tekonsha prodigy

[gpedersen]

Late last season I acquired a 26 ft fifth wheel (gross about 7300) and got a fairly good deal except I had to put new brakes and bearings into it this season. All is good with the running gear on the trailer. I upgraded to a Prodigy controller and wired it up without issue. I have had it on a few shorter hauls and liked the overall performance, especially at slower speeds when stopping and backing. However, I felt that I wasn't getting the braking feel from the trailer at greater speeds. I took the trailer back in and the tech believes that everything is performing as it should. I pulled the unit 1200 kms from Edmonton to Vancouver via the Coquihalla and my question is for those that have this controller. I set the unit to 8 with 2 on the boost and when I brake I don't see the guage go over about 4.x. I wasn't in any panic braking situations (not that I would be able to view the guage in that case) but I am wondering if I am losing something in the signal from the controller to the brakes. I didn't cut down the connection between the factor plug in and the controller so there is excess length in the wiring there or could a crappy soldering job on the wiring be to blame for some lack of intensity. Stupid questions but I am just wondering about this... Or do I just need to get used to towing a heavier trailer? My last unit was a 5700 gross pull behind. I'd appreciate any comments anyone might have on this.

[B-rad]

At work all we use are those prodigies, and they are awesome, never had a problem with them. I would look first at all your connections including the 7 way, I have seen similar things when the 7 way is not fully plugged in or making a bad connection due to dirty prongs. With that being said, the prodigy works on inertia, it will increase braking power with the more you push the brake. Quick question, have you checked to see if when you manually hold the brakes on the controller will it hold your truck in drive with the brakes released? If it will you eliminated the controller and its connections.

[gpedersen]

a tech used one of those electronic plug ins and found the the trailer connection was good. i am able to use the manual and feel the trailer braking and can hold the trailer in order to slide my fifth wheel hitch between tow and manoever. i am also thinking that the fact that my rear brakes are approaching replacement, they may be the issue now.

[shooter 7]

Used a Prodigy on my 01 & towed a 30" Artic fox, 18K CGVW. Was generally disapointed w stock brakes when towing. Much improved braking with powerslot rotors & Hawk pads installed in front around 40 K due to pedal pulse associated with rotor thickness / hardness variation. Did not want OEM quality again. Rear wheel brakes don't contribute as much during stops. I used around 8 as well, & adjusted the boost figure for relative speed, higher @ highway, lower in town. Use the manual max over ride lever to ck trailer braking, or emergency. It should lock em up @ max setting. If it does, your connections & trailer are ok. If not, T/S wiring or trailer brakes. Never figured out why RV mfgrs insist on ele brakes (cheap?) Hyd is way better. Figure it's like most RV stuff in general, not the best, just enough to get by.