Tekonsha Voyager and Prodigy

Submitted: Monday, Dec 13, 2004 at 11:35

ThreadID: 18528 Views:12222 Replies:7 FollowUps:5

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Leroy

Hi all,

Just wondering if there are any differences in performance between the 2 devices. Looking at the Tekonsha web site I can't really see any advantage of one over the other apart from manually adjusting the voyager. They are both inertia activated. I imagine after a bit of trial and error in setting it up it should perform the same as the Prodigy? I have the opportunity to pick up a Voyager hence my questions. I will be towing an off-road heavy-duty box trailer.

Leroy

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Reply By: David Au - Monday, Dec 13, 2004 at 11:39

Monday, Dec 13, 2004 at 11:39

Tekonsha have always been the preference. Having used both recently, I would still buy the Tekonsha.

AnswerID: 88474

Follow Up By: Leroy - Monday, Dec 13, 2004 at 11:42

Monday, Dec 13, 2004 at 11:42

They are both made by Tekonsha......

Leroy

FollowupID: 347357

Reply By: Member - Stillthinkinaboutit - Monday, Dec 13, 2004 at 12:09

Monday, Dec 13, 2004 at 12:09

If I remember correctly, the Prodigy uses a solid state device to detect deceleration, there are no moving parts.

The Voyager uses a pendulum device to detect deceleration and some say the pendulum units can fail on corrugated roads. I personally have not found any problems with the Voyager, my unit has seen 1000's of K's of tracks and corrugated roads and it has not missed a beat.

When I purchased my Voyager unit I also looked at the Prodigy, but it was fairly new then and it cost around $500.00, a bit steep for my liking. Now the price has come down on the Prodigy unit, it would be well worth considering.

AnswerID: 88477

Follow Up By: Member - Stillthinkinaboutit - Monday, Dec 13, 2004 at 12:15

Monday, Dec 13, 2004 at 12:15

I must correct myself here, the unit I have fitted is the Sentinel not the Voyager. ( Note to self : Don't trust memory ).

FollowupID: 347361

Reply By: alister - Monday, Dec 13, 2004 at 12:15

Monday, Dec 13, 2004 at 12:15

Voyager and Prodigy are like chalk and cheese. Voyager is fiddly to adjust, and even when just right it tends to lag the brakes a bit then hold them on longer and release too sharply, not as smooth as it should. None of this happens with Prodigy, the caravan brakes come on and release much better.

I'm very happy with my new Prodigy, bought if from Repco a few weeks ago when they were on sale, $149, too cheap to pass up. Buy the Prodigy, so much better than Voyager.

alister

AnswerID: 88479

Reply By: Banjo (SA) - Monday, Dec 13, 2004 at 12:25

Monday, Dec 13, 2004 at 12:25

My Prodigy was $300 6 months ago (ouch) - paid another $150 for installation - wanted an expert job on that issue, re safety. Went to a specialist. Re the features, you may find that the Prodigy, while state of the art, is the only one thatworks whenreversing! Might be the only Tekonsha - or might be the only one ? That may be the feature that justifies the price to some extent. Might come in handy, though not a lot of people get up speed when towing in reverse (or is that pushing?). Anyway, any assisted-braking on a trailer is good.

AnswerID: 88486

Reply By: Stuart - Monday, Dec 13, 2004 at 18:59

Monday, Dec 13, 2004 at 18:59

Hi Leroy, I had a Voyager and it is currently being replaced under warranty. That's a story on it's own. If your unit is cheap then buy it but I would'nt unless it's about half the retail price. The problem mine had, which is quite common I'm told, is that a fault developes inside the unit (probably the pendulum) and you get inermittent feedback through the system and your cars brake lights will mysteriously come on for a while and then go off again. This happens at any time with or without the trailer connected and with the ignition switched off. The prodogy unit and the Hayman Reece units use solid state instead of the pendulum and don't have this fault. I will be flogging my replacment unit on Ebay (if it ever turns up) and updating to a more modern unit. Good luck. Cheers PS. I was very happy with the performance when it was working but the other reply about delay and drag was accurate.

AnswerID: 88554

Follow Up By: PhineasP - Friday, Jan 07, 2005 at 16:40

Friday, Jan 07, 2005 at 16:40

Stuart, I was very interested in your reply as I have had the identical problem with my Voyager-fitted car, i.e. the brake lights coming on in the middle of the night when the caravan was unhitched and the car was switched off and locked up. After several flat batteries I persuaded the car dealer to rewire the brake lights under warranty. That was six months ago and no recurrence of the problem. The auto electrician who did the job for the dealer said the Voyager was not to blame, i.e. not interfering with any vehicle wiring. From your experience it seems the Voyager might be implicated, perhaps also responsible for some of our other gremlins such as engine warning light coming on frequently when dealer could find no engine problem.

FollowupID: 350597

Follow Up By: Stuart - Sunday, Jan 09, 2005 at 00:53

Sunday, Jan 09, 2005 at 00:53

Hi PhineasP, I'm not sure if I posted this info before but I''l tell you any way. When I noticed the problem with the brake lights I went and saw my auto elec. and he said it was the controller as it has power all the time and that he had seen several others doing the same thing. I emailed Tekonsha in the US with the symtoms and they replied "That the unit was faulty, could not be repaired and needed replacing". I have since replaced it with the Prodogy and it is a much better unit as it does not have the drag and delay of the Voyager. I must add that Tekonsha USA were extremely helpful, unlike some people in Australia, and if it had not been for their help I wouldn't have received a replacement unit. They replaced the Voyager with the upgraded Sentinal but I purchaced the Prodogy ($149 at Repco) because it is all solid state. ie no pendulum to fail. It's just a much better unit to use. I hope this is of some help.

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Follow Up By: PhineasP - Sunday, Jan 09, 2005 at 14:51

Sunday, Jan 09, 2005 at 14:51

Many thanks Stuart, that's very useful. We are buying a new car (Hyundai V6) and the dealer has offered to install a Hayman Reese brake controller, which is solid state. A flick around the web shows that users seem to like their HR but old caravanners seem to prefer the pendulum type. I think I would prefer another Tekonsha so will try him on the Prodigy. Good to know that Tekonsha are responsive too.

FollowupID: 350855

Reply By: Croozer - Tuesday, Dec 14, 2004 at 00:08

Tuesday, Dec 14, 2004 at 00:08

Leroy,
I bought a Prodigy last week from Car-Van supplies (also Camec) in Kogarah in Sydney, they are retailing them for about $149 which was almost the same price as the voyager but a more modern unit. I have not installed it yet but it seems to be the goods after reading the manual.

Stu

AnswerID: 88619