POS pedal commander

[skyhawk42]

Well after all the warnings I’ve seen on here my pedal commander died on me in the worst situation. Driving on the highway in a construction zone during rush hour with no shoulder to stop on. Every light on the dash came on and I lost all throttle response. I didn’t know what was happening so I put on the 4ways stopped and shut off the truck and restarted it and all was back to good other than a check engine light. I started driving and 1/2 mile down the road it happened again, but this time the cluster said service electronic throttle. That’s when I realized it was the pedal commander. So there I was on the highway with cars honking and swerving around me, trying to unplug this stupid thing. Once I did I was able to drive home without issue. I cleared the code and all seems to be good. I wish I would have taken everyone’s warning about this thing, so I’ll just put it out there for others… when it worked it was fun, when it didn’t it turned into a pretty dangerous situation.

 

[Alter Ego Trip]

Stories like yours are why I ditched mine on the last Ram. Glad no one was hurt.

 

[frisby5]

Have not heard of bad news about Pedal Monster but plenty about Pedal commander.

 

[silver billet]

Now imagine this was your wife/girlfriend/daughter driving it instead.

The only ones to my knowledge that are safe are the banks pedal monster and the pulsar, because the pedal monster powers itself off the obd2 port and the pulsar is in the engine bay, neither use the 5 volt pedal circuit which is where the problem seems to be because that circuit does not provide enough amps to run a device attached to it.

I've not seen a bad report on the banks, the pulsar has some reported problems but those usually are due to bad grounding, not attaching the little strap back correctly.

The last time I mentioned this (and actually its Banks that explains why/how this works) the knives came out so I usually just bite my tongue now.

 

[2021EcoDiesel]

Is there a large tuning market for the Hemi? Perhaps a well known shop could do the gasser equivalent of a GDE tune for your Hemi to give you some safer and more reliable "pep in your truck's step?" Still hate to hear of a dead truck in the road situation like yours, and am very glad you handled it safely and that no one was hurt.

 

[CHeYeNNe71]

Sucks to hear. Many run them with no issues as myself included. As with electronics, it can happen to anyone at anytime. Glad you got it figured out and on your way.

 

[HowDoYouTruck]

I'm glad it didn't turn out worse for you.

It's crazy that they would build something that could leave you dead in the middle of the road. That's why I went with the Shiftpower USA unit for my Challenger. Plus, I can tune and lock/unlock my gas pedal with it using the phone app.

 

[skyhawk42]

Sucks to hear. Many run them with no issues as myself included. As with electronics, it can happen to anyone at anytime. Glad you got it figured out and on your way.

I was also considering myself one without issues, but like they say” it’s not an issue until it is an issue”. In this case I consider it way to dangerous to use because it can fail at anytime and leave you in a bad situation. I can only imagine if it was anyone else driving my truck what could have happened

 

[silver billet]

As with electronics, it can happen to anyone at anytime.

This is extremely disingenuous. There is a REASON this happens to the pedal commander, it's not a fluke, it's a poorly designed device that nobody should be using on their Rams.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Is there a large tuning market for the Hemi? Perhaps a well known shop could do the gasser equivalent of a GDE tune for your Hemi to give you some safer and more reliable "pep in your truck's step?" Still hate to hear of a dead truck in the road situation like yours, and am very glad you handled it safely and that no one was hurt.

Plenty of tuners for the Hemi.

 

[CHeYeNNe71]

This is extremely disingenuous. There is a REASON this happens to the pedal commander, it's not a fluke, it's a poorly designed device that nobody should be using on their Rams.

Many times it's been operator error, but anyways glad nothing bad happened to OP.

 

[silver billet]

Many times it's been operator error, but anyways glad nothing bad happened to OP.

You don't get it, you still think it's just random chance or luck that these devices are failing, but it's not.

What part of "the pedal circuit is not designed to run additional powered devices" do you think is operator error? The operator error is installing those devices in the first place.

 

[Nascar Tommy]

Now imagine this was your wife/girlfriend/daughter driving it instead.

The only ones to my knowledge that are safe are the banks pedal monster and the pulsar, because the pedal monster powers itself off the obd2 port and the pulsar is in the engine bay, neither use the 5 volt pedal circuit which is where the problem seems to be because that circuit does not provide enough amps to run a device attached to it.

I've not seen a bad report on the banks, the pulsar has some reported problems but those usually are due to bad grounding, not attaching the little strap back correctly.

The last time I mentioned this (and actually its Banks that explains why/how this works) the knives came out so I usually just bite my tongue now.

Totally agree!

 

[Draing_Mr_Hanky]

So reading this is worrying as I was looking into the pedal commander as I hate the delayed throttle response. I shouldn't have to predict when the truck will move when applying throttle to get into traffic. Is there a recommended product? Pedal Monster?

 

[silver billet]

So reading this is worrying as I was looking into the pedal commander as I hate the delayed throttle response. I shouldn't have to predict when the truck will move when applying throttle to get into traffic. Is there a recommended product? Pedal Monster?

Banks Pedal Monster, or the Pulsar inline tuner, neither of these options power themselves off of the pedal circuit and are better devices than pedal commander.

 

[TeePea]

Well after all the warnings I’ve seen on here my pedal commander died on me in the worst situation. Driving on the highway in a construction zone during rush hour with no shoulder to stop on. Every light on the dash came on and I lost all throttle response. I didn’t know what was happening so I put on the 4ways stopped and shut off the truck and restarted it and all was back to good other than a check engine light. I started driving and 1/2 mile down the road it happened again, but this time the cluster said service electronic throttle. That’s when I realized it was the pedal commander. So there I was on the highway with cars honking and swerving around me, trying to unplug this stupid thing. Once I did I was able to drive home without issue. I cleared the code and all seems to be good. I wish I would have taken everyone’s warning about this thing, so I’ll just put it out there for others… when it worked it was fun, when it didn’t it turned into a pretty dangerous situation.

Similar thing happened to me today. So how did you clear the code? Disconnect the '+' on the battery for 10-20min, or take it somewhere other than the dealer to clear the check engine light? Thx.

 

[skyhawk42]

Similar thing happened to me today. So how did you clear the code? Disconnect the '+' on the battery for 10-20min, or take it somewhere other than the dealer to clear the check engine light? Thx.

I removed the pedal commander completely and used a scan tool I have to clear it. Truck hasn’t had any issues since removing it

 

[Nascar Tommy]

Banks Pedal Monster, or the Pulsar inline tuner, neither of these options power themselves off of the pedal circuit and are better devices than pedal commander.

Love my Pedal Monster. Very reliable.

 

[TeePea]

I removed the pedal commander completely and used a scan tool I have to clear it. Truck hasn’t had any issues since removing it

As a follow-up, the check engine light cleared on it own. I read somewhere once the PC is removed, then once the truck is started 5-6 times, it clears on it's own. It took 3 starts for mine to clear. Not sure if I'm going to re-install the PC or not.

 

[go-ram]

I bought the Banks Pedal Monster & iDash because: (A) Gale Banks insists on rock-solid engineering from his team, no excuses whatsoever, and everything is decided by rigorous testing and performance data, not on any individual's preferences or whims. (B) Banks stuff is all made in the USA, even the PC boards. (C) Banks Pedal Monster is fail-safe.
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I 'm not associated with Bank and I don't have any financial interest in them. I just appreciate their dedication to hard-core engineering, product quality, and the fact that their stuff is all made in USA. Anybody that doesn't buy their tuners/pedal response/etc. from Banks needs to have their head examined.
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Buy the best and cry only once.