Community Forums

troyrice76 · 07-26-2012, 05:58 PM

We purchased a 2012 GMC Terrain today to setup as our toad. I want to buy some of the things needed to flat tow it on the Internet to save some money. I am going to take it some where to have the baseplate and wiring done. I noticed that on the back of our coach there is an air fitting which I think is used with the braking on the toad.

What I have narrowed down:

BlueOx Aventa tow bar
BlueOx baseplate
Safety cables

What else do I need. I would like it to be very simple and safe. This is the only car we are going to tow. So is there something more permanent I can install?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Troy

smlranger · 07-26-2012, 06:05 PM

You will need a supplemental braking system. If the coach was previously owned, see if you can determine which braking system was used with that air fitting (first need to determine if that fitting was for a supplemental brake). The SMI Air Force One uses a small black box on the rear of the coach with an air quick disconnect and a 4 wire plug.

Gary RVRoamer · 07-27-2012, 07:52 AM

The Brakemaster and the MCI toad brake systems also use an air fitting on the back of the coach. Could be one of those too.

wa8yxm · 07-27-2012, 09:56 AM

I see they have covered the need for brakes.. YOu also need tow lights, Will cover both systems here.

Tow lights:
Diode kits ... With a diode kit (Which is specific to your car) you route wires from under the dash to the front of the car, Unplug a connection under the dash and plug the kit into the socket, plug the plug into the kit, job done, USes existing lights on the car, You may need to pull the brake light fuse though when towing.

Add-a-lamp

Route wires from teh front of the towed all the way to the rear, Drill a hole in the side of the tail light socket and snap in an additional lamb that is connected to the wires you routed.

Tow Lights: These are additional tail light assemblies, eitehr magnetic or other mounting to the car, I do not recommend them as they are too much hassle.

Brakes:

M&G in addition to the other air systems above is a good one, Air/hydraulid uses coach air (If you have it) or adds a compressor to the coach if you do not, This applies to most of the systems covered above too, The M&G fits between the car's vacuum booster and master cylinder so no need to bled off vacuum there is NOTHIGN in the cockpit of the car so it is 100% transparent to the car's driver, Very nice.

US-Gear Unified Brake Decelerator is an electric/hydraulic, This unit gives you a lot of control over your towed brakes, You can disable them (Turn gain down to zero) make them stronger or weaker (Gain adjustment) or set them manually INDEPENDENT of the motor home brakes, You have as much control over them as a semi has over his trailer brakes.. System is progressive and porportional, it also comes with a wire to join the Motor home battery to the towed's so you do not run out of battery on the towed. The only visible part for the driver of the car is a bracket on the brake arm, Nothing to remove to drive.

Invisible brake from Roadmaster.. This is air/hydraulic with electric control. I have not seen this ssytem save on paper but it has most of the features of the above, I like the air/hydraulic concept as I think it will work better than the electric/hydraulic. It too has provisions to charge the towed battery.

Ready Brake.. WIth this you use the Ready Brute tow bar, This is a surge brake, a cable connects to the brake pedal arm, runs through the firewall up to the front, a 2nd cable connects it to an arm on your hitch and if the towed presses against the motor home brakes are applied.. This unjit compensates for the presence or absence of vacuum on the car's booster and is fully self adjusting once set up. I am seriously considering it for my next towed.

Box Systems: Brake Buddy, Even brake, etc. Handy if you change toweds a lot but frankly too much work, these claim "No installation" but that is a lie, a BOLD FACE lie, you see you have to install them every time you tow, and de-install them every time you un-hook, Major pain, plug you need to stow them when driving the car, I seriously do recommend AGAINST this type of system as it's just too much hassle.. I can just imagine a user only going a short distance (Say to the dealer) Saying "Oh it' stoo much trouble for this short... CRASH.. Dang I wish I'd installed it".

I know for a fact that the first part of that has happend (NO crash thankfully).

777 Driver · 07-27-2012, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wa8yxm

I see they have covered the need for brakes..

US-Gear Unified Brake Decelerator is an electric/hydraulic, This unit gives you a lot of control over your towed brakes, You can disable them (Turn gain down to zero) make them stronger or weaker (Gain adjustment) or set them manually INDEPENDENT of the motor home brakes, You have as much control over them as a semi has over his trailer brakes.. System is progressive and porportional, it also comes with a wire to join the Motor home battery to the towed's so you do not run out of battery on the towed. The only visible part for the driver of the car is a bracket on the brake arm, Nothing to remove to drive.

Hi Troy,

I tow a Subaru Outback behind a 2009 Monaco Diplomat 41SKQ using a Blue Ox Aventa tow bar/base plates and a US Gear Unified Tow Brake system.

According to this: All 2006 Monaco Motorhomes Will Come Pre-Wired With Auxiliary Braking Safety Feature your coach is pre-wired for the US Gear system.

For all the reasons delineated by wa8yxm, it's a great system. Once it's installed, less that 5 minutes to hook up the toad.

Good luck with the selection process. I installed the base plates and had a RV Service center install the brake system on the toad.

Take care,
Stu

TXiceman · 07-27-2012, 10:20 AM

The dinghy braking system also needs a break-away system to stop the dinghy in the event id does come loose fron the coach.

Ken

troyrice76 · 07-28-2012, 06:30 AM

I got a quote from a local shop and they want to use the Blue Ox brake system. Is this a decent way to go. The coach is currently getting serviced and I do not have the ability to see what the air fitting on the back looks like. Once I get it back I will post a picture of it.

njs42 · 07-28-2012, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by troyrice76

I got a quote from a local shop and they want to use the Blue Ox brake system. Is this a decent way to go. The coach is currently getting serviced and I do not have the ability to see what the air fitting on the back looks like. Once I get it back I will post a picture of it.

Blue Ox is certainly an excellent choice. The "which is best" debate goes on forever. Blue Ox is a good company, good customer service and good time tested product. As you can see we use Blue Ox and have for ten years no complaints.

However, I have casually shopped the Ready Brake and Ready Brute (as mentioned earlier) a surge system. I too would and will give this system a close look if I ever change rigs. Because it is a surge system your braking and your tow bar are all one unit. Potentially it saves time and money in the initial set up and basically everytime you hook up and unhook. It is simple. It seems to be well manufacturered as well.

But you are not going to go "wrong" with Blue Ox. I use it and am very happy.

phil57 · 08-03-2012, 11:49 PM

We just had our toad done and I got everything from the installer. I got good advice and a good install. All road master equipment a 9700 brake controller wired installed and ready to go. They showed me how to hook it up and what to watch out for. How to care for the equipment and charged 2645.00. Well worth it and I'm a shopper and a bit cheap. Not sure this is allowed but if you are in West MI Hitches BY George Good folks to deal with.And I have nothing to do with them.

Darwin · 08-05-2012, 09:11 AM

We just finished setting up a Chevy Equinox. We chose Roadmaster, purchased from Etrailer.com. They have a very good web site with utube video on installation. I installed myself after viewing the video with no problems. I took approx 2.5 hours. I had gotton a price of $350 to install, we were ready for a trip was the reason I did the installation. It was not a difficult job. I would suggest getting a nonbinding tow bar. When pulling into a pull through site it does bind when in an angle. The Equinox is a good tow vehicle, easy to hook up and go, one fuse to pull.

Dutch Star Don · 08-05-2012, 04:11 PM

The only difficult choice you'll have to make is what brake system to install. Typically, when shopping for other products there is the most expensive which is usually the best. Not true in braking systems. There are soooo many different types. None of them are perfect or do everything. You need to pick one in your price range that fits your needs.

Picking a braking system was one of the most difficult decisions I ever made in regards to towing a toad.

You may also want to look into picking some protection for the toad from road debris, bra, rock guard, blanket or mudflap.

DennisZ · 08-05-2012, 04:36 PM

Troy
The air fitting on the rear may or may not be for the brakes, Monaco has the air tank bleeder back there, if it has a valve on it, it is the tank drain, if it looks like a fitting on a compressor it most likely for the brakes.

I have the Blue Ox tow system and a Roadmaster Brakemaster 9160 brake system. If a M&G system will fit your vehicle, I think they are the way to go, unfortunately they don't make one for my toad.

Dennis

troyrice76 · 08-07-2012, 11:57 AM

Thanks for everybodies help.

We ended up going with the Blue Ox base plate, Aventa tow bar, and the RVI braking system. Everything is getting installed Thursday and we head out Friday.

TR

TangoDancers · 08-27-2012, 10:27 PM

If you are considering SMI, be warned that they don't tell you that coach notification either requires that you can see your rear view mirror in your backup camera - that's where the little light is Velcro'd (not to mention some faulty Velcro that doesn't hold well). If you want to do anything else it's going to cost you more money, so be sure to factor this in when shopping around.

Unfortunately, their customer services was quite apathetic, but they clearly state on their website: "Another key difference in the DUO is the Coach Notification System." so one would expect this to be included in the price. That may not be true as it was in our case and it's costing us another $200 plus gas to drive 120 miles to get it fixed.