If you insist on being the one to control your rig, including the amount of trailer braking, and want the trailer braking always leading the tow vehicle braking, the Jordan is the clear choice. If you're not much of a DIYer, and/or you trust modern electronics as much or more than you do your own driving skills, the plug and play Prodigy would be the route to take. Both are very popular, and are the two best on the market.
I'm not saying the Jordan isn't a good controller, but with modern power brakes, the pedal travel distance isn't very proportional to the braking force. By sensing the brake switch, the Prodigy (and some lesser Tekonshas) can apply the trailer brakes ahead of the application of the truck brakes. By setting the gain, the trailer can be given as much braking force as desired. It is a positive feedback loop when the gain is set high enough so that the trailer braking feeds back to the inertia sensor so that the trailer brakes are always leading.
Not to knock the Jordan, but I think it is just another way to cut the pie and my engineering experience tells me that it is not necessarily a better way. Frankly, I believe that inertia sensing is the way to go.
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John W. Irwin
2005 Classic 28 "Sabre-Dog III"
2007 Silverado 2500HD Duramax/Allison LTZ
WBCCI Region 9 Webmaster, #9632
John, my experience has been with the Voyager, not the Prodigy. I do not like the way the Voyager works. I have played with the controls till the cows come home, and cannot seem to get it to the point where I think it is working correctly. This is on my Airstream, and my heavy equipment trailer, as well. As far as the Voyager applying the trailer brakes ahead of the tow vehicle, I have not seen any evidence of this occuring, UNLESS the road is rough. It is a real pain when I am pulling my equipment trailer empty, and come to a stop at a rough intersection. Most of the time I just set the level control and gain so the trailer brakes are disabled under those conditions. I feel the Jordan will be easier to adjust under those conditions, and not be suceptable to the falsing under rough road conditions that I am experiencing now.
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CP 9 miles off Exit 399, I75.
2003 GMC 2500HD 4X4 D/A Ext. Cab
Propane Powered Honda EU2000i
Lots of Hot Sauce! Air # 283
The Prodegy has the ability to lead as soon as you depress the brake pedal. There are two levels of lead available. On my old single-axle trailer, I used the lowest level of lead. On my dual-axle Airstream, I don't use any lead at all. Just taking my foot off the accelerator and placing my foot on the brake pedal so that the brake lights come on provides enough decelleration to trigger the trailer brakes so that they lead. The inertia sensor is amazingly sensitive, but rough roads have no perceived effect.
I previously used the Voyager with my old SOB trailer. It was OK, but not spectacular. I bought the Prodegy more because I was intregued by the implementation; once I had it, I would never go back.
I think the best setup of all might be a marriage of the Jordan and the Prodegy. It seems to me that each one adds something to the braking equation.
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John W. Irwin
2005 Classic 28 "Sabre-Dog III"
2007 Silverado 2500HD Duramax/Allison LTZ
WBCCI Region 9 Webmaster, #9632
I ruled out thinking that the Jordan gave me direct control of braking for some reasons Pahaska mentioned. On modern vehicles proportional braking is not possible because computers of some sort control most everything. My tow vehicle has 4 wheel anti-lock brakes. If I am on a slippery surface, and punch the brakes, the ABS will kick in. The Jordan will think I am dynamiting the brakes and brake hard. The Prodigy will sense that I am not decelarating that fast, and brake softer, hopefully not locking the brakes. An even better option might be Overlander64's use of a remote control. I'm not sure what one looks like, but it seems he could have more control over his brakes than either the Jordan or Prodigy. It is something I need to check in to. Any flaws in my logic? Comments welcome.
I have not purchased one yet, but love to read the discusions.
I'm having the Jordan installed today and you raised a good question, so I called Jordan and they said:
When setting -up the Jordan controller, you get it to were the trailer brakes lock-up. Then you back it off in 1/2 amps until the trailer brakes no longer lock-up.
So if you're on a wet road and you go into a panic stop, the trailer brakes will always lead the tow vehicle, keeping it straight and the trailer brakes will not lock up because you have preset them so they won't.
It doesn't have any to do with ABS brakes on the tow vehicle, the trailer will always lead the tow vehicle.
He has been selling this current model for over 3 yrs and has only had good feed-back from RV'ers. Not one poor comment.
He did make some other comments about other brake controllers, but I won't get into that, as I'm only trying to clear up any misunderstandings of the Jordan controller braking on wet surfaces.
Any state-of-the-art brake controller, properly adjusted, should allow you to forget the trailer is back there at least 99.9% of the time as far as braking is concerned. With all the other things to think about while towing, trailer braking should not be a distraction.
The controllers typically have a lever to manually increase trailer braking momentarily. Some controllers have remote levers for this purpose. These manual controls can be used to help get you out of a sway condition. I have personally never found it necessary to use the manual lever for any purpose other than adjusting the controller.
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John W. Irwin
2005 Classic 28 "Sabre-Dog III"
2007 Silverado 2500HD Duramax/Allison LTZ
WBCCI Region 9 Webmaster, #9632
I have read a lot about the Jordon on many other forums too, and I know it is well liked. I have been pondering controlers for several months now. In real world situations there is probably not much difference.
An obvious question... Do you have to set the brakes for every road condition you are on? Setting the brakes on a dry road would not give you the same breaking if you hit a wet spot. I would think you might have to recalibrate.
I would have to agree with Pahaska about distractions. In a panic stop would I remember what to do, and do it in time? The brake pedal is about as natural as it gets.
Jordan's way of setting up is substantially the way you set up the Tekonshas. You set max current just below lockup using the panic lever to apply max current at a very low speed.
From an engineering standpoint, I see it as a problem in information transfer. I believe there is more information in the combination of brake light switch and inertia sensor than there is in brake pedal position.
I would bet that Jordan's cable simply turns a linear potentiometer and the spring in the brake connection prevents breaking things when the potentiometer bottoms out.
Actually, the combination of all three inputs would be better yet, but no one builds anything like that. Simply, the more information available, the better the response.
In the real world, what you build (and trumpet) is a combination of where you started and who owns the patents.
I was very disappointed at the Jordan web site. There is absolutely no useful information there regarding why he thinks his system is better.
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John W. Irwin
2005 Classic 28 "Sabre-Dog III"
2007 Silverado 2500HD Duramax/Allison LTZ
WBCCI Region 9 Webmaster, #9632
Having electrical brakes on a trailer could make for some interesting designs for antilock brakes. A microcomputer could monitor the wheels rotation, and adjust current to the wheels independantly to keep them from locking up.... using inertia information so you can actually stop...
The Jordan site is as you say. I spoke with him several months ago, and at that time he was using a linear pot. It is a type used in a gaming controller, and designed for extended wear. At that time I was wondering about reliability issues. The Prodigy must be a complicated thing as far as the electronics go. I have not heard anything about high failure rates. I called their technical support to ask about the technology, but all the lady could say was "It uses some guided missle thingy." Tech support is the same everywhere anymore.
Anyone here ever had a bad Prodigy that they had to replace under warranty? The Jordan certainly gets points for simplicity.
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