Readybrake Failure

[Redridge]

IMO, alot of these brake cables are setup to tight... to a point where the toads brakes are activated when going around a tight corner. I have a brake indicator and surge indicator. I adjusted my brake cable to activate only when I step on the brakes.... this is what it looks like.

[pilotspike]

Originally Posted by Brockx

The coating should never be inside the ferrule crimp. In my opinion it looks to me your brake cable is too tight. It should have 2 inches of slack in it when in a straight line.

Actually the cable in that picture has 2" of slack as measured at the center of the cable. I agree that the coating should never be in the ferrule. NSA just sent me a 4th cable and this one doesn't have any coating on it at all and the running end actually exists the second ferrule rather than terminating inside of it.

I expect that this cable will pass muster.

John

[Brockx]

Originally Posted by Redridge

IMO, alot of these brake cables are setup to tight... to a point where the toads brakes are activated when going around a tight corner. I have a brake indicator and surge indicator. I adjusted my brake cable to activate only when I step on the brakes.... this is what it looks like.

That looks right to me. I think some folks measure the 2 inch as total, 1 inch up and 1 down, I allow 2 down on a dead hang. I want toad brakes when I am stopping hard, normal driving the MH does most of the braking.

[Medic57]

Lots of helpful info here. I am trying to decide if I want to make the change from Brake Buddy to Ready Brake. I am tired of the setup process every time I hook up the Jeep, especially in the pouring rain!! I'm impressed with the mods by Fire Up. I believe y'all have convinced me to make the move. Thanks again to everyone here.

[pilotspike]

Send that picture to NSA and see what they say. That sure looks like way more than 2" to me. The way that I measure the two inches is that from an at rest position, I can displace the center of the cable two inches in the up direction without moving the brake cable.

Originally Posted by Redridge

IMO, alot of these brake cables are setup to tight... to a point where the toads brakes are activated when going around a tight corner. I have a brake indicator and surge indicator. I adjusted my brake cable to activate only when I step on the brakes.... this is what it looks like.

[YC1]

https://www.amazon.com/ROHN-4CCF-For...guy+wire+clamp

Clamping around the plastic is just plain, well I will keep it clean. Dumb.

I have built so many towers with guy wire I cannot remember how many of them I have done. Lots more pressure on those wires too.

This is a sample and much too large but it is a great picture. The round end should go over the loose end of the cable. Three of these and you can hold up a tower.

I cannot imagine crimping over the plastic when I built my airplane. Rudder cables are kind of important.

[Redridge]

Originally Posted by pilotspike

Send that picture to NSA and see what they say. That sure looks like way more than 2" to me. The way that I measure the two inches is that from an at rest position, I can displace the center of the cable two inches in the up direction without moving the brake cable.

yup, mine is setup more than 2"... I started with 2" but find the the jeep was braking around 90deg turns. I know this because Im monitoring the brake switch on the jeep... I think the 2" slack is more a general rule and is a good starting point... but every vehicle have different brake travel, hence some people have posted here have snapped their brake cable due to cables rubbing on the guide going around corners... check your cable around the black guide area. See if you have any rub marks, if you do... your cable may be to tight.

Also, to accurately measure 2" is to have a straight line from the 2 points of cable attachments... take the centerline as the reference point of measure.

[rjsupersonic]

Originally Posted by Redridge

IMO, alot of these brake cables are setup to tight... to a point where the toads brakes are activated when going around a tight corner. I have a brake indicator and surge indicator. I adjusted my brake cable to activate only when I step on the brakes.... this is what it looks like.

I agree, the slack in my cable is similar to yours we have used the Ready Brake for 3 years now with no issues.. I have the brake indicator light on in the coach so I know when the brake is activated.

[Sue46]

We have towed with our Ready Brake 12000 miles with no problem. Ours is much tauter than yours. We can pull it up and down 2" without feeling like we are invoking the brake. I think yours is too loose and it is catching on something. Slack means different things to different people. We had someone email his setup to us and his was like this.

[pilotspike]

That is just what mine looks like as well.

[Sue46]

The one in your picture doesn't look as taut.

[spikecopilot]

After we dropped the Jeep off at the house (this time, it happened 3 miles from our house at a traffic light) and got back on the road, I spent quite a lot of time on the phone with NSA. I sent them all of the pictures we had taken, as well as pictures of the 2nd cable that broke and this one. When you compare the three cables, you can see that they really tried to clamp down harder on this one -- the first two ended up with the covering being stretched longer than the wire; the third one is the only one that stripped. After they looked at the pictures they agreed that we had done nothing wrong -- it was set up exactly how it should have been, but were at a loss for what's wrong with the cable.

We had done a lot of testing with the setup before we hit the road -- I followed John around town with both of us on the phone with each other. He would tell me when he was applying the brakes and when he expected for the Jeeps brakes to actually apply. I would watch the lights on the back of the Jeep to confirm, and it was perfect every time. We went into parking lots and did turns as tight as we could, then got out and manually inspected to make sure nothing was binding. None of the cables or tow rig parts show any signs of scrapes/scratches that would indicate binding.

I tried to explain to NSA that the covering just shouldn't be on that part of the cable (we were building an experimental aircraft years ago, so John knows this stuff well). They just kept telling me that it can't make a difference, the wire is being gripped, not the cover, etc. Hopefully this fourth cable is the answer to our issues. We'll find out next weekend when we try to tow the Jeep home! (I'll be meeting him at the campground in the Jeep after I pick our daughter up from school, and we'll tow it home -- hopefully.)

[YC1]

Originally Posted by YC1

https://www.amazon.com/ROHN-4CCF-For...guy+wire+clamp

Clamping around the plastic is just plain, well I will keep it clean. Dumb.

I have built so many towers with guy wire I cannot remember how many of them I have done. Lots more pressure on those wires too.

This is a sample and much too large but it is a great picture. The round end should go over the loose end of the cable. Three of these and you can hold up a tower.

I cannot imagine crimping over the plastic when I built my airplane. Rudder cables are kind of important.

I know I am quoting myself. It is impossible for me to believe any cable undergoing this kind of tension would be built by crimping on plastic. Simple screen door wires maybe, but something like this????

I sure would not have trusted my airplane connections doing that. Throttle cables, choke cables, rudder cables, all had crimps and never had an issue.

[MSHappyCampers]

I'm with Myron on this one! The jacket should NEVER be crimped, JUST the cable itself!