tekonsha site. That product looks good. I'm guessing that if you buy the harness made for the Dodge trucks it will just plug in without having to rewire anything? Anybody else have opinions on which brake controller to go with? I like the idea of a proportional braking system for trailers, and the boost settings seem like a good bonus.

 

[jshumate]

Yes the blue connector is the one. If you have the tow package on your truck, you should have a pigtail supplied with your truck that plugs into the blue connector. The Prodigy comes with a pigtail that plugs into it. I spliced those two together. You can also just buy the harness that plugs into both the blue connector and the Prodigy.

 

[wcjp]

Here's my 06'. Some of the early versions of the Prodigy had an issue with diesel trucks. They would flash an error code on occasion. Otherwise they would still work great. Had this problem with my 96' CTD and Prodigy. Bought a new Prodigy for the new truck. I think the problem was associated with the airgrid heaters. Not sure if your old GMC was a gasser. The wiring for your Dodge is completely plug and play. No splicing required.



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[sonorakitch]

Thats a good spot wcjp. Did you run into any problems with the install? That is where I will put mine. Thanks.



~Chris

 

[Crunch]

Yes the blue connector is the one. If you have the tow package on your truck, you should have a pigtail supplied with your truck that plugs into the blue connector. The Prodigy comes with a pigtail that plugs into it. I spliced those two together. You can also just buy the harness that plugs into both the blue connector and the Prodigy.

Thanks. I do have the tow package, but forgot about the brake controler set up. It went into the glove box the day I picked up the truck (right next to the registration stickers that I've never put on the windshield) and I forgot about it till I pulled it out today. If I can get a plug set with the Prodigy that is ready to go I'll probably go that route. I checked the net for Prodigy prices and was surprised to see such a wide range--from as low as $98 up to $159. I never figured I'd need a brake controller, since I never hauled the heavy loads and used hydraulic brakes on trailers, but this is why I bought a truck that was more than I needed at the time. Now I'm hauling loads that put me right up there at the max limit. It interesting that Ford is now putting a brake controller in their trucks, which is good on the one hand but only if it is better than the rest of the truck. Maybe one day I'll actually get around to putting the registration sticker on the windshield. So far I've only had the inspection sticker on there, and the cops have yet to write me up for it, despite being stopped several times. :-laf

 

[SLO CTD]

I also mounted my prodigy in the same place as wcjp on my 06. It works well there, relatively easy to install and is easy to access if need be.

 

[sonorakitch]

I also mounted my prodigy in the same place as wcjp on my 06. It works well there, relatively easy to install and is easy to access if need be.

Did you run into many problems fishing the wires back into the connector?

Seems like that would be the issue. I am sure you pulled the kickplate.

~Chris

 

[SLO CTD]

When I was installing it, fishing the wires through was the part that took the most thinking. I ended up drilling a hole just big enough for the wiring harness in the corner of that little area. You can't see it unless you try really hard. I taped the wires up, fished them through, and under the vent ductwork and out and across the knee bolster, zip tying along the way to keep them out of sight. Once I had an idea of what I was going to do, it was easy.

 

[wcjp]

Did you run into many problems fishing the wires back into the connector?

Seems like that would be the issue. I am sure you pulled the kickplate.

~Chris

Prodigy sells brand specific wiring. Bought mine on Ebay for about $100. It came with the generic wiring harness. The truck also came with the generic plug in wiring harness. I ran the Prodigy wiring through the factory hole. In my picture you can just see the wiring. I pulled the Prodigy wiring slack through the hole leaving only the connector. There's a beveled edge I attached the included bracket. This seemed to make it easy to see while driving and reach in case of emergency. I spliced the included factory wiring and the Prodigy wiring. The hardest part was figuring out how to run the wiring. Everything was plug n play.

 

[CLAYTON]

I mounted mine here...



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I like it cause I can see it through my steering wheel. Also it's easy to reach if you need to adjust or manually apply the brake.

 

[wcjp]

If I was the only driver of the truck I would've mounted on the knee panel like Clayton. However, the wife on occasion drives the truck. If she was in an accident there's a good chance she'll never walk again. Take a look at some of those crash tests. The dummies surge forward with no control. The tests also measure the distance the dash moves towards the passengers. If the dash is moving rearward and the driver is moving forward something impossible to hit is now very likely.

 

[Crunch]

I like it cause I can see it through my steering wheel. Also it's easy to reach if you need to adjust or manually apply the brake.

I bought mine today, and considered mounting mine there, but I don't like drilling extra holes in the truck and I was worried about the mounting angle. Yours looks like it is near the limit of the recommended mounting angle. I pulled the screw located at the bottom of the knee bolster (near where the back of your Prodigy is located and to the right of the hood release) and ran it back through the pocket mount that came with the brake controller. Not the easiest place to reach if I need to manually controll the brakes, but I can see it while driving. The shop where I purchased it didn't have the Dodge-specific harness, so I will either have to buy one from somewhere else or splice the Prodigy harness with the one that came with my tow package. Does anyone know if this is the correct cross-referencing of the wires between the Dodge-supplied cable and the Prodigy cable:



Prodigy blue -> Dodge blue (labeled as "trailer brake")

Prodigy black -> Dodge white with stripe (labeled as "+12 volt, 30 amp max")

Prodigy white -> Dodge green with stripe (labeled as "ground")

Prodigy red -> Dodge blue with stripe (labeled as "vehicle brake sense input")



I'm color blind, so my description of the colors might not be accurate, and the instructions that came with the Prodigy were heavy on warnings that incorrect wiring could destroy the unit.



Thanks.