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Trailer Brake Controller

18K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  sbigshot 
#1 ·
My question is pretty straight forward. What exactly determines the need for a trailer brake controller? Is it all trailers with electric brakes or what?
 
#8 ·
That's what I thought, I just wanted to make sure.

Yup, dubie got it fairly good.

Their are also trailers with hydrolic brakes. When the momentum of your truck starts slowing down the trailer presses against the ball hitch and there is a "master cylinder" in their that pushes fluid into the bakes on the wheels.

I dont know the pros and cons of each but I know that that is another option.
I know what you're talking about, although I've always heard them called surge brakes. My dad has had them on his last two boat trailers.

And if you need a controller, look at the Prodigy.

The unit is a tad more costly than others, but let me tell ya, it works great, is a breeze to set up, is easy to use, and has lots of great features others do not.

And if you order this product, you can even spend a tad more and get a Nissan pigtail, so to wire it up you plug one end of the pig tail into the unit, the other end into the connector under the dash of your Nissan and the electronics are all done.

I used this unit on the Titan for years with a 5,000 pound load, I just loved how it did not have to be perfectly level when mounted, and the brake boost features were fantastic. I highly recommend this unit!
Would you say that $118 shipped with the Nissan wiring pigtail is a good price on this unit?

It looks like I've just added something else to my growing list of things to buy for my truck. I swear, Clubfrontier is going to cause me to go broke.
 
#3 ·
And if you need a controller, look at the Prodigy.

The unit is a tad more costly than others, but let me tell ya, it works great, is a breeze to set up, is easy to use, and has lots of great features others do not.




And if you order this product, you can even spend a tad more and get a Nissan pigtail, so to wire it up you plug one end of the pig tail into the unit, the other end into the connector under the dash of your Nissan and the electronics are all done.

I used this unit on the Titan for years with a 5,000 pound load, I just loved how it did not have to be perfectly level when mounted, and the brake boost features were fantastic. I highly recommend this unit!
 
#4 ·
Yup, dubie got it fairly good.

Their are also trailers with hydrolic brakes. When the momentum of your truck starts slowing down the trailer presses against the ball hitch and there is a "master cylinder" in their that pushes fluid into the bakes on the wheels.

I dont know the pros and cons of each but I know that that is another option.
 
#5 ·
I think the big advantage of the electronic system is you have more control over how the brakes get activated, and how/when they apply force.

The prodigy as an example has a digital readout showing how much force is being sent to the trailer brakes. As you make even the slightest change of pressure on the brake pedal you can see the digital display respond so the trailer is always braking with even force as the truck. In addition the prodigy has 3-boost stages, I can't recall the exact percentages, but in simple terms the more boost you add, the greater the initial brake force is. This is very helpful on heavy loads because as you just start to tip into the brake pedal the unit send a larger amount of brake force to the trailer so as to get the brakes on the trailer activated strong and quick, then after the initial larger proportion of brake force it dials back to a more normal amount so as to avoid wheel lockup.

The other thing I always liked, it was so easy to adjust for the differences between what you need for the loaded trailer, versus what you need for an empty one, because drama can come on quick when you step on the brakes and the trailer goes into a skid...
 
#6 ·
Is the protogy controller the one that is recommended by most of the Titan guys including the one Amada guy on CT?

I remember reading a thread over there where a bunch of members stated that a specific controller worked the best because it was easy to install and worked great.
 
#7 ·
Yes, it seems the lion's share of Titan guys love it.

When I was active over there as Quad T, I was blown away by the percentage of guys using that unit, which of course is why I bought it, it was so highly recommended.
 
#9 ·
Yup, then I would also recommend this unit, lol.

Its funny, most things that float over to the Frontier's start with the Titan's.

The greatest part is that they put most of their stuff thru twice the crap we would so if it works for them, then it will defiently work for us.
 
#10 ·
I just set up a Tekonsha Voyager in my truck to tow my camper (about 2500lbs). So far its been working good. It has a leveling adjustment (didn't matter because where I mounted it is pretty much level anyways). Adjusting the braking amount on the trailer was simple too. One thing to note: Did your truck come with the tow package from the factory or did you add a hitch later? If you didn't get the tow pack I'm not sure that you will have the plug under the dash for the controller. I got the tow package with my truck. I bought the controller and the Nissan harness from a local trailer shop and plugged it in and I'm all set. It's that simple. If you didn't get the tow pack you may need to wire in to the harness behind the passenger side kick panel. There is a write up on here about it.
 
#11 ·
I added my hitch after I bought the truck and got the Nissan 4-pin harness. I know I'll have to upgrade to the 7-pin for the brakes. The plug you are talking about, is that a small square shaped one over to the right side, real close to the OBD2 plug?
 
#12 ·
Yup. I think you may still need to connect something behind that kick panel... The "how to" thread said something about it. I didn't actually read it, just looked at the pictures and saw that kick panel pulled and a wire being plugged in. With the tow package I didn't have to do any of that so I never actually took the time to read. I'm lazy and only acquire information that is relevant to myself. For that I apologize. :hi:
 
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