General Boards > General Discussion
Dinghy Brake System
Phil Sales:
Bo, This is the one that was on my 2000 Marquis when I got it. http://www.viprv.com/towbrake/towbrake.cfm#about
I have used it for 2 years. First on a 2001 Nissan Frontier, then on my present, 2004 Dodge Dakota 4x4. I only needed to wire it to the trucks and made a mount bracket that bolts to the drivers seat ,front mount bolts. No new holes.
It activates the toad brakes if I'm braking, and slowing quickly according to the adjustment. It has automatic breakaway, and keeps the toad battery charged. I'm very happy with it, although I never see it refered to in any of the groups I belong to.
I have no connection to this company,and am just passing on my info
Joel Ashley:
Your Beaver came prewired for a Unified Tow Brake, so you should consider that option. I'm a fan of Roadmaster products, and can vouch for their Brakemaster system. They now make a system that requires no effort at all when disconnecting or connecting to the coach; it ain't cheap, but if I had it to do all over again, I might spring for that convenience.
As to not having a system at all, I wouldn't consider that route, and I'm sure the majority of Beavers on the Forum would agree. The stopping distance an auxilliary brake provides is a huge safety plus, and it cuts down on coach brake wear. Plus you can't ignore that auxilliary braking is a requirement in most jurisdictions now, and you darned better have it in Canada. If you had an accident and weren't legally configured, well, good luck with the law and insurance.
Joel
Gil_Johnson:
Tom,
Have you considered what would happen if your Jeep separated from your coach? In many states you would be at fault for not having a break away brake system.
Gil
Richard And Babs Ames:
We have a Brakemaster from Roadmaster and like it as it only works when the motorhome brakes are applied and is proportional to the brake pressure applied to motorhome.
Bill Sprague:
I have a Brakemaster too. I like it because it is simple. When you press the motohome peddle, air goes to your motorhome brakes. For the Brakemaster, a line is tapped into the airbrake system and routed to the car. In the car, a simple cylinder is attached to the car's peddle. So, when you step on the motorhome peddle, some of the air goes to the car and applies the brakes at a rate that depends on how hard you are pressing on the motorhome peddle.
The problem with all of these systems, including the one I have, is that you don't have any idea how much force is being applied to the car's brake peddle. Is it enough? Is it too much? Is it too little? What about wet pavement? Or, an ice patch? Do all brands of cars react to peddle pressure the same when the power brakes are off?
When you have a 30 or 40 thousand pound motorhome with a 3 or 4 thousand pound car and routinely do "normal" stops, you can't tell what the car is doing. If I have a panic stop, I hope the car's brakes are working hard too. But not too hard, because any trailer with locked brakes and skidding tires is the definition of a "jackknife".
As far as I know, no independent testing company has ever done evaluations of these systems using sensors, accelerometers or even stopping distances. This is a perfect example of "buyer be ware", do your homework and take a best guess.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version