NSA Ready Brake Questions

[givemeaboost]

I put the NSA Ready Brake system on my coach and have the cables hooked up for my 92 swift and 91 Sidekick. I am trying to figure out how these would work for anything more than a panic stop. The way I see it the brakes on the toad will only work as long as there is pressure on the hitch. Well the toad weighs about 15% of what the coach does so it should slow down faster than the tow vehicle causing there to be no pressure on the hitch and therefore releasing the brake pressure. Would this work as a surge system until the coach quit slowing down ?


Ken..........

[Cougarkid]

I use the same system on our 42’ diesel pusher and a 2021 Jeep JLURD.
I added in a dash light, in the Rv, that comes on when the toad brake lights come on for monitoring. Be assured, the toad braking is pretty constant.
Just because the toad weighs less doesn’t mean it slows down faster. It wants to keep going as you are stopping. The braking is relative to how hard/fast you are stopping. There are times, in town, when I actually have to roll forward, at a red light, to get the toad brakes to disengage.
Yes, panic stopping is going to apply more braking, but overall you get assistance.
Hope this helps.

[BCam]

It's been many decades since my last physics class but here's what I think: In the proverbial perfect world, a gradual stop with very minimal braking being applied would be very similar to towing without any braking system at all. The MH's braking force will be transferred to the toad via the tow bar without compressing the Ready Brake's spring enough to activate the toad's brakes.

Once you apply the brakes in your MH even a modest amount, the braking force is again going to be transferred to the toad via the tow bar, but, in this case, the the force of that transfer will be great enough to compress the spring mechanism in the Ready Brake causing your toad's brakes to activate. In any case, the amount of braking power applied by your toad will vary depending on what's needed to keep things in balance, it will be proportional. The Ready Brake will cause a heavier toad to apply more braking power than a lighter one in the same situation.

Ask yourself this, if it isn't going to activate except in a panic stop, would you be willing to sit on your bumper and stick your finger in the Ready Brake's mechanism while someone brakes your MH ever so lightly? I wouldn't.

My experience is the same as Mike's in that my indicator light goes on even in the case of light braking.

[MrMark52]

For every action - there is an equal and opposite reaction.

So, for the force applied to the ReadyBrake (which is the weight of the toad) - an equivalent force is applied so as to slow the toad against it’s weight (force).

When coming to a hard stop - the light stays on, and the ReadyBrake engaged - because the toad can’t roll backwards (because the brake is applied), and unlikely the coach has rolled enough to relieve the pressure on the ReadyBrake.
Roll forward a few inches, ReadyBrake relieved, dash light goes off.

I like my ReadyBrake!

[givemeaboost]

Thanks for the encouragement here. I don't have the wiring and dash light hooked up so I didn't know if it was constant. I guess I'll have to do that before RV season.


Ken.........

[jaydee325]

How does this system work going down long grades using the engine exhaust brake? Any problems with overheating the brakes on the toad?

[MrMark52]

The force weight of the toad against a spring inside of the ReadyBrake actuates the lever, and the lever is designed such that it’s ability to pull the brake cable is not linear (when the cable is properly adjusted with the correct slack between the toad and the ReadyBrake).

The harder the stop, the more the brake pedal is applied.

I’ve toad down grades using lower gears and foot off pedal (a gasser’s way of effecting an exhaust brake on a diesel) and not felt any issues with the toad. I’ve never noticed that “hot brake” smell around the toad when arriving at our destination.

I need to hook up the dash light from the ReadyBrake.

[Cougarkid]

I have never had an issue using the exhaust brake on downhill runs. The toad brakes do not engage unless I brake to decrease speed.

BTW, I had to add a switch, at the brake pedal, for the monitoring light in the Rv. They sell one for my Jeep. It is NOT activated by the brake lights. Toad pedal movement activates the light. The exhaust brake (diesel) activates the Rv AND toad brake lights, so that is not a true sign that the toad brakes are being activated.

I used this same system (mine is older style, built into the tow bar) on our previous 2001 Jeep TJ before transferring it to the new 2021 JLURD.

[F4Gary]

I have read (on here) that it takes about 300lbs of force to start compressing the spring in the ReadyBrake.

[Cougarkid]

My older style one has an adjustment in it. You can adjust the force required to activate it based on the toad weight. All it takes is a flat screwdriver.