Being new to diesel world I have a multipart question. I have towed trailers before with my 2000 6.0 gasser but I now have a new 2008 duramax and I would like to know if there is a consensus on the brand of controller, the best place to purchase it, and the best place to install it (pictures would help with the last part)? Let me thank you guys ahead of time. I'm sure that your advice will be as helpfull as it as been in the past.

Well i have used the 'drawtite' timer based brand and although it did it's job I haul live cargo and unless you're JUST right it 'catches'. Plus I was always adjusting according to terrain I was going through.

I now use the prodigy, I have to be honest it took a while to get used to it. It's one of those that you set it and forget it; if you start tweaking it while driving it'll never be right again. It's hard for me and it almost feels like the truck is doing all the work. What happens is that it has a pendelum in it, and when the truck brakes are applied the initial force of braking has to come from the truck and then the brake controller matches it accordingly.
I've towed lots of miles with it in some serious hills and even through more towns and cities than i care to admit and I have TONS of brakes left, never smelled the get hot or warp.

Install. Since you have the new body style I'm not exactly sure, I went ahead and bought the controller AND the the wiring harness made for my truck at the same time, best extra 15 dollars I've spent.

It's just a plug behind the dash area for mine, I had to remove something (3 10mm bolts) and I was staring at where to plug it in. Plugged it in, wire tied the extra to make it pretty and it was all done.

I don't know if any of our vendors sell one but i bought mine from pplmotorhomes.com - I also got my wiring kit from the same place and they were the cheapest I could find.

There's two types, a Prodigy and a P3 type.
Unless you have electric over hydraulic brakes (pretty rare - you'd know) the p3 is just more money for a fancy interface. I have the prodigy and am happy with it.

I knew that somebody would come through. If you can't find an answer for your trucking question here then I don't know where you'd be able to find it. Now does anyone out there have any ideas as to the best place to locate it, some pictures would help. Thanks

I have a prodigy that I recently bought. I just bought a new truck with a controller built in so I would probably sell my prodigy.

yes prodigy p3 is the best. kinda pricey,but if you tow alot you will not regret it.

I had a prodigy and it worked well. I saw a test on RV.net for brake controllers a while back and it recommended Brakesmart. It is expensive but it is worth every penny.

My issues with Prodigy is that I did not find it, set it and forget it. I would have to adjust the gain for in town and change it for interstate driving to achieve the feel I was looking for. It is a motion based controller. If it was set accurate for interstate it would jerk in town while stopping. If it was set right for in town, I felt I needed more stopping power on the interstate. A Friend of mine has one too and has the same experience. I know a whole lot of people run Prodigy, I think it due to it is a great controller for the price.

The Brakesmart ties into your brake line at the master cylinder. It uses real brake pressure to control the trailer brakes. It was actually a pretty simple install with very good instructions.

Bought my Prodigy and harness from www.rjays.com for $95 plus$12.95 for harness.Lots of other cool stuff on their site for trailers and towing.

Prodigy on 2 trucks now, best I have ever used in 30 years of towing.

Prodigy. I do change the boost level (one button) when changing from highway to town driving.

Nice report Jason. I have the same set up and no problems. Do adjust the unit when coming out of the mountains, etc.

Try this place. http://www.etrailer.com/pc-BC~90185.htm

yes prodigy p3 is the best. kinda pricey,but if you tow alot you will not regret it.

Exactly my thoughts as well!:exactly::agreed:

Prodigy here, love it

I Have Been Towing A 14500lb. Trailer For A Year Now To The Racetrack Using A Prodigy, And The Guy I Bought The Trailer From Said I Would Not Like It, Well He Ended Up Being Right, I Never Felt Like I Had Very Good Trailer Brakes Especially At Higher Speeds And Then Get Jerked Around At Slower Speeds.so About A Month Ago I Bit The Bullet And Bought A Trucontrol From Hensley Mfg. And Can't Believe What I Have Been Missing Brakes And I Mean Brakes. So I Highly Recommend This Unit Over The Prodigy Any Day, Yes Its Around 350 But Well Worth It.

the Tekonsha P3 is nice and affordable.

My tekonsha quit yesterday after 10 years. I would have to use the maual control to stop. I bought the prodigy today and pulled about 100 miles. Easy to set, easy to use and it seems flawless. The boost feature is very nice and I love seeing how many volts are going to the trailer brakes. I have the boost on 6.3, the power to the trailer is set to 12 or 14 (14 I think, the max) . I recommend this one. My trailer weighs 11000#.

I found this and thought you may like it.

It even has the installation thing in it ;)
http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Chevy/tech/Prodigy/

Can any body tell me what my controller means. I have the Drawtite 5100 Activator. It says it works for 2 & 4 brake systems. I'm getting a 3-axle trailer this weekend and need to know if it will work for that. I assume it has brakes on all 6-hubs? My 2-axle has brakes on all 4-hubs.

"2 & 4 Brake Systems" Does that mean 2-axle & 4-axle? or does that mean 2 brake hubs & 4 brake hubs?

My buddy has the same shite and he feels that his 3-axle trail is pushing him? I told him about my findings and we both feel that we need to upgrade.

What are your thoughts on this?

Thank you all for all of your responses. I decided to go with the prodigy and it showed up yesterday. Has anyone out there done an installation on an 08 I found my wires under the dash but the tag is nearly unreadable. Does anyone know what color wire is what? Alos where did you mount the controller? One last thing I found the wire under the hood and I understand that I should hook it up to the thirty amp post. If I want my truck to charge the batteries on the trailer I've heard that there is another wire under the hood that is should be hooked up to the 40 amp post. I have not been able to find that wire. Some help with that would be appreciated as well. If anyone out there has hooked up that wire do you know if there is some sort of reverse current inhibitor to prevent the trailer from damaging your trucks charging system? Once again thank you in advance you guys are the best.

Read through this post, and look at the PDF on post 9
http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2607691#post2607691

You won't be disappointed with the Prodigy.