Well I have been on vacation and got the MaxBrake installed a few days ago. Went quite easily, only took about half an hour. The wiring harness is the same as the Prodigy/P3 (strange coincidence?) so that saved some wiring/arranging time. The only additional work was assembling/attaching the brake sensor unit at the master cylinder and then drilling a half inch hole in the firewall to run the sensor wire to the control. Running the sensor wire through a quarter inch piece of fuel line wrapped with some electrical tape makes a decent grommet and made it look somewhat “professional”.
After “calibrating” the unit per the instructions to a “T” setting of 45 and setting the gain to 40, then hooking to the trailer, I headed out the driveway. Didn’t make it very far as the brakes were WAY to strong, even turning the gain all the way down didn’t help. I set the gain back to 40 (so I would have some fine tuning) and started adjusting the “calibration” “T” number. I thought going to a lower number would help, wrong. After 4 or 5 calibration tries I ended up at a “T” of 150, the brakes worked perfectly the rest of the test drive. Called MaxBrake to make sure I hadn’t botched the install somehow, they said I was fine. Apparently the “T” number is how the sensor is trained to the brake system, and the recommended initial setting of 40-45 does not work for everyone. Personally I think the instructions could have given a “T” range and would have saved me/them a phone call.
It appears this brake controller will solve the only minor complaint I had about the Prodigy/P3…low speed off road performance. I spend most of my “trailering” time hauling horses and you try to be as SMOOOTH as possible. Smoothly getting in and out of the field and driving to some trailheads that have rough roads and steep grades are more of a challenge with the Prodigy/P3 than it will be with this MaxBrake.
I have a few hundred miles on it now, and while I wouldn’t call it smoother (under normal circumstances) than the Prodigy/P3, there is a difference. More synced maybe? I still believe this type of controller, including Brakesmart, would be at a slight disadvantage in an ABS situation…although I also believe anyone of the threshold braking style should be fine. May change my mind after some wet road testing, we shall see.
In reference to the “best” brake controller argument, I still believe the Prodgy/P3 would be the “best” controller for 99% of situations. The price, performance, and ease of installation just can’t be beat. The other 1% should take a look at the MaxBrake. I did consider the Brakesmart, but I don’t need the other “features” the extra $85 dollars bring. The Brakesmart does look better, but my truck is a tool, not my primary vehicle and looks are not as important to me as they may be to a “truck” guy. YMMV.
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