electric brake controllers?

[Stihlrunner]

I have had a Prodigy in my last few tow rigs, by far the best I've used. Angle of installation doesn't matter, controls multiple axles, doesn't apply in reverse. Never had one fail.

 

[meburdick]

I have a Tekonsha Prodigy P2 controller. It's not their top of the line but it's a very good controller. It knows not to apply the brakes when your only going a couple of miles an hour, say in stop and go traffic. A real nice feature as without it you'll be turning down the gain and if you forget to reset it once back on the highway and need to stop you could be in real trouble. It's pretty much a plug it in and go controller. I've heard that there are only a few companies that make these controllers and most just buy from the few that do. In the case of Tekonsha they are owned by a company that also owns Reese, Hidden Hitch, Fulton so it's name brand. I would buy another one.

Sort of.... These are inertia-controlled, so you do need to be moving and slowing down "fast enough" for the inertia to trigger the controller. It isn't "smart" by any stretch.

I have the P3. While the P2 can me mounted in just about any position you could imagine, it works ONLY with electric brakes. My P3 has to be mounted horizontally along the travel axis (it can't be "crooked" from front to back) but is flexible along the vertical mounting axis. It handles electric or hydraulic over electric brakes.

It also has variable boost control so that you can add additional braking power with a manual level under the controller in an emergency situation (or apply the trailer brakes without the vehicle brakes at all - like if your trailer gets a little squirrely on you out on the highway), or you can choose additional boost for when the equipment is on the trailer versus when it isn't. VERY easy to change settings, different colors on the display to match your vehicle lighting, and it was only about $10 more than the P2.

I got mine from Hitch Anything. If your Truck is pre-wired, you may be able to use a quick-connect cable instead of splicing wires (like I was able to on my Tundra). And, your truck might have even come with a harness (I used my Tundra's harness and spliced it to the Tekonsha harness to give me the exact length of cable I needed to mount my controller in the center of my dash).

 

[meburdick]

I have had a Prodigy in my last few tow rigs, by far the best I've used. Angle of installation doesn't matter, controls multiple axles, doesn't apply in reverse. Never had one fail.

Not true, true, not true. Or, at least, "depends".

The P3 is capable of applying brakes in reverse (why wouldn't you want the additional braking control from the trailer when you're backing up?). The P2 doesn't have limits on installation angles, but the P3 does - it must be mounted horizontally along the axis of travel. The controllers tend to be able to control brakes on up to four axles, but some are only two.

 

[tlbuser]

however.. in 90% of the issues. it's true.. looking at al the brake controllers out there. if the model is not pendulum or tied to the brake pressure line.. it's timed. the vast majority on the shelf are timed. all of those 'vast majority' work virtually the same.

you have a sensitivity setting..and in some cases onset speed control. many have some sort of fault detection. in the end. most of them just make power for the brakes when you hit the pedal.

in most cases.. that's all ya need.

Based on? Industry data, NHTSA, FMCSA data, personal opinion?

 

[Soundguy]

based on having a brain and being able to read a manual and having a few different types of controllers, and an elecgtronics background.

 

[meburdick]

based on having a brain and being able to read a manual and having a few different types of controllers, and an elecgtronics background.

Almost everything that I came across was based on a timing circuit in terms of *when* they would apply braking force and a pendulum or other item to detect momentum change of the tow vehicle to determine *how much* force was applied.

What was your "in 90% of the issues" comment geared toward? I don't follow where that was headed.

 

[Soundguy]

Almost everything that I came across was based on a timing circuit in terms of *when* they would apply braking force and a pendulum or other item to detect momentum change of the tow vehicle to determine *how much* force was applied.

What was your "in 90% of the issues" comment geared toward? I don't follow where that was headed.

go hit a store.. look on the shelves.. the common brake controllers you see for sale at 120$ and down are timed. go from 100 up to about 250$ and you get some timing and pendulum.. and from there you can get the hyd units.. etc.

what do 'most' people buy? the cheaper units. how do I know this? because that's what stores stock. they stock what sells.

if you see 3 cheap controllers and 1 mid grade and no expensive ones.. that tells you that store is selling mostly cheap controllers becuase that's what people will buy.

if that's what's being bought.. that's what's being used.

easy to bellcurve this one without doing too much brain work.....

the local trailer place that I got my horse trailer and my GN from also does controller instalations and wiring. the most common controller they sell is a sub 100$ ( in fact.. if you get it installed it is 100$ exactly.. labor and pigtail and all ).. drawtight activator II. past that the tsc and a-zone are selling hoppy units.. i see walmart switched to a differnt type than hoppy.. or looks different.. smaller.. might be polack or just repackaged. it's sub 100$ as well.

timed controllers are cheap and in most ( 'bell curve' ) towing situations.. they work. IE.. joe schmoe has a trailer with brakes he hauls firewood home or his lawnmower tot he shop.. or some garbage cans tot he dump, or his yard sale find items home. the 'average ( bellcurve again ).. user is going to be within the law and fine operating a cheap controller.

now.. hit the top end.. push the limits.. big trailers.. large loads.. bad driving conditions.. you start pushing the average out of the envelope and you start to see issues. issues that might be handled better by a better controller.


think of this.

mr joe schmoe hauls his trailer 1 hr a month taking the trash tot he dump.. small 1 axle trailer.. low load, in his f150. even if someone pulls out in front of him.. chances are his truck brakes alone are enough to stop his 3100# trailer.

lets up that.. bob jones across the street is on the road 5 days a week pulling a 14k or 20k gn. for his cattle farm and mowign business. he see's lots of road time.. lets say.. 20+ hours a week. with his 80 hours of road time.. vs joe's 1 hr.. he's how many more times likely to see a road hazard???? easy math here.

now.. also.. with that large trailer loaded heavy... he can benefit from a more sophisticated brake controller.

joe doesn't need a 350$ maxxibrake hyd brake hookup to pull his trash can hauler to the dump 5 mintes down the road.. he simply won't see any tangible benifits from the extra 250+$ of controller... he hits his brakes and his trialer applies them.... BoB, pulling a 35' gn loaded with 2 100hp tractors.. or a stock trailer full of hamburger DOES likely want a smarter controller, and CAN benefit from it.


i'd wager there are more 'joe' than 'bob' ont he road. at least in my area anyway. looking at what goes past my window.. it's a plethora of small trailers.. occasional big non commercial rigs. a few commercial rigs that would be illegal no matter what controller was on them ( probably no brakes or lamps hooked up anyway ).. and then the semi tractor trailers.

i don't live in farm community.. OR a big city... i'm in between with small city with outlieing farm areas.... if I lived a bit more rural.. i'd likely see more large 'homeowner / estate rigs that would liekly benefit from at least a medium grade controller ).


i can tell you this observation:

f250 diesel hoppy 35$ controller.. timed

f350 diesel drawtight ?65$ controller.. timed

f450 diesel, prodigy ?100+$ controller.. pendulum ( air bag suspension )

when hauling a 7k trailer with brakes on any of the 3.. i get EXACTLY the same performance out of the 3 different controllers.

when hauling my 14k GN with the 350 and the 450, the biggest difference i notice is the ride with the air bag suspension is nicer. having made panic stops with both the 350 and 450, i do notice the advanced features of the better controller.. however if the basic one got me stopped too... obviously if i was on the road more.. for the heck of it i'd want the better controller.

for in state and local stuff and day trips... both work fine... ( bell curve / most )

 

[meburdick]

My P3 Tekonsha is combo because it will adjust the amount of braking force based on speed decrease rate, and will also reduce braking force when you're stopped.

 

[BobG_in_VA]

My P3 Tekonsha is combo because it will adjust the amount of braking force based on speed decrease rate, and will also reduce braking force when you're stopped.

I had a 10 year old Reese.....didn't like it when I was hauling a load on the trailer...got a P3....Man,,,,what a nice controller! bobg in va

 

[mvwicker]

Got a Tekonsha P3 for a Honda Ridgeline and a 7k hauler with one brake axle. The truck came with half the cable and the P3 had the other half. Splicing them together and installing the bracket under the dash took a morning, mostly deciding where it should go and reading the instructions umpteen times from paranoia.

When not using it, it gets unplugged and lives in the console, because it always gets juice even with the engine off. It takes 30 seconds to reach under the dash, fish out the cable, plug it in, and click the controller into its bracket. There is a power-up self test, and if the unit is left plugged in with the engine off it goes to sleep at minimal current drain.

Haven't had a panic stop yet, but the unit displays (in your choice of designer colors!) a voltage going out to the trailer brakes that corresponds to perceived braking effort. I can lock up the trailer brakes using the manual lever to check the system.