willald wrote:
This whole experience here, IMO is a big reminder of why regardless what brake system is used, it is very important that some kind of indicator is set up on the MH dashboard, that will let the driver know when the brakes are being engaged on the towed vehicle. It needs to work directly off brake switch of some kind in towed vehicle, not an actuator on the brake system.
With the ReadyBrake, as already indicated, they provide such an indicator light, but instruct you to wire it to the ReadyBrake actuator, which is just not as effective at telling you whats going on as it would be if you wire that light to the towed vehicle's brake switch/light. That is what I've done with both of my vehicles I set up with ReadyBrake, and wouldn't have it any other way. I highly recommend this approach regardless what brake system is used. If that would have been done here in this case, it would have been known immediately when something was wrong, and probably could have avoided most of the damage, expense.
Here's another vote for, Just get another Readybrake cable (only costs $60 IIRC for a new cable), and have it installed properly by a good mechanic, and move on.
When this system is installed and set up properly, you just can't beat it. At least, not unless you have a DP Motorhome with full air brakes, and you spend a bunch more $$ on a full air system like Air Force One or M&G.
Great points. I was worried about knowing / not knowing when the brakes were activated in my car, so I put two LEDs in (thanks to tips from this forum) - one for the ReadyBrake and one for the car's brake circuit.
I would vote for a re-install but I also can empathize with the OP about not trusting something anymore and wanting a change. The good thing is there are many options out there for toad braking so we can do what we feel comfortable with. Having had some experience now with the Ready Brake I'd say the only thing I miss from my trailer towing days is the ability to manually activate the trailer brakes, wish I could do that with the toad with the Ready Brake.
