Please consider installation of a Ready STOP on your towed vehicle. THIS accident could and should have been prevented. Fortunately, no one was injured or killed....although the owner probably needs a new pair of undershorts......:).....DennisMotor Home driver loses toad

Wow, lucky outcome...This time.Travelon

This was one was discussed extensively on IRV2 and it seems the entire baseplate came off the car taking the front of the car with it. In most cases (including both my toads) the breakaway switch is mounted to the front car fascia and would not have activated the breakaway mechanism. The general consensus was that this particular baseplate was not mounted properly or there was a catastrophic failure of the car frame/uni body where the baseplate was mounted.Another factor was the coach driver saying he did not 'turn on' his rear view camera until after he heard some noise and saw that his car was gone. I leave my camera on all the time and check the monitor frequently, as often as I glance in my rear view mirrors.

Executive wrote:Please consider installation of a readybrake on your towed vehicle. THIS accident could and should have been prevented. Fortunately, no one was injured or killed....although the owner probably needs a new pair of undershorts......:).....DennisMotor Home driver loses toadwhen the whole basepate comes off, how is a ready brake going to prevent that.

Probably a believer now in towing braking systems, a break-a-way cable and a alarm/light on the dash, hopefully would have stopped him in under two miles. To get real scary I would wonder how far the bumper/towbar was from the stopped vehicle.

Executive wrote:Please consider installation of a readybrake on your towed vehicle. THIS accident could and should have been prevented. Fortunately, no one was injured or killed....although the owner probably needs a new pair of undershorts......:).....DennisMotor Home driver loses toadFront bumper detachment!It has happened with another brand of car or van. That manufacture changed and said that their vans can not be towed anymore.While the frame is strong enough to hold up the front bumper, it is not designed by the manufacture to pull the car. It is designed to 'crumple' in a crash. Strict government requirements require it to crunch in a certain way, and that the engine roll under the passenger compartment during a high speed crash. It is up to the tow bracket installation company to design a bracket that will attach to 'solid' parts of the car, and stay with the majority of the car long term. A braking system with break-A-Way cable would have helped. Hopefully the breakaway system would not be attached to both parts, and the braking system not detect that it has disconnected from the RV completely! Good luck,Fred.

Talk about dodging a BULLET !!! | Good Sam Community

hanko
Explorer
Feb 06, 2015
Executive wrote:
Please consider installation of a Ready STOP on your towed vehicle. THIS accident could and should have been prevented. Fortunately, no one was injured or killed....although the owner probably needs a new pair of undershorts......:).....Dennis

Motor Home driver loses toad

So i see you changed from what you originaly said.
down_home
Explorer II
Feb 06, 2015
Our Saturn and our Edge have a subframe bolted to the frame it for the hitch.
I've heard of one brand having this problem repeatedly. The tow bar base plates simply bolted to the front, of the vehicle's, frame and were not that sturdy.
The base plate pulled free and the bumper and everything in front came with it.
The brake should have come on and stayed on when it separated from the coach.
Ours i air brake with a small reserve cylinder, under the hood. Don't know exactly how it functions but both electric and air brakes have a required brake away cable and switch don't they.
I don't think the heavy steel in ours will pull apart anytime soon. I have the bolts attaching the subframe to the vehicles frame and others checked at least once a season.
J-Rooster
Explorer
Feb 06, 2015
traveylin wrote:
Break away brakes systems will shorten the glide path of a vehicle that has separated. It will not vector the separated vehicle to a safe location.

Use a vehicle with a frame for proper base plate/safety chain attachments
This is very solid advice!
willald
Explorer II
Feb 06, 2015
Executive wrote:
FYI...here's how mine is mounted....yours may be different but suggest it's mounted to something that won't come off the car....Dennis

Nice, I like it, Dennis. Even though this isn't really how the instructions tell you to install it, it really is the best approach. As long as that Readystop unit there doesn't break loose with whatever separates from the towed vehicle, that approach will always work, and will grab and hold the brakes in the event of a separation. Even if entire front end rips off like what happened here.

I admit, my Readystop is mounted up on the front, just below the base plate. I may just have to re-locate it. Been fixin' to change the way the Readybrake cable is routed, anyway..
slickest1
Explorer
Feb 06, 2015
I use a ready brake, and also installed the ready stop. It is mounted further back on the frame, and in this case would have applied the brakes. That said at a slower speed it will stop fairly quick. Will it stay in its lane? It will stop the car the same as others mentioned but will not control what direction it will go before it stops.
The safest thing would be the safety cables attached further back to the frame itself separate from the base plate.

By the look of that vehicle that wasn't an option because everything is gone.
et2
Explorer
Feb 06, 2015
Like one of the other poster mentioned, who can see some of these to "inspect" them before every trip? I've tried on ours and it's so buried you can hardly see it at all, much less see any stress cracks, and never able to reach bolts to torque them.

It would have to go into a mechanic to have the front end removed to inspect it "correctly and thoroughly". I can tell you I don't. It concerns me. The dealer screwed our car up installing the base plate, I'm not tearing it back apart to have this done.

On another note, I can't imagine why someone would ever consider towing any car 4 down without a supplemental braking system. My eye is constantly watching that rear camera. I freaked out a few times when I changed the camera view to the side and forgot to put it back. Made the heart sink a few times.
traveylin
Explorer
Feb 05, 2015
Break away brakes systems will shorten the glide path of a vehicle that has separated. It will not vector the separated vehicle to a safe location.

Use a vehicle with a frame for proper base plate/safety chain attachments
Executive45
Explorer III
Feb 05, 2015
FYI...here's how mine is mounted....yours may be different but suggest it's mounted to something that won't come off the car....Dennis
Executive45
Explorer III
Feb 05, 2015
mike brez wrote:
hanko wrote:
et2 wrote:
I'm curious why the poster turned it into a promotion for ready brake?

I was wondering the same thing, if you read my previous post. Must be Mr ready brake

Stocks in Company.:B

No stock in the company, but.....

I made an error as I posted Ready BRAKE when in reality I was referring to the Ready STOP, which will work with any vehicle similar to the stops installed on many boat trailers. Sorry for the confusion and I've edited my original post....Dennis
JimM68
Explorer
Feb 05, 2015
JimM68 wrote:
Yikes....
Have more checking to do then.

My TOAD 1, a 2000 Wrangler, was a secure tow. Aftermarket 1/4" steel bumper, solidly bolted to the real frame with real good bolts. Tow bar attachments solidly bolted to that bumper.
Safety cables go into slots in the FRAME, not the bumper or baseplate (is no actual baseblate...)
SMI braking system with breakaway. The breakaway on these is a normally closed switch, rip the switch off the bumper, the brakes come on.

Due to "unplanned growth" of the offspring and the dogs, we have "upgraded" our toad. No way a 17 YO boy and 3 full grown male huskies would fit in the back of a Wrangler TJ... :(
New TOAD #2 is a 2010 Jeep Liberty. Baseplate is Blue OX. It does have the additional cables that wrap around the main engine crossmember. The safety cables attach to the baseplate (hit#1) and I've yet to man up and fit a braking system (big hit #2).
Sorry, business was bad last year...
And the year b4, and...
Never mind, that's another thread, one that isn't permitted here...

In an ideal world....

Use a really good baseplate.
Don't attach the safety chains to the baseplate.
Do use a quality braking system with a breakaway function.

And say your prayers every night, that God will watch over you and keep you safe, as well as anyone you should meet on your travels.
Because bottom line, **** happens, and only HE can fully keep us safe.

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