fox_forma Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 I am looking to purchase a electronic brake controller and really dont know which brand or model to go with. I found this thread http://www.silveradoss.com/forums/index.ph...lectronic+brake but it didnt have any model numbers etc. I also saw it was possible to just buy a harness for the controller that hooks in under the dash, what else is needed after that is done? Just curious because I found a trailer that I'm most likely to going to buy for my move out to AZ and it has electric brakes which i figure is a (+) for our shitty normal braking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WI_Dave Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 When I bought my hitch from GM it came with the harness that plugs in under the dash. I don't know what brand controller I have I will try to remember to go check. I only used it once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox_forma Posted April 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 do you have to run other wires to the hitch area or anything or does the harness that plugs into the dash relay the info somehow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WI_Dave Posted April 5, 2007 Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 Truck is pre-wired for brakes. Just plug harness in panel under dash and trailer plugs in by hitch without using the 4 pin adapter. I did not have to run anything else. Just wire harness to controller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomp62301 Posted April 5, 2007 Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 these are the ones i use in my work trucks. they seem pretty nice. tekonsha.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevcup47 Posted April 5, 2007 Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 my control came from u-haul all you need is the harness to plug in under dash and the fuse for the box under the hood everything else is already done by GM ......if by chance you need the harniss i have the one that came with my truck all it is missing is the fuse for under the hood if you need it let me know ill send it your way....... my control has already been installed on a new chevy so i wont need the harniss that came with mine ........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox_forma Posted April 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 my control came from u-haul all you need is the harness to plug in under dash and the fuse for the box under the hood everything else is already done by GM ......if by chance you need the harniss i have the one that came with my truck all it is missing is the fuse for under the hood if you need it let me know ill send it your way....... my control has already been installed on a new chevy so i wont need the harniss that came with mine ........... yeah that would be sweet, just PM me with what you need and we can go from there, that will save a little bit of my time at least. Do you know what size fuse I would need and which pin to put it in? Does it matter what the brand controller is for the harness though? I was looking at the tekonsha's but didnt know what model to consider or if it even made a real difference between them. I saw a few on ebay for like $50 and some for a little more, just dont really know what I need within each model # Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vortec MAX Posted April 5, 2007 Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 Two words...Tekonsha Prodigy The only one you want. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasonm Posted April 5, 2007 Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 Two words...Tekonsha Prodigy The only one you want. Mike Agreed. However, if you decided to go a different route, make sure it's inertia activated, and not electronic. Inertia basically can tell how hard you are putting the brakes on in the truck, to determine how hard to apply the brakes on the trailer. Electronics are time delay... After 1 second of braking, it applies the brakes to the trailer... then another second or two, it applies them a little harder... and then after 5 seconds... etc. If something jumps out in front of you, you don't actually get the full braking potential of the trailer for about 5-7 seconds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbadbrock Posted April 5, 2007 Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 I work for reese as a designer, we also own Tekonsha. And the Intellistop/Prodig is the shit. Jusp plug n play too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox_forma Posted April 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 Agreed. However, if you decided to go a different route, make sure it's inertia activated, and not electronic. Inertia basically can tell how hard you are putting the brakes on in the truck, to determine how hard to apply the brakes on the trailer. Electronics are time delay... After 1 second of braking, it applies the brakes to the trailer... then another second or two, it applies them a little harder... and then after 5 seconds... etc. If something jumps out in front of you, you don't actually get the full braking potential of the trailer for about 5-7 seconds. in the other thread i posted it said they have a tendency to lock up the brakes when backing up and it wasnt as good as electronic controllers. I'm pretty sure the electronic is the way I'm going now though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcairns Posted April 5, 2007 Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 I have a Tekonsha Envoy, which I bought for renting a trailer once. Since then I have bought my own trailer. The Envoy is considered to be the minimum decent brake controller (inertial) Don't confuse inertial with "surge" type brakes, they are the ones that can have trouble backing up. Surge brakes are mostly seen on boat trailers. Tekonsha Envoy Tekonsha Prodigy The Prodigy is highly regarded. I am going to upgrade to a Jordan when they get their new model into production. It is supposed to be even better than the Prodigy. If you want to learn more about towing: www.rv.net Towing subforum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WI_Dave Posted April 5, 2007 Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 I have an inertia on mine but I didn't want to mount it permanently so I tried to velcro it and it moves too much and doesn't work right. If I have to use it again I will mount it more permanent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox_forma Posted April 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 I have a Tekonsha Envoy, which I bought for renting a trailer once. Since then I have bought my own trailer. The Envoy is considered to be the minimum decent brake controller (inertial) Don't confuse inertial with "surge" type brakes, they are the ones that can have trouble backing up. Surge brakes are mostly seen on boat trailers.Tekonsha Envoy Tekonsha Prodigy The Prodigy is highly regarded. I am going to upgrade to a Jordan when they get their new model into production. It is supposed to be even better than the Prodigy. If you want to learn more about towing: www.rv.net Towing subforum cool thanks, just out of curiosity what size trailer do you pull? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox_forma Posted April 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 do any of you guys have pics of your controller mounted? I just got a prodigy controller but dont know where to mount it nor do I have a mounting bracket so Iwill have to come up with something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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