Brake Control Adjustment: Confusing

[Lawrence W]

I had a new brake control installed on my TV (2000 Dodge Dakota V8). It was a Journey brand. My previous experience was with a Tekonsha. The Journey instructions say to set the digital readout at "30." The readout only goes to 9.9. I followed the instructions for testing it at 20mph, but I don't feel confident they are set right. Is there a simple method of setting the two adjustments (brake pressure balance - not locking up, not being too loose) and (ramp setting - trailer brake delay time)? I went back to the installer, and he couldn't explain the "30" setting, said just to take it out and set it by "feel." The brakes, tires, and axle assembly only have about 500 miles on them. Also, I can't lock the brakes with the control lever...does "lock up" mean they would drag in that position if you tried to continue to pull the trailer forward? The trailer is a 1980 Scamp 16'er. I checked the instruction manual on the following website: http://www.hitchsource.com/docs/valley/52740.pdf and they read the same as the ones that came with the unit.

[Bill MacDermod]

Originally Posted by Lawrence W

I had a new brake control installed on my TV (2000 Dodge Dakota V8). It was a Journey brand. My previous experience was with a Tekonsha. The Journey instructions say to set the digital readout at "30." The readout only goes to 9.9. I followed the instructions for testing it at 20mph, but I don't feel confident they are set right. Is there a simple method of setting the two adjustments (brake pressure balance - not locking up, not being too loose) and (ramp setting - trailer brake delay time)? I went back to the installer, and he couldn't explain the "30" setting, said just to take it out and set it by "feel." The brakes, tires, and axle assembly only have about 500 miles on them. Also, I can't lock the brakes with the control lever...does "lock up" mean they would drag in that position if you tried to continue to pull the trailer forward? The trailer is a 1980 Scamp 16'er. I checked the instruction manual on the following website: http://www.hitchsource.com/docs/valley/52740.pdf and they read the same as the ones that came with the unit.

Lawrence, my first quetion is, are your brakes adjusted properly??? if they aren't then nothing is going to get set up the way it should. All these manufacturers talk about lock up and I guess you could find them to lockup in some instances. The way I usually do it is to pull the trailer at between 20-25 mph and using the manual control on the brake controller I engage it and see if it will stop both tow vehicle and trailer in a reasonable distance, this tells me that the brakes are doing what they should, once thats done I go to the ramp time setting or boost as the prodigy calls it. I like my trailer brakes to come on an instant before the TV brakes and my brake controller has 3 settings for ramp or boost and the first one suits me just fine. Don't know whether any of this is helpful or not but, make sure your brakes are adjusted properly is most important