brake buddy use

[shannon62]

Hello again, Just sold our tow dolly after damaging both front doors by turning too sharp.Will be using blue ox tow bar & brake buddy (proportional) with wireless magnetic lights now, does anyone know if i will drain the dinghy battery ? I will be stopping every 100 miles to start dinghy and run for 15-20 min. to cool trans fluid. We only go 300 miles a day.(no wires to dinghy) thanks Shannon.

[shannon62]

Cont. Like camperdave suggested the aux. power must turn off after so long. hopefully this will be the last fix.i'm working in campgrounds and it's getting cold here in sw p.a. thanks everyone nice to know were not alone.Shannon

[shannon62]

Thanks for for the advice,our fusion is a 2.5, we put it in stay in neutral mode with no wiring from coach, bb worked fine. Stopped 70 miles to run toad engine for 10 min. made mistake of putting car in park to start and found the batt. flat ! Couldn't get back to neutral !!! Had to burn one escapee's jump. Got to st. pk. ran a 12v. charge line from 7pin on coach. Next trip went 80mi. stopped to check toad batt. fine but no power at 12v both power points ??? Got to koa checked toad fuses ect. all good start toad and power is back. So next i will run 12v always on

[camperdave]

I know I'm a little late to the discussion, but I have done some research on the Fusion prior to setting ours (2019 Energi) up to flat tow.

First off, are you sure you have the 2.5 and not the 2.7? Because I'm pretty sure you can't flat tow the 2.5l. But if you have the option of the 'stay in neutral' mode, I guess it would be fine. I'd verify what you've got for sure though.

That said, I would suggest running a charge line. You probably don't need it. But, it's a highly electronic car, including the 'stay in neutral' mode (it's just an electronic rotary switch, no actual lever for shifting). I'm a bit concerned what will happen if the battery does die while towing. Since I was already running a 6 pin connector to the toad for lights, adding the power was super easy.

Also, if it's like my 2019 Fusion Energi, the 12v outlet is only active with the ignition, so I had to run a new always on 12v+ source from the engine bay into the drivers compartment for the brake system.

[shannon62]

Thanks all,I was looking at the led pair they have good reviews.Any issues i will run a charge line from coach,Thanks again. Shannon

[enblethen]

Brake Buddy may have some effect when brakes are used more. This is where using the MH transmission to slow vehicle rather than relying on just the brakes.
Wireless magnetic lights should not drain battery that much. I would try locate the LED version.

[LadyRVer]

Our BB never drained the battery. As you are planning to start and run the engine on the car every 100 miles, I would think that will help. We did have a line run to the battery with its own 12 volt receptacle as the 12 volt plug in the car did not have enough voltage for the BB.

[shannon62]

2017 fusion se 2.5L (Has stay in neutral mode) 6 speed automatic

[enblethen]

year, make, model, type of transmission and drive type of toad?