New to caravaning and just bought a Pajero Sport tow vehicle. Which brake controllers are the best to use. I will need them professionally fitted.
Thanks
CC Bear said
09:15 PM Jan 3, 2017
I use the Red Arc Pro can be positioned in any position and just a small knob on the dash. Has worked very well.
Ron-D said
09:23 PM Jan 3, 2017
I have had three over the years two teckonshas and the redarck pro that's proportional to how much pedal you apply is just great, and the adjustment is so simple, in my view there in a class of there own...
OwenK said
09:58 PM Jan 3, 2017
Hi Camu, welcome to the GN's.
Can't go wrong with Red Arc Pro. I tow a 3.5 ton van and it works brilliantly, never had a problem with it.
Cheers, Owen.
warhorse said
10:16 PM Jan 3, 2017
another vote for redarc tow pro,just brilliant....cheers ray
The Belmont Bear said
11:33 PM Jan 3, 2017
I tow with a Pajero Sport and had the tow bar, 12 pin/Anderson plug and brake controller fitted by the Mitsubishi dealership prior to delivery. They used the Redarc Pro and utilised one of the switch blanks on the right hand side of the wheel so as CC suggested you will only see the knob. With around 2.6T behind me I set it on 4 or 5 and it works well, more than that and I find that it's too harsh and causes the car to dip when braking, too low and it feels like the van is pushing me when I brake. Here's some other info you might want to consider when towing with the Sport -
If you live in NSW and your van is over 2T you will also need to get a breakaway monitor, which the auto electrician put beneath the dash on the left hand side of the wheel. I have a rear view camera on the van so I needed him to run the cabling to the dash for that as well. I bought a set of the Milenco towing mirrors and found that once you get the correct adjustment on them they won't hit your doors even when they fold in which happens every time that you lock it. I also use a Hayman Reece WDH but I need to get an engineering shop to cut the tang shorter due to the position of the spare wheel behind the tow bar - I believe that it's currently sticking out further than it should from the back of the vehicle I really want to be able to push it in another couple of holes. I don't know what you intend towing with it but the fuel consumption I get is around 16 or 17ltrs/100kms which is not good when you only have a 68ltr tank to play with, I carry a couple of 20ltr jerry cans just to give me some decent range. When I'm out on the highway cruising on 90kph its fairly economical but the consumption jumps up when the smaller 2.4 motor has to work hard on the longer climbs or when you're getting up to speed from a standing start.
You might like to consider the Hayman Reese Compact IQcontroller.
It is also a proportional solid state controller, compact (hidden) and only one knob visible - same as the Redarc Towpro Elite in this regard.
But it has one major advantage over the Redarc - the HR Compact IQ includes a 'Boost' control. Users of the Tekonsha P3 will be familiar with this function, which sets the MINIMUM voltage provided to the electric brake system when the brakes are applied. Another advantage (albeit less important IMO) is that it can be had for substantially less money than the Redarc.
CamU said
12:38 PM Jan 4, 2017
Thanks for that info, cheers
Col Rennie said
02:36 AM Jan 7, 2017
Hi CamU
Like you we are Newbies.
We fitted a Redack after a lot of research.
the only advise I have to add is make sure you get the control knob placed in a easily assessable location on the dash.
it is important to be able to reach the control knob quickly if caravan sway gets out of control.
So Redack gets the green light just think about were the control knob fits For easy access.
This site is amazing for us newbies isn't it?
The only other thing I found out and had to fit was a Breaksafe battery monitor to be legal in NSW.
its a small monitor that monitors the van battery level/condition in case your vane breaks away Cost about $88
keep smiling and travel safe.
Hylife said
09:43 PM Jan 8, 2017
Expect over the next few years to see a whole new selection of different brake controllers entering the market, unlike any seen in the past.
Why? Because the new vehicles don't have the old style method of the brake pedal pushing the hydraulics.
New vehicles are all 'fly-by-wire', ie, there is nothing other than some wires running from the brake pedal to a black box that determines how much brake force is required based on speed, load, pedal force, etc.
Once manufacturers can get their act together and come up with an industry standard interface connector, new electric brake controllers will be designed to plug into the tow vehicles braking black box.
ants_oz said
07:41 AM Jan 9, 2017
Hylife,
I like your thinking. Hope it comes to something. The various technologies in "assisted braking" have few commonalities at the moment, but who knows what the future will bring hey.
Davidjgale said
06:09 PM Feb 1, 2017
Hey guys, I'm new to the caravan I g scene and am a little confused with the whole electric brake system. I was told by the person I bought my caravan from that the caravan has electric breaks and if the car has electric breaks they are compatible.
Was this a sellers pitch or is it true?Forgive my lack of knowledge as this is my first van and I know nothing.
Cheers Dave
iana said
06:26 PM Feb 1, 2017
Hi Davidjgale, may I suggest that you start up another thread in "techies corner", your thread will have different content, and is like "hi-Jacking" another persons post.
Davidjgale said
09:39 PM Feb 1, 2017
Sorry, my apologies. I'm new to the site and still working it out.
PeterD said
12:17 AM Feb 2, 2017
Hylife wrote:
Expect over the next few years to see a whole new selection of different brake controllers entering the market, unlike any seen in the past. Why? Because the new vehicles don't have the old style method of the brake pedal pushing the hydraulics. New vehicles are all 'fly-by-wire', ie, there is nothing other than some wires running from the brake pedal to a black box that determines how much brake force is required based on speed, load, pedal force, etc.
You should still be able to use the existing brake controllers. There will still be stop lights on the vehicle. You pick the signal for the controller up from there. In fact you should be doing that now as many vehicles recommend that is how it should be done.
PeterD said
11:18 AM Feb 2, 2017
Davidjgale wrote:
I was told by the person I bought my caravan from that the caravan has electric breaks and if the car has electric breaks they are compatible. Was this a sellers pitch or is it true?
Dave, first of all the nit picking. You are talking about brakes, not breaks.
Your tug does not have electric brakes. It will have hydraulic brakes. If you want to tow a caravan with electric brakes you need to fit an electric brake controller unit. That control unit has a signal wire that connects to the 12 V wire that illuminates your stop lights. When you put your foot on the brake pedal the signal wire wakes up the controller and it starts supplying power through the trailer plug to operate your caravan brakes.
There are two types of brake controller. The older type are often called timer or synchroniser controllers. They operate by supplying a fixed amount of power to the brakes every time you brake your rig. The newer type are the proportional controllers They have an accelerometer (which can be pendulum operated) which detects how quickly you are slowing your rig. The harder the braking you are doing the greater will be the power supplied to the brakes. When you are slowing gently as you say come up to traffic lights the controller apply gentle braking to the van. In a panic stop the controller will supply full braking to your van. In each of those situation a synchroniser will supply a fixed amount of braking, dependent on how you last set the controller (and that could be the wrong amount of braking power for the situation. From what I can gather, the Hayman Reese Compact IQcontroller recommended by ants_oz is not a proportional controller.
The following is a graphical form of what I described above.
-- Edited by PeterD on Thursday 2nd of February 2017 11:20:30 AM
Hi All
New to caravaning and just bought a Pajero Sport tow vehicle. Which brake controllers are the best to use. I will need them professionally fitted.
Thanks
I have had three over the years two teckonshas and the redarck pro that's proportional to how much pedal you apply is just great, and the adjustment is so simple, in my view there in a class of there own...
Hi Camu, welcome to the GN's.
Can't go wrong with Red Arc Pro. I tow a 3.5 ton van and it works brilliantly, never had a problem with it.
Cheers, Owen.
If you live in NSW and your van is over 2T you will also need to get a breakaway monitor, which the auto electrician put beneath the dash on the left hand side of the wheel. I have a rear view camera on the van so I needed him to run the cabling to the dash for that as well. I bought a set of the Milenco towing mirrors and found that once you get the correct adjustment on them they won't hit your doors even when they fold in which happens every time that you lock it. I also use a Hayman Reece WDH but I need to get an engineering shop to cut the tang shorter due to the position of the spare wheel behind the tow bar - I believe that it's currently sticking out further than it should from the back of the vehicle I really want to be able to push it in another couple of holes. I don't know what you intend towing with it but the fuel consumption I get is around 16 or 17ltrs/100kms which is not good when you only have a 68ltr tank to play with, I carry a couple of 20ltr jerry cans just to give me some decent range. When I'm out on the highway cruising on 90kph its fairly economical but the consumption jumps up when the smaller 2.4 motor has to work hard on the longer climbs or when you're getting up to speed from a standing start.
www.goseeaustralia.com.au/article/1373/Redarc_Tow_Pro_Elite_electric_brake_controller_review/
Hi there CamU,
You might like to consider the Hayman Reese Compact IQ controller.
It is also a proportional solid state controller, compact (hidden) and only one knob visible - same as the Redarc Towpro Elite in this regard.
But it has one major advantage over the Redarc - the HR Compact IQ includes a 'Boost' control. Users of the Tekonsha P3 will be familiar with this function, which sets the MINIMUM voltage provided to the electric brake system when the brakes are applied. Another advantage (albeit less important IMO) is that it can be had for substantially less money than the Redarc.
Thanks for that info, cheers
Hi CamU
Like you we are Newbies.
We fitted a Redack after a lot of research.
the only advise I have to add is make sure you get the control knob placed in a easily assessable location on the dash.
it is important to be able to reach the control knob quickly if caravan sway gets out of control.
So Redack gets the green light just think about were the control knob fits For easy access.
This site is amazing for us newbies isn't it?
The only other thing I found out and had to fit was a Breaksafe battery monitor to be legal in NSW.
its a small monitor that monitors the van battery level/condition in case your vane breaks away Cost about $88
keep smiling and travel safe.
Why? Because the new vehicles don't have the old style method of the brake pedal pushing the hydraulics.
New vehicles are all 'fly-by-wire', ie, there is nothing other than some wires running from the brake pedal to a black box that determines how much brake force is required based on speed, load, pedal force, etc.
Once manufacturers can get their act together and come up with an industry standard interface connector, new electric brake controllers will be designed to plug into the tow vehicles braking black box.
I like your thinking. Hope it comes to something. The various technologies in "assisted braking" have few commonalities at the moment, but who knows what the future will bring hey.
You should still be able to use the existing brake controllers. There will still be stop lights on the vehicle. You pick the signal for the controller up from there. In fact you should be doing that now as many vehicles recommend that is how it should be done.
Dave, first of all the nit picking. You are talking about brakes, not breaks.
Your tug does not have electric brakes. It will have hydraulic brakes. If you want to tow a caravan with electric brakes you need to fit an electric brake controller unit. That control unit has a signal wire that connects to the 12 V wire that illuminates your stop lights. When you put your foot on the brake pedal the signal wire wakes up the controller and it starts supplying power through the trailer plug to operate your caravan brakes.
There are two types of brake controller. The older type are often called timer or synchroniser controllers. They operate by supplying a fixed amount of power to the brakes every time you brake your rig. The newer type are the proportional controllers They have an accelerometer (which can be pendulum operated) which detects how quickly you are slowing your rig. The harder the braking you are doing the greater will be the power supplied to the brakes. When you are slowing gently as you say come up to traffic lights the controller apply gentle braking to the van. In a panic stop the controller will supply full braking to your van. In each of those situation a synchroniser will supply a fixed amount of braking, dependent on how you last set the controller (and that could be the wrong amount of braking power for the situation. From what I can gather, the Hayman Reese Compact IQ controller recommended by ants_oz is not a proportional controller.
The following is a graphical form of what I described above.
-- Edited by PeterD on Thursday 2nd of February 2017 11:20:30 AM