Aux. brake control

Have had great performancr from my SMI stay & play The only thing to do is plug in the break away & turn on the switch. About 2 1/2 hours the first time to install by watching the video & directions.

The vacuum is not necessary; car braking systems are designed to operate without boost if necessary. The braking units have plenty of force.

I chose the RVi system because you can monitor, adjust and control it from the driver's seat of the MH.

I have an older SMI system that uses a hard wired system from the RV to the vehicle, the new SMI for hydraulic brakes is totally diferent and does not need all of what I have, from reading the info all the equipment is out of sight and all you do is turn it off and tow.

At the time of my purchase my finances dictated which system I could aford and I am very happy with what I got.

navegator

I second the SMI system. When we bought our rv the guy gave us the system after he had it removed from his towd. I installed it myself was actually pretty simple. I dont know about the controller in the tow veh mine is on the towd. You will need to ensure you have a charge wire hookup for the battery however. We pulled the car over 4500 miles this summer with no issues and the system worked well.

I didn't want the hassles of removing and reinstalling a "box" brake system every time I unhooked or hooked up, so I did the one time installation of a ReadyBrake system that only requires snapping on a cable clip at the front of the toad to hook up the brakes. In my case, I use a ReadyBrute Elite tow bar that has the ReadyBrake system integrated with it, but they also have stand alone units that work with nearly any tow bar. NSA, the ReadyBrake manufacturer, offers an optional electric vacuum pump if you find the braking performance is better on your toad with it than without it. The test to determine if it helps is pretty simple.

Check out RVIBrake II.

It was developed by the inventor of Brake Buddy, I believe. We have one and it is MUCH smaller than any of the other "brake system in a box" systems out there.

Hooks up in less than a minute, communicates to a wireless module in the coach so that you know when it applies the brakes and how much brake pressure is being used.

I can't recommend the toad tire pressure monitoring option offered by RVIBrake II. Mine has never worked, even after the company replaced the first set at no charge. It would be a great option, if it DID work.

Check on various brake systems some use a "box" some use a cilinder that goes under the dash and you do not see it and others use different methods to accomlish the task, some use radios to control the "box" and some boxes are self cotained and have diffrent adjustment methods.

The SMI that I have is a "box" type and hooks to the vacum hose of the booster via a "T" fitting in the hose from the engine to the booster and into the cabin, it also attaches with a piston from the box to the brake pedal, and has a connector for the electrical signals from the cab controller via a 4 wire cable to the rear of the motor home.

Then a connecting cable between the motor home and the fornt of the toad to the box toad, in the toad I have a wire from the battery to the box with a fuse in line that not only provides power but also works with the emergency brake feature of the box.

I also have a 7 pin cable with connectors that carry the turn signals, stop signal, clarance lights and negative and positive power so that when the toad is hooked to the RV the battery in the toad is being charged.

I have a cable from the control box in the cabin in the "C" cabin and all the way the toad, I personally do not like radio contrled units, but thats me.

I hoppe that you can use the above, as I said before look into all systems and choose the one that you will be more comfortablle with.

navegator

Tom/Barb wrote:

dodge guy wrote:
OK, got a question on the add-on braking system for the TOAD/Dinghy. We`re looking at class A`s and I`de like to have some of the $$$$$$$ stuff before we get the MH. In looking at some (mainly the ones that attach to the brake pedal on the drivers floor), how do these work exactly. I know how the system itself operates, but how do they get the vacuum to depress the brake pedal? or do they just have so much force it doesn`t matter to the brake actuator? I know how a car brake system works (I`m an auto tech by trade). Just curious if these systems work properly.

And with that, what is a good brake system? I`ve been watching for a used system on CL. But I don`t want to buy junk! so what would I look for?

Thanks!

Do you have air brakes on the coach? Mine has a cylinder that hooks to the jeep and is air driven to apply the foot brake of the jeep.
Airbrake cylinder

Thanks everyone. No air brakes. the coach will be on a Ford V-10 Chassis.

OK, looks like I`m going to have to do some research on the different systems out there.

I have an SMI and has a vacum pump that pulls vacum for the brake booster via an extra hose in the engine compartment to the brake "box" so that the amount of presure on the pedal is equal to what a peson will exert, others apply brute force only.

I have the control in the cab and can adjust the brake responce and amount of braking as I need, I have with use found the setting for city, country roads and big interstate roads.

navegator

We have the Brake Buddy Advantage system. It is activated by inertia when braking or the brake-a-way system, vehicle disconnects from MH and pulls pin activating full brakes on toad.
This unit is powered by 12volts from car or portable battery (booster pack). It is powerful enough not to require any assistance from vehicles power brake system, in fact when setting up, after turning the toads engine off, it pumps the brake pedal 5 or 6 times to ensure that all vacuum power is cleared from system, otherwise brakes would lock up.
I am sure that everyone that responds will give you a different opinion on what they think is best. We bought our system because that is what was available at the time. We had one problem with ours after the warranty expired, but Brake Buddy still repaired it a not cost to us.

Beverley and Ken