What brake controller

[rightlaneonly]

OK, I'm confused:? but it doesn't take much. I need a brake controller for my 04 Explorer Sport Trac towing my Aliner trailer. Trailer has brakes and weighs around 1200 loaded. What kind of controller do I want, proportional or time delay. The proportional sounds right but wanna be sure.
What do you guy's especially towing a pop up suggest?
Thanks

[aftermath]

larry barnhart wrote:
I tow with the boost showing both lights lite. I have taken it to the. lower setting if any park was gravel. pull thru site to us means leave boost as it is when towing. chevman

When setting up the controller you should turn off the boost and follow the directions provided to set the gain. You need to be able to stop while doing 20mph on level ground using just the trailer brakes. Adjust the gain until you can stop without locking up wheels nor taking too long to bring everything to a stop.

If you set this correctly then you shouldn't have to run down the road with two light lit. But, and this is another nice thing about the Prodigy, you can set the boost between one and three to meet your needs. If the original setting is not strong enough then you can boost it to a level that you like better. Pretty flexible and easy to find that sweet spot.

[aftermath]

I think you guys are nitpicking this just a bit. Mr. Cummings, you obviously did not like your Prodigy. If it did to me what you claim it did to you I would be right there with you.

The point is, I like mine and I have had to make one panic stop. Not bad for over 40k miles towed. I stomped on the pedal, the inertia thingy took over and stopped my trailer, and truck, in time.

Using the boost feature is quite different. When going down long grades I do not want to stomp on my brake pedal. If I boost the controller then when I tap the brakes, the trailer brakes simply brake with a little more strength. If I had the boost on all the time I would lock them up when driving through town doing 25 mph. This is not a gimmick, and it is not a way to work around a non functioning controller. It is simply a nice feature to make adjustments easy on the go. Perhaps others might chime in and tell me that I am wrong if I am. Again, use what you want to use. I like my Prodigy as do tens of thousands of others. It works for me and I think the OP would be happy using one as well.

[mich800]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

mich800 wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
"When on the road and heading down hills I simply reach down and hit the boost button once. The added braking comes in nicely. "

Sounds nice on paper!!! Having a panic situation with both hands on the wheel not always easy to reach down and hit the little button.

The quote was not using the boost in a panic situation. They simply like the trailer to lead the braking more on the downhill. In a panic situation it is no different than any other controller, built in or otherwise, you find the manual brake lever.

The manual lever is a last resort. My point was you should not need to do anything but hit your brakes.

That was my point.

[larry_barnhart]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

mich800 wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
"When on the road and heading down hills I simply reach down and hit the boost button once. The added braking comes in nicely. "

Sounds nice on paper!!! Having a panic situation with both hands on the wheel not always easy to reach down and hit the little button.

The quote was not using the boost in a panic situation. They simply like the trailer to lead the braking more on the downhill. In a panic situation it is no different than any other controller, built in or otherwise, you find the manual brake lever.

The manual lever is a last resort. My point was you should not need to do anything but hit your brakes.

x2
chevman

[Cummins12V98]

mich800 wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
"When on the road and heading down hills I simply reach down and hit the boost button once. The added braking comes in nicely. "

Sounds nice on paper!!! Having a panic situation with both hands on the wheel not always easy to reach down and hit the little button.

The quote was not using the boost in a panic situation. They simply like the trailer to lead the braking more on the downhill. In a panic situation it is no different than any other controller, built in or otherwise, you find the manual brake lever.

The manual lever is a last resort. My point was you should not need to do anything but hit your brakes.

[larry_barnhart]

I tow with the boost showing both lights lite. I have taken it to the. lower setting if any park was gravel. pull thru site to us means leave boost as it is when towing. chevman

[mich800]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
"When on the road and heading down hills I simply reach down and hit the boost button once. The added braking comes in nicely. "

Sounds nice on paper!!! Having a panic situation with both hands on the wheel not always easy to reach down and hit the little button.

The quote was not using the boost in a panic situation. They simply like the trailer to lead the braking more on the downhill. In a panic situation it is no different than any other controller, built in or otherwise, you find the manual brake lever.

[Cummins12V98]

"When on the road and heading down hills I simply reach down and hit the boost button once. The added braking comes in nicely. "

Sounds nice on paper!!! Having a panic situation with both hands on the wheel not always easy to reach down and hit the little button.

[aftermath]

Mr. Rightlane

I used a P2 in my 4Runner when I towed a hybrid. NEVER had an ounce of trouble with it. When I got my Tundra it came with the plug in pigtail thing. I moved the P2 to the Tundra and hooked it up myself. It was quite easy. I am now towing a heavier trailer and it continues to work flawlessly. I really like the boost settings. When on the road and heading down hills I simply reach down and hit the boost button once. The added braking comes in nicely. It is easy to install, easy to set up and easy to adjust by using the boost. I would think that the P2 would cost less than a P3 but I am not sure.

[mich800]

BarneyS wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:


Yes and it was adjusted properly. You had to change the setting while going thru a Campground or it would put you thru the front windshield. Scary part if U did not return to the heavier setting you basically had NO brakes on the highway.

That certainly was not my experience with it.
Me thinks you exaggerate a bit, or something was not right with either the controller or your trailer brakes.
Barney

Sounds like maybe too much boost. My P2 worked perfectly but if I turned it up to full boost the brakes could be grabby at slower speeds.

[afidel]

Get the prodigy RF, that way you can move it to your next vehicle, a rental, or easily sell it if your next TV has an integrated brake controller. It's basically a P3 that uses an RF link instead of a cable, the increased cost of the unit is offset by not needing professional installation and is easily moved from vehicle to vehicle.

[Cummins12V98]

BarneyS wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Snip... If my MaxBrake would have not worked on my 15 RAM I would have bought the P3. I have owned several Tekonsha controllers over the years but the P2 for ME was not a set n forget controller! Snip...

Are you still using the MaxBrake in your Ram now? My brake controller in my new Ram works perfectly and I kind of wonder why you would not use yours. Does the MaxBrake outperform the stock contoller?

It is a shame that MaxBrake and BrakeSmart are no longer made. They were the best of the bunch in my opinion. By the way, the P3 functions exactly like the P2 and earlier models. It just has more bells and whistles. If you didn't like the P2 then I don't think you would have been satisfied with a P3.
Barney

From what I understand the 15's that tow heavy tend to have issues with their builtin controllers. I was told there was a fix in the works but I was not going to tow any longer with the factory controller as it was a real life safety issue. So I dug out my MaxBrake I had on my 11 RAM Dually. I was able to get the proper brass Tee and hooked it up and it WORKS GREAT!!!

NOTHING on the market works so well. Seamless braking.

Yes a real shame they are no longer in business.

[BarneyS]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Snip... If my MaxBrake would have not worked on my 15 RAM I would have bought the P3. I have owned several Tekonsha controllers over the years but the P2 for ME was not a set n forget controller! Snip...

Are you still using the MaxBrake in your Ram now? My brake controller in my new Ram works perfectly and I kind of wonder why you would not use yours. Does the MaxBrake outperform the stock contoller?

It is a shame that MaxBrake and BrakeSmart are no longer made. They were the best of the bunch in my opinion. By the way, the P3 functions exactly like the P2 and earlier models. It just has more bells and whistles. If you didn't like the P2 then I don't think you would have been satisfied with a P3.
Barney

[Cummins12V98]

BarneyS wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:


Yes and it was adjusted properly. You had to change the setting while going thru a Campground or it would put you thru the front windshield. Scary part if U did not return to the heavier setting you basically had NO brakes on the highway.

That certainly was not my experience with it.
Me thinks you exaggerate a bit, or something was not right with either the controller or your trailer brakes.
Barney

Barney that is exactly how mine worked. I have ZERO reason to exaggerate. My Dad bought it new and that is how it worked for him. All the settings were correct. I have read of others having the same experience but others that have not. If my MaxBrake would have not worked on my 15 RAM I would have bought the P3. I have owned several Tekonsha controllers over the years but the P2 for ME was not a set n forget controller!