Brake Controllers

[Alan P.]

Some years ago when watching a debate about brake contollers, their seemed to be some consensus that the Prodigy was the best (if a bit more expensive than some). Looking at advertizements it still sounds like it has important features such as easier mounting and proportional braking. Or is there now something better?

I'm looking for a hitch for a 2004 Sienna as well. Hidden hitch seems to be reasonable and appears to have a bracket to hold the Round 7 wiring. Any opinions on hitches wiring and controllers?

Also the best place to buy these in Canada?

Alan in Ottawa

[BobB]

Prodigy is still as good as any. The one that comes with the big Ford p/u trucks gets raves. Not sure if you can get something comparable to that aftermarket. Seems I've heard of 1-2 others that were deemed superior, but can't think of names. Prodigy is $95 at RV Wholesalers. www.rvwholesalers.com 1-877-877-4494. I have a Prodigy.

[Joy A]

<<I have a Prodigy.>>

Me too.

I found reason other than braking that I like the Prodigy.

It does a little scan to each brake every so often. That's just to make sure everything is copacetic. Any way, when it scans, it ticks. This ticking remind me that I've forgotten to unplug the umbilical from the tow.

[Alan P.]

Graphics
The controller I use now is a basic one, mounted down near my left knee somewhere. It has a slider to adjust intensity. Tiny black on black graphics that nobody could possible see. So I have to test, re-set, re-test etc. till I get it sort of where I want it. I understand a Prodigy has a digital readout which is easy to read and the digital number should have the same braking effect on a given pair of tow car and trailer?

Lock-up
With the controller I have now, when I'm getting really strong tailer-braking at high speed, I often get lock-up on dusty or wet surfaces and at the last moment before coming to a stop.
The Prodigy advetizements also promote a feature which seems to suggest that the brakes come on with greater intensity the harder the brake pedal is pushed. It implies that the Prodigy would then sense lighter pressure when nearing a stop (in normal braking situation) and would lighten the braking effect - presumably avoiding lock-up of the trailer wheels at very low speed. Do I understand this feature correctly and does it really work?

[BobB]

More thoughts on Prodigy after the morning coffee.

Joy brought up the diagnostic capability. The Prodigy can tell you about the integrity of your brake wiring and whether it is functioning correctly.

I originally had a time-delay controller that the local guru "The Car Doctor" provided. It was jerky and I didn't like it. Avoid anyone who calls himself "The Car Doctor".

Some time later the previous owner of my trailer removed his Tekonsha Voyager and brought it to me. The voyager was smooth like a Prodigy, but lacked the diagnostic capability. A light changed color when the brakes were applied.

After purchasing a new tug in 2005 I had a Prodigy installed. The 800 number is very helpful if you have any questions, like which wire on the stoplight switch do I connect it to? You get to talk to a real person! The Prodigy works in reverse as well, handy if you find yourself going too fast down a hill in reverse. Is Cequent the brand in Canada?

[Herb P]

yourself going too fast down a hill in reverse. Is Cequent the brand in Canada?

Yes, the one I just bought has 'Cequent' molded into the plastic on the bottom but "Tekonsha" all over the documentation.

[Yves Pelchat]

Some years ago when watching a debate about brake contollers, their seemed to be some consensus that the Prodigy was the best (if a bit more expensive than some). Looking at advertizements it still sounds like it has important features such as easier mounting and proportional braking. Or is there now something better?

I'm looking for a hitch for a 2004 Sienna as well. Hidden hitch seems to be reasonable and appears to have a bracket to hold the Round 7 wiring. Any opinions on hitches wiring and controllers?

Also the best place to buy these in Canada?

Alan in Ottawa

I also got a prodigy installed in my Astro.

Yves.

[Charlie C]

I used a Tekonsha Voyager for over 15 years and it worked very well. The 1 unit had been moved up through various vehicles over the years.

When I got my last vehicle I decided it was time for a newer, more modern unit so got the Tekonsha Prodigy and it works well also and is a little easier to set up.

Cequent is the Mother Ship, they own several companies in the Trailer Towing Accessory business covering about 70% of the names we see on these sites.

[Brian B-P]

Like Herb, I noticed that my Prodigy is moulded with the Cequent name, but labeled and packaged as a Tekonsha. The same controller is also sold by another Cequent company as a Draw-Tite "Intella-Stop™ Ultra". Similar functionality is available in one model from Valley (a.k.a. Husky) as well.

The P3 is the newest better-than-Prodigy model from Cequent - see Want a Prodigy Brake Controller (v. 2.6) for a recent discussion of the two models.

I believe that Alan's lock-up problem is result of using a primitive time-delay controller, like the one Bob got rid of. In my opinion, these are just junk; they were the best thing available when my trailer was built... but that was 1979. I use a Prodigy.

As for the Sienna hitch... as with the other Sienna question, I'll refer to SiennaClub.org, and its Towing sub-forum.

The Ford Super-Duty built-in controller is fundamentally different, as it is controlled by the truck's brake system pressure, rather than measuring deceleration. It is not a practical retrofit option for any other vehicle, but if I had a Ford with one, I would probably use it rather than adding a different type of controller.

[Greg A]

If anyone needs a Prodigy brake controller or has bought one since May 1, 2007 I found the following deals:

$20 rebate from Tekonsha May till August
http://www.tekonsha.com/files/Prodig...s%20Rebate.pdf

$95.99 for the brake controller until June 8
http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-hitc...controllers.htm

With shipping is $104.72-20 rebate 84.72 delivered no tax outside TX.

Best deal I've found for the Prodigy if I read it right.

[Brian B-P]

...The Prodigy advetizements also promote a feature which seems to suggest that the brakes come on with greater intensity the harder the brake pedal is pushed. It implies that the Prodigy would then sense lighter pressure when nearing a stop (in normal braking situation) and would lighten the braking effect - presumably avoiding lock-up of the trailer wheels at very low speed. Do I understand this feature correctly and does it really work?

I re-read this thread and realized that no one directly answered this question. The Prodigy and all other "acceleration proportional" controllers apply braking power to the trailer in proportion to how hard you are decelerating - not how hard the pedal is pushed, but how rapidly the speed is decreasing. So, yes, it avoids locking the trailer wheels in moderate stops, at any speed.

There are controllers which are also "proportional", but work in proportion to how far the brake pedal is pushed (Jordan) or how hard the pedal is pushed (Ford Super-Duty optional built-in controller, and maybe one aftermarket brand). All common aftermarket proportional controllers, though, respond to deceleration.

[jerry l elven]

I pull a 17 foot Escape trailer with either a Nissan Frontier or a Ford Windstar. I use a Prodigy brake controller. Once it is set up when you are driving you just drive normal and it all works like you weren't towing anything. Kind of like a no think situation you push on the brake pedal and it slows down just like all you are driving is the car. I like it you don't have to think when a situation comes up just react normal. Jerry

[Loren G. Hedahl]

For sure Prodigy is a good brake controller.

But you really should check out a Jordan. A lot of folks consider them a cut or two above a Prodigy. I agree with them.

Loren

[Byron Kinnaman]

For sure Prodigy is a good brake controller.

But you really should check out a Jordan. A lot of folks consider them a cut or two above a Prodigy. I agree with them.

Loren

It appears that the Jordan works completely differently than the Prodigy.

Jordan... Mechanical link to the brake pedal. Pedal movement to apply brakes and the amount of braking.
Prodigy.. Electrical link to brake lights to apply brakes, deceleration to control amount of brake to apply.

With modern power disk brakes I would tend to think the Prodigy system would work better. Not a lot of pedal movement with modern brake systems. Mechanical systems also require mechanical readjustments, things slip and loosen.

I think I'll stick with my Prodigy, if you don't mind.

Just MHO.

[Gina D.]

I have had two Prodigy's and couldn't break either and if I can't break it, it can't be broken...

I also had a hidden Hitch on my Element. Hitches are not something to get real excited about.. they go on and you rarely think about them after that, but fwiw, I was happy with it and the price + service I got from Etrailer..

Guess they both are pretty OK.

[Brian B-P]

I tend to agree with Byron about the Jordan and its pedal-position approach. In addition, the changes in pedal height with engine vacuum (assuming the power-assisted brakes that everyone has in this century) are as large as the motions of normal brake activation, so I am not at all convinced that the pedal position is a good indication of the desired braking effort.

Having said that, there is one advantage to responding to driver action (pedal position or pressure) rather than acceleration: descending a hill at steady speed, these systems will apply the trailer brakes, even though an acceleration-based system might see no acceleration to trigger brake application.

I would be happier with brake system hydraulic pressure, like the Ford system, but Jordan users certainly do report satisfaction with the product.

[Herb P]

I tend to agree with Byron about the Jordan and its pedal-position approach. In addition, the changes in pedal height with engine vacuum (assuming the power-assisted brakes that everyone has in this century) are as large as the motions of normal brake activation, so I am not at all convinced that the pedal position is a good indication of the desired braking effort.

Having said that, there is one advantage to responding to driver action (pedal position or pressure) rather than acceleration: descending a hill at steady speed, these systems will apply the trailer brakes, even though an acceleration-based system might see no acceleration to trigger brake application.

Pedal position is really quite variable depending on temperature and effects like pumping. Vehicles with drum brakes tend to have a check valve at the master cylinder so that when you give them a pump, the fluid doesn't have a chance to evacuate the slave cylinders and you get to add more fluid to them on subsequent pumps. This means on your first pump, you could be much closer to the floor than on a second and subsequent pump... Also, the emergency brake has no input into the 'pedal height' equation.

I've never used a trailer brake system before but the pedal-height thing seems like a horrible kludge.