โFeb-05-2018 08:18 PM
โFeb-26-2018 12:04 PM
4bamayoungs wrote:BurbMan wrote:
Question: did you buy your trailer new or used? The reason I ask is that if used, the previous owner may have had an electronic sway control installed. These are motion-sensing gyro devices that will activate the trailer brakes when a sway condition is detected.
Link to Dexter Sway control
Link to Hayes Electronic Sway Control
If you felt like the trailer braes activated, they very well may have. The groaning you heard would have been weight distributing hitch straightening out suddenly in response to the trailer brakes coming on.
If you bought the rig used, the previous owner may have had one of these installed and that info wasn't passed along as part of the resale to you.
Interesting. I bought it used from a dealer. The trailer is at a storage lot, but Iโll make a trip out there and look around.
โFeb-26-2018 11:08 AM
BenK wrote:
And all of those old MC PSI based controllers are no longer on the market...
Like accelerometer based much better over MC PSI sensed
All of the braking system designed in an earlier career used fluid PSI sensors and most all of those sensors leaked over time. First they became flaky...then intermittent...then failure where fluid would leak all over the place. Granted, it was circa 1970's-1980's and maybe the sensor package is better...but they still work the same way
โFeb-26-2018 10:31 AM
โFeb-26-2018 06:14 AM
BurbMan wrote:Lynnmor wrote:
The day of accelerometer controlled brake controls needs to come to an end. Brakes should be controlled by the driver, not brake light switches, and the ability of the tow vehicle to decelerate... or not. Talking about milliseconds of "lead" time, is meaningless. Truck manufacturers have installed brake controllers that are far superior than the aftermarket guesswork controllers.
OK so you know you are describing how accelerometer-controlled brake controls work, right? How do you think OEM controllers work? Same as the prodigy, but that have the advantage of being engineered into factory ABS and other functions.
You may be confusing the older "timed" controls that were common before the accelerometer chip became mainstream.
Obviously you don't tow a big trailer or you wouldn't think that the lead time provided by the P2 is "meaningless".
I would agree that OEM integrated controllers are better, but they have only been available for a few years. The technology in the Prodigy products is far from "guesswork". Your comment is analogous to telling someone who wants to learn how to parallel park to just go buy a car that does it for you....a) you have taught that person nothing, and b) not everybody has unlimited resources to go do that.
โFeb-26-2018 04:43 AM
Lynnmor wrote:
The day of accelerometer controlled brake controls needs to come to an end. Brakes should be controlled by the driver, not brake light switches, and the ability of the tow vehicle to decelerate... or not. Talking about milliseconds of "lead" time, is meaningless. Truck manufacturers have installed brake controllers that are far superior than the aftermarket guesswork controllers.
โFeb-25-2018 05:22 AM
โFeb-25-2018 02:52 AM
4bamayoungs wrote:
Hello, folks. Been an RV'er for a little over two years, and had an experience about seven months ago that prompted me to join this forum just to get your thoughts on it. I grew up towing EVERYTHING on farms and spent a career in the military driving heavy equipment, so when it came time for a new family adventure I salivated at the thought of cruising around the country towing a small house! I needed something that would pull the TT well, but also have room for two teenagers and a set of 2 year-old twins. After much research I outfitted the crew with a 2012 Suburban with full towing package, a Tekonsha P2 brake controller, and a 32' Coachmen Freedom Express. Two years down the road and I love, love, love all three. I am pretty good at operating this size rig, but like any bonehead that has developed a level of skill I got a little over-confident on a long trip, and we set out with full water tanks a little heavier than normal. We were going to boondock at a Wal-Mart the first night, and I wanted a shower the next morning. (Stupid. Now I know.) About 20 miles down the road, I had to move left in the lane to avoid a recap in the road and it started a sway that despite all my concentration kept amplifying and within a few seconds it became obvious that I was in trouble. The sway got worse and worse until it was more like a whiplash effect and I was already starting to decide which side of the interstate I wanted to go off. Suddenly there was a loud groaning noise and the trailer snatched the Suburban back straight. The noise went away and I was driving serenely along my merry way again. After the shakes went away and I finished my thanksgiving prayers, I evaluated all the sensations I felt and it was pretty obvious that the trailer brakes had activated to stop the sway. After some limited research however, I have not been able to figure out if this was a safety feature of the brake controller or the Suburban. Can anyone shed a little light for me?
โFeb-24-2018 09:47 PM
4bamayoungs wrote:BenK wrote:
But...if he kept his foot on the pedal all the while this was happening (maybe unconsciously...reflexively)...it could explain the why of this
All why IMHO, think is what happened during the OP's event experience
I would have to say that me moving my foot to the brake and inadvertently applying enough pressure to activate the brake light is plausible. I usually donโt set the brake controller to lead Ike that, though. The trailer brakes grabbing before the TV brakes bothers me. Could it be that I activated the brake lights and the P2 detected the momentum shift of a sway and interpreted it as deceleration?
โFeb-24-2018 08:00 PM
BenK wrote:
But...if he kept his foot on the pedal all the while this was happening (maybe unconsciously...reflexively)...it could explain the why of this
All why IMHO, think is what happened during the OP's event experience
โFeb-24-2018 07:53 PM
BurbMan wrote:
Question: did you buy your trailer new or used? The reason I ask is that if used, the previous owner may have had an electronic sway control installed. These are motion-sensing gyro devices that will activate the trailer brakes when a sway condition is detected.
Link to Dexter Sway control
Link to Hayes Electronic Sway Control
If you felt like the trailer braes activated, they very well may have. The groaning you heard would have been weight distributing hitch straightening out suddenly in response to the trailer brakes coming on.
If you bought the rig used, the previous owner may have had one of these installed and that info wasn't passed along as part of the resale to you.
โFeb-23-2018 06:31 PM
โFeb-23-2018 07:19 AM
โFeb-23-2018 05:19 AM
Wishin wrote:
If the boost level is on, it will brake some even if the tow vehicle is not braking, right? I know on my P2 it takes little to no tow vehicle braking to feel the trailer brakes come on if it is on Boost 1 or 2.
โFeb-22-2018 06:32 PM
BurbMan wrote:
Yes, they lead but if no deceleration is detected immediately they back off.