Redarc Brake Controller

[prokiwi Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close prokiwi]

Hi all ,

I am looking at the remote head Redarc Brake Controller as I am very tall and there is little room around the steering colum or underside of the dash to place a controller module.

I origionall purchased a prodigy 3 but there was nowhere to fit it that it wasnt in the way of my legs etc .


The Redarc allows me to use an existing switch face on the dash of my Zr 150 Prado .

Is this brand /model okay ? . It does not have to be the absolute best available , so long as it is a safe and user friendly unit I am happy.

Any reviews / comments from users would be appreciated.

Cheers

[barryswanson Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close barryswanson]

Do what High Tower did in police academy and remove the front seat and sit in the back.

[Keeper Member Find all posts View Profile Close Keeper]

Great unit, reliable, works well. I will post a pic later to show where mine is situated. Recommended.

[croozr Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close croozr]

There are 2 types of controler - proportional like the P3 and non-proportional like the Red arc

The red arc brand is excellent quaility, but i would always install a proportional controller

A proportional controler sensors what sort of braking you have going on in the vehicle and mirrors it to the trailer, the non - proportional type sends the same brake command to the trailer every time no matter how much you depress the brake pedal, a soft press or a full panic emergency stop - would you drive a car with only one brake setting? - not me!

Alot of modern vehicles have electronic brake systems (Prado 150) that assist in bringing on the braking harder - a proportional controller will work with this.

Matthew

[yowie Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close yowie]

I use the Redarc system with a manual control, ranges from 1 to 9, so I can manually control the amount of braking on the caravan by adjusting the dial on the dash. I usually set it around 4 or 5 for driving, less for parking. Some people do not like this system, however, now I have used it I am happy with it. The amount of braking force on the caravan can be adjusted on the move, also the van can be braked separately from the vehicle by pushing the centre button on the unit.

Mine is positioned on the dash just to side of my right hand.

Yowie.

[prokiwi Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close prokiwi]

I have now read also that the P3 has to be mounted at a maximum of 70 degrees , that means if I wanted to put one in the usual spot at knee height on the lower dash next to the steering column , it would be positioned at about 85 degrees ?? basically facing straight up and down .

Hence why I think my only option is the flush mount system much like a Redarc. From the comments I am hearing the Redarc does actually do the job without being dangerous >?? . P3 would be good if it was less intrusive.

P>S Would take the frotn seats out and drive in the rear , but wife thinks i would look stupid ....especially withh my head out the moonroof as well...LOL

[Derb Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Derb]

Hi Prokiwi. Am using a Redarc non-proportional controller in my Prado. Does the biz but next time 'round I'll be going for the proportional unit. Is great until you come into town and strike slow speed braking. I tend to back off the unit every set of lights to stop the damn jerking as soon as the stop lamps are actuated. Real down side is having to remember to reset the brakes as you reach cruising speed again or expect a brown pants moment next time you need to brake in a hurry. Cheers.

[Racer Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Racer]

There are 2 types of controler - proportional like the P3 and non-proportional like the Red arc

The red arc brand is excellent quaility, but i would always install a proportional controller

A proportional controler sensors what sort of braking you have going on in the vehicle and mirrors it to the trailer, the non - proportional type sends the same brake command to the trailer every time no matter how much you depress the brake pedal, a soft press or a full panic emergency stop - would you drive a car with only one brake setting? - not me!

Alot of modern vehicles have electronic brake systems (Prado 150) that assist in bringing on the braking harder - a proportional controller will work with this.

Matthew

I had a P3 and it was the most dangerous unit I have every used. This unit had problems and would lock up at the slightest of braking pressure....

As a result I had a Red Arc Remote unit fitted in the Prado....

[smakb Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close smakb]

I had a P3 and it was the most dangerous unit I have every used. This unit had problems and would lock up at the slightest of braking pressure....

As a result I had a Red Arc Remote unit fitted in the Prado....

Mine works fine. You can adjust the sensitivity and braking pressure.


Steve.

[Dupes68 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dupes68]

Mine works fine. You can adjust the sensitivity and braking pressure.


Steve.

Ditto with mine - no problems at all.

[Racer Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Racer]

Mine works fine. You can adjust the sensitivity and braking pressure.


Steve.

Mine worked fine for about 10 months, in that time I had to pull the plug out due to the screen freezing. It would work fine, then intermittently it would upon activating the brake apply maximum voltage regardless if you were stationary, 30km/hr or 110km/hr. Only solution to this was to pull the plug out on the go then replug, it was all good for another 30 mins or so....

Contacted the seller from eBay (should have known better) who came up with a whole range of excuses as to the problem...then wished to charge me to 'diagnose' the problem...not bad for lifetime warranty.

Subsequently I perused internet forums and found it was quite common, some state it was a bad batch....I was going to install a Prodigy in the 150 due to their reputation...upon speaking with a number of auto electricians a lot told me to steer clear of those units due to common problems...

Not saying they aren't a good unit....the one I had is POS

[berniebgf Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close berniebgf]

I have the Redarc and it works well, like others I have to adjust when "in town" V's "100KM Freeway driving".
You get use to it and it just becomes part of the driving routine, my main reason for getting the redarc over Prodigy P3 was because of fitting restrictions and size on the P3.

If I had the room and could fit it nicely I would have put in the P3, living with the Redarc is fine and it work %100.00

Bernie

[Offroadrick Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Offroadrick]

Redarc Brake Controller

Hi Folks,
My name is Ricky Esser from Follow Me 4wd/ Tow-Ed Adelaide.
Follow Me 4wd/ Tow-Ed was approached by REDARC to independently test the Tow-Pro prior to its release. Each of our instructors across the country were provided with a Tow-Pro to fit in their own vehicle and personally evaluate. It has now been several months and I thought I would give my professional opinion of the Tow-Pro.
I fitted mine into my Toyota Landcruiser 100 series. As far as the installation went it was a breeze. The instructions were clear and precise with no questions needing to be asked - all straight forward. The wiring was labelled clearly and anyone with some electronic experience should be able to fit it, but if you are unsure then please leave it to the professionals. The simplicity of the unit and how easy it was to fit, really impressed me. The best part was that I didn’t have to put up with a great big box near my right knee. The Tow-Pro was neat and aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
When I first connected my Jayco Outback Dove and started driving the light began to flash blue/green which meant it was calibrating itself. After a few metres we were off. Just a small adjustment on the dial on the dash and all was set.
I started with a drive around the streets in my local area, this gave me an opportunity to get a feel for how the Tow Pro performed and to make some minor adjustments. Once again I was impressed with how the control on the van brakes felt. I then headed to an area where I could do some hard braking to see how the inertia / G sensor worked. Braking from speeds anywhere from 30 to 60kph was very smooth and progressive which is what I was expecting. Next was through the hills where I knew I would be on and off the brakes. The main aim was to see how the G sensor would perform with the vehicle roll and movement while cornering. The Tow Pro was faultless.
I have recently completed a film shoot with Elite Caravans towing 2 of their vans (Goulburn II and Dirty Harry) from Beachport to Robe via the beach. This was a great opportunity to test the manual mode of the Tow-Pro. I zeroed the dial, put my foot on the brake and 2 taps on the gain control knob and the light was green which indicated it was set to manual mode. Manual mode gave the ability to control the amount of braking while on the sand and guess again, amazing control. Again zero the dial, foot on the brake, 2 taps of the gain control and back into Auto mode for the trip back home, it's that simple.
For me personally and professionally, the Tow-Pro has changed the game with a market leading electric brake controller. It's compliant with knee air bags, easy to fit, easy to set, easy to adjust and best of all, takes up very little space. For those of you who tow will have the same experiences I have had. I highly recommend you upgrade your old electric brake controllers to the new Redarc Tow-Pro. Well done Anthony and the team at Redarc Electronics and thank you for the opportunity to test this awesome product.


Regards
Ricky Esser.

[derek11 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close derek11]

agree with Ricky, the tow pro is great.

Cheers Derek

[brogers Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close brogers]

Just for more information and food for thought.

I have had a Techonsha P3 brake controller fitted by the gents at Wynnum Tow Bars. It is fitted on the trim in front of my left knee cap and the fitters modified the bracket to make it a very low profile bracket so the controller sits a few more mm closer to the plastic trim than the supplied "snap in" bracket otherwise allows. The snap in bracket would allow you to easily unplug and then unclip the controller and potentially use it in another car. (This might be another benefit of the P3 brake controller, if you hav twop or three cars but only ever tow with one at a time, you could swap the controller between cars) . The controller mounted in front of my left knee has never been hit by my knee; that was a concern initially, but with it fitted almost flush to the trim its been spot on, and within convenient reach.

Something to keep in mind with brake controllers is what brake system you have on what you are intending to tow. The main reason for fitting a brake controller on my car was to tow a 2.5 tonne boat/trailer which has an electric over hydraulic brake system. But we will also tow a camper trailer in the future and perhaps a caravan. The boat trailer brake system we have is compatable and perfectly matched to the Techonsha P3 brake controller. Not all brake systems and brake controllers are fully compatable apparently, so thats something definately worth double checking. In many instances I am sure brake controllers are compatable. On the Techonsha P3 you can change the brake system mode from an easy menu, Electric, electric/hydraulic. A caravan or camper trailer may well have a purely electric brake system, and at the push of a button the the menu, you can change the P3 controller to make it work with either system.

The Techonsha P3 has been perfect for us, no problems, nicely mounted, easy to adjust, easy reach for manual application of brakes if needed, and it has worked exactly as hoped.

We did consider the new red arc brake controller system due to it having just a small knob on the dash and the rest out of site and out of the way, but at that stage no one we talked to (or on their web site) could confirm if it was fully compatable with the Hydrastar electric over hydraulic brake system we have on the boat trailer. Thats my thoughts anyway for what its worth. If you are thinking about the redarc brake controller, just check that its definately compatable with what you are towing (or intending to tow in the future).

Here is a link providing info on the Hydrastar electric/hydraulic trailer brake system, and they list the compatible brake controllers. The Red Arc doesn't appear (as yet?) as a compatible brake controller, but perhaps someone may know if the Red Arc works properly with the Hydrastar system.

http://www.hydrastar.com.au/brake-ac...ar-hba-series/

Note, the Red Arc Tow Pro has the following warning: ""Tow-Pro may not be suitable for some electric/hydraulic systems". Thats not an unusal word of caution, its wise words from redarc because no controller (to my knowledge) is completely universal, but its just something to double check before deciding on your brake controller.

Just as a complete aside.....with the Hydrastar electric over hydraulic brake system we have on the boat trailer, a brake technician has since given me advice to try and avoid unnecessary brake pedal use for long periods of time, eg when at stop lights, and where possible and convenient and safe to do so, use the handbrake and take foot right of the brake pedal. With the brake pedal depressed, (no matter what brake controller you use), a voltage is sent to the Hydrstar electric pump on the trailer, which then pumps hydraulic fluid to the brake calipers. If you keep the brake pedal unnecessarily depressed for a long period, you can heat up the electric pump and damage it...or so I have been told. It makes sense as you can hear the electric pumnp running when the bake pedal is pushed if you stand beside the trailr. Use the bakes as you need to use them to be safe of course, but if you don't need your foot on the brake pedal, and you can use the handbrake, then that can save wear and tear on the hydrastar electric pump. This is not a problem wih a purely electric trailer brake system of course. Anyway, here is a link to the P3 contrioller I have had installed by Wynnum Tow bars.

http://www.tekonsha.com/products/brake-controllers/proportional-controllers/p3-/TzaIxkVx1cI5XOy!osRB55TR19SXShj4