General Boards > General Discussion
Dinghy Brake System
Karl Welhart:
Forgot to mention on the Eastern Homecoming story... We asked the guy driving the motorhome, why are you pulling an RV? He said that was for his wife..... That should start a new thread.
Richard And Babs Ames:
Two of the most extreme triple tows I have seen are: a Toter, huge fifth wheel, tow dolly and a Cadalic on it (maybe quad tow) and a 45 prevost with a 35 foot high boy trailer and a car on the the back of the trailer. Both in FL.
It may be legal in FL now as we see a lot of semis with the double trailers.
Bill Sprague:
I have an acquaintance from camp hosting in a state park that is a retired Arizona cop. He and his wife live in a fifthwheel that's about 40 feet. He tows it with a Volvo tractor that he says cost him less than a pickup. Behind the fifthwheel he tows a Jeep Cherokee, that does not have aux brakes. Between the truck cab and front of the fifthwheel he has a motorcycle. Even though his home used to be Arizona, he licenses everything in a dummy corporation in Montana. He tows double everywhere. He argues that Montana drivers have reciprocal privileges anywhere they go. He maintains he has never been pulled over but has knowledge, skills and paperwork to stop any cop from giving him a ticket. He has a buddy that shows up once in awhile that does the same thing. You don't dare asking either of them a question about it because they won't stop teaching you how smart they are until you agree 100%!
Bill Brown:
We too have the Roadmaster Breakmaster system and have been very pleased with it. We have used it now for about 5 years with no problems. Had Roadmaster install it at thier plant. That way we know it was done right. Now something to consider is the new Roadmaster "Invis-a-brake". It sounds to be everybit as good as brakemaster, and a few less steps when hitting the road. Just something to consider.
Bill Brown
06 Monterey, Laguna IV
toad 02 GMC Envoy
Dick Simonis:
I've been reading this thread and thinking about it quite a bit. I have the Roadmaster Even Brake system that i bought with the Roadmaster Falcon All Terrain tow bar. It worked OK until the MH dash monitor malfunctioned after which I stopped using it. The dash monitor is simply a wireless monitor for the system and, although the brake system will work without it, I don't have a lot of confidence it it simply because I have not idea how much braking force is being applied. The monitor will display a "brake applied" message but the MH is so heavy and the toad is only about 11.75% of the weight.....I can't feel it. On my TT there was no doubt about the braking force as the relative weights were reversed.
Yesterday, I looked over the toad and MH trying to visualize failure mechanisms and the consequences of each.
Reciever: it's welded directly to the MH sub-frame and is rated for 5,000 lbs. There is no compressive loads of any consequence yet I recall while I was at the Bend facility last year I say a couple laying on the floor pretty bent up. If the receiver fails and becomes disconnected, no break-a-way or safety chains will keep the toad from taking it's own path and not stopping until it runs out of steam. I can see one potential problem here where the toad is 4,000 lbs and the wheels lock up due to the braking system it could easily overload the 5k receiver rating and possible pull it right off the MH.
Hitch: Seems to be a pretty unlikely failure item as, once again there is no hitch wt to speak of.
Tow bar: Tough to see a catastrophic failure here as it's pretty stout and even if one arm would fail, the toad would still be attached even though it wouldn't follow very well. Still, a good inspection of the pivot points should be performed.
Base plates: Two separate plates each well attached to the toad frame with three 5/8" grade 8 bolts. As long as they are routinely inspect, should be fine.
Jackknifing of the toad; Pretty much impossible without the rear end going into a skid. That would take such a radical maneuver the MH is probably already wrecked.
Toad pushing the MH laterally: Again, unless the toad radically departed straight flight, seems to be improbable. Even if the toad was at 45 degrees to the MH the front wheels would still be aligned in the direction of travel and, without them losing traction, will bear the brunt of the force.
I'm still twixt and tween on this whole subject. I will get a new dash monitor before out summer sojurn but will continue to set the braking system very concervitely. I don't see a need fot the toad brakes to be applied unless I'm braking very hard.
Overall, a good thought provocing thread
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