Toad brakes

[RoadHound_RVer]

On my first long haul trip in real mountains with my toad on a Ready Brute braking system. I really like the simplicity and mechanical nature of the RB system but it lacks adjustment of any sort. This has never been an issue but I noticed today running 6% grades with the exhaust brake that I'm smelling the toad brakes when I stop. My TPMS does show the front tires running a few degrees hotter than the rear but i think all is fine at 90 to maybe 100 degrees (confirmed with infrared thermometer).

Is this normal or do you think I have a concern about damaging the toad brakes?

[OLYLEN]

did you have new calipers installed as well. This is a do it everytime for me, too many times the old calipers stick with the pads touching the rotors.

LEN

[RoadHound_RVer]

Well shucks. I just typed on a long reply and hit post and it crapped out on me. Bottom line - y'all have given me some great insight on what to watch for and reminded me that I need to get the dash brake light indicator working - it went dead not long after installation.

I have pulled this Nissan Frontier about 15,000 miles and have never had the smell before. I ran a 6% 4 mile grade today and didn't smell anything and the rotor temps were in the 90 degrees area when I stopped about 10 miles later. I did have new pads and rotors installed before the trip and maybe I was pushing too hard yesterday. But I'll keep an eye on it and make adjustments when I get home in a few weeks. Scott - love the turnbuckle idea! Thanks again for the help!

[FIRE_UP]

RoadHound_RVer wrote:
On my first long haul trip in real mountains with my toad on a Ready Brute braking system. I really like the simplicity and mechanical nature of the RB system but it lacks adjustment of any sort. This has never been an issue but I noticed today running 6% grades with the exhaust brake that I'm smelling the toad brakes when I stop. My TPMS does show the front tires running a few degrees hotter than the rear but i think all is fine at 90 to maybe 100 degrees (confirmed with infrared thermometer).

Is this normal or do you think I have a concern about damaging the toad brakes?

RoadHound_RVer,
First, many, many folks use the Ready Brake and the Ready Brute tow bar for it's simplicity and for the most part, dependability. But, NSA, in its design of the system, falls way short in ability to finite adjust its system. When I used the R/B system, I was not about to keep that seriously hoaky adjustment system of cable clamps hanging all over the place.

So, I made a couple of mods to my system. I made up my own actuator cable that links the front of the toad and the actuator. But, I did was, I installed a Stainless Steel, Marine grade turn buckle in line. That turnbuckle allows for infinite adjustment, if ever and when ever it's needed. And, it's needed for sure, from time to time. Things change and so does the tension adjustment on that cable.

One other mod I did to their system was install a pin on the brake arm of the coach. I then installed a screen door roller on the end of the cable, inside the toad. Now, when it comes time for towing, all the wife does is, grab the looped cable from under the floor mat, put the roller onto the pin, put a hitch pin in the tip to keep things in place, DONE!

And that way, when driving the toad, you're not working that Ready brake cable in-out-in-out-in-out-in-out...... for 24/7/365 for no reason.
Scott

[Dutch_12078]

Ivylog wrote:
With that system your toad brakes will be braking even though you do not need it's help. Smelling the brakes means they are getting HOT not warm.

Front brakes do 60 percent of the braking so they will be hotter.

The ReadyBrake system has a preload spring that's designed to prevent inadvertent brake action with mild coach braking when the cable is properly adjusted. Even down shifting our coach only occasionally triggers a brief blink of the dash LED indicating the brake pedal has been pulled just enough to trip the brake lights momentarily.

[tropical36]

RoadHound_RVer wrote:
On my first long haul trip in real mountains with my toad on a Ready Brute braking system. I really like the simplicity and mechanical nature of the RB system but it lacks adjustment of any sort. This has never been an issue but I noticed today running 6% grades with the exhaust brake that I'm smelling the toad brakes when I stop. My TPMS does show the front tires running a few degrees hotter than the rear but i think all is fine at 90 to maybe 100 degrees (confirmed with infrared thermometer).

Is this normal or do you think I have a concern about damaging the toad brakes?

For some crazy reason, some will smell toad brakes (a lot on Jeep Wranglers even though we don't have the problem and if it is in fact a problem) and even when they haven't hardly been used. Don't ask me why, but to answer your question, it's gonna be hard to hurt them, because when the toad catches up with the coach and the brakes apply, it's only until, it's no longer catching up and obviously going to slow down with the brake applied. Also some of this is only enough to turn on the brake light and not really engaging the brakes to any degree. Soooooo, do you have the light on your dash installed, so you can in fact know when the toad's brake pedal is being depressed? Having said that, if you want to be sure, you'll need to wire it like I did mine on the third brake light, so there's no question. I mean the way NSA is selling them, these days, is as a catch all and the light will come on anyway if plugged into the ready brake itself. Even is you forget to connect the brake cable when hitching up. However it would be on a lot without the braking, so one should know with the light being on so much.
I haven't done this with our new coach as yet (the dash LED light), but had plenty experience with the old one and it always performed properly.

[Ivylog]

With that system your toad brakes will be braking even though you do not need it's help. Smelling the brakes means they are getting HOT not warm.

Front brakes do 60 percent of the braking so they will be hotter.

[Dutch_12078]

Our TPMS always shows the front toad tires running a few degrees hotter than the rear, likely just from the heavier weight in the front. When actually driving the toad, the fronts run even a little hotter. Nothing to be concerned about. Was your ReadyBrake indicator LED on the coach dash on coming down those grades? That would indicate that the cable needs to be a tad looser as suggested. I added a turnbuckle to my brake cable for easy adjustment.

[drwwicks]

Front tires om the toad can run a bit warmer than rear due to coach exhaust hitting them. My right front Jeep tire shows a few degrees warmer than the rest, MH exhaust comes out right rear.

[GPWayne]

What is your toad weight?
Do you ever get those Temps when just driving the toad? If not, the cable may be (Adjusted) a little too short and applying full brakes before RB lever goes full travel. Especially if you have a large, heavy toad.

http://www.readybrake.com/uploads/3/9/4/0/39400577/ready_brute_elite_tow_bar_rb_9050.pdf

See "adjusting ready brake cable" page 5.