Alright. What is so great about the Brakesmart controller? I've got a drawtite controller and it works great. It applies the trailer brakes when I want them and how I want them. My buddy has a tekonsha and has to have it mounted at a certain angle to work. I can mount mine however I want and it works great. So what makes the brakesmart so special. I'm dying to know.

 

There are 3 basic types of brake controllers:

1. Ramped Time-Based - These controllers are activated from the truck's brake light wire and (for a given setting) will apply the trailer brakes the same way every time - the same ramp-up and maximum braking amperage. This means that, unless one changes the settings, good braking performance in low-speed stop-and-go traffic will result in insufficient braking at highway speeds. Conversely, settings that produce good braking at highway speeds will yield jerky braking and possibly even trailer brake lock-up in a low-speed stop-and-go environment.

2. Inertial - These controllers take their initial activiation (wake-up) signal from the truck's brake light wire and then apply trailer brakes as a function of the truck's deceleration which they measure with a pendulum or a solid-state accelerometer. This is a step up from the ramped time-based design, but has its own problems. For instance, if one has the settings optimized for dry road performance, wet or slippery conditions may result in truck brake lock-up before sufficient deceleration is produced to activate the trailer brakes - instant jackknife!!!

3. True Proportional - These controllers (examples are the Jordan Ultima 2020 and the Brakesmart) produce trailer braking that is a direct function of the driver's application of the truck brakes. The Jordan does this with a cable that attaches to the truck's brake pedal arm. The Brakesmart does this with a pressure transducer that measures the pressure in the truck's hydraulic braking system. In either case, the more the operator presses on the truck's brake pedal, the more the controller applies the trailer brakes.

I've used all 3 types, currently use the true proportional Jordan Ultima 2020 and wouldn't go back to a ramped time-based or inertial controller. If I had to replace my Jordan at some future date, I would seriously consider the Brakesmart.

Rusty

 

From my personal experience, if your towing a lite weight small trailer these proportional brake systems prevent locking up and the jerky feeling and so make a huge difference, but when you get over the few thousand pound range there is so much weight pushing that I can't feel a difference. I have the Jordan 2020 now and prior to that just a little cheap Reese controller, in the trailer weights I pull I really feel no difference between them, except that pain in the wallet.

 

Our experiences certainly differ. I can notice immediately when I'm pulling a 15+K 5th wheel and don't have sufficient trailer braking on the highway because my former ramped time-based controller is still set up for city driving. That trailer certainly can push the truck and result in lengthened stopping distances and pucker marks in the driver's bottom seat cushion!!

Rusty

 

I have used only 2 brake controllers. the first being a tekoshna & I was always adjusting it for the conditions hwy or city. I have had the Brakesmart for over a year & have never had to adjust it. I've used it on my 3/4 ton ram & now it's on my dually. It responds just like my air brakes on my semi. Well worth the$$$.

 

I have had others...but not the Jordon.

This Brakesmart is by far the most bells and whistles.
I am impressed with the way it adjusts automatically to the number of axles and the ability to stop at slow speed or highway speeds. VERY SMOOTH.
There are a few features on it that I do not use. I do have the boost and pyro feature but it was a prototype for evaluation. After my last bit of feedback to Steve, I did not get a reply and now Doc Perf is selling them. I am not certain if the glitches I encountered where resolved or not.

With the boost and pyro hooked up via the S-VHS cable, every once in awhile I would get a very strong grab from the brakes of the trailer [s] when I would just touch on the pedal to begin applying the brakes.
When idling it would read out EGT disonnected but this would get mixed up and show letters from different sequences in the 2nd line of display.
In addition to this I found that if you have a fast spooling and/or fast rising egt, it cannot do it in real time and makes the screen go crazy.
I can go from 0-30 plus psi of boost almost instantly and it knocks the display for a loop. I can go from 300 egt to 1600 fast too if I want and that also messes up the display.

Maybe they got it resolved. I have been unable to confirm one way or another.

The brake controller is second to none for me.

Scotty

EDIT
I was supposed to submit an article to Diesel Power on this controller and the added features. I found that if I could get the bugs worked out...it would have been a great article. I decided its not in my best interest to submit an article now. Especially since it appears to be under new ownership or management and that is not who I was working with. Plus I was never told about the changes.

 

For the Jordan people... in a panic stop, with ABS, You smash the brake to the floor. (unless you are Scotty, then use restraint as to prevent the pedal from contacting the LF tire) Wouldn't this possibly produce too much trailer brake force, whereas an inertial-based unit would be able to provide more brake on a dry surface, and less on wet/slick, because the truck wouldn't be slowing as fast because of traction limits?

Maybe I'm not using my trailer brakes agressively enough, but I get none of the jerkyness in low-speed driving, and when it's wet, I can't stop my truck as hard as I can when it's dry, and therefore the trailer brakes don't activate as hard.

My controller is a basic Tekonsha Voyager that was in the truck when I bought it. I leveled it once (Blue's friend must have an OLD Tekonsha, mine has a leveling **** presumably for the interia pendulum.), and the only time I adjust it is empty or loaded. Once at the beginning of the trip, and I don't have to touch it again.

I would agree that a time-based controller is NOT a good idea.

I have had an experience with the slick road conditions producing an instant jackknife - If you stab the brakes hard enough to lock up the tires on the truck without generating deceleration, guess what... you'd be sideways without a trailer too.. smooth & steady(which everyone knows to do) has produced good braking from the car trailer I towed on a steep snow-covered downhill in PA. I did set the controller a bit more agressive than usual, without changing total power. This made the trailer's brakes apply more quickly, to help keep the combo straight.

That said, measuring the hydraulic pressure in the brake system is *the* best way to gauge how much the truck is trying to slow down, in my opinion..

 

You can have the 4-wheel ABS cycling on the truck, push right through it and modulate trailer braking with the Jordan. You get as much trailer braking as your right foot calls for - it's a function of brake pedal travel.
In my case, it wasn't ignorance of braking procedure (I've been pulling these things awhile.) Rather, it was a sudden case of sticking caliper on the right front of my 1996 3500 - in a Texas Gulf Coast thunderstorm pulling a 5th wheel trailer on a country road with no shoulders (berms). The right front locked up before sufficient deceleration was generated to apply the trailer brakes - instant jackknife - with a Tekonsha Sentinel. Having some experience with these things, I was able to get off the brakes, nail the throttle, straighten the rig out although I did blow right through a stop sign to keep the rig out of the ditch.

Rusty

 

And here I thought that the best thing about the Brakesmart was the jousting matches that it provides between Fiverbob and justabouteverybodyelse! (You knew the comment had to be made sooner or later! )

 

I still dont' quite get it.. if your brake pedal is at full travel, then your trailer brakes are at (whatever level) you have set as "full power", correct? (In my mind, I'm thinking that the Jordan doesn't realize that there's another system on the truck reducing/pulsing the brakes despite you smashing the pedal, and it giving full power to the trailer)

Or, do you mean, push the brakes as hard as required to get into the truck's ABS, and then modulate the pedal to let the jordan control the brakes? I don't think many drivers would be capable of doing this...

My thinking that is a modern inertial controller, adjusted right, shouldn't be "jerky" in low-speed stuff when you lightly push the brake, because there isn't very much deceleration going on..

I am a firm believer in the brake line pressure controlled systems (isn't that what the one in the new Ford's use?) after riding in my friend's 350 with the goose behind it.. smooooth.

Rusty - I wasn't implying that you were ignorant of braking procedure...

In that situation, what would the other controllers have gained?

 

Be VERY careful with that setting...
Most drivers REDUCE the trailer's brake setting on wet or snowy roads.
The reason being, if you DO lock up the trailer brakes, the trailer wants to slide off the crown of the road and jack knife.
Especially if the truck has ABS brakes.

An ABS equipped tow vehicle with a non-ABS trailer is about the worst combination on snowy/slick roads.

The proportional controllers see a hard brake application and lock up the trailer wheels, while the truck's ABS reduces brake pressure and let the wheels roll. The trailer slides off the road sideways.

I run the Prodigy (inertial), and turn OFF the boost function when on snowy roads. Reduced trailer brake action (no wheel lockup) works better with the truck's ABS.

JMO...

 

It all depends how you set your Jordan up. You have adjustability of the position of the cable bracket on the brake pedal arm - the lower you position the bracket, the more cable travel (and the more potentiometer movement) the Jordan will see for every inch of brake pedal travel. You can also adjust the gain rate - how rapidly does the output current increase for every inch of brake pedal travel?

I have my Jordan set up so that trailer wheel lockup doesn't occur until after the truck's ABS activates in dry conditions. Even after the ABS activates, I can still push the brake pedal down farther and farther, and this continues to increase the trailer braking until I finally have trailer brake lockup. That's what I mean about being able to modulate the trailer brakes right at the edge of lockup while the truck's 4 wheel ABS is merrily cycling away. Admittedly, that's not an everyday situation, but it's the way I want it out on the ragged edge.

If that's not the way you want your system to operate, you can set your Jordan up differently - that's one of its advantages.

Rusty

 

No arguement here. My thinking is that the trailer had more pressure on the ground under each tire than my truck did with its narrower tires, and 4 vs. 6 tires.

I didn't feel the need to reduce total power because available traction (and therefore deceleration forces coming from the truck) were less thanks to the roads, but this was tested and adjusted before heading down the hill (in 4 low none the less) (I could not apply the truck's brakes very hard at all before locking them, but the trailer was able to really help quite a bit)
Might be right, might be wrong, felt good from my calibrated butt-o-meter..

Guess I should have specified this particular situation before spouting off, lest someone get themselves into trouble..

I believe I think waaay too deeply into stuff, but that's just how my mind works.

Oh, and my junk has RWAL only, which does seem to absolutely suck. I'm 1/2 tempted to bypass it... the dang thing keeps doing the anti-lock pulsing well after I've even come to a complete stop! (HUGE advantage to discs - how fast you can pulse them effectively) But, in a towing situation, one of these days I'm gonna be spacing out, and will appreciate the truck staying in a stright line because the lockup-prone rear wheels are still rotating...

Rusty - good info, thanks..

 

One thing that nobody has mentioned about the Jordan...and that I think Eskimo is unaware of...is the fact that the power that the Jordan puts out is adjustable. Ideally, you would adjust the outgoing power so that the trailer wheels come just shy of locking up at full power (this is explained with the Jordan instructions). That is the correct way to have them set. If you do this then no matter HOW hard you push the brake pedal, the trailer wheels will NOT lock up.

Obviously, if the roads are slick you need to crank back that power to prevent the wheels from locking up on the wet roads.

In other words, if your Jordan is adjusted correctly, your trailer brakes will not luck up...and you don't want them to.

If you're talking "bang for the buck", you're not going to find a better unit than the Jordan.

But, since this thread is supposed to be about Brakesmart, I'll turn it over to Bob and let him tell you how great the Brakesmart system is.

 

Well, really, the Jordan is self-compensating. If the roads are slick, I use less brake on the truck. That automatically translates (through the Jordan, or the Brakesmart for that matter) to less trailer braking.

Rusty