Toad Brake System Adventure

[sdennislee]

Big fan of my Air Force One unit. So easy to use.

[wil01]

Let me add a note about the Toad brake indicator.

For a whole lot of reasons, it is important that the Toad brake indicator gets it power source from the cold side of the Toad brake light switch. That switch, as you will remember, is activated by the Toad brake pedal.

No other source of power for the Toad brake indicator provides a positive indication that the Toad brake has been applied. Even this positive indicator can fail if the switch is defective or its fuse is blown, but it is the most positive indicator available.

I have now checked the wiring diagrams of all the Toad brake system I can find on the web. Some manufactures don’t show wiring diagrams. Very few of the systems I found get the power for the Toad brake indicator from the cold side of the Toad brake light switch.

Most systems power the Toad brake light indicator from the brake controller or brake mechanism itself. That arrangement shows that the system works, but indicates nothing about the actual Toad brake situation. The danger with those systems is that the Toad brake pedal could be disconnected from the system for a number of reasons and the brake light indicator would still function, giving a false indication.

The good news is that a brake light indicator, powered from the cold side of the Toad brake light switch, can be added to any system. For example, even though the standard brake indicator is powered from the coach and actuated by the surge mechanism, Ready Brake has a kit to power the brake light indicator powered from the cold side of the Toad brake light switch..

In the best of all worlds, the brake indicator is located in the coach with the wiring connection being made through the standard wiring harness from coach to Toad. There are enough spare pins in most standard cables to allow this.

Such an arrangement keeps hook up simple and also proves that the standard electric cable is properly connected. Any time it isn’t properly connected, the Toad brake indicator won’t function and gives you a signal to correct the problem. I once lost that connecting power cord because it became disconnected underway and was damaged by it being dragged on the road.

Good Luck!
Wil

[Coma]

I have the Ready Brute Elite, also. It came with the towed brake indicator, as mentioned, indicates surge brake movement. Nice thing is, I can see the lever move in my rear camera. I'm going to test drive it without the indicator, for a while, to see if it is usable that way.

BTW mine is self installed, too.

[mikelm48]

I've been using ReadyBrute for 2.5 years now. No problems. When I had it installed, I had them install an additional light that indicates when the Toad brake is actually activated.

[wil01]

mikelm48,
Do you know, for sure, the power source for your second light comes from the cold side of the Toad brake light switch?

Good Luck!
Wil