I'm looking at brakecontroller.com and can't make up my mine if I want the Tekonsha Prodigy or the Hayes Genesis.

I'm siding more toward the Genesis, but would like more input to which you think is best.

tekonsha.com

haysebc.com

Thanks

 

I HAD to go other..got the Ford factory system in my '05 250.

 

I went with Prodigy as it is the most popular and most recommended. If I was in the market for one that is what I would get.

 

I am in the same boat as Bp, got the factory installed one and love it.

 

Ditto!! Better then any after market I've ever had!!

 

I'm also in the market for a brake controller. What about the Jordan 2020 Ultima? From what I been able to gather through my internet research, with the Tekonsha Prodigy if your tow vehicle loses traction then the trailer brakes won't work even if you apply the brake pedal because the controller won't sense any vehicle deceleration. With the factory brake controller (same as the Brakesmart?) if you lose pressure in your braking system will the trailer brakes still work? There was a post in the Superduty forum a few weeks back from a guy who lost both his power steering and power brakes (apparently diesels don't have enough vacuum to run power brakes so they use the power steering system). Would the factory brake controller have worked in this situation? With the Jordan 2020 it uses a cable attached to the brake pedal to apply the trailer brakes proportionally. I think the Jordan 2020 would work in the above two situations (loss of tow vehicle traction and loss of braking system pressure). I know there is a concern with the Jordan 2020 with the cable binding. So I guess you have to decide which is more likely to occur or a bigger concern: losing traction in your tow vehicle, losing pressure in your braking system, brake controller cable binding, or brake pedal falling off. Right now I'm leaning towards the Jordan, but I will be following this thread to see the comments.


Link to the post about the power steering/brake failure:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...es-failed.html


Link to Jordan 2020:
http://www.jordanbrake.com/
http://www.bestbrakecontroller.com/


Links to Brakesmart:
http://www.drperformance.com/brakesmarthome.html
http://www.drperformance.com/brakesmart.html


-Sean

 

I don't know about the factory controller but the brakesmart has a manual button to activate the brakes in an emergency if you lost hydraulic pressure. I love my brakesmart!

 

The intergrated brake control does as well, it also has a trailer that turns green if the wiring is correct and red if its not, it also displays a message "check trailer" if the trailer symbol is red. IMHO its hard to beat, just don't know how hard it would be to install in an 04 and earlier truck.

 

You cant install the factory integrated with the older trucks, it ties into the ABS system of the truck. Wouldn't work. The upfitter switches can be made to work, but the brake controller, no can do.

 

Another reason it wouldn't work is that the factory brake controller reads a sensor on the master brake cylinder to interpret the amount of braking pressure being applied. An older vehicle's master cylinder won't have a location for a sensor....

 

The Genesis & Prodigy both sound like quality controllers; the Prodigy (which I use) has had many recommendations in this forum. The Genesis illuminates the trailer's brake lights when you use the manual control lever, but I don't know how useful that feature would be; most drivers won't be tail-gating a trailer that's starting to sway.

Steve

 

I have Prodigy in my 99 Navi. It works very good. As mentioned above it has a manual lever which you can apply the trailer brakes with independantly of the truck brakes. I can stop the whole rig with just the electric trailer brakes given enough distance. The trailer is a 30ft Autolite-weighs about 6000lbs.
Ben

 

Prodigy here as well. Does the job with no fuss.

 

I had a older pendulum style brake controller in my truck, and switched it out to a prodigy and it was the best 100 bucks (give or take) I have spent. I would buy another one if I had to set up another rig. The prodigy takes into account inertia (I was told it has the same chip in it as the Tomahawk missles, but I doubt that).
So if you do lose traction in your tow vehicle (holy crap batman) it will not "sense" the braking action.

I tow a bumper pull TT that weights about 8k, and noticed a dramatic difference at low speeds when I switched.

 

Jorlee -

So.....which one did you buy?

Steve