Brake Buddy or Blue Ox Patriot Brake System

[Rwake901]

Well I've bought the base plate, tow bar and wiring, now I need a brake system for towing our toad. Should I get the Brake Buddy or Blue Ox Patriot or are they both about the same? Thanks

[Bob___Ann]

We use the Brake Buddy Vantage and it has worked well for us. We did not want a system that is installed in the car because there is a cost to do that. When you trade cars there is also a cost to remove it and reinstall in your new vehicle. I have found Brake Buddy great to work with even when it is out of warranty. Mine is almost three years and we developed a problem. I called and they had me send it to them. They returned it totally gone trough and tested with no charge for parts, labor or anything including shipping. They had it back to me in exactly 7 days from the day that I sent it to them. If you are interested I have found PPL to have a good price. $1089 on the Vantage and $855 on the regular unit.Good luck with whatever you choose.

[willald]

wa8yxm wrote:
Both of the systems you cite are "Box in the driver's seat" systems, These must be installed (By you) EVERY TIME you tow, the odds of a mistake go up with each install.. The odds also go up with time on an "Oh, I'm only going a short distance, I'll just forget it this one time" and later wishing you'd not forgotten it.

I much prefer an INSTALLED system.. These systems include in no particular order.
M&G (for motor homes with air brakes IF it will fit your towed)
Air Force One
Invisible Brake
US-Gear Decelarator
Ready Brake
Long list of others.

I have other issues with the box in the driver's seat too.. If you use one consider adding a towed-charge system to your consist. This helps to prevent towed battery run down.. Now I know folks who say they have towed 2 or 3 thousand miles without unhooking using one of these systems and no dead battery on towed... I believe them.. I also believe the ones who say they have towed 2 or 3 HUNDRED miles and the towed was dead. And I know why, (older battery). but, hey.. Why risk it.

Hookup with the US-Gear Decelerator is like 2 seconds. Same for the M&G and Ready Brake, not sure on Air Force one but guessing it's the same, Invisible brake is zero seconds.. YES, zero.. Believe it or not. (It is not called Invisible for nothing) all you do is plug in your tow lights.

Think about this.

wa8yxm makes some excellent points. I too am not a fan of any of the 'box in the drivers seat' type systems, for the reasons he alluded to here.

And, one other reason: Systems like that, and really ANY electronically controlled system, come with one huge risk: Electronics can fail, and cause it to over-break your toad. This can (and has) resulted in very expensive damage to toad vehicle brakes. Because of the 'nature of the beast' of towing such a small vehicle with such a large one, major damage could be done to the toad brakes before you'd ever know there was a problem.

With the ReadyBrake system, once its initially set up and installed correctly, it is darn near IMPOSSIBLE for toad over-braking to ever happen.

That, and one great thing about a simple, cable-operated system: You can visually inspect it for wear, and replace most parts easily for less than $20 from a local hardware store. Can't really check electronic components for wear, they just quit without warning. Not going to replace their parts quite as easily, either.

Will

[teddyu]

OP, either of the units will do well. I've had my BB for 6 yrs and no issues. There are those who believe that their religion (here braking systems) is the only viable system to use. This same philosophy extends to baseplates/towbar type/diode kits or magnetlights, etc. Your unit my not be right either depending if its manufactured by Thor/Winnebago/Tiffin etc., compared to their's. Your choice to use a portable braking system has its pluses and minuses. I like mine. My towbar is a rigid type, I like this too. Use what you want. It will stop the TOAD when setup properly. I don't drive over 62MPH so my auxilary braking system is used for panic situations, but I don't tow a 5500 lb TOAD either. Choose either system and go RVing. See you down the road! JM2¢..

[wa8yxm]

Both of the systems you cite are "Box in the driver's seat" systems, These must be installed (By you) EVERY TIME you tow, the odds of a mistake go up with each install.. The odds also go up with time on an "Oh, I'm only going a short distance, I'll just forget it this one time" and later wishing you'd not forgotten it.

I much prefer an INSTALLED system.. These systems include in no particular order.
M&G (for motor homes with air brakes IF it will fit your towed)
Air Force One
Invisible Brake
US-Gear Decelarator
Ready Brake
Long list of others.

I have other issues with the box in the driver's seat too.. If you use one consider adding a towed-charge system to your consist. This helps to prevent towed battery run down.. Now I know folks who say they have towed 2 or 3 thousand miles without unhooking using one of these systems and no dead battery on towed... I believe them.. I also believe the ones who say they have towed 2 or 3 HUNDRED miles and the towed was dead. And I know why, (older battery). but, hey.. Why risk it.

Hookup with the US-Gear Decelerator is like 2 seconds. Same for the M&G and Ready Brake, not sure on Air Force one but guessing it's the same, Invisible brake is zero seconds.. YES, zero.. Believe it or not. (It is not called Invisible for nothing) all you do is plug in your tow lights.

Think about this.

[willald]

ThorResidencyNewbee wrote:
Does anyone know of any good deals on the ReadyBrute elite tow bar?

HitchSource.com is where I've bought most of my towing related hardware, and they've always been great to deal with.

That price they have for the ReadyBrute elite, $1050, won't last long. You better act quick if thats what you want. NSA recently increased their pricing, pretty soon everyone like hitchsource selling their products will as well..

Although, even with NSA's increased price, the Readybrute elite combination is STILL much, much less $$ (nearly $1k less) than any other tow bar and braking system you can get.

Will

[willald]

deandec wrote:
Brake Buddy is simple, portable, and expensive. From 12 years experience, I would look hard at the Ready Brake.

Ready Brake looks even simpler, inexpensive and just as portable.

But, I would not want a brake activation cable loop permanently sticking out on the front end of my daily drivers.

I do have a brake buddy activation connection hanging, but it is visually covered by my license plate.

Well, like your brake buddy activation connection, the Readybrake activation cable loop can be covered. There are a few ways to do that.

When anyone asks me what the cable loop is, though, I just tell them thats what I use to hitch the car behind the MH. Then, just watch the strange looks on their face. 😉

Will

[Community Alumni]

ThorResidencyNewbee wrote:
Does anyone know of any good deals on the ReadyBrute elite tow bar?

Thanks.

See if this outfit near you can help you with your needs. I have been using them for over ten years.

http://www.brokenwheelrv.com/

[dieharder]

Been using Brake Buddy. No issues here.

[ThorResidencyNe]

Does anyone know of any good deals on the ReadyBrute elite tow bar?

Thanks.

[deandec]

Brake Buddy is simple, portable, and expensive. From 12 years experience, I would look hard at the Ready Brake.

Ready Brake looks even simpler, inexpensive and just as portable.

But, I would not want a brake activation cable loop permanently sticking out on the front end of my daily drivers.

I do have a brake buddy activation connection hanging, but it is visually covered by my license plate.

[Community Alumni]

Ten year Brake Buddy user. No permanent set-up in your toad, and easy to connect and disconnect.

Good luck with your choice!

[willald]

Neither. Do yourself a favor, save yourself a ton of $$ and headaches later on, and get you a ReadyBrake.

Costs less than half, no electronics to foul up and damage your brakes, nothing to have to put in and take out each time you tow. Just can't beat it, IMO.

On Edit: Haha, I see Dave beat me to it on this subject, by 'bout one minute. 🙂

[Daveinet]

Neither one. Technically, you could not have bought the tow bar either, as you could have saved some money, but you can still work with what you have. Go to http://www.readybrake.com/brake-systems.html and set your self up with ReadyBrake. Its an excellent system, very simple dependable, and works very well. Tons of satisfied user of ReadyBrake users on RVnet, and I have no doubt they will chime in. Its simplicity means there is very little to go wrong. It is the only system that is truly closed loop, and actively provides the correct amount of braking, based on need, rather than a predetermined calculation. I'm very pleased with mine, and my toad weight to RV weight ratio is much more demanding than I any other RV set up I've seen.

[aihchris107]

I have been using the Brake Buddy for three years now towing a Jeep Wrangler. Unit has been dependable and easy to set up, Chris S