I just bought a small travel trailer to tow behind my 2010 Ridgeline RT. I need to add the brake controller and 7-pin harness. I found the harness with no problem, but can someone recommend a decent but not to expensive brake controller?
Trailer Brake Controller Recommendation?
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Hey John,
I just studied up quite a bit on brake controllers. I elected to go with the Tekonsha P3. It'll run you about $130 but it has all the bells and whistles.
Tekonsha P3
- Part #90195, $130
- Proportional braking action
-- How hard you stomp is how hard the signal is sent to trailer
-- Adjustable sensitivity too
- LCD screen with many settings
- Stores specific settings for up to 5 trailers
- Adjusts settings based on weight and conditions of trailer
- Prevents overheating of brakes for long applications (city, slight downhill, etc)
Tekonsha Voyager
- Part #39510, $79
- Proportional Braking
- Adjustable brakes via roll knob
- Manual brake override via control lever
- All you really need for most basic towing needs
Tekonsha PowerTrac
- Part #39523, $50
- I believe adjustable sensitivity but it is a time delay system so you step on brakes and it hesitates like the window on a PC asking "do you really want to close this session"
Hope that helps.
I just studied up quite a bit on brake controllers. I elected to go with the Tekonsha P3. It'll run you about $130 but it has all the bells and whistles.
Tekonsha P3
- Part #90195, $130
- Proportional braking action
-- How hard you stomp is how hard the signal is sent to trailer
-- Adjustable sensitivity too
- LCD screen with many settings
- Stores specific settings for up to 5 trailers
- Adjusts settings based on weight and conditions of trailer
- Prevents overheating of brakes for long applications (city, slight downhill, etc)
Tekonsha Voyager
- Part #39510, $79
- Proportional Braking
- Adjustable brakes via roll knob
- Manual brake override via control lever
- All you really need for most basic towing needs
Tekonsha PowerTrac
- Part #39523, $50
- I believe adjustable sensitivity but it is a time delay system so you step on brakes and it hesitates like the window on a PC asking "do you really want to close this session"
Hope that helps.
I was looking at that model but it appeared that you needed to mount it somewhat level for the hill sensor to work. Where did you mount yours? I was thinking of the below the dash and above the gas pedal. But that would make it almost vertical instead of horizontal.
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2,311 Posts
My first controller was a cheap Hayes model, and it worked fine on the RL. For my larger tow vehicle I chose the P2 (vs the P3) because I knew I'd be playing with the buttons instead of watching the highways. It too worked as expected; both were mounted at/about 45 degrees.
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82 Posts
Works great in my '06.
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17 Posts
John,
Sorry for the delay...I can't figure out how to get ROC to send updates when someone replies to my threads or responses.
Anyway, I mounted under the steering wheel right in front of my right knee. According to customer service it is mountable at any angle along the 360* vertical plane. They just said don't mount at any angle on the X-axis (left or right).
Good luck!
Tory
I got the 7 pin harness kit and Tekonsha P3 controller installed yesterday, it was a bear of a job. Finding the cables under the dash was tricky but posts here from others helped.
Worst part was getting the 3 6mm rivnuts installed. I tried the $1.87 rivnut tool trick but after stripping two bolts on the first one, I just used a bench vise to compress them until they bulged a little and then hammered them into the holes. Not sure why Honda uses three rivnuts to secure the 7 pin socket, seems a little overkill.
I haven't had a chance to hook up the camper and test out the P3 but it is functioning, the adapter cable is worth the money.
Worst part was getting the 3 6mm rivnuts installed. I tried the $1.87 rivnut tool trick but after stripping two bolts on the first one, I just used a bench vise to compress them until they bulged a little and then hammered them into the holes. Not sure why Honda uses three rivnuts to secure the 7 pin socket, seems a little overkill.
I haven't had a chance to hook up the camper and test out the P3 but it is functioning, the adapter cable is worth the money.
I am purchasing the the P3 controller as well, in looking a the installation instructions for the 7 way harness it looks like both a 10 pin connector and 4 pin connector get plugged into the control module that comes in the Honda 7 way harness kit along with some relays and fuses. In the videos for the P3 controller it shows the adapter from the P3 controller plugs into the 4 pin plug that was installed by the factory. My RL (2007) does not have the 7 way connector installed.
Do I not plug in the 4 pin connector to the control module from the Honda harness kit and plug the P3 controller to it instead?
Thanks.
Do I not plug in the 4 pin connector to the control module from the Honda harness kit and plug the P3 controller to it instead?
Thanks.
No there are 2 separate connectors, one for the 7 pin harness and another for the brake controller.
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I mounted my P3 brake controller centerline under the steering wheel between the knees. This was to protect my knee in the event of an accident.
There was mention of videos for harness connection (under dash) for the brake controller. I'm placing a link. Be sure to read the comments that have additional information written to help guide you in this process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6qNJ_FCR2E
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