After a
few years in limbo, the Jordan is apparently dead. I don't know
the background on this but all the distributors I've looked at have
moved on to other brands such as the Prodigy. I'll leave this up
just for historical reference.
If you
find one of these used somewhere, grab it.
I've had three different brake
controllers. The Tekonsha Mark 12 was my last one, a conventional
pendulum type that hooks up to the brake light circuit. As you likely
know, when the brake pedal is depressed and current flows to the brake
lights, current is also routed through the brake controller to the
trailer brakes. The controller attempts to figure out how much current
is needed by monitoring the effect the braking deceleration has on a
small feedback pendulum inside the controller. Because the pendulum's
motion is proportional to the braking, but in the same direction, it is
very difficult to use this information to modify the brake current
according to need. The result can be a very unpredictable braking action
that often results in leaving skid marks on the road. It can be bad
enough to where I've thought the old rheostat controllers of long ago
would be preferable to the “modern” ones. To be sure, there have
been some significant advances in the use of pendulum technology. Word
on the newsgroups, for example, have almost unanimously praised the new
Tekosha Prodigy. Still, I went looking for another way...
The best feedback sensor in the rig is the
driver of the towing vehicle. Ideally, the driver sees,
anticipates, and responds to more of the driving environment than any
current controller could. The ultimate solution, then, would provide
braking that tracks that being supplied by the driver of the towing
vehicle, as if the hydraulic system from the tow vehicle was extended to
the trailer. And since the driver depresses the brake pedal in
proportion to the immediate and anticipated need for braking, it seems
only logical that pedal pressure is the appropriate place to acquire our
braking information. Enter the Jordan.
The Jordan installs similarly to others
except that there is no connection to the tow vehicle brake light
circuit. The amount of braking current to send to the trailer brakes is
determined by the amount of movement of the towing vehicle's brake pedal
arm as sensed by a small cable that connects from the arm to the
controller. Making this connection is fairly straightforward but could
be a minor pain in the neck if your under-dash area is very cramped. A
bracket needs to be screwed to the under dash area that anchors the end
of the cable sheath. The distance from here to the brake pedal is
measured by a linear potentiometer inside the controller, and that, in
turn, determines the amount of current delivered to the trailer
brakes. Only three wires complete the hookup: Positive and
negative battery and the line going to the trailer brakes.
There are two controls on the controller: A large red pushbutton
provides manual activation similar to that found on other brands. The
second control is a small knob that sets the maximum amount of power
that can be applied to the brakes. A digital readout displays the
current being sent to the trailer brakes, while a small green LED
indicates that the trailer is hooked up and you have continuity through
the brake system.
The first rig we installed the Jordan was
a '93 GMC 3/4 ton truck pulling a 21' Bigfoot. I haven't had it weighed
yet but, based on weight certificates and what we've added, I estimate
it's close to 4800 lbs, loaded for travel.
Here's a couple of pictures:
This is a view through the
driver's door. On the GMC, I needed to put a spacer beneath the
controller to hold it out of the inset.
The spiral wrap comes with the
unit and keeps all the wires together and looking tidy.
The smaller “wire” is actually the
teflon sheath through which the brake linkage cable goes on the
way to the brake braket. It doesn't have to line up perfectly
with the brake pedal arm, but it probably works better if it
does.
Looking up from the floor, the
metal cable bracket is shown screwed to the dash. The teflon
sheath comes in from the right. Stock, there is something like
18” of sheath and plenty of cable so the controller can be
mounted somewhat further away, if necessary.
The brake pedal bracket is clamped
to the pedal arm. The cable is secured via a spring loaded
assembly that is carried by the pedal bracket. The spring
housing can be just barely shown extending behind the end of
brake pedal bracket. The round assembly sockets in a larger hole
that allows the cable to rotate and align to the dash bracket .
When not towing, the manual
suggests removing the cable from the brake bracket. This is
easily done by slipping it out through the small slot, shown
just to the left of the cable socket. (It's not real clear here
as to how that's done, but it works.)
More info and diagrams are
available at the above links.
So, how does it all work?
The Jordan is an absolute pleasure to use. Long gone is the apprehension
of unexpected brake lockup on hard or long stops and the constant
tinkering to adjust for different terrain. It is trivial to adjust so
that braking tracks that of the towing vehicle. In fact, if it wasn't
for the big white thing following behind my truck, it would be hard to
tell it's there. As of this writing, we've gone nearly 12000 miles
around the West going up from sea level to over 8,500 feet, and down 10%
grades. Trailer braking and control has quite simply become a non-issue,
as smooth, natural and hassle free as if we were towing nothing. This is
a controller you'd consider taking to your next vehicle.
