Brake Control

[wagenman]

OK... So with my new coach the weight is almost 2,000 pounds diferencein dry weight alone. The brake control that I have in there was set to the old trailer from the dealership, and when I picked up my new one the dealership made no adjustments on it.

I noticed when I towed it home that my brakes smelled real hot after only a couple mile tow home. I thought maybe it was just cause of the brakes being new on the trailer but now am second guess'in myself and wonder if I need to adjust something on my brake control.

I have the instructions from my control and it looks fairly basic to adjust as long as you do not have to re-level it just cause of a new trailer ( im pretty sure you dont have to).

My question is should I reset the leveling sensor so the delay is set for my new trailer, or can I just adjust it by adjusting the power knob on the front of the control?

Please any help on this.....

My control is made by Tekonsha and is a envoy model if this helps.. no idea if this is a good one or not...

Mike

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

I'm not familiar with your specific controller model but I would do a complete reset. I would also suggest for your peace of mind to check the adjustment of the brakes. The wiring should be the same but I once didn't double check when a friend plugged in my trailer connection. After a few miles of feeling something was strange, I pulled over and found the connector was forced in and upside down.

 

[pmmjarrett]

This is a drivers responsibility not a dealers. You need to get very familiar with your controller, it's not something you set and forget. You need to adjust the controller just about eveytime you pull a different trailer and often fine tune alone the way. I have never seen 2 trailers use the exact same setting.

Set the level adjustment while hooked to the new trailer, then adjust the power level according to the instructions.

 

[JohnDar]

My experience with a tow trailer and a Drawtite controller was to check and possibly reset it every time I moved the trailer. Weather conditions, bumps along the road, phase of the moon, seemed to change the grabbiness (or lack of) every time I hitched up. That's why you pull out of the space (or storage) slowly, checking function before hitting the road.

 

[wagenman]

Thank you all for the information, I am so glad I asked this question..

So can you guys tell me what you do to reset your control? Is there any tricks to it, or is it one of those things that you just have to practice till you get the feel you like while towing?

The control that I have is failry basic I guess.. has the power control on the front, manual slide on the front and then on the bottom side there is a knob that is the leveler I guess..

It sounds a little confusing from where to go from there in the instructions....

 

[pmmjarrett]

Everything is right there in the instructions, you NEED to follow the steps. There is no shortcut here.

If you are having trouble with the instructions for whatever reason your best bet is to go to the dealer or a hitch shop and have them help you learn this controller hands on or if somebody is local to you mabey they could pop in and help you out.

Not trying to sound harsh as I have trouble reading stuff with a lot of small print myself these days and I ain't too proud to hand something to a store emplyee and have them read it to me if the fine print is so small it looks like a straight of scribble.

 

[wagenman]

LOL... its ok pmmjarret to sound harsh.. It just tells me that this is a serious matter and I need to take it that way..

I would hope though at my age I am not having a hard time reading small print just yet..lol

I will have to take some time and read everything about mine, I have not done that yet.. I have only read the quick start guide... but like I said now that I know how imprortant this is I will take the time and learn it...

Now that I got the paper work out I see that it even came with a dvd to learn how to use it... that could be a good thing for me I guess...lol

Again thanks for the help, and stressing that this is important..

 

[JohnDar]

Sounds a little like my DrawTite (to be sold with the truck when I get the new one). The sensitivity control is on the side and I didn't mess with that too much. The power setting is a slider on the top of the box, along with a manual switch along the front edge. I would pull out slowly and try the manual switch to see if the brakes on the trailer would stop the truck/trailer. If not, adjust the top slider a tad, then try the truck brakes. If my teeth ended up in the steering wheel, I had to back it off a bit. Adjustments were fractional movements, at most, but without them the brakes could be either head jerkers or none at all. Seemed to be needed more when the weather had been wet and/or the trailer had not been moved for a couple of weeks or more. Could have been the design, too. I've had other electronic devices with slider type switches. They tend to need wiggling and movement occasionally to work properly.
I agree, get the manual out and read through it. I kept mine in the glove box for the times I passed brain gas.

 

[Cirrus]

I completely agree with the others that have told you to do a complete reset and be very familiar with the set up procedure.
My first brake controller was a Tekonsha Voyager, which was very 'herky jerky'. I found that I had to make adjustments to it on a daily basis to make the rig brake properly. Then I purchased a Prodigy, which was 10 times better, and I only had to make small adjustments to it a couple of times a season. My new truck has the factory IBC (built in unit) and it works just as good as the Prodigy.
My advice to anyone else would be not to buy too cheap a unit, (as cost is a fair indicator of how good it will work) and learn how to use it so that you can make adjustments whenever it is required. When you think about the thousands of $$ that our RV's are worth, why try and save $50 on a brake controller??...cause safety is the name of the game!