edwinsmith

Years ago I had a hydraulic brake controller made by Tekonsha I think. It was real nice and varied the trailer brakes in proportion to the amount of pedal pressure. It also had a lever you could use to apply the trailer brakes without touching the pedal which is handy sometimes. It connected with a "T" to the rear brake line under the hood.

Anyone know if these are still available?

Edwin

Jeff in TD

Older controllers that activated off brake fluid pressure pretty much went away with the advent of anti-lock brakes.

Brakesmart is the only controller that I know of currently on the market that senses hyd. pressure and actuates the brakes in proportion. They use a solid state transducer that doesn't displace fluid, so they don't effect anti-lock systems.

They also have a manual lever to actuate the only the trailer brakes, in addition to adjustable gain and a bunch of other features. Search for "Brakesmart" in the towing/hauling forum and you will get lots of reading.

The disadvantage is that they are expensive, but even though I'm a tightwad, I consider mine money well spent.

BearKiller

A few months ago, in the tow/haul section of TDS, The Diesel Stop, someone had found a bunch of new-in the box- Kelsay-Hayes hydraulic actuated brake controllers that had been in storage at a shop/parts house for years.

They were being grabbed up pretty quick; but, the guy seemed to have a bunch of them.

If you can't find the site, just say so and I will try to post a link.

RCW

There are some serious downsides to hydraulic controllers installed on the early anti-lock and rear only anti-lock brake systems. Those systems that are equipped with both a combination valve and an anti-lock controller that relies on fluid feedback to sense pedal pressure which uses a method of regulation that results in slight pulsing of the fluid pressure, and they can confuse any hydraulic controller when operated in severe driving conditions like mountains.

The early displacement type controllers are simply dangerous on any form of anti-lock, as they can result in total brake failure, and that is why they are no longer manufactured.

If you have either the full or the rear only anti-lock brake systems, consider a Jordan brake controller if you want true progressive braking. They do not tap into the hydraulic system and are roughly half the cost of the Brakesmart.