Prodigy vs. low-end Drawtite brake controller.

[Herbicidal]

It appears that people are pretty happy with the Prodigy brake controller. I found I can pick one up for around $99. When we bought our travel trailer almost 2 years ago, the RV dealer installed a Drawtite brake controller. I don't have the exact model number, but it has a very tiny slider adjustment on the top near the front and no digital readout (probably pretty low-end). I'm thinking about replacing it with the Prodigy controller, especially before out next trip in a week and a half to the southern ca. coast.

Is it worth the money to do the swap (I can solder and do basic electrical stuff)? Is it simply a direct electrical replacement (I have the 7-pin connector at the rear of the truck)? The Prodigy appears to be a simple 4-wire hookup. I have not yet closely examined the Drawtite controller to see what it's hookup's are.

Thanks for any and all feedback.

[RockyMtnRay]

Originally Posted by Herbicidal

It appears that people are pretty happy with the Prodigy brake controller. I found I can pick one up for around $99. When we bought our travel trailer almost 2 years ago, the RV dealer installed a Drawtite brake controller. I don't have the exact model number, but it has a very tiny slider adjustment on the top near the front and no digital readout (probably pretty low-end). I'm thinking about replacing it with the Prodigy controller, especially before out next trip in a week and a half to the southern ca. coast.

Is it worth the money to do the swap (I can solder and do basic electrical stuff)? Is it simply a direct electrical replacement (I have the 7-pin connector at the rear of the truck)? The Prodigy appears to be a simple 4-wire hookup. I have not yet closely examined the Drawtite controller to see what it's hookup's are.

Thanks for any and all feedback.

The Drawtite you have is undoubtedly of the simple minded (quite frankly, stupid) "time delay" variety. Which means the controller ramps up voltage (and current) to the trailer brakes proportionally to how long you have the brake pedal depressed. And as you've undoubtedly discovered, that means you have to constantly fiddle with the gain to get enough braking at high speeds yet avoid having too much braking in low speed traffic. And there's almost always banging and jerking when you take your foot off the pedal because the trailer brakes go instantly from full on to full off.

The Prodigy by comparison provides trailer braking that's proportional to how hard you press the truck's brake pedal. If you press hard to get maximum truck braking, the Prodigy senses the deceleration and sends a maximum braking voltage (which you can watch on the display) to the trailer's brakes. Conversely if you use very light braking (even for relatively long time like 30 seconds or more) to gradually slow for a traffic light, the Prodigy sends a very small voltage (maybe only a couple of volts) to the trailer brakes so they too are just providing a light braking force. And if you change braking force during the stop...for instance, gradually ease off on the pedal as the rig slows down, the Prodigy will simultaneously ease off on the trailer brakes as well. So when you finally take your foot off the pedal, there's absolutely no banging and jerking.

It's truly a "set and forget" controller because the Prodigy always sends a proportional voltage to the trailer brakes, no matter how fast you're going, whether you're going down or up hill, or how hard (or easy) you're braking. Furthermore, it knows what direction "down" is so it never gets fooled by gravity effects, so you can mount it at almost any angle (unlike the "inertia" controllers that use a moving pendulum). And you only have to do a maximum voltage adjustment one time. From then on, no more fiddling with the gain, no jerks and banging when you take your foot off the brake pedal, etc. Just smooth and proportional braking always.

The Prodigy uses the same 4 wire hookup as all other electric controllers (one wire for +12V, one for the signal from the brake pedal, one for ground, and one wire (the blue one) for the signal back to trailer connector and then to the trailer brakes. So you should be able to just solder the Prodigy's harness to the same wires the stupid Drawtite uses. Be sure to properly solder though...do not use crimp on connectors.

I honestly do not know how you've managed to tolerate the Drawtite this long...after you swap them you'll definitely feel the time and money were worthwhile.

[Herbicidal]

Originally Posted by RockyMtnRay

The Drawtite you have is undoubtedly of the simple minded (quite frankly, stupid) "time delay" variety.

Well that about sums it up!

Originally Posted by RockyMtnRay

I honestly do not know how you've managed to tolerate the Drawtite this long...after you swap them you'll definitely feel the time and money were worthwhile.

Next stop, Camping World (I have one just up the highway from where I live)! They will price match what I find on the internet plus any applicable shipping charges. I'll bust out the ol' soldering gun, heat shrink wrap and electrical tape and do those connections justice!

Thanks RockyMtnRay!

[Herbicidal]

Oh yeah, forgot to reply! Better late then never. Yup, night and day! Over the last two years since installing the Prodigy controller I have towed our 26' Outback TT over 5,000 miles. I've towed to southern CA, northern CA, Oregon (twice), Nevada, Idaho and Wyoming and I LOVE IT!!! The controller works perfectly and ZERO problems. What more can you ask for? Best $99 I've ever spent.

[Only Toyota for me]

Just installed the Prodigy P-3 brake controller. ($131+harness)

Haven't got to use it yet, but after all i've read here, i'm sure i'll be glad i switched from the "stupid" drawtite.

[cptom]

Another great advantage of the Prodigy is that you can easily adjust it for different trailers. I found that I need to adjust the setting to different levels when I move from my boat trailer ( 4 wheel disc brakes) to my smaller enclosed trailer (drum brakes).

[Haytundra]

Originally Posted by RockyMtnRay

The Drawtite you have is undoubtedly of the simple minded (quite frankly, stupid) "time delay" variety. Which means the controller ramps up voltage (and current) to the trailer brakes proportionally to how long you have the brake pedal depressed. And as you've undoubtedly discovered, that means you have to constantly fiddle with the gain to get enough braking at high speeds yet avoid having too much braking in low speed traffic. And there's almost always banging and jerking when you take your foot off the pedal because the trailer brakes go instantly from full on to full off.

The Prodigy by comparison provides trailer braking that's proportional to how hard you press the truck's brake pedal. If you press hard to get maximum truck braking, the Prodigy senses the deceleration and sends a maximum braking voltage (which you can watch on the display) to the trailer's brakes. Conversely if you use very light braking (even for relatively long time like 30 seconds or more) to gradually slow for a traffic light, the Prodigy sends a very small voltage (maybe only a couple of volts) to the trailer brakes so they too are just providing a light braking force. And if you change braking force during the stop...for instance, gradually ease off on the pedal as the rig slows down, the Prodigy will simultaneously ease off on the trailer brakes as well. So when you finally take your foot off the pedal, there's absolutely no banging and jerking.

It's truly a "set and forget" controller because the Prodigy always sends a proportional voltage to the trailer brakes, no matter how fast you're going, whether you're going down or up hill, or how hard (or easy) you're braking. Furthermore, it knows what direction "down" is so it never gets fooled by gravity effects, so you can mount it at almost any angle (unlike the "inertia" controllers that use a moving pendulum). And you only have to do a maximum voltage adjustment one time. From then on, no more fiddling with the gain, no jerks and banging when you take your foot off the brake pedal, etc. Just smooth and proportional braking always.

The Prodigy uses the same 4 wire hookup as all other electric controllers (one wire for +12V, one for the signal from the brake pedal, one for ground, and one wire (the blue one) for the signal back to trailer connector and then to the trailer brakes. So you should be able to just solder the Prodigy's harness to the same wires the stupid Drawtite uses. Be sure to properly solder though...do not use crimp on connectors.

I honestly do not know how you've managed to tolerate the Drawtite this long...after you swap them you'll definitely feel the time and money were worthwhile.

Digging up a old post here but this is a great write up for the prodigy.

We picked up our new to us TT last friday and the dealer installed a Hayes model timed controller which to be honest absolutely sucked I wish I had done some more in depth research beforehand.

I ordered the prodigy controller monday and installed it today I cannot believe how great this thing is. After getting the braking level set per the instructions its night and day and so much smoother!

Also spent about a hour or so getting the WDH set up right the dealer had it good enough to get us home but its spot on now headed out this weekend for a close to home test run

[TundraBay]

Great find and super write up Ray!

There is the Tekonsha Prodigy and the P3, two different models. They are very similar, but the P3 is more expensive, for which you get a brake controller that will also run trailer hydraulic brakes. Few trailers have such brakes, and therefore the Prodigy is adequate for most people's needs. It's what I'm using, and after initial setup (follow directions in manual) it's set and forget.