can brake controller be put on new TV? Is OEM unit better?

[trailernovice]

Two questions re. brake controllers:
1) Is there any reason a unit couldn't be removed from the current TV and installed in a new TV?

2.) Is there any real advantage to an integrated brake controller on the TV as factory installed? If so, do these benefits outweigh the added costs of the 'super-extra' tow package that's required to get the integrated controller?

[aftermath]

Do they work? YES, and the Prodigy works very well.

Will it void the warranty? NO. I suppose how it is installed might if some hack messes up the wiring but, as stated earlier, late model trucks come with a plug that accepts the controller harness. Call you local Chevy dealer and see if they carry one.

For those who “wouldn't have one”, you are in luck. Most manufacturers today have integrated ones available. You win! For the rest of us, a good add on brake controller will work and it will work as well as the integrated ones.

[Terryallan]

Lynnmor wrote:

trailernovice wrote:
Update..the particular truck I am looking at has the 5.3 v8, etc., but doesn't have the integrated controller .. it's a chevy .. dealer says adding an oem integrated controller as a dealer-installed option not possible...but, this particular truck (a holdover 2018) is deeply discounted.. anything 2019 with the max-tow package would be at least 10k more than what I'm looking at .. dealer can install an afermarket controller that wouldn't have any potential effect on warranty .. thoughts?

You are looking at a truck that doesn't fully fit your needs. Aftermarket controllers are a simple plug and pray device and can be added by anyone with half a brain, but I wouldn't want one.

You have been towing long enough to have used a aftermarket controler. You didn't like it? I used a Prodigy for more than 10 years. It worked great. As good as the factory controler I have now. Really can't tell any difference. And it is true that a Prodigy is plug, and play IF the TV already has wiring for it. All do not. IF you have to wire it from scratch, it is a little more involved.

Prodigies / P1, -P3 are great controlers

[Bobbo]

trailernovice wrote:
Update..the particular truck I am looking at has the 5.3 v8, etc., but doesn't have the integrated controller .. it's a chevy .. dealer says adding an oem integrated controller as a dealer-installed option not possible...but, this particular truck (a holdover 2018) is deeply discounted.. anything 2019 with the max-tow package would be at least 10k more than what I'm looking at .. dealer can install an afermarket controller that wouldn't have any potential effect on warranty .. thoughts?

I have an F-150 and am on an F-150 forum where there is tons of information. I bet that if you look you can find a Silverado forum somewhere that has knowledgeable folks who can answer every one of your questions.

I agree that the dealer saying he can't add an OEM controller sounds shady to me.

[KD4UPL]

I think you need a new dealer. I have heard numerous people on boards like this say they have had a factory controller added by the dealer.
If you really do need to install an aftermarket one then I'd do it yourself. There should be a harness that plugs right into the truck. It will take about 5 minutes total.

[owenssailor]

Does the truck you are looking at have the 3.42 rear end, tranny cooler, tow/haul, 7 pin connector?

[Lynnmor]

trailernovice wrote:
Update..the particular truck I am looking at has the 5.3 v8, etc., but doesn't have the integrated controller .. it's a chevy .. dealer says adding an oem integrated controller as a dealer-installed option not possible...but, this particular truck (a holdover 2018) is deeply discounted.. anything 2019 with the max-tow package would be at least 10k more than what I'm looking at .. dealer can install an afermarket controller that wouldn't have any potential effect on warranty .. thoughts?

You are looking at a truck that doesn't fully fit your needs. Aftermarket controllers are a simple plug and pray device and can be added by anyone with half a brain, but I wouldn't want one.

[trailernovice]

Update..the particular truck I am looking at has the 5.3 v8, etc., but doesn't have the integrated controller .. it's a chevy .. dealer says adding an oem integrated controller as a dealer-installed option not possible...but, this particular truck (a holdover 2018) is deeply discounted.. anything 2019 with the max-tow package would be at least 10k more than what I'm looking at .. dealer can install an afermarket controller that wouldn't have any potential effect on warranty .. thoughts?

[aftermath]

OK, to be fair my latest Tundra is a 2017. I really don’t know what they are using today. I actually still love my Tundra. It, and the ‘08 before it were and are great TVs. I wrote letters to the manager of the dealership and to Toyota corporate offices. They didn’t seem to know or care about the issue. When I would approach an intersection I would gently apply the brakes. After a few seconds the brakes would increase pressure and lock them up. I then got out of town and tried an emergency stop and didn’t get much braking at the start.
Stay away from timed controllers.

[Terryallan]

ScottG wrote:

aftermath wrote:
I will try to answer your questions.

First, yes you can move your old controller to your new TV. I did just that not long ago.

Secondly, using the integrated brake controller that comes with most new trucks today really makes things easier provided that it is a good controller. You will not have your old one sitting below the dash somewhere where it usually hits your knee.

All that said, I recently purchased a new Tundra and it came with an integrated controller. I hooked it up and quickly found that I didn’t like it. I could not get it “dialed in” and either my trailer brakes were locking up or appeared not to be working very well. I have towed my current trailer over 45,000 miles and it wasn’t responding the way it had when using my Prodigy 2. I asked and found out the Toyota, while making a great truck, was putting a timed controller in instead of a proportional controller like most of the other companies were using. I found an accessory that allowed me to move my old controller to my new Tundra and I was able to mount in it the dash. Things are good once again.

So, yes you can use your old controller. The integrated ones are much more convenient and very easy to use. Just make sure it is a proportional controller. Toyota never answered my direct question but did say that they used “solid state” controllers. As far as I know, that just means that it was a timed, not proportional, controller.

That's rather disapointing of Toyota. To use a proportional controller means to me that they have no experience towing at all and don't take it very seriously.
BTW, "solid state" just means there arent any tubes in it. :S

Seems I read it different than you. He said Toyota is using a Timed controler, and not a proportional controler, and in fact. Proportional controlers are the way to go. Timed controlers come on just seconds AFTER the crash.

[Bobbo]

ScottG wrote:
BTW, "solid state" just means there arent any tubes in it. :S

What he ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ said.

Back in the late 60's/early 70's they advertised radios and television sets as "solid state" meaning they didn't have vacuum tubes to burn out and be replaced.

(In the late 60's/early 70's, when I was about 10 years old, it was MY job to pull all of those tubes out of the television set. Dad drove me to the drug store where they had the machine to test them. I would test them and get a replacement for the bad tube from the door below the test area. Then I would re-install the tubes when we got home.)

[ScottG]

KD4UPL wrote:
My only experience with factory controllers is with Chevy. It was way smoother and easier to set up than any aftermarket one I've ever used. There's no way I would get a new truck for towing and not get the built in factory brake control. It's just so smooth and well integrated with the truck's brakes.
As for the tow package, I don't understand why anyone buying a truck to tow wouldn't get every last tow related package available. Your paying what, $40,000 at least for the truck and an extra $1,000 is a big problem to get some features you need anyway? I don't see the logic.

And if the extra $1K is an issue, give up stuff like heated cup holders or what ever.
There's no better time to get the good hardware than when buying new.

[KD4UPL]

My only experience with factory controllers is with Chevy. It was way smoother and easier to set up than any aftermarket one I've ever used. There's no way I would get a new truck for towing and not get the built in factory brake control. It's just so smooth and well integrated with the truck's brakes.
As for the tow package, I don't understand why anyone buying a truck to tow wouldn't get every last tow related package available. Your paying what, $40,000 at least for the truck and an extra $1,000 is a big problem to get some features you need anyway? I don't see the logic.

[ScottG]

aftermath wrote:
I will try to answer your questions.

First, yes you can move your old controller to your new TV. I did just that not long ago.

Secondly, using the integrated brake controller that comes with most new trucks today really makes things easier provided that it is a good controller. You will not have your old one sitting below the dash somewhere where it usually hits your knee.

All that said, I recently purchased a new Tundra and it came with an integrated controller. I hooked it up and quickly found that I didn’t like it. I could not get it “dialed in” and either my trailer brakes were locking up or appeared not to be working very well. I have towed my current trailer over 45,000 miles and it wasn’t responding the way it had when using my Prodigy 2. I asked and found out the Toyota, while making a great truck, was putting a timed controller in instead of a proportional controller like most of the other companies were using. I found an accessory that allowed me to move my old controller to my new Tundra and I was able to mount in it the dash. Things are good once again.

So, yes you can use your old controller. The integrated ones are much more convenient and very easy to use. Just make sure it is a proportional controller. Toyota never answered my direct question but did say that they used “solid state” controllers. As far as I know, that just means that it was a timed, not proportional, controller.

That's rather disapointing of Toyota. To use a proportional controller means to me that they have no experience towing at all and don't take it very seriously.
BTW, "solid state" just means there arent any tubes in it. :S

[JIMNLIN]

Having hauled for a living and used lots of different brands of electric brake controllers I have to say the brake controller on the wifes 2016 1500 chevy sure works slick. I'm sure any of the big three IB systems work great also