Need advice on towing a Fiesta, and auxiliary braking.

We tow a 2013 Ford Fiesta with a 30' class A that is about 1,500 lbs under GVWR but I prefer to tow with an aux. brake. We had the SMI Stay-N-Play system installed. Yes it was expensive but it is so convenient and efficient that I feel it was worth it. I had the active brake light ran to the front of the coach and mounted to the dash so I know exactly when my toad brakes are activated. A great feature and piece of mind knowing the brakes are working when needed.

It did take some special wiring to get the brake light in the coach working with the Fiesta battery being disconnected but if the installer calls SMI techs they can explain an easy "work around". I love my set up!

Look at Ready Brake by NSA.
NSA link
We are on second "A" and second toad with over 40,000 miles of towing and no problems.

Hi,

I think that many states have a 'reasonable' law about towing a light car with a heavy motorhome. I think that the limit is 30% of the motorhome weight to tow without a braking system in that state. So a 15,000 pound motorhome like yours could safely tow up to 30% or 4,500 pounds. Of course Ford has other ideas on what can be safely towed. Ford says that the brakes on the RV chassis are rated at the RV GVWR + 1,500 pounds of unbraked trailer.

Most RV's are not running at their maximum GVWR, so if the GVWR is say 17,000 pounds (like mine is) and your scale weight is only say 15,800 pounds (like my 30' Bounder) you would have 1,200 pounds below the GVWR. Then add the 1,500 pounds that Ford lets you tow unbraked, and you can tow up to about 2,700 pounds without braking system.

Is it safer to tow with brakes? Sure. Can you get in trouble without brakes? Perhaps.

What did I do? Well I installed a cruise control from a junkyard car in my Ford Edge. It is a 4,200 pound car, with auto transmission that is fine with being towed 4 wheels down. I bought it specifically to tow behind my Bounder.

The CC motor uses vacuum to pull the cable. The cable is attached to the brake pedal arm, and pulls with about 5 square inches of surface area, and has about 20" vacuum, or about 10 PSI X 5 square inches = 50 foot pounds max force. This effectively pulls my brake pedal to the floor, and does not pull hard enough to cause the brakes to lock up in gravel, or overheat the brakes on a long downgrade. Yes I can adjust the pressure of the braking too. Just attach the cable closer to the brake pedal to increase the brake pressure, while mounting the cable higher on the pedal arm will decrease the amount of brake effort.

I also tied my Edge power brakes into the Bounder engine vacuum, so I have power brakes. I used a 50' air hose from the Bounder air intake to the rear bumper, then a quick disconnect air fitting to the car, where I used the remaining 6' or so of air hose to attach to the car. I put a tee into the brake vacuum line with 2 check valves so that air flows correctly, and I still have power brakes should the car engine stop for whatever reason while driving the car.

Good luck!

Fred.

PS: I set up my braking system for about $35 in junkyard parts. I also used a 3 way vacuum valve so that it applies vacuum to the CC motor when the RV brake lights are on, and allows air back into the CC motor to release the brakes when the RV brake lights are off.

I agree with emblethen above, install the SMI StayInPlay system. Costs more than other systems but is very convenient and you don't have to move it out of the way when driving the toad. You can maybe find a used one on Craigslist and save some money, not too hard to install if you're handy with tools.

I was thinking that the weight on your Fiesta looked too high at 3600 lb's. I looked it up on line and it shows only around 2600 lb's. of gross weight. I tow a 1986 Honda Accord w/o any brake assist. It weighs 2400 lb's. Legally you can do that, and I do not feel unsafe with this lightweight vehicle behind me.

My brake buddy runs off the battery during trips because the car engine is not running.
I do start the car every 6-8 hours to lube the transmission.

Instead of mag lights mine are wired direct.

I would go with one like the SMI stay n Play or the Roadmaster Invisi brake.
These are installed into the toad. You do not have to do anything other then turn them on. My unit is wired off the battery before the battery disconnect.
Units like the Brake Buddy require the unit to be moved out of the driver's area prior to driving the vehicle.
It is best to have an auxiliary braking system if you are any where near the max weight of the combined vehicle set up. Lots of people will say they are required by law which is not true in most states.