17' Series redarc tow pro

[rcf]

I want to fit a brake controller to the prado, was at the brissie van show,went and checked out the new redarc tow pro,the salesman said they are the pick of the controllers, has anyone got it fitted to there car and if so how do u think they go. there are so many out there on the market or is there any better ones. cheers

 

[Capt. Gadget]

The most chatter I see around the forum is about the Tekonsha P3 I have a P2 and it works fine for me

 

[Bmhdg76]

I will certainly be keeping an eye on the reliability of these. When we change vehicles next if they are proven to be reliable i will get one as i like that they are so neat and will give me a hell of a lot more space for my long legs!

BJ

 

[CJ1177]

I have the previous model redarc brake controller with the remote head & i'm very tempted to upgrade to the new version.

I like that it is now a proportional controller but also changes to a manual controller if your in a situation that requires it & still has the remote head with just a dial, & even that is now more compact & takes up less dash real estate

 

[Dandy]

I was really keen to get the original Redarc but went for the teconsha because of the proportional controller. A friend has the Redarc and had problems with brakes overheating which seems to be a common problem. I'm not a technical person but there seems to be an underlying issue with the brakes receiving a small charge even with no brake application.

I'm also keen to know how these perform. I was surprised there was nothing on the market already. Ill be watching this thread to get feedback before we upgrade the next car!

This the link to their website http://www.redarc.com.au/products/product/tow-pro/

 

[brotys]

I have fitted 2 of the new redarc units and both of the customers have came back and said they are awsome one of them I removed the p3 and he said he would not go back to a box style unit again

 

[Mark73]

I have this one works good and super compact no more banging my left knee when jumping in

 

[brotys]

I have this one works good and super compact no more banging my left knee when jumping in

There is nothing worse then the knee hitting a unit it's my pet hate people Fitting them near left knee

 

[Racer]

I had a dud P3 in my ute and fitted a Redarc remote head in the Prado. Very happy n I would certainly give the new Tow Pro a run.

 

[straydingo]

ooohhh....aaahhhh.....
I might need to change from the remote head unit to this tow pro....

 

[halbster]

I spoke to an Auto Electrician last week as I need to get a brake controller fitted before we get our van in August. I know nothing about this stuff as its our first van, never used a brake controller before, but understand this is the latest and greatest version. Anyway when I mentioned Tow pro to the Auto Elec he told me they were only for vans with ESC fitted (which ours does not have), and he would install a standard Red Arc remote head unit device. Is this correct? Should I just be getting the lastest version or is there no benefit without ESC.

 

[Meanderthals]

Find a new Auto Electrician.

 

[halbster]

Great thanks, thats what I was thinking. So it makes sense to go with this newer unit straight up.

 

[Meanderthals]

Great thanks, thats what I was thinking. So it makes sense to go with this newer unit straight up.

I actually have the previous Redarc EBRH fitted to the Ranger but that was an error on the Dealer or Fitters part. I had ordered it fitted but cancelled it when I found out that it wasn't a proportional style controller. Somewhere along the line the Fitters didn't get the message and I ended up with it but for free. I was going to put in a Tekonsha P3 but now this new Redarc has arrived I have one on order than I will probably have it in a few days. Won't need it for a while but it will be going in. So far from reports on other Forums etc it seems at the moment that people are more then happy with it. It fits my needs as space is at a premium with all the other gadgets and not wanting to have something mounted where the knee's will have problems. I'm not unhappy with the old one performance wise and had no problems with it for the trip from Adelaide to Darwin (home) but I do want something better. My only issue is with the way it was wired as the Ford Dealer in my recent debacle with repairs discovered some dubious practices that they pointed out as needing fixing.

As to ESC, while I do have it I know of no info that states that the Redarc Tow Pro requires ESC to work properly.

 

[Bmhdg76]

There is nothing on the Redarc website that states these are to be used on vans with the ESC so I agree that your auto electrician is obviously not up to date. Which then poses another question on how up to date is he on new vehicles wiring etc?

Just a thought.

BJ

 

[skippy]

I know a few sparkies through work and so far they are not that keen on the Redarc unit.

Issues that 2 sparkies have advised below>>
1 The cord is not long enough so that unit can be placed out of the way under the dash away from the controller on all vehicles.
2 There is no adjustment on the gain like the P3 Teconsha B1,B2 and B3

Then I rang Redarc (Technical support) and asked them if the unit has a function like the Teconsha with the B1 through to B3.
Quote "you don't need to adjust the gain with the new Redarc unit because it does the adjusting automatically"
I would assume that every time you stop and start again the unit calibrates itself. How can it do this?
For example you have got to a destination and unloaded the van of all the water and beer, food, fire wood and so on.
Then you hop back in the car with caravan in tow and the unit is set up for a full load in the van and your now doing say 90kms, then a Roo jumps out is front of the car. Before you know it the gain is to high and then the caravan wheels are locking up due to the gain being too high. At least with the P3 can turn the gain down and to me that is a massive safety floor that the new Redarc unit does not have. I know that the Redarc unit can be calibrate before you set off before each trip but you cannot adjust the gain on the fly like the P3 /B1,B2,B3

I am not convinced at this stage that it's worth replacing the P3 but will be keen to hear from anyone else that has had both and can compare them that has done some towing with a caravan that is over 1800kgs and not just a camper trailer that is not really testing the unit out with the gain control.

 

[Bmhdg76]

I know a few sparkies through work and so far they are not that keen on the Redarc unit.

Issues that 2 sparkies have advised below>>
1 The cord is not long enough so that unit can be placed out of the way under the dash away from the controller on all vehicles.
2 There is no adjustment on the gain like the P3 Teconsha B1,B2 and B3

With regards to the first point, I can recall reading the Redarc site that you can simply use a longer lead up to 5 metres. I am trying to find the exact location of this to link to.

BJ

Edit - found it, it is in the FAQ's of the user manual for it.

Can the remote head cable be extended?

Yes, the remote head cable is a standard RJ45 network cable and can be replaced by an off the shelf cable up to 5m in length.

 

[Holden_man]

I have found the P3 to work well, and as @skippy mentions I too have adjusted the P3 on the run depending on load and conditions. I don't know much about the new Redarc and the idea of tucking the unit away appeals, but I too would like to be able to adjust on the run. So is that right, the redarc is non adjustable??
Will be interesting to see if that proves a long term negative.

 

[Bmhdg76]

The redarc is adjustable, Skippy was just referring to the boost settings that the P3 has.

BJ.

 

[Holden_man]

The redarc is adjustable, Skippy was just referring to the boost settings that the P3 has.

BJ.

Ok well that's ok, happy to be adjustable, I haven't used the boost settings on the P3....