[Shop-talk] Electronic trailer brakes

[Steven Trovato]

I have a Draw-tite Activator brake controller.  I bought it because I 
needed something, and the mounting flexibility was a plus.  This 
controller applies an amount of braking selected by the operator, and 
the rate at which brake force is applied is also selected by the 
operator.  It is adequate, but the brake application is never 
perfect.  If I set it high enough to work properly at highway speed, 
I get too much braking when trying to gradually slow to a traffic 
light.  Anyway, the other type of controller uses actual sensed 
G-force measurements to figure out the proper amount of trailer 
braking.  This type usually wants to be straight and flat, to 
properly sense deceleration.  But it should be better at applying the 
right amount of braking in varied conditions.  I think I'm getting 
ready to give one of those a try.

-Steve Trovato
strovato at optonline.net