Vinceg99, yes the seller was Dr Performance. I was pretty patient with their delays, shipping problems, more delays, phone calls not returned and letters not responded to, and yet again more delays but after about three+ months I had had enough. I told their customer service I needed a date certain when they could supply me with fully working unit or I would like a refund so I could put the problem behind me. At this point the customer service rep told me "he didn't like my attitude".

My attitude is I want what I paid for. I understand businesses can have problems but three defective units combined with bad customer service is absurd.


rogerL1961 if you need a reliable brake controller from a reputable company stay away from Brakesmart.

 

I can completely understand your frustration and yes 3 defective units is just plain rediculous BUT there are plenty of people that have used the product with great results and will stand behind it such as myself, no offense but if everyone said dont buy this or that cause of the one bad experience nobody would be buying anything since someone somewhere ALWAYS has an issue with something, heck I have read a good handful of post on here about how bad Dodge and the Cummins are yet plenty of people still own and stand by them.

As for Dr. Performance themselves I have heard good and bad things about them as well not as many bad as good though and like I said I myself in the end had good results with them got a free brake controller and he even offered me a discount on a future purchase do to their screw up, I would say their customer service was pretty decent.

Not saying you flew off the handle but HOW did you exactly talk to them? Again your frustration is understandable but if you rub someone the wrong way its tough to get things worked out I saved my Wife on a few occasions cause she doesnt even realize how much she has given attitude towards customer service people I can call right back and get everything taken care of for her. If the person you're talking to isnt getting the job done or you're not getting the results you want talk to someone else there is ALWAYS someone else and most of the time someone else higher than the person you were originally talking to (again with the Wife example) she has gotten so frustrated and I tell her ask for their manager or something but yet she has such a bad attitude she is supposedly talking to the person "in charge" yet I can get on the phone and talk to someone else.

Now dont take any of this the wrong way once again of course 3 bad units and bad service towards you would give anyone the right to be mad and not want to do business with them and you of course have the right to do that and offer your opinion to others. But in my opinion its a great brake controller and I have hjad good luck with Dr. Performance as well so im not trying to get on you and tell you your wrong but wanted to state my opinion as well.

 

I will give you our ranks as we see them (unbiased as I can).

1. MaxBrake - Best control we have came across.
2. BrakeSmart - Nice unit if you can get one.
3. Jordan - It will miss Mr. Jordan.
3. TruControl - Have not tested it, but they support the forum.
3. Odyssey II - Coming this spring. Well thought out control.
3. P3 - Upgraded Prodigy nice features.
3. G2 - Coming this spring. Nice design.
5. Valley Odyssey - 360 degree Proportional Control
6. Tekonsha Prodigy - First Proportional Control
7. Hayes Genesis - Nice Proportional Control
8. Tekonsha Primus - Down graded Prodigy
9. Hopkin's Agility - Coming this spring. Much like a Primus.
10. Everything else.

 

Tekonsha is what i have at least in brand name. Not sure of model, it seems its the only thing offered when going to a store to ask about such items. anyway I hate it. Does it make the trailer brakes come on yes. I pull a dump trailer at times, which the weight on board is always different. So you dump your load, flat spot the tires first stop sign, forgot to turn down gain, get new load run same stop sign forgot to turn up gain. So my question would be why are these ones at the top of the list so much better? Everyone says they like one or the other but what makes you like them. I would gladly look for a new product if I could figure out if would actually do a better job. Thanks

 

i have a Maxbrake waiting to be installed, my last controller was a Tekonsha Prodigy. i didn't like it at all. of course i grew up with the old hydraulic brake controllers. the inertia controllers just don't work right for me. it will be a month before i take delivery, so i won't be able to post about how i like or don't like it. until after the first trip in late jan.
cc

 

One more thing. I would be curious to see pics of how and what type of controller you guys are putting in your trucks. Its another pet pieve I have that they make a truck like this to pull trailers, even sell it with a trailer tow package and not only dont supply a controller, they dont have a decent place to put one where you can see it well.



Sorry my truck is really filthy right now, Gonna clean it tomorrow sat kinda embarassing looking at this.

 

I hear you COMPLETELY on the Tekonsha I use to have a Prodigy and with my car trailer same as your dump trailer the weight is always different. I found myself even turning it down in rush hour traffic with a load cause it would grab pretty hard at the slower speeds since I had the gain turned up for the load but yet going slower yu dont need FULL boost like it gave.

Now with the Brakesmart they say its a set it and forget it controller cause it goes by the brake fluid pressure yet I still fine myself adjusting the gain a bit but I set it once for unloaded and set it once for loaded. I dont think there is a brake controller out there that is once set your done with setting it when you have a trailer that varies in weight.

I will mention with the brakesmart though that even if I have it turned up for the load and forget to turn it back down unless your really hitting the pedal it wont lock up the trailer brakes, BUT you can really tell that the trailer is grabbing harder than it should with just slight pressure on the brake pedal so like if your just tapping your brakes or slowly putting them on its not like the Prodigy where its just full ON as soon you touch the pedal it still has the gradual affect on how much pressure you're putting on the pedal. Let me know if that makes sense??

Thats what I really do like about the brakesmart and well maxbrake since they seem to be the same (same designer??) is that its not a on or off brake controller it reads the pressure of the brake fluid and doesnt just give you full blast.

And on the other end I have forgotten to turn the controller back up with a load and could tell right away but push the brake pedal down a bit harder and the brakes do grab harder unlike the other type of brake controllers where no matter how hard you push the brake pedal unless its turned up its not going to do anything for the trailer brakes.

I can say that one thing I dont like about the Brakesmart is that when your holding the brake down you can NOT adjust the gain which kind of stinks cause if you forgot to turn them up or down only way you can adjust is with your foot off the pedal and thats not always feasable.

I still want to hear from a few people that has tried out the Hensly Tru-Control brake controller sounds kind of interesting I guess it doesnt even have a gain??

Also here is where I put my Brakesmart I think it works out pretty well for me. Its really just kind of wedged in there I flipped the bracket back slid it in and popped it up on top of the bracket.

 

Thankyou, that does tell me somthing, not a bad place to mount it. At least you can see it, I dont have spot becuase of the heated seats and dual controls for heat. Although with the display on the end like that I may still be able to mount it similiar to what I have, thanks.

 

No problem and yeah it can be mounted any which way cause there are no switches or anything inside it to balance out.

And yup I have the stripped down model nothing fancy here

 

In 29 years of trailer brake controller installs, only 1 unit EVER coming back with an issue and it was replaced free of charge. Tekonsha makes the most reliable units since day one. In that time, we've taken out our fair share of EVERYTHING ELSE because they weren't working right. Their Prodigy unit is top notch IMO. For people who don't want to sink a lot of $$$ into a unit, the Tekonsha 9030 is unbeatable. It's a brake controller, no whistles, no bells, but it DOES the job it's supposed to do, PERIOD!!! Also, if you're wondering, I DO recommend having someone that does installs on a regular basis do the install. That way, it will work right the first time.

 

I Bought the Prodigy at Quality Bumper...it was $149 with a $40 install fee....I guess I will see how it works.

 

I have had my Maxbrake for a few months and have pulled from empty (+/- 4000) to way too much (same trailer with tractor and skidsteer onboard) and all I can say is WOW I LOVE THIS THING!!!!!

 

I hope whoever makes the Maxbrake stays in business. The BrakeSmart and Maxbrake are excellent designs. Dr. P does not give me warm fuzzies when it comes to customer service. Not sure why more controllers have not picked up on the concept of using a pressure transducer to control the current to the brakes. It just makes sense to do it that way.

Casey

 

I installed my prodigy today - piece of cake.

Lit up and gave all the correct signalls, now I need to pull something heavy!

Air bags this week, then I'm set.

 

heres mine