Wrangler toad

X 2 on the m & g air brake connection. I have used the m& g system for nine years, no problems whatsoever. Simple hookup, just running an air line connection between coach and toad. In an emergency stop, seen skid marks from the wrangler. I have the m & g breakaway kit also.
After nine years use, I am glad I did use the m & g, and if I ever get another coach or towed, it will have the m & g system on them again.

racer99 wrote:
We are thinking of buying a older 2002-2006 wrangler which would be auto trans and want to tow it 4 down,are brakes a must or can we tow it without brakes

racer99.

First off, about 99.999% of most Jeeps, hover real close to 4K in weight or over. It all depends on just what's outfitted into/onto the Jeep itself. You put lifts, larger tires and wheels, heavy duty bumpers, nerf bars, roll bars, specialty rear/spare tire carriers, a HARD TOP, and more, you creep up to 4,500-4,700 REAL FAST!

So, even towing it with a large type Diesel Pusher, 4,500 lbs. almost doubles it weight as you try and STOP IT, while towing it at higher speeds. So, SHOULD you have a braking system in it, for common sense sake, YEP, you sure should.

What kind, well, that's up to you. There's a ton of them out there. There are some that somewhat easy to setup and some, are a PITA. Most of them have some sort of arm that pushes on the brake pedal. Some, like Ready Brake, "Pull" on the brake arm with a cable. The one I recently went to is the M & G Braking system and, it has NOTHING inside the toad, what so ever. It's a unit that is installed between the master cylinder and the power brake booster. I really like it. All there is between the coach and the toad, is an air hose.

Now, here's the LEGAL deal. In all but VERY FEW states, it is required to have auxiliary brake systems in your toad. You can go on line and simply do a search for legal towing your toad behind your RV with or without brakes and, you'll find charts that tell you which states demand it and which don't.

My thoughts are, what are you going to do, DRIVE AROUND THE STATES THAT DON'T REQUIRE IT? For a measly few hundred bucks, you're good for ALL FIFTY STATES!! And, this is also one of those things that falls in the "liability" bag. You could be happily cruising in your RV, towing your little Jeep and, all of a sudden, you get banged from the side.

It's not your fault at all, not even close. But, a shyster lawyer will find out you DON'T HAVE TOAD BRAKES and, will turn things around in court of law. You don't think so? It's happened way more than once. So, Your choice. Good luck with your new Jeep.
Scott

I have a 2012 Wrangler, towed it about 4000 miles last winter to Colorado, through some steep mountain passes, etc. I have an F53 30ft motorhome. I started out with the supplemental braking and after about 500 miles decided it was more of a hassle than it was worth. Have not used the supplemental braking system since. As long as you are in the tow/haul mode and your rig is relatively lite like mine, your overall braking will take a little longer, but Diesel pushers easily take longer to stop without the tow vehicle than a relatively lite gasser with the additional 3800lbs.

Let me share a story with you.
When I bought my 39 ft DP, i also bought a 2006 Wrangler for a toad. I installed a braking system for it, to include breakaway.

One day it paid for itself. I was distracted by my wife in the back and did not immediately notice that the traffic in front of me was stopped.

I took both feet and stomped on the brake pedal with all my strength. the anti skid could be felt cycling. I could see that the toad system was working by the red light that indicates it is on. I stopped with about 10 ft to spare.

Had I not had the additional braking, I have no doubt that I would have hit the stopped traffic.

Do you need brakes? How lucky do you feel?

I use one and yes it is a pain. I didn't have one right away due to cost and was coming down US285 into Denver and it was raining. The brakes on the MH were smelling and I got white knuckled on the slick highway as the Jeep was pushing me around pretty good. It is a pretty cheap thing in time and money used to have that piece of mind now.

WW

When we towed a Jeep Wrangler we used a Brake Buddy. In our opinion it was pain. It relyed on the seat to position BB correctly. If you do a braking system look at a different one.

I have to agree with Effy - this topic comes up every time you turn around. Just to note, someone had said it depends on your home state's rules and whether or not they require a braking system. It also depends on any state you intend to drive through. Regardless, what if the vehicle comes lose? It's not going to stop itself without a supplemental system in place. For our Wrangler, we went with the Invisibrake and love it. Out of sight, stays in place, doesn't eat the battery alive. Whatever you do, definitely put something on it.

I would have brakes for that "worst case scenario" moment. I would want to be sure I did everything possible to prevent a catastrophe! And if there ever was a serious accident that included "serious" injuries to someone else because the toad came loose, you would be up the creek and wish you would've sprung the extra $$$$ for a brake system!

I'm still amazed that this question comes up every 2 weeks. Isn't there enough debate on this from the 50 pages of previous posts on toad brakes?

Willing to bet this topic will be 5 pages long in 2 days and it will contain all the same arguments that have already been stated the last time this came up. And the time before that, and the time before that....

racer99 wrote:
We are thinking of buying a older 2002-2006 wrangler which would be auto trans and want to tow it 4 down,are brakes a must or can we tow it without brakes

In your case brakes will be required. Chevrolet/Workhorse says towing anything weighing over 1,000 lbs. requires it's own supplemental braking system. They don't get into the semantics as to whether a vehicle is considered a trailer. They say ANYTHING being towed weighing over 1,000 lbs. needs brakes.

Ford takes a similar stance in saying the chassis brakes are rated for the GVWR not the GCWR. They say brakes are required when towing anything weighing over 1,500 lbs. In short if you have a gas chassis you'll need a braking system for the Jeep.

We've towed a 2004 Wrangler automatic over 100,000 miles with no problems. We use a Roadmaster 9060 braking system. We chose it because of it's a truly proportional system, and there's only an air cylinder to install and remove. We wanted to stay away from the "brake in the box" systems that sit on the floor, and take substantial storage room when not in use. Our 2004 Wrangler Sport weighs 3,750 lbs. empty.