Brake Systems

[anconn]

I just got a motorhome from a 5th wheel. I have a Jeep Liberty to tow. What would be the best braking system to use?

[RVThere]

I use a Brake Buddy on my Grand Cherokee and my Town & Country Minivan. I like it because I can move it between cars depending on what I am towing.

[bbeane]

I use M&G brake systems, once installed nothing to do but hook up the line to the coach, just got the one to fit the new jeep. But there are many others that work just as good.

[wa8yxm]

I do not like systems like the brake buddy because though they are easy to transfer to a new towed,,, when you get one.. they are also easy to forget if you are planing only a short trip (Say to the Dealer for service) You have to "install" them every time you tow.

Ready Brake
M&G
US gear Unified Brake Decelerator
Air Force One
Invisible Brake

All these you install once, they are invisible to a driver of the jeep, quick hookup, Each one has advantages over the others.

But Ready Brake is about the most interesting.

[Mr_D]

We used the RoadMaster BrakeMaster 9160 on our '97 Jeep GC and Honda Odyssey.

[doc]

I have been in contact with Blue Ox since last fall. Talked to them last week and they have in production a new airbrake system that will quick connect to the MH air brakes. I don't know if they have named it yet. I have been bugging them and they promise I am to get one of the first systems out. I believe they had a similar at one time but it was discontinued. Will try this thing and see how it works out when we put the Wrangler in service.

[UFO Pilot]

I have the SMI Stay-in-Play and love it. They make one for diesel pushers called Air Force One. I started with a "Brake Box" (mine was a Roadmaster EvenBrake) and got tired of the installing, removing and storage.

[Finhawk]

Check the Unified Brake System from US Gear. They have a good website. Anyhow, it's plug and go. The best thing about it is that you use the power brakes on your Toad
Bruce

[DancinCampers]

I have used the SMI Stay n Play, wireless, since 2005. No problems, I like having the controls available.

[dons2346]

Been using an M&G for over 100,000 miles of towing, no problems here. Highly recommended.

[rgvtexan]

This is kind of like the Ford/Chevy question. The answer is you should have one, don't dive without brakes!

[InfinityJim]

Ok Guess I’ll chim in in this one....

I’m a Dealer for almost all of the manufactures... That being said, I (we) sell primarily Blue Ox along with the US Gear Unified Tow Brake (UTB) system. We install on average 15-20 complete installs a year and as many or more partials/repairs/upgrades/changeovers etc... We have installed “almost” every manufactures systems over the years.

So....... my 2 cents.

On tow car brake systems, my opinion is that ANY system that pushes on a dead pedal (no add on vacuum pump, or use of the hydro boost) is a bad deal. I don’t believe that any engineer from any car manufacture has probably ran the data for the break pedal to be pushed in a emergency situation more then what, 1000 times? (meaning that the motor has stopped running and the vacuum is gone, leaving a hard pedal) If that was the number, 1000 lets say, for an emergency braking situation that number really seems high to me, I can’t remember over the past 25 years any vehicle that I’ve owned or driven that wasn’t under repair that has ever died on me except maybe running out of gas... Maybe I’m just the lucky one, but I sure don’t here about that issue....Anyway, back to that number, for the sake of argument lets say the engineer’s decided on 5000 cycles.. So what’s that in mileage? is it 5000 miles, 10,000?

Now I know “LOT’S” of folks that have towed with dead pedal brake systems for well over that (as I’m sure most do) some I’ve heard as much as 150k. But the question I ask most is “how well does it really work?” Most have never even done the temp readings on the tow car brakes, to see how it’s working, they’ve only done the seat of the pants test. Yes the seat test probably works the best, but is it really doing it’s job? or too much?

So the questions go on and on, there’s a reason everyone’s trying to get into the brake game.....MONEY!

Make sure that whatever system you go with you’ve done your research. Talk to people out using them for more then year, see it for yourself, get to understand the system. Does it have good support? Will other shops around the country be able, or willing to repair it if it fails on the road. The shop that you use, do they sell and are knowledgeable on ALL the different manufactures, or do they just sell one manufacture?

I’ve seen a lot of different systems out on the market over the years, only a few are worth the money, and less have been endorsed by the Coach/Chassis manufactures.