Toad Brake System (your opinion)

Dutch_12078 wrote:

DSDP Don wrote:
...the one most talk about is the Ready Brute with the ReadyBrake system. It's a surge brake that is attached to the tow bar and when you slow down, pressure is applied to the surge brake which in turn pulls a cable attached to your brake pedal. The cable is permanently attached and only takes moments to connect. I think it's one of the best, but in my opinion loses it's effectiveness once the air in the power booster is depleted. It needs an air pump.

NSA does offer an optional vacuum pump for the ReadyBrake that maintains a "live" brake booster. It's easy to test and see if one would be effective on a given toad before buying it. Just run a predetermined course with a variety of stops using the standard ReadyBrake setup, and then run the same course with the toad engine running at idle to maintain the vacuum booster. If the difference is noticeable, add the pump.

..To add onto that:

On some vehicles like Ford's hybrids, (our Ford Fusion hybrid being one example), power braking is on ALL the time, even when engine, ignition is off. That being the case, the power booster is never depleted, so the Readybrake never loses any effectiveness like DSP Don alludes to. No need for a separate, optional vacuum pump in this case.

Our previous vehicle we flat towed, a Kia Sedona minivan, did not have this. And, yes, once the air in the power booster depleted, the Readybrake had to pull harder on the cable to engage the brakes. However, the Readybrake actuator is designed to handle this, and I found it did fine, with the power braking (currently with Fusion) or without (previously, on the Kia van).

I agree with Dutch, its a good idea to run the test he described, to see if the pump is worth adding or not. You may or may not notice enough difference to be worth it. I did not.

Will