Brake Buddy Operation

[Tincup]

I have a question that may sound strange, but here goes.

How does the Brake Buddy work? How does the unit know to apply the brake? Is there some sort of motion sensor in it that detects a decrease in forward movement of the vehicle?

The reason I'm asking is this. I just finished a trip from Columbus, Ohio to Fort Worth, Texas, towing a 2003 Silverado. The receiver I have in the dash of the Bounder flashed a couple of times when I initially left Columbus, then never again. If I hit the test button, the BB and receiver works fine, but that's not a true test of the BB under normal operation.

The only way I could test it is to have someone ride in the toad while I drive the MH.

While driving down here, I didn't sense the toad causing a drag when braking but I don't know if I should.

As you can tell, I am new to RVing and this is my first long trip.

Any help you can provide will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Paul

[Tincup]

I have a question that may sound strange, but here goes.

How does the Brake Buddy work? How does the unit know to apply the brake? Is there some sort of motion sensor in it that detects a decrease in forward movement of the vehicle?

The reason I'm asking is this. I just finished a trip from Columbus, Ohio to Fort Worth, Texas, towing a 2003 Silverado. The receiver I have in the dash of the Bounder flashed a couple of times when I initially left Columbus, then never again. If I hit the test button, the BB and receiver works fine, but that's not a true test of the BB under normal operation.

The only way I could test it is to have someone ride in the toad while I drive the MH.

While driving down here, I didn't sense the toad causing a drag when braking but I don't know if I should.

As you can tell, I am new to RVing and this is my first long trip.

Any help you can provide will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Paul

[wallynm]

Yes it has a sensor ( not the fancy word). If you what more braking increase the sensitivity. We tun ours on 5 rather than 4 the default setting.

[Gary RVRoamer]

You do not want to feel the toad braking, ever! If you do, then you are using the toad brakes to slow the motorhome and that will wear out the toad brakes in no time flat!

Some people set the sensitivity on the BB low so it only comes on during heavy braking. I guess they figure they are saving brake pads on the toad, but that also increases the wear on the motorhome brake pads. Persoanlly I like to have the toad brakes applied in any but a really gentle stop. You pays your money and you takes your pick...

Experiment with the sensitivity dial - it sounds as though yours is a bit on the light side. That's not surprising if you left it at the factory default - your Silverado is much heavier than a typical passenger car toad and that affects the inertial sensor.