To see if this custom-fit item will work for you please tell us what vehicle you'll use it with.
The Tekonsha P3 is a brake controller beloved for its reliability and useability. You're able to save your settings and multiple profiles. It's easy to install, and with the custom harness, it's plug-and-play.
Features:
Specs:
Braking output is the maximum amount of power that will be applied to your trailer's brakes. How much braking output you need is determined by the weight of your trailer; a heavier trailer will need more power to bring it to a stop. You want to go as high as you can without the trailer brakes locking up.
Use the arrow buttons on the front of the module to set the output.
The boost setting controls the aggressiveness of your trailer's braking, meaning how quickly the brakes reach the maximum braking level. If your vehicle takes too long to come to a stop, increase the setting. If it stops too abruptly, decrease the setting.
Depending on the level of boost, your trailer brakes can start at either 13 percent or 25 percent of the set braking output. So instead of starting at 0, the brakes will start at 25 percent and get to 100 percent sooner. This keeps the trailer from pushing your tow vehicle forward.
Boost Levels:
| Approximate Gross Trailer Weight | Boost Level | Increase in Initial Power Output |
|---|---|---|
| Less than tow vehicle GVW | B1 | 13% |
| Equal to tow vehicle GVW | B1 or B2 | 13% or 25% |
| Up to 25% more than tow vehicle GVW | B2 or B3* | 25% |
| Up to 40% more than tow vehicle GVW | B3* | 25% |
*Both B2 and B3 offer a 25-percent boost in initial power. But the braking curve for B3 is more aggressive than that of B2. This means that, even though you will start out with the same intensity when using these boost levels, you will get an overall more aggressive braking experience with the higher level. So if you use B3, you will reach maximum braking sooner than if you use B2.
To engage the manual override, twist the rotary-style lever from right to left. This will activate the trailer's brakes and brake lights independently of your vehicle, great for stopping sway or controlling your trailer's momentum in an emergency.
The P3 is able to store your settings in multiple profiles so that you can have them ready to go for different trailers and drivers. Even the display is super customizable: you can change the screen color, brightness, and language to make it easy to use.
The P3 makes it easy to troubleshoot problems as they come up, with comprehensible and detailed diagnostics displayed on the screen.
Diagnostic troubleshooting messages include:
Diagnostic warning signs include:
The Prodigy P3 offers advanced safety features to prevent damage to various components of your towing setup.
-Integrated reverse battery protection shields the brake controller and your trailer's breakaway system from shorts.
-When the P3 is not in use, it draws only 3.6 milliamps, minimizing drain on your vehicle's battery.
-Any time your vehicle and trailer are at a standstill with the brakes applied for more than 5 seconds, the hold feature will kick on and reduce power to just 25 percent. This will keep your trailer in place without your brakes overheating.
Installing the P3 is incredibly simple. You'll mount the bracket to your dashboard then mount the unit to the bracket. Plug the custom harness into your vehicle and into the unit. Done!
Keep in mind that the P3 must be horizontally level and parallel with the direction of travel to work correctly.
With a replacement wiring harness (sold separately) and replacement bracket (TK5906 - sold separately), you can even transfer the Prodigy P3 to another vehicle.
Note: If you don't already have a 7-way plug at the back of your vehicle, take a look at our exclusive 7- and 4-way brake controller installation kit (ETBC7 - sold separately).
Proportional braking means that your trailer brakes mimic your tow vehicle's brakes. If you slam on the brakes, your trailer brakes will activate with the same intensity; if you brake lightly, your trailer brakes lightly too. The trailer's braking is in proportion to your vehicle and trailer.
The Prodigy P3 uses an internal inertia sensor to detect how your vehicle is braking so it can send the right amount of braking power to your trailer. It measures the inertia of your tow vehicle and activates the trailer's brakes to slow at the same rate. The result is uniform braking across your towing setup. No push-pull action - just smooth, proportional braking every time.
Alternate Instructions
California residents: click here
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Today here at etrailer we're gonna be taking a look at a 2021 Ford Bronco, but we're gonna enable it to do more. We're putting the Tekonsha Prodigy P3 trailer brake controller. So the Prodigy3 is gonna have a little bit more options than some of your standards but the standard type of features with the brake controller is, we're gonna have our adjustments. So it goes all the way up to 12.8, but that's for your bigger stuff and then you can go down as far as you want. You can click okay right here. And then we have a little slider which is on the bottom, a little bit different than before but you're gonna have that with all your other direct controllers, your manual override.
These are the adjustments. But the cool thing about this one is, see this little book right here, click it. We're gonna have a bunch of different options. So let's go into display. Okay, and we can go through brightness, we can go through contrast, and my favorite is color.
So if you're going for like a specific type of look in your vehicle, we can cycle through all these and pick whatever color you think looks the best in your car. I kind of like pink, so we're gonna go with pink. But then also we're gonna have the brake type. And this is just gonna say electric or hydraulic, pick whichever ones you have on your vehicle. And then that's basically it.
You confirm it, done deal. So this does have a little bit more customizable options but we still just have the standard manual and the adjustments. So what you wanna do once this is installed, we wanna take the trailer out and then we can kind of dial in that specific trailer. Let's say it's kind of in between not too heavy, not too light. Maybe around nine would be good, click okay.
Try it out whenever you're going. And this is a proportional breaking system, so we don't have to just overwrite it like this. This is kind of just for emergencies but it's going to apply the same amount of pressure you're applying to your brakes. And all in all is just gonna save your Bronco's brakes from getting a little heated whenever you have bigger stuff. But if you do have bigger stuff, we have this top button right here. Right there, we're gonna click it. And we're gonna have different boost settings. So for the heavier trailers, you go to B1. If it starts to get a little bit higher up, B2 and then B3. They have it all in the instructions, so it's all just depends on trailer you will be hauling. I don't really think we're gonna use B3 just because of the capacity we can carry with our Bronco but just know the options are there. The Prodigy P3 is definitely on the higher end. It's got the big screen in the front. You have a bunch of different color options which is cool and big buttons. So then moving down would be one that still has the screen but the buttons on the top and the side, and you have this kind of manual override which is a little different than the one that's down here. So that's another option for you or you can get just the bare bones, which is just gonna have a light and an override switch. I like having the screen and the fact that I can change the color of the screens, kind of cool. So I can kind of add it a little bit of style out to my vehicle. So I would definitely go with the Prodigy P3. There are two different ways we can hook this up. It all depends on what comes with your Bronco. If you have the factory tow package, all you're gonna need which is all included with this kit is the brake controller but also a cable that's gonna convert our factory harness to our brake controller harness. And that's all included with this kit. If you don't have a tow package on your Bronco, we do have a wiring kit for you that you're gonna need to grab separately so you can install all this. First we wanna find our wiring. So you just go underneath the steering wheel, closer to the center console and reach up there and it's gonna be stuck to a little bracket. So once you get it down, this is what you're pulling off. And then at first I was like, okay, this doesn't work. This doesn't work. Well, this is a dummy plug. You just push this in and pull that out. Here's the harness that you need for your factory tow package. We can line it up, click it in. On the dummy plug what you can do is you can kind pry this back a little bit, slide this out, and then you can put this on the wiring that we just plugged in 'cause that'll give it a nice little spot to put it in there to keep the wires out of the way. Now it's find a good spot for it. I like to take it out from the center. So I think with the bracket that's included, I think this is the right spot. It's kind of where I want it. I can see it and it's not out of my arm's reach. So once you find a spot, you just wanna make sure that there's nothing behind the spot that we're gonna mount it 'cause we have to mount up this bracket. It does come with some self tappers and some screws to mount it to the brake controller. So I'm gonna do that. So you will need a small little tool right here especially if you mount it right here because it's kind of hard to get to. But an option around that is we do have another option. This is more of a permanent mount one right here. It'll snap right over top of it so you can clip it and then unplug it and then put it in your center console or something. So you do get two different options with the kit. Now with it mounted up, you can take our wiring and we just need to plug this in like that and then we can adjust it back to where we want. And ideally it lights up on us which it is so we're good. It's got power. We get it tuck it all the way back up in here. It's a decent amount of wiring so you can find a spot pretty easily back behind this dash. So we know that we have power running to it but we wanna make sure it's talking to these seven ways. So we have this fancy little test box. And when I do the manual override it should give us some lights which it is. So we know that power's going to our trailer. What you wanna do is just hook up your trailer. Maybe just go in a parking lot or something and override it. And if the brakes start to engage you know that everything's talking correctly and you're good. And that's just about it for a look at the Tekonsha Prodigy P3 trailer brake controller on our 2021 Ford Bronco..
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