Patriot Braking System heading to hospital this morning.

[Teacher_s_Pet]

Had our Patriot give the dreaded "A02" error last week between MS and KY during our travels. I called in to Blue OX tech support and was told this was due to a hard drive failure. No repair possible without shipping it back to the plant. Since it was purchased in 2011 it would be a $110 repair, but they sent we a shipping label for FEDEX (closest one 45 minutes away) and they'll pay return shipping. Last time I shipped it in, it was $54 at UPS 2 years ago, so I look at this as a "free" repair, with me paying shipping both ways, which isn't bad. This is the 3rd trip to the tech center in NJ since my purchase. 1st was a direct exchange due to constant communication error with dash monitor, they covered all costs including shipping, 2nd was a battery failure, I paid the shipping to them, that time. I'm not complaining though, since our previous Brake Buddy went "home" 7 times in 5 years, with the freight my cost 4 times + repair. The last time it was "repaired" lasted 2 weeks, before the next failure. This happened two days before a rally where Blue Ox was offering $400 off for any other brand "brake in a box" as trade in. That's when I said good bye to the Brake Buddy. I had asked the people at Brake Buddy about a "discount" on a exchange unit rebuilt or new unit since I felt mine might be hexed. Their offer at the time was $100 off their list price, which amounted to $300 more than new units could be bought for on line. Wish me luck, I'm told it should be a 2-3 week turn around, which is fine since we're bouncing around northern Indiana and southern Michigan for the next month.

[cross21114]

avan wrote:
Hi Terry. Got sick of dealing with my Brake Buddy two years ago. I needed to get on my knees to hook it up to the brake pedal each time. Getting on my knees wasn't too bad but the 1/2 hour show of me trying to get back up was becoming a hazard - crowds too large watching and laughing. Mine went into the trash bin and I had BO install their auto stop. Zero regrets and my knees thank me. Faster and cheaper too. FWIW

I'm with you! Getting old sucks.

[avan]

Hi Terry. Got sick of dealing with my Brake Buddy two years ago. I needed to get on my knees to hook it up to the brake pedal each time. Getting on my knees wasn't too bad but the 1/2 hour show of me trying to get back up was becoming a hazard - crowds too large watching and laughing. Mine went into the trash bin and I had BO install their auto stop. Zero regrets and my knees thank me. Faster and cheaper too. FWIW

[rjstractor]

Here's what I would do. Since your coach weighs 30000+ lbs and your toad about 5000 or less, a fancy (and apparently unreliable) high performance braking system isn't necessary. Get a Ready Brake system for the breakaway function and be done with it.

[Dutch_12078]

A hard drive in an auxiliary brake system??? It seems to me that much complexity is just asking for trouble. With all those problems, maybe it's time to think about doing something different. Our ReadyBrute/ReadyBrake system, for instance, is approaching 10 years in service with zero problems. We have the combined tow bar and brake system, but the standalone version is just as effective. It's a simple mechanical system that works quite well, and NO electronics! 😉