Best brake pads for a tow vehicle?

imq707s wrote:

transamz9 wrote:
What throws me off is the OP said that the manual control on the trailer brake controller is what saved him. I am in conclusion that the brake controller is not working correctly or is not adjusted correctly. When I had an aftermarket brake controller I drove like I was riding a motorcycle. I would squeeze the manual brake controller by hand doing most of the braking and follow up with my foot brake to help.

I can't stand a timer based brake controller and the way it jerks and lunges. By operating by hand does a couple things. It eliminates the jerks and lunges and also allowed me to run the box at maximum setting so if needed I could apply full power to the trailer brakes.

Yes, I agree...I think part of my problem was that the brake controller wasn't set up right.....and/or it's a cheap one that doesn't work very well. I have a hard time getting it set so that it stops good, but not so good that it's trying to lock up the tires on the trailer....it seems like it's all or nothing.

I'm guessing that on the way down the hill, the truck brakes were doing most of the stopping.....but I'm sure that having 13yr old brake fluid in the system doesn't help either.

I'm going to flush the brake fluid, and then go from there. Not sure I'm going to hit that section of road any time soon.....that experience was enough to make me not want to try it again if I don't have too.

Changing your brake fluid not keep it from happening again. It might take a little longer to happen but it will happen again. You really either need to upgrade your controller to an inertia based controller or learn to run your current one by hand. You can turn your current one all the max up (max power) and operate it by hand. Operating it by hand completely bypasses the signal it gets from the brake pedal on the truck. Squeeze the controller until you feel it pulling back on the truck and then apply brake pressure on the trucks pedal second. If you need more power just squeeze the controller more until you feel it pull on the truck.

In quick stops like those dreaded yellow lights in the city I would squeeze my controller 100% and then apply truck brakes to finish the stop. Once you learn how to do it it will be second nature like driving a standard transmission. I still , after 4 years of having a truck with the controller built in , reach down for a controller that's not there. HAHA