Community Forums

dajudge · 01-10-2012, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Long

Required by law in almost every state. Required by common sence in my mind.

Brakes on toad not required by law by almost every state. Lookat the map.If you are withintheweight limits, you are not required to have brakes. I don't care what youdo, if you are in an accident, some idiot will file a suit against you, right or wrong. The people that have problems are the ones towing large vehicles over 5000lbs at 70-75miles per hour. They are the ones that need to be preached to.

rebelone · 01-10-2012, 03:11 PM

I like the breakaway feature for peace of mind. I use the Break Buddy, have for 4 years, lots of miles.
Rebel

JC2 · 01-10-2012, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Long

Required by law in almost every state. Required by common sence in my mind.

Exactly

Cruzer · 01-11-2012, 07:59 AM

In many states these laws apply to "trailers". A towed vehicle may or may not be covered within those laws. In Wisconsin a trailer is defined as any towed unit capable of carrying a load. That would include a tank trailer, flatbed trailer, or even a tow dolly. It does not cover a four wheel down towed vehicle. They have other laws for that. It also does not apply to towed "equipment". We went to court because a certain law officer felt different and wanted our log splitters, mortar mixers, and towed road machinery to be covered as a trailer. We won. So, laws may or may not be properly interpreted by an RVer. Just a heads up.

However, common sense says that it's not a very bright idea to tow without auxiliary brakes on a towed vehicle. They will reduce stopping distance and even if you think that you'll never need to worry about that you still need to consider the breakaway issue. Would you be able to live with yourself if your toad came loose and hits someone head-on in the other lane and killed them?

One last point - from personal experienece.

I recently rebuilt my towbar. At the same time I ordered a new set of locking hitch pins, which I have been using for many years. On our first trip out we got about 30 minutes down the road and felt a bang in the back. I looked in my rear view monitor and noticed that the Jeep was about 15' behind the motorhome. I pulled over and found that the 5/8" hitch pin that held the tow bar into the motorhome's receiver had failed. The entire towbar let loose and pulled out of the hitch. The safety cables held it and the breakaway switch activated my M&G tow brake on the Jeep.

Had I not had an auxiliary braking system and breakaway feature installed the Jeep would have still been held by the safety cables but it would undoubtedly do a ping-pong action on the back of the motorhome and I don't know how I could have stopped without having it impact and damage the rear of the motorhome as well as the front of the Jeep. The tow brake held the Jeep at a safe distance so that I could pull over safely. I then replaced the pin with one of the old ones and I was able to continue my trip without suffering any damage. That in itself made my tow brake pay for itself by not suffering any damage.

That's just one more reason to have an auxiliary braking system and breakaway feature.

ImagineIF · 01-11-2012, 08:53 AM

Wow, a hitch pin failure! That would have been the last thing I would have expected to fail. Probably another item we need to make sure is made in the USA.

Cruzer · 01-11-2012, 09:11 AM

Yeah, that would have been the last thing I would have expected as well. It was brand new so apparently it was a defective one. That just goes to show - anything can happen so you try to be prepared as best as possible and don't take shortcuts because you never know when the odds are good but still turn against you.

The ironic thing is that if I would have left the old one in it would never have happened.