Brake Controllers for Tow Vehicles
Brake Controllers for Tow Vehicles
I put the write up on my new Max Brake controller in another thread. I think the topic deserves it's own thread. So I will clean up that thread and post info here.
When I got my first travel trailer years ago, I installed a trailer brake controller made by Kelsey Hays that tapped into the brake line of that old 1963 Chevy Sub. As you stepped on the brakes it moved a piston in the brake controller that varied a resister in the controller, and the trailer brakes pretty much followed the trucks brakes.
Then they started building vehicles with dual master cylinders with split braking systems for the front and rear of the vehicle as a safety measure. And that was the end of the old Kelsey Hays controllers and the displacement of fluid caused problems in a split system.
This site list the history of some of the different controllers over the years.
http://www.trucontrol.com/brake_control ... chart.html
Digging around a bit it appears that the Hensley Trucontrol Gold is very similar technology to the Prodigy P3.
So in the last few weeks I decided it was time to replace my old Prodigy brake controller with a more modern one. I had wanted to get a BrakeSmart controller a few years back, however they were very expensive, and are now gone! So I choose the similar product from Max Brake.
http://www.maxbrake.com/ purchasing it online from http://www.plugitright.com
The Max Brake uses a Honeywell hydraulic fluid load sensor in one of the brake lines at the master cylinder. This sensor measures brake hydraulic pressure with very little fluid displacement and turns that into a electrical signal for the brake controller. So once again, like many years ago, trailer brakes can follow what the driver is doing with the brake pedal in the tow vehicle, along with the advantage of modern electronics to handle gain and other settings.
Nice things like monitoring the trailer brake connections, looking for shorts, measuring and displaying amperage to the trailer and auto night dimming are included.
There is also another new kid on the block. It is Direclink. http://www.direclink.com/ This new controller plugs into the vehicle data bus and gets it's braking information directly from the vehicle. I decided this was a little to new for me. And I plug my scan tool into the port from time to time, because of the tuning of my truck for higher hp and torque.
Well, last Friday morning I could not take it any longer, so I aired up the rear tires on the truck, put the tow mirrors on and went for a spin. All I can say is wow! It stops as a single unit now. Before the truck always had to lead the trailer. City and highway were two different things.
Now it is just a single unit that behaves the same at any speed, with the feeling of a lot less braking required on the trucks put.
I have new brake shoes that will be here on the 7th. I do have one little issue with the brakes to try and figure out. The front axle on the trailer is getting more braking than the rear. This is noticeable in brake drum temps and locking them on gravel. The shoes have always worn about the same, so it is a bit of a mystery. Will look at things very carefully this time, including wiring, magnets and mechanical.
In this picture to the right of the brake fluid tank you see the hard line coming from a T at the front line of the master cylinder up to the sensor.
In this picture I secured the sensor from vibration.
In this picture is the mounting location and color that I painted the silver case. I painted it with RustOleum Hammered spary paint Black.
When I got my first travel trailer years ago, I installed a trailer brake controller made by Kelsey Hays that tapped into the brake line of that old 1963 Chevy Sub. As you stepped on the brakes it moved a piston in the brake controller that varied a resister in the controller, and the trailer brakes pretty much followed the trucks brakes.
Then they started building vehicles with dual master cylinders with split braking systems for the front and rear of the vehicle as a safety measure. And that was the end of the old Kelsey Hays controllers and the displacement of fluid caused problems in a split system.
This site list the history of some of the different controllers over the years.
http://www.trucontrol.com/brake_control ... chart.html
Digging around a bit it appears that the Hensley Trucontrol Gold is very similar technology to the Prodigy P3.
So in the last few weeks I decided it was time to replace my old Prodigy brake controller with a more modern one. I had wanted to get a BrakeSmart controller a few years back, however they were very expensive, and are now gone! So I choose the similar product from Max Brake.
http://www.maxbrake.com/ purchasing it online from http://www.plugitright.com
The Max Brake uses a Honeywell hydraulic fluid load sensor in one of the brake lines at the master cylinder. This sensor measures brake hydraulic pressure with very little fluid displacement and turns that into a electrical signal for the brake controller. So once again, like many years ago, trailer brakes can follow what the driver is doing with the brake pedal in the tow vehicle, along with the advantage of modern electronics to handle gain and other settings.
Nice things like monitoring the trailer brake connections, looking for shorts, measuring and displaying amperage to the trailer and auto night dimming are included.
There is also another new kid on the block. It is Direclink. http://www.direclink.com/ This new controller plugs into the vehicle data bus and gets it's braking information directly from the vehicle. I decided this was a little to new for me. And I plug my scan tool into the port from time to time, because of the tuning of my truck for higher hp and torque.
Well, last Friday morning I could not take it any longer, so I aired up the rear tires on the truck, put the tow mirrors on and went for a spin. All I can say is wow! It stops as a single unit now. Before the truck always had to lead the trailer. City and highway were two different things.
Now it is just a single unit that behaves the same at any speed, with the feeling of a lot less braking required on the trucks put.
I have new brake shoes that will be here on the 7th. I do have one little issue with the brakes to try and figure out. The front axle on the trailer is getting more braking than the rear. This is noticeable in brake drum temps and locking them on gravel. The shoes have always worn about the same, so it is a bit of a mystery. Will look at things very carefully this time, including wiring, magnets and mechanical.
In this picture to the right of the brake fluid tank you see the hard line coming from a T at the front line of the master cylinder up to the sensor.
In this picture I secured the sensor from vibration.
In this picture is the mounting location and color that I painted the silver case. I painted it with RustOleum Hammered spary paint Black.
Last edited by snoking on Mon Nov 05, 2012 8:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Brake Controllers for Tow Vehicles
I put the same type of controller on my '73 F250 a few decades ago. I thought it was a great idea and it worked very well.snoking wrote:When I got my first travel trailer years ago, I installed a trailer brake controller made by Kelsey Hays that tapped into the brake line of that old 1963 Chevy Sub. As you stepped on the brakes it moved a piston in the brake controller that varied a resister in the controller, and the trailer brakes pretty much followed the trucks brakes.
Great write-up Chris.
Rob
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Re: Brake Controllers for Tow Vehicles
Do you have anti-lock brakes and if so how do you think it will affect the trailer brakes when the anti-,lock system is operating? I love the old controllers that connected directly to the hydraulics because they seemed to work better than the pendulum systems. I have a concern about the pulsing that happens with anti-lock brakes though. Would love to be able to go back to hydraulic braking control. Thanks.
Edward M. Blohm
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Re: Brake Controllers for Tow Vehicles
In the first photo, along the right side you can see the anti lock brake setup. Anti lock hardware is after the T tap into the output of the master cylinder output line. So it is not an issue.edmblohm wrote:Do you have anti-lock brakes and if so how do you think it will affect the trailer brakes when the anti-,lock system is operating? I love the old controllers that connected directly to the hydraulics because they seemed to work better than the pendulum systems. I have a concern about the pulsing that happens with anti-lock brakes though. Would love to be able to go back to hydraulic braking control. Thanks.
From MaxBrake FAQs:
Does MaxBrake affect Anti Lock Brakes?
No. MaxBrake does not affect ABS.
Chris
Re: Brake Controllers for Tow Vehicles
Well I replaced the brake shoes and repacked the wheel bearings today. Brakes were working unbelievably well before I started, after the rewiring all the runs in the axle area. I routed new #12 wires in a star configuration, using the top of the 2" square tube installed on the center spring hangers as a point to cross to the passengers side of the trailer. The old wires in the axle where quite small, like #16.
It would lock up all four wheels on the gravel in our storage area with new wiring. And now, well I guess it is going to take a few hundred miles to seat the new brake shoes to the drums.
Actually the old shoes were in fairly good shape for OEM with 40-45K miles and 8 years on them. Of coarse they never worked that well until Max Brake arrived. So I did a 30-35 mile loop around the Skagit Valley. Tomorrow I may check the adjustment of them again and do a hundred miles or so. At any rate the magnets, drums and backing plates all looked good. Cleaned everything with HD brake cleaner spray cans and lubed the contact points on the backing plate and pivot point on the magnet lever.
I learned a little about not damaging the tension spring inside the grease seal. I have an Oak board that I have used to years to stick in the hub and knock the back bearing and seal out. The first one damaged the spring, so I was off to Smiley's to get four seals. So on the other three I stuffed paper towel between the bearing and the seal at two spots 180 to each other. Then hit it at the paper towel area and did not damage the spring. So these old ones will go in emergency supplies!
SNOKING
It would lock up all four wheels on the gravel in our storage area with new wiring. And now, well I guess it is going to take a few hundred miles to seat the new brake shoes to the drums.
Actually the old shoes were in fairly good shape for OEM with 40-45K miles and 8 years on them. Of coarse they never worked that well until Max Brake arrived. So I did a 30-35 mile loop around the Skagit Valley. Tomorrow I may check the adjustment of them again and do a hundred miles or so. At any rate the magnets, drums and backing plates all looked good. Cleaned everything with HD brake cleaner spray cans and lubed the contact points on the backing plate and pivot point on the magnet lever.
I learned a little about not damaging the tension spring inside the grease seal. I have an Oak board that I have used to years to stick in the hub and knock the back bearing and seal out. The first one damaged the spring, so I was off to Smiley's to get four seals. So on the other three I stuffed paper towel between the bearing and the seal at two spots 180 to each other. Then hit it at the paper towel area and did not damage the spring. So these old ones will go in emergency supplies!
SNOKING
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Re: Brake Controllers for Tow Vehicles
If you get bored before you leave you can come repack my bearings and adjust the brakes.
Mike, Susanna & Rudy
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Re: Brake Controllers for Tow Vehicles
Your wheels have to many lug nuts for me. My limit is 6 per wheel. I had it down to 30-40 minutes per wheel after the first one, which included cleaning and installing the new brake shoes. Of coarse I am sore and tired today after two days of working on this project.Mike Clay wrote:If you get bored before you leave you can come repack my bearings and adjust the brakes.
Chris
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Re: Brake Controllers for Tow Vehicles
I will take two lug nuts off each wheel for you
Mike, Susanna & Rudy
2016 3850RL Estate "Proto Grigio"
2019 Silverado 3500HD Dually D/A 4x4 LTZ
My dreams are too big for my wallet
Rallies attended - 32
Nights camping in 2013:159 2014:269 2015:Full Timers
2016 3850RL Estate "Proto Grigio"
2019 Silverado 3500HD Dually D/A 4x4 LTZ
My dreams are too big for my wallet
Rallies attended - 32
Nights camping in 2013:159 2014:269 2015:Full Timers
Re: Brake Controllers for Tow Vehicles
Well we took the trailer on a test road trip and headed South on I-5 and decided we wanted to get some wine at Trader Joes! With Everett's parking lot being really small we went to the Lynnwood, Wa store. 196th St SW West from I-5 is one of the busiest streets in Washington State, so we got lots of stop and go braking and 8 bottles of wine to boot. Low tree blocked the exit from the strip mall, so we had to head out the drive way we came in and go West some more to get turned around!!!
By the time we got back to Shelter Bay with the trailer, the new brakes were working really good. Going to have to adjust the Max Brake gain down a bit now. Trip was around 110-120 miles round trip!
Bring on Arizona!!!
Chris
By the time we got back to Shelter Bay with the trailer, the new brakes were working really good. Going to have to adjust the Max Brake gain down a bit now. Trip was around 110-120 miles round trip!
Bring on Arizona!!!
Chris
Last edited by snoking on Sun Nov 11, 2012 5:21 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Brake Controllers for Tow Vehicles
Sounds like there's some carefree traveling in your future Chris.
Rob
Rob
Re: Brake Controllers for Tow Vehicles
Well I can now give an update after our first really big tow with the Max Brake controller. Conclusion, I should have done it years ago when I wanted a Brake Smart! Trailer just brakes as a single unit. Chris
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Re: Brake Controllers for Tow Vehicles
Chris Thanks for the update on the new controller!
Don
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Re: Brake Controllers for Tow Vehicles
Is there a new controller in your future Don?
Rob
Rob
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Re: Brake Controllers for Tow Vehicles
Rob & Cathy wrote:Is there a new controller in your future Don?
Rob
No Rob I just bought and installed my Prodigy controller a couple of years ago and I am happy with it but the results Chris is talking about sure make it tempting!
Don
We don't know a stranger only friends we haven't met yet!
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2019 Cardinal 3350RLX Luxury Edition
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Don
2019 Cardinal 3350RLX Luxury Edition
2014 Dodge 3500 2WD DRW Long Bed
2023 Nights Camped 33
2022 Nights Camped 24
2021 Nights Camped 46
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Frog - 5