Community Forums

ImagineIF · 06-18-2011, 02:25 PM

Speaking of the Chesapeake Bay bridge, I had a near miss with a cement mixer. As a dump truck crossed the mid span the attached cement mixer became unattached. This was likely due to the pintle hitch not being latched and the temporary plates on the bridge that caused the cement mixer to bounce. I believe the mixer's brakes activated and it tturned imemdiately in front of me. Imagine a cement mixer some 20 feet in front of you head for the side of the bridge. I, in a Corvette, could have stood on the brakes and been fine. I instead tried to have a balance between braking to avoid the cement mixer and not braking so hard to have the cars behind hitting me. The cement mixer hit the side of the bridge, bounced in the air (really) and then landed directly in front of skidding to a quick stop. Amazingly, no one injured.

Another time I stopped with a car trailer attached to my Explorer. I came out, not checking the trailer after having already drivenm some 250 miles. I went a couple of miles, crossed a railroad track, and the trailer came off the hitch. What a feeling to see the tongue of the trailer through my rear view mirror. The trailer brakes activated and it remained attached by the chains. I reduced speed slowly lefting the trailer help slow me so I didn't get hit by the trailer. No damage, hooked the trailer back up and finished the last 500 miles of the trip. I'm confident someone loosened the coupling while I was away.

In both cases, break away brakes prevented bad times from being even worse.

tbfirm · 06-19-2011, 08:05 AM

No brakes? No brains!

TXiceman · 06-19-2011, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbfirm

No brakes? No brains!

That pretty well sums it up in my opinion.

ken

melvonnar · 06-19-2011, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXiceman

That pretty well sums it up in my opinion.

ken

Carefull; calling someone brainless in these forums is against the rules;
I believe its called flaming someone, and I personally find it ^%$%#%$#&$&&&*^%.

Korryp · 06-19-2011, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbfirm

No brakes? No brains!

Completely agree. Human life is priceless. Brake systems are cheap.

melvonnar · 06-19-2011, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbfirm

No brakes? No brains!

Whats fair is fair: So this is what I think of those with brakes on their toads.

Those with brakes are egotistal slobs; whisky drinking, know it all nerdy twits.
So there put that in your toad brake system and choke on it.

Finhawk · 06-19-2011, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by melvonnar

Whats fair is fair: So this is what I think of those with brakes on their toads.

Those with brakes are egotistal slobs; whisky drinking, know it all nerdy twits.
So there put that in your toad brake system and choke on it.

Actually I drink Southern Comfort!

GOLDWINGER2 · 06-19-2011, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbfirm

No brakes? No brains!

Quote:

Originally Posted by melvonnar

Whats fair is fair: So this is what I think of those with brakes on their toads.

Those with brakes are egotistal slobs; whisky drinking, know it all nerdy twits.
So there put that in your toad brake system and choke on it.

I LOVE IT! No brakes...no brains. How bout no chains either?
I have seen it!
J.ate Nobrakes

TXiceman · 06-19-2011, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by melvonnar

Whats fair is fair: So this is what I think of those with brakes on their toads.

Those with brakes are egotistal slobs; whisky drinking, know it all nerdy twits.
So there put that in your toad brake system and choke on it.

Why not be really macho

and take the brakes off the motorhome

. Only sissies need brakes

. They will just drag their feet through a hole in the floor

...ala Fred Flintstone.

ken

melvonnar · 06-19-2011, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXiceman

Why not be really macho

and take the brakes off the motorhome

. Only sissies need brakes

. They will just drag their feet through a hole in the floor

...ala Fred Flintstone.

ken

Thats what I do.
I also have a stick that I beat on car hoods that pass me when I'm stopping.
It's great fun to watch how angry these people get; I just give them the middle finger Florida greeting. most realy like that by the looks that I get.

If you can't have some fun lifes realy dull.
have a nice day

Chuck 1935 · 06-19-2011, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by melvonnar

Whats fair is fair: So this is what I think of those with brakes on their toads.

Those with brakes are egotistal slobs; whisky drinking, know it all nerdy twits.
So there put that in your toad brake system and choke on it.

melvonnar
I agree with you to a point. I also am aware that the vast majority of Motorhomes are overloaded or at near capacity for their braking systems. Towing a wheelbarrow would overload many of these Motorhomes. Compounding this is the fact that many folks pay no attention to the weight of the toad that they have pushing the Motorhome around. If your combined weight is well below the rated GCVWR, braking without toad brakes should be no problem. To cavilierly state that all toads require a suplemental braking system is patently foolish.
I also agree that a supplemental braking system WILL help in stopping no matter how light the toad is.

DRBARBER001 · 06-19-2011, 01:25 PM

we too have brakes on our cr-v,,, better to have 10 stopping then 6

mrschwarz · 06-19-2011, 05:10 PM

This is an interesting question that gets asked several times a year. I asked the question about a year ago and got a lot of answers. Some of them were based on science. Others were based on emotion. Even though I have auxiliary brakes, I am still undecided whether it is necessary or not. According to the owners manual that came with my motor home, if I don't use toad brakes, the GCVW is the GVW plus 1000 lbs. The total weight of the motor home and toad is less than this. Based on my reading, toad brakes are not necessary from an engineering point of view.

There will be a lot of answers that talk about another 5 or 10 inches, but I am still not sure if the brakes I purchased were necessary or not.

UFO Pilot · 06-19-2011, 05:59 PM

I have seen towing setups that were uneven as much as 12". If they don't have auxiliary tow brakes, forget the stopping distance, what happens to the car on a panic stop? The inertia of the moving car has to keep the toad moving forward. If the toad doesn't go over or under the hitch, what happens to the tow bar, tow brackets, etc from the forces? Ours friends hitch broke off their MH in March. I wonder if 7 years of towing and stopping without auxiliary tow brakes contributed to the failure?