Location, Location, Location...........

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, I just relocated my brake controller; And the story goes like this. After working on cars and trucks in new car dealers since 1968, I have on many ocassion almost ripped my knee caps off while entering or exiting owners vehicles with those damn brake controllers mounted under the dash in horrific places. Many decades later, [Sept 2004] I am about to have my own vehicle with a brake controller somewhere on the dash. So I wanted mine mounted in a good safe place, for my leggs. On my Lincoln, there is a nice little pocket just to the right side of the driver's area, that I thought would be perfect. I asked my selling Airstream dealer to install the brake controller, that was coming with my trailer, in this place. They did and it was OK for many years, even though I later replaced the original Voyager with a new P-3. The P-3, unlike the Voyager, has numbers on display and now it was a bit difficult to see. After some long thought on relocating my brake controller, I bit the bullet and moved it into my center consul. Now it won't be obstructed by my steering wheel, but now the reach to the manual lever is sightly longer. Anyone else have pictures and a story about how and why you put your brake controller where it is?

The top left picture shows original brake controller location. The other three pictures show it's new location.

[bredlo]

Good solution, Robert.

I too was looking for a hidden compartment in our new tow vehicle, and found few viable options. The layout of these new cars, with their leg-height airbags, all-curved surfaces, fuse boxes and miles of wiring are insane. I was really spoiled having bolted our last one on a 1970 Wagoneer - which had a STEEL dashboard and PLENTY of clean, open space for mounting things.

Ultimately I went with this: triple checking to make sure I wasn't screwing through wires, I mounted it underneath the steering wheel. I can see it through the bottom hole of the wheel (in the event I upgrade to something with a readout down the road) and I'll have a quick release cable which disappears where the steering column meets the dashboard so we can remove it altogether when not towing.

For aesthetics and to make sure I don't gouge my legs... I'll probably cut down and smooth the arms of the bracket so that it's flush with the bottom of the unit.

[Minnie's Mate]

I have the built-in brake controller in my F-250 but I always thought the accessory brake controllers had to be mounted level. That my apply only to certain brands and their method of working...it also may be for older models. But, if it works then I guess I wasn't thinking about the brands you have.

[Gene]

My Prodigy is mounted at an angle and seems to work fine. But, it's mounted at the bottom of the dashboard and the read out is "visible" through the steering wheel. There doesn't seem to be a good place anywhere else and I don't want to drill through the top of the dash. Maybe I could velcro it to the dash, except the material used on it doesn't allow even heavy duty industrial strength velcro to stick to it. It could be mounted on the ceiling, but the wires aren't long enough and wires hanging down in my face aren't a great idea either.

The TPMS (Doran 360) monitor is mounted to the windshield with three suction cups, but it's so far away, to check pressure while driving requires 4' arms.

This makes the Prodigy manual lever just about impossible to use. In an emergency, I'd have to lean into the steering wheel and reach down to use it. That would probably worsen the situation. Operating that lever in an emergency and doing it smoothly and slowly seems just about impossible no matter where it's located anyway.

Bob's solution is a good one, better than underdash anyway, but I find looking down in the center of the dash to be dicey at times. Adjusting the A/C or heat, finding a radio station, etc., are distracting. Anything that isn't directly in front of me is pretty hard to see and use.

Gene

[FreshAir]

I just 'relocated' my Prodigy to just left of the steering column. The Prodigy is new replacing an old Draw-Tight that was begining to fail. For the recent NorCal Cararally I decided to install tranny and water temp gauges for the mountain climbing we were going to do....and did with no problem. As with the gauges I too was reluctant not only to drill new holes in the classic Buick dash but to tack on non original equipment. I was able to locate mounting places by using eisting dash attachment screw holes. The Prodigy is comfortably located where I can see it easily and reach it's controls without leaning forward too much.....and will not injure Bob's knees should he ever need to slide behind the wheel of a true American highway iron. I will try to post pictures but right now it's 100 degrees outside
Neil.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, brelo. Your location looks like another good option. I don't see too many other options on your vehicle. Make sure you trim that bracket before, not after, you get hurt by it.

Hi, Minnie's Mate. My brake controller instructions state that it can be mounted at 70 degrees or less, on the up side, I don't remember off hand what the down angle specs are. The best I can tell, mine is mounted at, or near, 60 degrees. Sounds close but according to my angle finder, another 10 degrees is quite a bit more upright.

Hi, CrawfordGene. Finding a good location to mount a brake controller can be very difficult on some or many vehicles.

Hi, Neil. I also have a true American piece of iron, but it was limited to towing my utility trailer. 1959 Ford Galaxie Town Sedan 292 cu in V-8 with aluminum 2 speed automatic trans. Car is retired in my garage and utility trailer found a new home. As for the 59 towing an Airstream, it will never happen. Car is great, engine is too small, trans needs more gears, and .135 over drums on all four wheels makes stopping very poor at this time.