Choosing a brake controller - wired vs wireless - replacement on the road!

Sharon_is_SAM

(Finally remembered to share this tidbit😁)

Sorry for the long tale…

When choosing our brake controller, It never occurred to us to consider ease of repair/replacement while away from home.

We had a Tekonsha Prodigy RF wireless brake controller installed when we picked up our new TaB back in early 2017.  As novice towers, we liked the idea of its simplicity and ability to avoid mounting an apparatus onto the dash of our 2015 Toyota Sienna minivan.    The excellent customer service we received to replace the hand held controller on the road in 2018 confirmed our decision.  

This past winter, we traveled from Ohio out to Texas, New Mexico and Arizona in February and March.  Everything was ready to go, then, on the day of departure, the hand held remote unit read “NC” for No Connection, rendering it inoperable!  We checked the 7 pin, we cleaned connections, inspected seals, nothing worked.  Then after a few minutes, our prayers to the 12 volt deities were answered, and it suddenly connected!  We chalked it up to a one off event due to the humidity and freezing temps and we went on our way.

It happened again following a drive through a heavy rain, and again after a needed car/trailer wash.  Each time it eventually resolved itself.  Convinced this failure was related to water, we used a spray electrical contact cleaner and pipe cleaners on the 7 pin connections.  Finally, on departure from the small town of Chinle, AZ (Canyon de Chelly) the Tekonsha Prodigy RF brake controller gave up the ghost.  We wanted to see if it was repairable and/or replace it with the same unit.  We called multiple shops and there was no one locally who repaired or carried the RF controller.  We finally found a repair shop over in Aztec, NM who agreed to an urgent appointment to trouble shoot our device.  The tech found a non-repairable short.  They did not have the RF unit in stock (it would take days to receive a new order), so we had the in-stock Prodigy P3 proportional controller installed.  It was a 10 minute plug and play, no drama install.  It works just fine and it should have been at the top of our list for a brake controller.

Moral of the story:

Newer tech is sexy and has its advantages, but standard and readily available products should be high on your priority list!

kevmon

I’ve used wired Tekonsha P2 and P3 for towing small trailers for over a decade. This year I bought a new tab 320 and the dealer only had Curt Echo wireless controllers. It worked fine for several trips, then it started grabbing the brakes as has been discussed on this forum and elsewhere. I tried all of the advice to fix it and it continued. I had to set it is so low that my TV was doing all the braking work. I also didn’t like having to change settings to turn on hazards. When I need to use hazard lights, it needs to be quick.

I stopped by the store and bought a Tekonsha P2 with the wiring harness for my TV. Plugged it in, attached to dash with command stripes in 10 minutes, performed an 10 minute setup as shown in instructions, and have had nothing but perfect braking since. Just got back from a trip of 3000 miles. If you have a factory installed 7pin connection, these are plug and play self install. IMO, the wired perform much better with no headaches. 

LokiFinn

I agree with the previous comments about the Curt Echo. I have built in controller with my Rivian and breaks work perfectly. For my wife’s Acura, I’ll be getting the Tekoshna and hard wire it.

SLJ

Just an FYI: When we bought our Bronco Sport three years ago it was a new model with no connector for a brake controller harness and no one would attempt to put in a wired brake controller being a new model. We had little choice but to use a Curt Echo Bluetooth controller. It worked flawlessly with my Motorola Android phone for the three years we had the Bronco Sport. Never dropped the signal even once. I think a lot of the problems are the phone, not the controller. Traded the Sport in and got a Ford Maverick with the factory tow package which has a factory installed brake controller with all the controls built into the dash and display so we don't use the Echo anymore.

Slackers

Our '19 Ranger with tow package had the wiring for a brake controller but not a proper connector even though Ford suggested they'd be making one available. We were considering the Curt Echo and then I found a YouTube how-to on wiring the connector. Once I dug out the proper wire bundle from under the dash, uttered 4-letter word chants, and offered a small blood sacrifice the connector was successfully wired. With it we attached a Tekonsha Primus IQ. It has worked flawlessly over mountain passes and in city stop and go traffic.

Trailpixie

I didn't like the Tekonsha Prodigy. I didn't fee like it was responsive. When it did finally engage, it was grabby, even when carefully calibrated. I was new to driving a trailer with brakes and I attributed my problems to my smaller tow vehicle and bought a larger vehicle only to discover that the Prodigy was still flaky. I bought a wired brake controller and that was much better. I was frustrated with my dealer for not noticing that the flakiness was attributable to the controller. 

The other contributing factor to my poor experience with the prodigy was, as I said, it was my first brake controller, and I didn't understand that you might want different settings for the brake gain within the same trip. Based on ambient temperature or the length of the trip, you might find yourself adjusting the settings after a few hours. Perhaps you might adjust them if it rains or in the heat of the afternoon or when the temperature drops after dark. The Prodigy probably ends up in the hands of a lot of beginners, and a lack of knowledge about how to use controllers may cause confusion. 

rcarlson1957

We went thru 2 Curt Echos a few years ago with it loosing it's mind frequently and replaced it with a Redarc Liberty. Figured if they were good enough for the Australian Outback they'd be good here in the US. Never an issue after almost 3 yrs now. The main unit fits under the dash out of way of your knees and the controller dial is just a little button that fit in a empty plug in the dash of our Ridgeline. 

RMo

We use the AuTowbrake wireless controller and have had no issues at all.  They are easy to install and configure and can be adjusted on the fly while driving if/as needed.  They are a bit pricey, but ours has been smooth and effective for 4 years now.

tabiphile

Choose whatever brand and style you prefer knowing that your experience will vary based upon the installation, TV, circumstances, controller design and other variables that you have no control over.

The key point that needs to be considered when you install any mechanism is that simple system design and mathematics should point you away from sexy whistle and bells solutions if system reliability is the top priority. It is a fact that the more elements that you have in your system (controller, cell phone, controller app., blue tooth connectivity, etc.) the higher the likelihood that there will be a problem or failure. The probability of a system with multiple components is greater than one with fewer components. Anyone designing any kind of system knows this and generally an overall design objective is to simplify, not complicate. KISS. Of course, sales and marketing require an escalation of features and complexity to drive sales. Yet features and complexity increase the chances for failure. 
If avoiding one simple mounting screw under your dash is worth chasing after "sexier and more complex" solutions to a simple problem, the expectation should be a proportional increased volume of trouble.