brake controllers

Greetings Angie
I've used Kelsey/Hayes (USA) on various vehicles for the last 7 years or so never had a problem. Anyone had problems with their controllers ? There are a few units around the $100-160 mark ...Tekonsha Voyager, Accutrac, Hayman Reece and Hayes Lemmerz Energise 3 (which is the old Kelsey Hayes unit). These units are classed as pendulum brake or electronic brake controllers.
The best on the market is the Tekonsha Prodigy at about $300 big ones !!! It has a display to let you know when the van is coupled and how much voltage is being applied to the brakes. It also has a power saving mode that stops battery drain when the vehicle is stopped for long periods. Braking control is computed by the unit even taking into account the terrain being travelled over. It has a boost button for adjust the amount of braking for heavy trailers. It can also be removed from it cradle to use in another vehicle or stop theft.

I would buy it after the purchase and get it fitted by a qual auto electrician as these units are compatable with modern vehicle electronics but the contollers wiring must have circuit protection. I hope I find a Prodigy under the Christmas tree this year ..... thats a lot of foot massages for the boss !!! <cheeky grin>
Anthony

In previous vehicles we had the Hayman Reece then Tekonsha voyager, now the Tekonsha prodogy which is a digital setup. The prodogy is by far the best. When you have an $80,000 vehicle and similar van what is $300 when it may mean the difference in keeping everthing in one piece or not, not to mention preventing you from being killed or injured. When the unexpected happens and you have to brake suddenly you need to know that the brake controller will work properly.
I would recommend the Tekonsha prodogy as the one to buy.
B/T should have some in stock and recommend them to their customers. They have the best vans, so they should have the best brake controllers to protect them.

While we are on the subject of Brake controllers I'll take a slight deviation. <smile>

In case people dont know the F-trucks have a female plug attached to the rear chassis member LHS for wiring the trailer lights. Under no circumstances let some cowboy towbar fitter come to the dealership and let him splice into the either of the rear brake light blinker assemblies. For two reasons this is no longer an accepted practice ... the Bushtrackers have approx. 14 clearance/taillights and to draw this amount of power from one tail-light wire on the F-truck is cowboy stuff. Secondly most towbar fitters use splice crimps which are prone to corrosion and excessive resistance.
Ford didnt spend heaps putting this fully fused and protected wiring and plug on the rear chassis and call it trailer wiring plug for nuffin. The female plug on the chassis is grey and black if you're looking for it and is a 12 pin plug. It has a blank in it to keep out dirt etc until the harness is plugged in.
The wiring harness for this plug is available from any Ford spare parts counter and is listed as ..... F-Truck Trailer Plug Harness Part No RM15A417A .... mine cost $36 a year ago.
So instead of chopping through all your left hand tail-light wires, when the heavy duty towbar is fitted by some contractor, you remove the blank and plug in the harness. Join the other end to your female 7 pin plug on the towbar ... jobs done. By now Ford might have sent an internal memo about this plug to its dealers and towbar fitters.
PS. This plug does have a brake controller wire but in the interest of simplicity and repairs in the field I'd wire the controller completely stand alone.
The dealers love me ...... !!!! <smile>
Anthony