Buddy Brake system ?

RayChez wrote:
Being towing since 2003 and 52K miles and never had any problem. I do not know why you would be any different, unless you have a habit of slamming on the brakes every time you are coming up to a stop sign.

It appears you misunderstood the comment.. I did not have a problem th e person I was replying to did.

I simply said it works well IF PROPERLY INSTALLED.

he... Did not properly install.

I prefer "install one time and just hook up" systems.

Us Gear Decelerator
Ready Brake
and a host of others.

wa8yxm wrote:
The break buddy applies brakes every time the towed SLOWS DOWN...

Sorry, no it does not activate every time. If that were the case, it would apply constantly until it stops since, when it hits the brakes, it's slowing down at a higher rate. Pretty sure, even at the highest sensitivity, it wouldn't activate just upon slowing down.

wa8yxm wrote:
The break buddy applies brakes every time the towed SLOWS DOWN it is operated by an inertial sensor.

.

That opinion is nothing more than an opinion. Has nothing to do with fact. I own the Brake Buddy and know how it operates.
THe Brake Buddy does indeed have a simple setting to allow one to adjust the sensitivity of its application. Mine is adjusted to the least sensitivity which means it will apply only under the most severe braking situation.

We bought the RVi Brake System. Works the same but is Much smaller and easier to handle and store. Great customer support from the owners!!! I have had SMI brake system and I like the non-invasive braking systems!!!

wa8yxm wrote:
The break buddy applies brakes every time the towed SLOWS DOWN it is operated by an inertial sensor.

Of course this assumes you install it properly EVERY TIME YOU TOW, which is the biggest reason I don't like this type of system. Too easy to say "oh forget it" on a short trip. And later wish you had not.

Other systems, generally also work every time you apply the motor home brakes, but once installed they are "invisible" when not operating in towed mode. and thus since activating them is a few seconds, less likely to "Oh Forget It".

Being towing since 2003 and 52K miles and never had any problem. I do not know why you would be any different, unless you have a habit of slamming on the brakes every time you are coming up to a stop sign.

The break buddy applies brakes every time the towed SLOWS DOWN it is operated by an inertial sensor.

Of course this assumes you install it properly EVERY TIME YOU TOW, which is the biggest reason I don't like this type of system. Too easy to say "oh forget it" on a short trip. And later wish you had not.

Other systems, generally also work every time you apply the motor home brakes, but once installed they are "invisible" when not operating in towed mode. and thus since activating them is a few seconds, less likely to "Oh Forget It".

Yep! You guys are correct. The Brake Buddy has a black button that controls the sensitivity. Has seven red lights and the more lights lid up, the more sensitive the brake buddy will be.

The black knob is a air pressure regulator and you set that according to the weight of the toad vehicle. I have mine set at forty pounds and the sensitivity I have it set at five lights.

So yes I was wrong on how to set the sensitivity. I had forgotten about the black button since I hardly ever adjust it since I bought it new in 2003. I was thinking that the red lights were adjusted by the big screw type knob for adjusting the air pressure.

Thanks for setting me straight. LOL

Vantage select has a braking sensitivity. Set it to a low number and it'll only brake when you hit them hard. A high number and it'll brake almost everytime. Think of it like a pendulum inside - when the pendulum reaches a certain point, based on the sensitivity setting, it'll activate. Keep in mind that the pendulum is also reactive to hills - have the setting too high and you might find brake buddy hitting the brakes going down some grades because it's swinging forward.

RayChez wrote:

hershey wrote:
Its an adjustable feature. You can adjust it to applying brakes nearly every braking instance on your MH or you can adjust it as I do: It only applies on panic stops. Or anything in between.
I really only depend on mine as a stopping device in case of its breaking away from the MH.

Not sure what kind of brake buddy you have, but the brake buddy I have the only adjustment it has is for pressure applied on the brake pedal adjustment to how much pressure you want to apply according to the weight of the vehicle it is installed on. If it is a light toad naturally you do not need much pressure, but if you are towing a heavy toad, you have to increase the air pressure on the brake buddy. That is the only adjustment my brake buddy has.

Ray the type of break buddy that I have is the vantage select.:?

RayChez wrote:

hershey wrote:
Its an adjustable feature. You can adjust it to applying brakes nearly every braking instance on your MH or you can adjust it as I do: It only applies on panic stops. Or anything in between.
I really only depend on mine as a stopping device in case of its breaking away from the MH.

Not sure what kind of brake buddy you have, but the brake buddy I have the only adjustment it has is for pressure applied on the brake pedal adjustment to how much pressure you want to apply according to the weight of the vehicle it is installed on. If it is a light toad naturally you do not need much pressure, but if you are towing a heavy toad, you have to increase the air pressure on the brake buddy. That is the only adjustment my brake buddy has.

My Brake Buddy is 9 years old, 8 years of fulltiming.
It has a series of lights on the top from 1 to 7 and labeled SENSITIVITY. Thats where my adjustment comes from. I keep it on 1. 7 would allow the Brake Buddy to engage on nearly every brake application.
The PRESSURE adjustment you elude to is indeed the amount of violence applied to the brake peddle. (Perhaps a bad choice of words).
I do keep that at 50 lbs only for the break away function. The brakes do not have any vacuum assist with the engine off so thats why I use that high a number.
BTW: Does any others have a Brake Buddy without that sensitivity adjustment????? Just curious.