Which brake controller?

[Just Because]

I have a master tow, modified for a golf cart, tow dolly. It has the original electric brakes, but I have not yet purchased a brake controller for the motorhome. Motor home is supposed to be wired for a brake controller with the wires under the dash. What kind or which manufacture do I need to make the controller work with air brakes? All the post I have found are using a gas MH and don't have air brakes.

Thanks for your help.

[wa8yxm]

Well.. I grew up in a little town in Southern Michigan called Tekonsha.. So naturally, the Prodigy P-3 is tops on my list. I do not know about today but at one time the CEO was the captain of the basketball team I played on and a friend. He (or rather one of his "other" empolyees (He runs 2 more companies as well) helped me professionally once.

Plus, it is a very good controller I'd recommend it even if the above were not true.

[Hikerdogs]

Another vote for Tekonsha. We use the older Prodigy when towing the dolly behind the motorhome. It spends most of its time on my Ford truck which regularly tows a 10,000 lb equipment trailer. It's easy to install and needs only a jumper harness for the specific chassis you intend to install it on.

It took less than 5 minutes for the initial installation on the truck, and takes only a couple minutes to transfer it from one vehicle to another.

I like it because it provides proportional braking, has several settings for intital trailer brake application, and continued operation when stopped going up or down a hill. They're a little more expensive than some controllers on the market but well worth the money. In my opinion it's the best controller I've ever used.

[Frutza]

does the Tekonsha go to full force when you manually activate it? or whatever your max setting is?

[Hikerdogs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frutza does the Tekonsha go to full force when you manually activate it? or whatever your max setting is?

Are you asking does it always go to full power, or can you make it go to full power?

It has a slider on the bottom that allows you to manually activate the trailer brakes. The farther the slide is moved from right to left the more power is sent to the brake magnets. If the max voltage you have set on the dial is 6 volts (the maximum voltage sent to the brake magnets when depressing the brake pedal) you can manually move the slide all the way to 12 volts to add "Boost" when hauling a heavy load. It doesn't automatically go to full power. The power applied is a function of how far you manually move the lever.

I normally use ours pulling a dual axle trailer behind a Ford truck. When the trailer is empty it weighs about 2,100 lbs. I set the max voltage to 3 - 4 volts. It's enough to slow the trailer without locking the brakes. When hauling an 8,000 lb load I can either raise the voltage to 8 volts or manually apply more voltage by manually sliding the lever. Generally I just raise the voltage using the dial. It's easier than trying to remember to add boost everytime you step on the brakes.

Here's a link to the Tekonsha site.

http://www.tekonsha.com/content/prod...400&catID=1435 &part=0

If you scroll down to the Prodigy2 picture you can see a small bump on the bottom right of the controller. That's the manual slider I'm referring to

[Frutza]

Ok, thanks, yes I adjust my voltage according to the trailer I,m pulling, but one of my older controllers when manually activated only went to my voltage setting, and seeing that if your using it manually it probably a panic stop I wouldnt have time to adjust it up, so I,m thinking of adding the Prodigy to my mh, never used an inertia controller before,
Thanks
Mike

[Hikerdogs]

I think you'll like it. The newer P2 works with both electric and electronic over hydraulic systems. As I said earlier it comes with a mounting bracket so the only additional thing you'll need is an adaptor harness for the type of chassis ypur motothome is built on.

Ours was originally purchased for the dolly used to tow our Buick LeSabre behind the motorhome. When we switched to towing the Jeep it went in my 1999 Ford truck for towing the equipment trailer. It's now on my 2010 Ford truck that pulls the same equipment trailer. In all cases it has performed well. Never any sliding the trailer tires or failing to provide sufficient braking power. It's far superior to any of the the timed delay type controllers I've ever used.