Dinghy Braking

get the weight of the jeep before you do anything. Thought the same about my ranger as a towd until I weighed it. Almost 4000 lbs 2 wd, sc, 4.0 manual.

We tow a Hyundai Elantra and it is at around 2700lbs and we have an SMI brake system in it. Pretty simple install just doesnt seem to be a well know unit. All on the towd and nothing to install remove does need a charge wire but thats about it.

I don't use anything, this big rig don't even notice the little ford ranger back there. I doubt a jeep Weights much more.

We use a brake buddy vantage has worked great. Modified blue ox tow bar to use with aftermarket bumper. I don't know the name brand but friend has an air system, maybe next time. My setup works great with TC and motorhome.

Thanks for all the great comments!

willald wrote:

UsualSuspect wrote:
..By the way, my towed is to heavy for a ReadyBrake,

...Your towed weighs more than 8,000 lbs? Thats what Readybrake's ReadyBrute tow bar is rated for, and I don't believe RB has any weight rating/limit on their brake unit itself.

You must be loading down your Toyota Tundra pickup with a LOT of weight in the bed when towing it, if its over 8,000 lbs. Do you take a few loads of rocks with you when towing? :)

Everyone I know who has one said while it does what it should, all of them have had to replace the cable at least once, said you can't lube it, and over time it wears through the cable strands, so you have to inspect it, but both said the inspection didn't catch the wear and it broke while traveling.

...Well, given that I know of many, many people that have been using Readybrake for several years and not had to replace the cable yet, and I personally have been using it for 2 years and have seen very little signs of any wear on the cable.....I'd say the ones you know replacing the cables that often, must have a setup or installation issue of some kind. Definitely sounds like a cable is rubbing somewhere way more than it should.

Bottom line is if you install and set up the Readybrake correctly, you won't have that problem.

My Tundra is not my towed, the 3/4 ton diesel in my sig is. Do a search of a few forums and you will find more than 1 person who has had a cable break, so it is not unusual. I just related experience of friends, if you are happy with yours, great, hopefully you will never need to replace it. Sometimes when I go, I take some toys with me in the bed of the truck, and yes, I have had it weighed at the CAT Scales and I am within the DP and the trucks ratings.

I saw no comments about the Patriot system being a drop in unit compared to the ReadyBrake design. If you are planning on towing more than one vehicle, the Patriot system is likely your best choice. If you plan on towing often, many folks find installing a unit like the Patriot to be inconvenient. You have to have a place to store the unit when not in use, and installing one of the units when it's raining or snowing will make you think twice about your decision.

I'm not a fan of surge brakes so I would lean towards the Invisibrake. I had the Invisibrake in my 97 Wrangler for over 100,000 trouble free towing miles. I would have selected it again but I wanted to be able to apply the towed vehicle brakes independent of the towing vehicle so I now use US Gears Unified Tow Brake.

You may ask why I would care about independent use of the towed vehicles brakes and my answer is that I tow on icy roads where a surge brake just doesn't seem like a good idea.

UsualSuspect wrote:
..By the way, my towed is to heavy for a ReadyBrake,

...Your towed weighs more than 8,000 lbs? Thats what Readybrake's ReadyBrute tow bar is rated for, and I don't believe RB has any weight rating/limit on their brake unit itself.

You must be loading down your Toyota Tundra pickup with a LOT of weight in the bed when towing it, if its over 8,000 lbs. Do you take a few loads of rocks with you when towing? :)

Everyone I know who has one said while it does what it should, all of them have had to replace the cable at least once, said you can't lube it, and over time it wears through the cable strands, so you have to inspect it, but both said the inspection didn't catch the wear and it broke while traveling.

...Well, given that I know of many, many people that have been using Readybrake for several years and not had to replace the cable yet, and I personally have been using it for 2 years and have seen very little signs of any wear on the cable.....I'd say the ones you know replacing the cables that often, must have a setup or installation issue of some kind. Definitely sounds like a cable is rubbing somewhere way more than it should.

Bottom line is if you install and set up the Readybrake correctly, you won't have that problem.

I don't know anyone with the Patriot, so I can't comment either way. I do have 2 friends that use the Invisibrake, and both like theirs. By the way, my towed is to heavy for a ReadyBrake, and I the install it and forget it is not true. Everyone I know who has one said while it does what it should, all of them have had to replace the cable at least once, said you can't lube it, and over time it wears through the cable strands, so you have to inspect it, but both said the inspection didn't catch the wear and it broke while traveling. Both said they will go with something different on their next towed.

I like the ReadiBrake. I use it on my Saturn Vue, my daughter uses it on the Jeep. I will get the ReadiBrake when I change toads early next year. Difficult to install, at least for me, I had a mechanic do the instillation, but simple to use, and it does not draw any power from the toad. Oh, I have the Demco tow-bar and I use the ReadiBrake extension...available for most tow-bars.

Another vote for the ReadyBrute/Ready Brake system.