Brake Controller Reese vs. Prodigy vs. ???

[jejeosborne]

I would not mix and match. If you have drums stay with drums. Same is true for disc.

Chris

Absolutely, I would replace the other axle as well. I have a car hauler trailer that only came with brakes on one axle. I would put the used set on that second axle. Do you find that the disk brakes are much stronger than the drums? As we have previously discussed on another thread, the drums are not capable of locking a tire with a loaded axle. Do you think a disc brake will lock up a 3500 lb axle wheel with say 2000 lbs (1000 lbs/wheel) on it?

 

[Diamondpilot]

Absolutely, I would replace the other axle as well. I have a car hauler trailer that only came with brakes on one axle. I would put the used set on that second axle. Do you find that the disk brakes are much stronger than the drums? As we have previously discussed on another thread, the drums are not capable of locking a tire with a loaded axle. Do you think a disc brake will lock up a 3500 lb axle wheel with say 2000 lbs (1000 lbs/wheel) on it?

Electric drums will not lock up a loaded trailer most times in my experience but hydraulic drums will sometimes.

As for Disc to Drums comparison its just like on your car. They stop much better today with Disc brakes versus the old Drums. So my answer is yes. I would say 1 Disc axle braked is nearly as good as 2 Drum braked axles.

Maintenance is a breeze, no adjusting, ect. You can service the brakes without removing the hub if you get the right type (some include the hub, some are over the hub), ect. Plus pads are cheap, about $10 per set at Auto Zone.

For these reason and as much as I tow, about 10,000 miles a year, I only have disc brakes except on my 18 car hauler.

Chris

 

[CurlyDave]

Back to the original topic, I put a MaxBrake controller on the F-250 this week and it is the best brake controller I have ever used. Vastly superior to the Prodigy with both my dump trailer and the toy hauler.

I have never tried a factory brake controller, so no comparison there.

Putting a "T" in the hydraulic line is not difficult, and the piece supplied seems well made with little danger of leaking. I wish I could say the same for the sensor, but that piece is at the end of an 8" piece of brake line and has the potential for a lot of vibration which could lead to work hardening of the line and ultimately failure of the line, which would leave the vehicle with no brakes.

I tried to mitigate that by securing the short piece of brake line to the master cylinder to prevent vibration. Just a heads up to anyone who tries a MaxBrake, this is a vital step in installation.

 

[Diamondpilot]

While I agree anything can fail I would put odds on it will not. I have installed a couple of these controllers and I do not see a issue. No more chance than any other part of the factory brake system failing.

As a side note. On a modern brake system there are to seperate circuits, front and back. If it was to fail you would only lose one circuit and you would still have the manual mode on the brake controller to activate the trailers brakes.

Chris

 

[Soundguy]

hmm.. 8" is a pretty good lever.. I've seen plenty of brake line used as fuel line on tractors. vibration cracks, while not at all common.. are certaintly not rare either... especially in unsupported run areas where vibration is present.

( ok.. I hope a modern truck engine has less vibrations under the hood than a farm (old?) tractor see's.. I'll give ya that one for free.. )

I'd strain relief the heck out of it with a stiffener support that touched something else inthe area as a brace, then perhaps some pipe insulation as a buffer...

soundguy