How do you adjust your Brake Controler

[Keith Wire]

Hi all,

In another thread I posed the question "How do you properly adjust the Brake Controller?"

I have a Prodigy controller and here are the steps from the Prodigy manual:

1. Connect trailer to tow vehicle.
2. With engine running hold manual full left and set
Power Knob to indicate 6.0
3. Drive tow vehicle and trailer on a dry level paved
surface at 25 mph and fully apply manual knob.
✓ If trailer brakes lock up:
❑ Turn power down using power knob.
✓ If braking was not sufficient:
❑ Turn power up using power knob.
4. Repeat Step (3) until power has been set to a point
just below wheel lock up or at a sufficient force as
to achieve maximum braking power.
5. Using the brake pedal, make a few low speed
stops to check the power setting. Trailer braking is
initiated and terminated via the stoplight switch.
When the brake pedal is released, trailer braking
will cease.

As I stated in the other thread it is near impossible to lock the wheels on the TM.

Rick said:

go until you feel the Trailer "pulling your TV backwards" with just a moderate amount of "extra" braking power in comparison to the TV stopping all by itself ... and don't push the power adjustment any further.

Now I am not new to driving or pulling trailers, but I find it hard to know when I have the power set correctly on the Prodigy Controller.

So the question is, how do you adjust your controller? Is there a proven way, or do we all just have to guess; then hope and pray we have it right?

Thanks, Keith

I used a Prodigy with my first TM and a Trailblazer. I set the unit exactly as described in your post, and I was able to lock the trailer brakes with the manual brake activation lever (or button, I don't recall but think it was a lever).

So I believe these instructions are correct. My suggestion is find a straight stretch of road, and progressively add or subtract brake settings on the Prodigy so you can feel the trailer brakes stopping you when you use the manual brake lever. Don't put your foot on the vehicle brake, use the Prodigy. If the brakes lock, reduce the setting and try again. You want to feel the connected vehicle/trailer slowing and releasing when only using the Prodigy manual brake lever.

[Keith Wire]

MisterP,

Well, our experience has been different. I have tried to set the power level twice using their method and neither time could I get the brakes to "lock up". This was on a nice straight asphalt highway just outside of town. I started at the 6.0 and increased it all the way to the maximum.

Sure I can feel the brakes work when I pull the lever. Sure it stops both the TM and the TV without touching the brakes in the TV. I even went underneath and put an AMP meter on the brake lines and had my wife pull the lever. The current for both brakes were the same.

My understanding is that you want the TM brakes to pull just a bit more than the TV brakes. And that the power setting should really be changed to a lower setting if you are driving on wet highways.

My problem is I can't find a good way to determine the "best" settings for those conditions.

I may be making too much of this, but I was once nearly in a serious accident which was caused by a incorrectly loaded utility trailer.

I think getting this setting right is very important for all of us.

Anybody else have anything to add?

Keith

[MudDog]

For what it's worth, I also have a Prodigy (I believe mine is a P2) and was not able to lock the TM brakes with it installed in my Sienna and still can't with it in my Tacoma.

When manually activating the Prodiigy lever, I definetly feel the TM brakes, but not enough to come anywhere near locking them. I've never felt like the TV is being pushed by the TM, but don't have a reference point to compare to to know if I'm trully getting maximum power to the brakes from the Prodigy.

The only time I have felt it lock the brakes is when I made a tight turn and the break-away cable wasn't routed properly and the plunger came out of the emergency brake activator.

Originally Posted by MudDog

For what it's worth, I also have a Prodigy (I believe mine is a P2) and was not able to lock the TM brakes with it installed in my Sienna and still can't with it in my Tacoma.

When manually activating the Prodiigy lever, I definetly feel the TM brakes, but not enough to come anywhere near locking them. I've never felt like the TV is being pushed by the TM, but don't have a reference point to compare to to know if I'm trully getting maximum power to the brakes from the Prodigy.

The only time I have felt it lock the brakes is when I made a tight turn and the break-away cable wasn't routed properly and the plunger came out of the emergency brake activator.

That has been my experience, minus the pulled pin.

At first I was towing with the Valley Industries Odyssey on my Chevy 1500HD, a Prodigy knock off with a couple of additional features, and was never able to get the 25 mph lock. Now I tow with a factory integrated brake controller in my 2500HD. I really like the IBC, but it also will not perform the 25 mph brake lock up test.

I have just used trial and error to find a setting that seems to be good. It is rare for me to boost change settings as I alternate between freeway driving and city driving. I did that more often in the 1500HD. Not sure if the difference is because of the larger truck or the different brake controller.

I think, but am not sure, that the IBC is connected to the brake line, like the Jordan (I think) was.

[RLDeLay]

When we first started with our TM the brakes would not lock. We contacted Dexter about a problem with the brakes. In the course of one of the discussions they pointed out that maintenance called for the brakes to be adjusted every 3000 miles.

We have been following that schedule and the brakes will now lock up at a setting of around 9+ on the Prodigy.

Bob

We inadvertently tested our Prodigy brake setting with a scary emergency stop. The TV was pushed ahead and to the side slightly by the trailer, so obviously our setting (about 5.5) wasn't high enough. But like others I couldn't set the Prodigy high enough to get them to lock up manually during testing.

I suppose you could keep trying emergency stops at different settings until you find one where the TV and trailer do not jack-knife, but that's pretty hard on everything.

Currently we use a Prodigy setting of 7.5-8 based more on concerns about TV brake fade on long downhills. At this setting the TV's rear drums are very roughly the same temp as the trailer's during long descents. At lower settings the trailer's are a lower temp and vica-versa.

This setting (7.5-8) is certainly better than 5.5 for emergency stops as well, but I don't know for sure whether it will prevent jack-knifing. That will have to wait for our next emergency stop.

[Mr. Adventure]

Originally Posted by brulaz

We inadvertently tested our Prodigy brake setting with a scary emergency stop. The TV was pushed ahead and to the side slightly by the trailer, so obviously our setting (about 5.5) wasn't high enough. But like others I couldn't set the Prodigy high enough to get them to lock up manually during testing.

I suppose you could keep trying emergency stops at different settings until you find one where the TV and trailer do not jack-knife, but that's pretty hard on everything.

Currently we use a Prodigy setting of 7.5-8 based more on concerns about TV brake fade on long downhills. At this setting the TV's rear drums are very roughly the same temp as the trailer's during long descents. At lower settings the trailer's are a lower temp and vica-versa.

This setting (7.5-8) is certainly better than 5.5 for emergency stops as well, but I don't know for sure whether it will prevent jack-knifing. That will have to wait for our next emergency stop.

I, too, cannot achieve any wheel lockup on dry pavement no matter where I set the controller. Currently, I set it for "9" on dry pavement and dial it back to 7.5 in the rain on the theory that I really don't want wheel lockups anyway.

[Keith Wire]

Thanks for all the replies. At least I know I am not alone in not being able to lock the TM brakes while adjusting.

I have searched all the internet and can't find a real good answer to the question. I have been keeping my power setting on 6 or 6.5. I will experiment some more with higher settings when I get the TM out the next time.

I just wish there was a more "scientific" way of setting the adjustment .

Thanks, Keith

Just for apples to apples comparisons:what boost mode are you prodigy owners using?