Blue Ox Patriot / Honda Fit Problem
I would appreciate any comments or suggestions concerning a major problem I experienced on my first tow with a Blue Ox Patriot 2012 in my 2013 Honda Fit.
Here is the background:
I have a 21' Chinook Premier motor-home (E350/Triton V10) and never saw the need to have a toad. My wife, however, has progressively hankered after getting one, and this year I finally relented.
So I bought a 2013 Honda Fit Base, one owner, good condition and had a local hitch installer fix it up with Blue Ox base plate, tow bar, Patriot 2012 brake system.
Yesterday I picked up the Honda from the installer and towed it home, a distance of about 15 miles.
Before I towed it home, the installer instructed me on how to connect the hitch, and how to position the brake system, and he actually set up the Patriot system for me.
Leaving his lot the Patriot was set at '4'. The first time I dabbed the brake there was more braking effect from the Fit than I expected, and it took a second or two for the brake to release. I dialed the system down to '2' and drove home.
On arriving home the first thing I noticed was the smell of burning brakes from the Fit. The front wheels were VERY hot. Further inspection showed that the brake pedal was so spongy it could be fully depressed to the floor, although, checking the reservoir, there was no loss of fluid. I presume the heat had boiled the fluid and was now full of bubbles(?).
The brakes are now shot and I will be taking the Fit to my regular mechanic for repairs this coming week.
Obviously the Patriot system had been applying some level of braking all the way home, even though the RV control unit's 'active' light was NOT on. The installer had shown me how he checked and tested the position when he set up the brake unit and the positioning had looked logical to me.
Maybe if I had pulled a toad before I would have been more sensitive to the drag of the brakes but I just figured the RV was having to work a tiny smidgen harder than usual because of pulling a car. The V10 is powerful, the Fit is light, and to me at the time it really did not seem like the car brakes were dragging. I guess the V10 just easily overpowered them.
After removing the brake unit from the Fit I towed it back to the installer to see if he could explain what had gone wrong, but he had no good answers. He says he will call Blue Ox to see if they have ever encountered this type of issue.
So I'm now looking at what will probably be a fairly expensive repair to the Fit's brakes, and once done I'm going to be as nervous as heck to use the Patriot system again for fear of burning out the brakes all over again. The last thing that I want is to have to constantly stop every couple of miles to check if they are overheating.
So what do you think went wrong? Was it the way it had been setup? Is this something that has happened to others? Is it a fault with this particular brake unit? Do other Honda Fit owners use the Patriot system satisfactorily? How can I test to make sure it doesn't happen again? Anything else you can think of or suggest?
Appreciate all your help.
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