Towed Car Comes Loose - A Plus For Auxiliary Braking System

[2gypsies1]

I just read this blog on their towed car coming loose. Be safe and check your connections every time you tow.

http://wheelingit.us/2016/10/28/our-first-rv-accident-tow-comes-loose-in-nc/

[usersmanual]

pretty hard in most cases to be able to see a pin has come out of the tow bar
so until the guy stopped and heard bang or walked back and saw it to ever know what was going on
second off that whole set up is pretty flimsy compared to mine
I have a cross bar support system between pin connections(car side of things) which eliminates the twisting and turning of the pins and my pins are large clevis style pins. (much heavier style) plus the spring style hood pin clips that are suggested here.also a wider tow bar mount end of which the pin slides through
this system can pivot up/down and sideways

[lanerd]

I also have the US Gear Unified supplemental brake system on my toad. As long as the driver kept his foot on the rv's brake, it would have activated the toad's brakes keeping it at max distance (as far as the single arm o the tow bar would allow) and not allowing it to slam into the back of the rv. Obviously, the driver must have taken his foot off of the brake momentarily allowing the toad to free wheel and run into the back of the rv.

Constant pressure on the brake would have prevented this. OR.... he could have reach down to the supplemental brake controllers and activated the toad's brakes independently of the rv. This too would have kept the toad from hitting the rv.

In a super high stress situation, remembering to do this is understandably difficult. That's why I occasionally will "practice" this action and hopefully I will remember .... yeah, right.

Ron

[SkiingSixPack]

I once knew a guy that was pulling his dad's boat, it came loose from the hitch without any safety chains, went into the ditch, tongue buried into the far bank of said ditch, the boat launched into the air, and landed in a shallow farm pond.... No damage, except to the to tongue of the trailer.... Crazy, dumb luck.

[rgatijnet1]

Dutch_12078 wrote:
I noticed some years back that the 1/2" pins that attach our ReadyBrute Elite tow bar to our Blue Ox base plate always work themselves in the same direction while underway, and some wear could be seen on the retainer clips from the side pressure. I've since marked the bar ends so that I always insert the pins so they'll work themselves towards the handles rather than towards the retainer clips. After many thousands of miles now, there is zero wear on the retainer clips, and watching the pins in the lower rear camera suggests that even if the clips were removed, the pins would still stay in place. If you have similar tow bar and pin setup, I'd suggest checking on that to see if you might add a bit more safety just by inserting the pins in the best direction.

I agree completely and my pins did the exact same thing. I always install my pins from the inside, as looking at the front of the toad, to the outside. This puts the retainer clips on the outside of my connection and have never been a problem. Whenever I stop for the day my pins are always bearing against the bend and never against the retainer clips. This pictures shows how my pins are installed when the tow bar is connected.

[Kennyg]

Dutch_12078 wrote:
I noticed some years back that the 1/2" pins that attach our ReadyBrute Elite tow bar to our Blue Ox base plate always work themselves in the same direction while underway, and some wear could be seen on the retainer clips from the side pressure. I've since marked the bar ends so that I always insert the pins so they'll work themselves towards the handles rather than towards the retainer clips.

I have the same tow set-up as you, but I am somewhat confused by the terms you are using to describe your solution.
So, are the handles you refer the angled end on the 1/2" pin?
The retainer clips you reference are the R shaped "cotter pin" used to secure 1/2" pins?

Thank you in advance for your tolerance for my questions.

[Mr_Mark1]

We have the SMI Air Force One supplemental braking system installed on our Honda. When I apply the brakes on the coach, the tow vehicles brakes apply at the same pressure. We also have the 'emergency' brake-away installed too if the car is disconnected from the coach the car should come to an abrupt stop.

I certainly haven't tested the supplemental brake system by doing a 'rolling test', but I would think the car shouldn't hit the coach if I'm applying the brakes on the coach as the Honda should brake too.

While in park, I have had someone press the service brakes on the coach when I'm in the Honda. I can feel that the brake pressure is released at the Honda's brake pedal, hence, the brakes are applied from the coaches air brake system.

MM.

[Bumpyroad]

Tvov wrote:
That was a very interesting read (I don't have have a Class A or toad).

I am a little curious about the "auxiliary braking system"... how does that work? I would have thought it would have prevented the toad from "crashing" into the motorhome. Do they have a button / slide on their dashboard to manually apply the toad's brakes?

As to those pins - they describe how they had everything installed at a dealership, and the "combined" hitch and the pins were what the dealership put on. They've now upgraded to heavier duty components.

as stated in the article, only one of the bars disengaged and thus the cable did not pullout the plug and apply the brakes. don't know how to prevent that.
bumpy

[Dutch_12078]

I noticed some years back that the 1/2" pins that attach our ReadyBrute Elite tow bar to our Blue Ox base plate always work themselves in the same direction while underway, and some wear could be seen on the retainer clips from the side pressure. I've since marked the bar ends so that I always insert the pins so they'll work themselves towards the handles rather than towards the retainer clips. After many thousands of miles now, there is zero wear on the retainer clips, and watching the pins in the lower rear camera suggests that even if the clips were removed, the pins would still stay in place. If you have similar tow bar and pin setup, I'd suggest checking on that to see if you might add a bit more safety just by inserting the pins in the best direction.

[Tvov]

That was a very interesting read (I don't have have a Class A or toad).

I am a little curious about the "auxiliary braking system"... how does that work? I would have thought it would have prevented the toad from "crashing" into the motorhome. Do they have a button / slide on their dashboard to manually apply the toad's brakes?

As to those pins - they describe how they had everything installed at a dealership, and the "combined" hitch and the pins were what the dealership put on. They've now upgraded to heavier duty components.

[Ivylog]

I do not have a problem with him using parts from two different tow bars. As he says, a $0.50 lynch pin would have solved the problem.

[smlranger]

Agree that the flimsy clips he was using on the pins are not the best option.

[J-Rooster]

I don't understand them using two different tow bar systems Blue Ox and Roadmaster together? And the cotter pin he shows? I don't use them (I've never trusted them) I use padlocks in the place of those pins.