Brake Controllers

[stick]

Plug-it-Right

They are members here on the TDR, and great service.



Stick

 

[JMetzger]

Thanks Stick I will give them a try.

 

[HBarlow]

MaxBrake™ - Hydraulic over Electric Variable Brake Controller

The MaxBrake website shows an option to click on to order online.

I'm sorry to hear that SouthWest Wheel doesn't sell them any longer. Didn't know that.

 

[HBarlow]

Jack,

Did someone at SWW tell you they no longer sell the MaxBrake? I opened their website and found it still displayed and offered for sale at $350 pr $315 of two or more are ordered.

https://www.southwestwheel.com/stor...oductID=3084&SEName=maxbrake-brake-controller

 

[JMetzger]

Yes Harvey read my post #20. They have replaced it with that DirectLink Brake Controler. I know I was on their web site & they still show it but try to order it. That is why I sent them an e-mail & that was there reply to me from Darrick Sweeden of Southwest Wheel.

 

[HBarlow]

Sorry, I didn't see or read the message from SWW.

The new Direct Link is nothing more than another plug and play gimmick, suitable for use as a paper weight when winds are light.

Hydraulic brake line pressure is NOT available in a car or light truck's computer system! Hydraulic brake line pressure is the ONLY accurate measurement of what the driver is calling for.

 

[JMetzger]

You are right Harvey. Stick told me about Plug It Right & I think I will contact them as they are TDR members. I know you are old enough to remember the old Kelsy-Hayes hydraulic-electric. I had one on my 76 Plymouth van & it worked great but then came modern know how with the electronic controllers & Dual master cylinders & it ain't been the same since like a lot of other things. I have never liked them & I wonder why Southwest Wheel dropped the Max Brake.

 

[ewcmr2]

When I park my rig, I have to back it down a hill in my yard, my old controller was going all out at 2 MPH backwards because my truck (assumed reason) was tilted downhill backwards, very strong trailer application.

Backing UPhill or DOWNhill?

Backing downhill would apply very little trailer brake, the inertia controller thinking truck is accelerating with the front end up.

 

[GCroyle]

Backing UPhill or DOWNhill?

Backing downhill would apply very little trailer brake, the inertia controller thinking truck is accelerating with the front end up.

Down hill.



That's my . 02$.

 

[HBarlow]

You are right Harvey. Stick told me about Plug It Right & I think I will contact them as they are TDR members. I know you are old enough to remember the old Kelsy-Hayes hydraulic-electric. I had one on my 76 Plymouth van & it worked great but then came modern know how with the electronic controllers & Dual master cylinders & it ain't been the same since like a lot of other things. I have never liked them & I wonder why Southwest Wheel dropped the Max Brake.

Jack,

I certainly do remember them. I used a Kelsey-Hayes hydraulic-electric controller from 1972 when I bought my first travel trailer through the '70s. I was again using one in the late '90s on a '94 Ford F-250 pulling a triple axle Airstream until I bought my '01 Ram. I installed and used it briefly on my '01 Dodge but the higher brake line pressure of the four wheel disc brakes and large calipers of the Dodge was tough on the K-H controller. Normal braking would slam the potentiometer lever so hard it would have destroyed the controller.

I gave it to a former TDR member for use on his '01 Dodge dually with front disc/rear drum brakes. He has used it for a couple of years now.

The K-H controller definitely can be used with dual master cylinders, ABS brakes, even front disc/rear drum brake systems but could not tolerate a four wheel disc brake dually with big brakes.

 

[SearsK]

I really hate to say this but I AGREE with Harvey for once. I had an old KH brake controller with a "T" at the master cylinder attached to a transducer that sensed the fluid pressure. It gave you real "brake control". They also had a version that had a version that had a pedal that attached to the brake pedal. A rheostat was in the pedal that applied current to the trailer brakes, depending on how hard you pushed on the brake pedal. Both of these systems worked better than any proportional brake system on the market today.

 

[HBarlow]

I am always glad to hear from someone who agrees with me, even reluctantly, even when he disagrees with me the other 99% of the time. Facts are facts, even between two guys who don't usually agree.

The modern BrakeSmarts and MaxBrakes work exactly like the old K-H you and I are familiar with. The only difference is the BS and MB use an electronic microprocessor instead of a swinging internal lever attached to a rheostat to provide the braking signal.

 

[CKelley1]

that is correct harvey, but the bs and mb have an advantage over the K-H in the fact the bs and mb can sense the # of axel brake's attached and set the resistance accordingly.

 

[HBarlow]

CKelley,

That's a good point. I've occasionally wondered how the brake controllers do that.

 

[GCroyle]

that is correct harvey, but the bs and mb have an advantage over the K-H in the fact the bs and mb can sense the # of axel brake's attached and set the resistance accordingly.

Let's have a bit of fun too, I wonder how my MaxBrake senses the axles on my trailer when I have hydraulic brakes and two axles!



One thing I looked at the MaxBrake and SWW sites and remember JMetzgers e-mail copy from SWW, can someone still get a new MaxBrake, looks confusing.



Gary

 

[richardcoxid]

x2 on "Plug it Right" Dianne is very helpfull to work with, everthing that I ordered was shipped on time and delivered as schedualed!



X2 on tne subject that Max Brake IS THE ONLY brake controller that is worth buying! Everything else would make a good paper weight.



I too remember the K-H controller that was actually a resistor pad about 1/2 inch thick and about the same W and L as your brake peddle as I remember a couple large rubber bands held it on the brake peddle. The harder ypu pressed the more voltage was sent to the brakes, Truly proportional! It was the introduction of Anti-lock brekes that killed it.

 

[SearsK]

I am always glad to hear from someone who agrees with me, even reluctantly, even when he disagrees with me the other 99% of the time. Facts are facts, even between two guys who don't usually agree.



Not 99%, but a lot of times

 

[HBarlow]

x2 on "Plug it Right" Dianne is very helpfull to work with, everthing that I ordered was shipped on time and delivered as schedualed!

X2 on tne subject that Max Brake IS THE ONLY brake controller that is worth buying! Everything else would make a good paper weight.

I too remember the K-H controller that was actually a resistor pad about 1/2 inch thick and about the same W and L as your brake peddle as I remember a couple large rubber bands held it on the brake peddle. The harder ypu pressed the more voltage was sent to the brakes, Truly proportional! It was the introduction of Anti-lock brekes that killed it.

The Kelsey-Hayes controllers I've owned and used mounted under the dash just like brake controllers of today. Input to them was provided by brake line hydraulic pressure which was tapped off a brake line using a Tee fitting in the brake line. I never wanted or used one that attached to the brake pedal.

ABS brakes didn't prevent use of the K-H brake controllers nor did disc brakes. Many people were told and accepted those false claims by those who wanted to sell them inertia-activated controllers like the useless Tekonsha Voyager and later variations.

As I have posted here many times, I successfully used an old-fashioned but new in the box K-H hydraulic line pressure sensing brake controller on my '94 Furd F-250 with front disc and rear ABS brakes from about 1996 or 1997 towing Airstreams until I bought my first Dodge-Cummins in June of 2001.

I had two K-H hydraulic over electric controllers. One still sits on a shelf in my building out back, the other has been installed on a friend's 2001 Ram dually with front disc and rear drum ABS brakes. He tows a large fifthwheel with it and is very pleased with the performance of the K-H controller that any RV dealer and most RV owners in the nation will happily tell anyone can't be done.

 

[HBarlow]

I am always glad to hear from someone who agrees with me, even reluctantly, even when he disagrees with me the other 99% of the time. Facts are facts, even between two guys who don't usually agree.

Not 99%, but a lot of times

I'll settle for whatever small percentage of agreement I can get. Thanks for agreeing on that one.

 

[JMetzger]

Just ordered a Max Brake from Plug-It-Right. Talked to Diana for a while, seems like a neat woman & real sincere in her & Husbands business dealings.