Brake Controller

[Bouma]

I am looking for a new brake controller, mine has finally died. I pull mainly bumper hitch stuff 18'-24' trailers. Any ideas? What has and hasen't worked? Thanks for any input.

 

[Darrenf]

I'm quite pleased with the Prodigy, I think you'll hear quite a few votes in this regard.

 

[jelag]

We've got several trailers and trucks..... we really like a controller that uses a pressure sensor in the brake line to control pressure to the trailer... the brake smart is a great example but very high priced now... and there are a couple of copies that are available...

We tow up to a 20K lb trailer... the key with the pressure sensor type of controller is that when you need a lot braking fast, you get it by applying more pressure to your pedal... .

All of these style controllers have a gain control so that you can very the amount of current to your electric brakes when you first set it up based on overall trailer weight... .

Light pressure gets you light braking and more pressure more brakes... . we like to set them up so that you can feel the trailer start to drag as the truck brakes come on... .

On cold rain and snow roads, this """first tug"" so to speak sort of pulls the trailer straight before the truck comes on... the same way that air brakes work a large truck and trailer... . on the class 8 trucks the crack pressure, (first brake) is the trailer, than the power axles on the tractor and than the steer axle... its all a fraction of a second, but enough to attempt to keep the rig straight... .

Hope this helps. .

 

[Larry Willard]

I agreee with jlag, one that senses the pressure from the master cylinder in the brake lines is best, like we had in the old days. I am using and extremely pleased with the Maxbrake.

Larry

 

[SierraRam]

I used to be sold on the hydraulic actuated controllers but the Prodigy does a great job with a very easy install.

 

[MMeier]

Running Draw Tites Activator III in both of my rigs.

 

[Paddy McMahon]

I'm happy with my Prodigy brake controller that I have had 3 years. I tow pretty light, though, under 10K.

 

[dseabaugh]

On the last 2 trucks, I've had Teknosha Prodigies. The first one the little flapper broke inside and I glued it together and ran it a few more years. This one started having electrical issues after 9 years. I called the company a couple of weeks ago and they told me to send it back and they would send me another. I am still waiting for it. Other than those 2 times I havenot had a problem, they are the greatest ones out there. They don't jerk the daylights out of you when you are stopping. I tow anywhere from ,10,500 empty with a light trailer to 32,000 with the heavier of my 5 trailers loaded and the prodigy works great with all of them.

 

[Gypsyman]

We went from a Jordan on the '03 to a MaxBrake on the '08. Excellent controller!

 

[Grizzly]

After using other brands, I am now sold on the BrakeSmart. I agree with jelag.

 

[CKelley1]

i changed all of mine to the brakesmart. best i have ever used

 

[dseabaugh]

Got back from Indiana today and found UPS had dropped off my new Tekonsha brake controller. They WARRANTEED IT JUST LIKE THEY SAID THEY WOULD! Can't beat someone that keeps their promises! woo hoo!

 

[brods]

We went from a Jordan on the '03 to a MaxBrake on the '08. Excellent controller!

How do the two compare?



For those that do not know, Jordan is/was a cable operated proportional controller that works off the brake pedal. I have one and think it is pretty good. I like the idea of full control with my foot rather than an electronic box trying to react to what has already started to happen.

 

[Red Rocket]

Go for the prodigy...

I have three of the tekonsha prodigy, love them all.



I have to insert my . 02 here in regard to the pedal and pressure actuated units, maybe more of a thought for some others to comment on...



I have noticed, since I live in MN, when I hit ice with my prodigy working, it automatically lets off the brakes, obviously since the truck brakes are less effective. I can only assume that a cable or pressure operated unit might lock up the trailer wheels in this instance, maybe Jacknife??? Any thoughts on this, it's just something I've noticed.



Nick

 

[rcgibson]

Brakesmart, expensive but you get what you pay for!

 

[jelag]

RedRocket... ...



Jacknifing occures when the truck brakes come on first... and the heavier trailer which hasn't started to brake or brakes slower pushs the truck down the road and into a jacknife... .



Class 8 trucks that pull 2 trailers have valves on the trailers with different crack pressures... the crack pressure is the amount of pressure required to start to stop.....



The brakes start to come on from the rear to the front... so the rear trailer axle has the lower crack pressure with the steer axle having the higher crack pressure... .



This happens really fast... a fraction of a second but the idea is to pull the load straight by attempting to slow the last trailer first... .



I personally think that this is a great thing for trailer brakes on 5ers or goosenecks..... let the trailer come on first and straighten the load.....

 

[thashane]

I am no expert, but I agree that a hydraulic sensing brake controller is the most practical and makes the most sense. But the low frequency I tow and a scarce budget I decided to go with a Tekonosha P3.
I have been very happy with it, and it works great for what I need it to. I have the controller in easy reach, if I ever need to activate the manual override. I installed it in place of my ash tray, and it works well and stays out of the way of my large legs.

I would say, whatever you do, stay away from time-delay controllers, if you can afford it, go with a proportional, if you cant justify the added safety, the inertial controllers seem to work for many.
I used time delay controllers on the vehicles this summer, and they worked if you set them up correctly, but watched two others jackknife a load bad because they didn't change the settings from loaded to unloaded. Luckily noone was hurt.

 

[Bernie]

Prodigy

I'm quite pleased with the Prodigy, I think you'll hear quite a few votes in this regard.

I have to agree: I like my Prodigy. I have had two across my last 4 trucks (it would have been only one but the guy that bought my 06 fell in love with it and I had to leave it for him).

I often switch between different trailers, and different loads on those trailers. The digital display of bias and the "boost" functions work well. I can make a note of what setting works best for each trailer/load and quickly go back to it every time I change trailers.

The boost function also seems to add more braking earlier. As a result, you don't need to put a big load on the truck brakes before the accelerometer sees deceleration and activates the trailer brakes. I use the boost on the following settings:
-Boost 1: Trailer lighter or equal to truck weight
-Boost 2: Trailer equal to or 1. 5x heavier than truck weight
-Boost 3: Trailer 1. 5x heavier (or more) than truck weight

Quick install is a plus.

However, I have not used a MaxBrake or similar hydraulic sensing product so I can't comment. My only concern with those is if you are using engine braking and just touching the brakes you won't get trailer braking to match you actual deceleration because the system won't see much hydraulic pressure. The accelerometer base Prodigy works very well for that and has the digital bias and boost functions I mentioned above.

Hope this helps!