Recommended Brake Controller for a 1984 Scamp 16 Foot Trailer and Installation Cost and Information

Expert Reply:

I prefer and usually recommend proportional style brake controllers. They brake more smoothly and vary the brake pressure depending on how hard you press the foot brake in your vehicle. The harder you press the brake, the more the nose of the vehicle drops. There is a pendulum switch inside the brake controller that senses this and sends more voltage to the brakes.

Our best selling brake controller is by far the Tekonsha Prodigy, part # 90185. It is easy to use and very effective. I have included a link to a page with all of our proportional brake controllers.

Some brake controllers include a custom fit wiring harness that will utilize a port underneath the dash of the car. This eliminates having to do any wiring and makes the whole system plug-n-play.

If you write back with your vehicle year, make, model and whether or not it has a factory tow package, I will be able to tell you if there is a custom harness available.

As far as installation I could not really say what to expect to pay for an installation. Brake controllers are not especially difficult to install so I would figure a shop would charge anywhere from their minimum labor charge up to 2 hours for a brake controller install. I have also included some links to pages and videos on brake controller installation so you can see what is involved in case you are thinking about installing it yourself.

expert reply by: Patrick B