Trailer Brake Controller - what type

[hayden]

Not clear this is the right forum for this question, but here goes....

What experience do people have with the two types of electric brake controllers, specifically "inertia" controllers and "fixed" controllers.

Inertia controllers detect the rate of decelleration (how hard you are braking) and adjust the braking of the trailer accordingly. These often use pendulums or other moving mechnism as the basis for controlling the brakes.

Fixed controllers always apply a fixed braking load on the trailer brakes when the tow vehicle's brakes are applied. There is an adjustment on the control to set how much the trailer brakes come on, but you set it according to the trailer load and once set you get the same braking whether you lightly tap the brakes or land on them hard.

It seems obvious to me that inertia control is the way to go, but I'm finding that the fixed controls are much more prevalent and am wodering if I'm missing something.

I've talked to one friend who trailers a large camper and has tried both and says to only consider an inertia controller.

Other thoughts?

 

[gordon]

It comes down to driving style on what type of controller will work best for you. The reason I say this is because if you ride you brake pedal lightly a dc ramp style controller will have your trailer brakes stopping the tow vehicle and thats not good. Alot of people do this and don't even realize that they are doing it.

I take it the dc ramp style is the fixed controller your talking about. How they usually work is when the brake pedal is applied dc current is slowly raised up to full braking power for the trailer brakes. Now personally I don't like a (fixed) controller.Only one person at the shop likes the fixed controller, the rest prefer the pendulum style. We have one in one of the companies diesel pickups. The rest of the tow vehicles have The pendulums style controller which almost all of us prefer.

When we tow trailers alot of different ones that are different sizes both old and new, single axle to tri axle. We also install alot of brake controllers in customers tow vehicles It seems that the pendulum style controller is more adjustable to the different size loads and also the different conditions. We now only install the pendulum style controllers in customers vehicles after alot of brake lock up and overheating problems with the ramp style controller.

Now that is my choice of controllers I believe that some others on this board love the dc ramp style, but I don't like that style and in my own truck I have a Pendulum style controller. If that means anything.

Hope this didn't confuse you more!
Gordon

 

[hayden]

Not confusing at all. That's one more clear vote for pedulum controllers.

Any brand or model suggestions?

 

[gordon]

At this time I would lean toward the Techonsia (spelling police come get me).
Gordon

 

[Bird]

Gordon, I think it's spelled Tekonsha (wouldn't want to bet a lot on it though) and it was my favorite, too. I've used both types and at least 3 different brands over the years and you couldn't give me one of the so called "fixed" ones again. That was the first type I ever had in 1972; don't remember the brand name. And then I liked the Kelsey-Hayes model that tied into the tow vehicle's hydraulic brakes (a "T" in the brake line at the master cylinder) in the late 70s, but not anymore with modern vehicle braking systems. That Tekonsha pendulum was the best of the lot.

Bird

 

[scruffy]

Bird, if you ever towed or investigated an accident where the hydraulic brake fluid line broke on one of the hydraulic type, and had to hike down over the hillside 200 feet to the wrecked vehicle and rv, you wouldn't appreciate that type of controller. They can be the cause of a fatal accident.

 

[Bird]

Yeah, Scruffy, if any hydraulic brake line breaks, you've got a serious problem. The type of controller I was talking about was mounted under the dash, as most are, and had a steel hydraulic line that ran through the firewall to a "T" on the master cylinder, so the more pressure you put on the brake pedal, the more current a rheostat supplied to the electric trailer brakes. I've never known or heard of one having a problem, but I don't even know whether they still make and sell that type nowadays. I don't think you'd want to try to use such on the modern vehicles though. I used that type on a 1972 3/4 ton Chev., a '70 Olds sedan, and a '72 Chrysler Town & Country Station Wagon.

Bird

 

[MChalkley]

Hayden - I've used about everything there is at one time or another. I never liked the electric inertia ones because they have a tendency to jerk and are finicky about leveling. Despite what the manufacturers may claim, they're very touchy, and rolling terrain tends to affect them, too. Also, you can't actuate the trailer brakes without the truck's, and if you've ever had a poorly ballanced trailer go into oscillation, you'll understand how important it is to be able to activate only the trailer brakes without taking your hands off the wheel. Additionally, because they work off the braking effect of the truck, they're not very usefull as a redundant system. I never liked the electric ramp-up types, either, because they make you do the herky-jerky routine to slow down. Both of them suffer the major disadvantage of applying the trailer brakes later than the truck's (though the ramp-up type is the worst of the two), which is a very dangerous condition in emergency stops, and usually leads to jack-knifing the rig. Hydraulic brakes that connect to the truck's system usually work quite well, but I don't like to tap into the truck's hydraulics very much. Hydraulic surge brakes that work by inertia have most of the same problems with electric inertia brakes, plus generally make it very difficult to back the trailer up, though there are setups that supposedly tame this problem a bit.

The controller I've used for the last year or so, and the only one I'd ever use again, is the Jordan Research Ultima 2000. It works by means of a small wire that connects the controller to the brake pedal. The more you push the pedal down, the more current is sent to the trailer's brakes. This has many advantages: First, you can easily adjust the cable so the trailer brakes are activated first, which is the only safe way to slow a truck and trailer combo. Second, you can easily, and naturally, regulate the braking on the trailer by means of the pedal. This has a lot of advantages, too, which I'm sure you can figure out for yourself. And a bunch of other benefits I've gotten used to and expect, but I won't waste any more bandwidth unless I'm asked to.

Another major advantage to the Jordan brake controllers: They have a real honest-to-goodness ammeter on the panel. This lets you know at a glance exactly what's going on with the trailer brakes. Once you establish a benchmark, with all brakes known to be working, if anything ever goes wrong, you'll know it. If something shorts out, the amperage will be high and the display will flash as the overload sensor cycles. If a wire breaks, or a brake electomagnet burns out for some reason, the amperage will be low. There's no need for a switch to set this controller to 2-4-6 brakes, either - you just set the maximum amount of current you want the controller to send to the trailer by means of a convenient knob on the front of the controller. Turn it up for more brakes, or a heavier load, down for fewer brakes or lighter loades.

I could rave on and on about this controller and Jordan's customer service (I was one of the original beta-testers for this model - how that happened is an interesting story, too), but suffice it to say: I wouldn't have anything else now that this one is available.

MarkC

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>you can't actuate the trailer brakes without the truck's</font color=blue>

Mark, you can actuate the trailer brakes without the truck's with the Tekonsha. I agree that I wouldn't want a controller that didn't allow that.

And of course, I bought my last controller in 1989, never heard of the Jordan except on this forum, so I might like it (or other newer ones) better; just don't know. But I do know I really liked that Tekonsha. And it was adjustable. I replaced the 3500# axles with 10" brakes on my 5th wheel with 5200# axles and 12" brakes, then adjusted downward on the controller to work smoothly with the truck brakes. And I never had any jerky motion with the brakes, even when I locked up the trailer brakes once. And logically, it does seem that rolling terrain should affect it, but I never noticed any effect and I towed that trailer to Alaska and back twice, so I drove just about every kind of terrain imaginable.

Bird

 

[heehaw]

i "had" the fixed type of brake controller; it finally quit working so i paid a little more an went with the other type, sure wish i hadn't...i like/liked being able to just touch the brake pedal enough to turn on the brake lights and get the trailer to do the slowing down..i will go back to the fixed type when i can justify the $$.
heehaw