I have a rather large trailer that I pull with my car. It has trailer brakes but I’ve not connected them to my newer vehicle. In the past I’ve used an hydraulic trailer brake controller that hooks into the brake line of the car/truck. The controller was proportional and worked very well. In looking for controllers now it seems that they no longer make this type of controller. I would imagine this is because most vehicles now have anti-lock brakes. Mine does not have anti-lock brakes. It seems the best controllers now use a pendulum (G-force meter) to apply the trailer brakes proportionally once the vehicle starts to stop. It seems to me that if you’re in a panic situation that this G-force meter could become confused and would not be as good as the old hydraulic method.

What do you think?

I use a pendulum based brake controller with a horse trailer, and thankfully have never been in a panic situation. However, with any sort of tight stopping distance, I'm always very conscious of the brake controller, and often work the manual button which I really wouldn't want to be without.

The ones you definitely don't want are the all electronic timer based ones, which simply apply more breaking pressure the longer the brake pedal has been depressed, as they're completely useless in a panic stop situation.

That's about all I know. I went to the best horse trailer place I could find within about 100 miles of me, and got the only controller they sold. I don't remember the name, but this was a few years ago, and he swore by the pendulum based ones.

The forums over at horstrailerworld.com are where I would go for advice if I needed it, they've always seems like a nice bunch of people whenever I've lurked there.

Matthew

Thanks for the reply.I'll take a look over there. I guess if I get real out of shape pulling a trailer nothing will really help me out.

We usually use the trailer when we are on vacation, along with half the US population. It seems we're always just cuirsing along @ 70 mph and the traffic just STOPS. I try to keep a good space cushion but a lot of times people don't respect that I'm pulling a trailer and cut into my space. I had a guy rear-end my trailer one time when I had to do a fast white-knuckle stop.

Ahh the good times.

70? With a trailer? In heavy traffic?

Depending on whether your trailer brakes are electric or hydraulic, have a look at:

Tekonsha

Hydrastar

Sens-A-Brake

I think you just need someone with thick calluses and a walkie-talkie.

I've used a Tekonsha pendulum brake controller with three different vehicles and three different travel trailers. Works great.

The first was a Honda CR-V with a pop-up camper.
Second was a GMC 1500 with a 23 foot aluminum camper.
Thirdly is our Dodge Ram 1500 with a 28 foot camper.

I think I got one of the cheaper models at around $100 Canadian.
If you want more details let me know.

Rene

It looks like Tekonsha is the leader.

I've been doing some looking and it appears that if you can hook into the tow vehicle’s brake line that is the way to go. One post I found spelled it out very well. It was long and detailed but the guy basically said: The timed ones suck, the pendulum ones are better and the old style brake line ones are the best but are not made anymore because of anti-lock brakes. The convincing argument for me between the pendulum and the brake line style was that on ice or slippery conditions if the car is not slowing the trailer is not braking. This would also hold true for a very heavy trailer that kept pushing the car during a stop.

Warner still makes an hydraulically operated controller. I guess this is a case where old technology is better, if you can use it. I imagine the sens-a-brake brake pedal controller would work as good but is close to 10 times the cost.