Tekonsha Prodigy setup question

The instructions for adjustment of the Prodigy brake controller indicate that you should test the trailer brakes using the manual lever at approx. 25 mph. You should gradually increase the braking strength until the wheels lock up when full manual control is applied. You should then back off the strength just a bit.

Now my question: I can't seem to lock up my trailer brakes, even with the power control maxed out. I can feel them grab, but they don't seem to have enough power to lock up. I know the linings are still adequate, and I thought the manual brake adjustments were good (I could hear the shoes a bit when I'd spin the wheels). A friend suggested that maybe I have some sort of ground problem betwen the trailer and the TV that could be sapping some strength. Or maybe I need to re-check the manual adjustments...

Any ideas??

Thanks,

Steve

[RockyMtnRay]

Originally Posted by Steverino

The instructions for adjustment of the Prodigy brake controller indicate that you should test the trailer brakes using the manual lever at approx. 25 mph. You should gradually increase the braking strength until the wheels lock up when full manual control is applied. You should then back off the strength just a bit.

Now my question: I can't seem to lock up my trailer brakes, even with the power control maxed out. I can feel them grab, but they don't seem to have enough power to lock up. I know the linings are still adequate, and I thought the manual brake adjustments were good (I could hear the shoes a bit when I'd spin the wheels). A friend suggested that maybe I have some sort of ground problem betwen the trailer and the TV that could be sapping some strength. Or maybe I need to re-check the manual adjustments...

Any ideas??

Thanks,

Steve

As I recall, only one TMO.com member has succeeded in getting anywhere close to locking up his TM's brakes with a Prodigy, even with the power control at max. I know I certainly can't.

I have my trailer's brake shoes adjusted fairly tightly...I can readily hear the shoes (not just a tiny "bit") when I spin the tires...and while I found that tightening them that much certainly improved the braking effectiveness, I still can't get lockup at the max setting. I do, however, get a bit of grabbing and other unpleasant trailer brake behavior at settings above about 11 volts so that's where I have my Prodigy.

My suspicion is that TrailManors have higher weights per axle (for a given tire size) than do most travel trailers and that's the primary cause. When I have my trailer retrofitted with 5K axles and 15 inch tires in October, I'll see if that has any effect on braking since the 5K axle does come with larger diameter brake drums.

But in any case, I really don't think it's a particularly worrisome issue. I recently had to make a semi-panic stop from 60 mph while leaving town on the outbound leg of a camping trip. Both the trailer and truck were heavily loaded (trailer was within a couple of hundred lbs of GVWR) and I was able to stop in a remarkably short distance without any wheel lockup...I was stopping faster than the car beside me which was showing some signs of having lockup.

Thanks for the reassurance, Ray. It's good to hear that this is probably a normal behavior for the TM. I'm still playing with "fine tuning" the rig (brakes & WDH adjustments) and it helps to know what is to be expected.

Steve

I also have been unable to achieve TM brake lockup, at any setting. I have the Valley Odyssey brake controller instead of the Prodigy.

I thougt it was just me. I was considering a private message to Larry Loo because I know he also bought the Odyssey at almost the same time I did.

I have mine set high enough that I can sometimes feel the TM go thud when braking. Though the ball fits the hitch snuggly, there is a little slop on the receiver pin. I can feel it when braking moderately. My theory is that light braking eases the TM back gently and there is no thud. Heavy braking and the TM and TV both brake togeter. Somewhere in between the TM is braking more than the TV, thus the thud.

I, too, have had an occasion to make a near panic stop and was impressed with my stopping distance. When the light turned yellow, and I had to choose immediately to brake or not, I elected to brake as there was no one in front or behind me. It sure was a good test. I gained a lot of confidence in the abilty of my TM and TV to stop if I need to.

[Civil_War_Buff]

Another thing to consider too is to put the Prodigy on boost 1. The TrailManor will stop a little more aggressively if you set the unit on boost 1. When I set mine up, I got the unit to "almost" lock the wheels up, but now (as the brakes wear a little) I need to adjust the brakes and I run the Prodigy on boost 1, and having made 1 panic stop, I appreciate all that Prodigy does.
I call it anti-lock brakes for the trailer.

[MikeD]

I recently blew out a wheel bearing gasket while doing my yearly greasing through the Sure Lube hub. As a result, the brake shoe was contaminated and needed replacement. I called my local dealer (Dinuba) to see if they could recommend a local shop. During our discussion about brakes and braking effectiveness, I was told that a number of TM's were built using Henschen brakes rather than Dexter, and that for some non-obvious reason, the Henschen are less effective than the Dexter brakes. Dinuba had a number of customers complaining that their brakes would not lock-up. Dinuba solved the problems by replacing the Henschen with Dexter brakes.

This was good information, and I made sure that my local shop would use Dexter brakes. In fact, since I had to have one brake set replaced due to the grease contamination, I decided to have both sets replaced. We couldn't tell if the orginal brake sets were Henschen or Dexter, but it really didn't matter, since the orginal brake sets were installed backwards (small actuator shoe on the back rather than the front). This, by itself, caused a big decrease in braking power. I am still breaking in my new shoes, but I already notice a big improvement in braking from the trailer. I will add a new post after the new shoes break in - maybe the trailer wheels will finally lock-up.

If you are unhappy with your trailer braking performance, you might want to ask your local dealer about the Henschen versus Dexter issue, and have someone check to see if your brakes are installed correctly.

MikeD

the original brake sets were installed backwards

That would definitely reduce the braking capacity since the small shoe is only supposed to put greater pressure on the large shoe. Reversed, you probably only get about half the braking ability! And the small shoe would wear out a lot more quickly.

Thanks for the heads up. Dinuba is also my local dealer. My brakes have never locked up. They work well, but will not lock under any circumstance.