Ready Brute

[steveandjil]

Hi Folks,

I've gotten great advice on a general question on towing a toad (10 year 5er owner just switched to a motorhome.) Very strong recommendations on the Ready Brute system. I am also a member of the Winnebago View Yahoo group, and asked a similar question there. Got this answer from one dissatisfied owner:

I've got the ReadyBrute. The cable indeed attaches to a bracket on the brake pedal via a small hole drilled thru the engine wall and another drilled thru the bumper. In theory, when the surge brake is compressed (eg going downhill) the lever on the towbar pulls the cable and thus the brake pedal towards the floor of the car. You adjust the slack in the cable to ensure it pulls the cable properly. The challenge though is getting that cable adjusted-- too tight and your toad brakes are activated all the time. Too loose and your View will have to do the braking for both vehicles. Just right, and while your toad will brake properly, it's almost impossible to connect/disconnect when preparing to tow. So as a result, I doubt the thing is ever braking all that much. While I originally liked the simplicity of the ReadyBrute, if I were to buy again now, I'd likely go with a smaller BlueOx towbar and one of the newer tech brake solutions, especially if I were towing anything on the heavier side.

Curious what you folks think of this?

Steve

[cjoseph]

The cable may stretch a little after initial instal and have to be adjusted. The adjustment is easy. You loosen two nuts and pull a little cable through to tighten it.

I had to adjust my hitch once or twice during the first year. I think that was just being over cautious to be honest.

I have not adjusted it since then (two years). We went cross country this summer towing a Wrangler 4-door that is just under our motorhome's tow rating. The Ready Brute Elite performed great and didn't need any adjustment.

[Dutch_12078]

The bottom line is that the ReadyBrute and toad put less overall stress on the hitch than any equivalent weight trailer.

[drivingsilver]

Yes, I do not understand either... I asked one of the reps at NSA about the Winnebago warning about not using surge braking and this is what he wrote back:

"The ReadyBrute Elite cannot connect to a ball hitch, it requires a 2" receiver. This is the first time we've seen any recommendation referring to a surge style braking device and it makes us wonder why they didn't recommend against towing at all then. If you use a tow bar, tow dolly, trailer, etc. they all place stress on the hitch. A surge style brake would place the same stress on the hitch except since it has a shock and spring it actually takes away a lot of the forces applied from the weight of the towed product pushing and pulling on the hitch. Roadmaster makes a tow bar with shocks in the legs to "make the ride smoother". So this doesn't really make sense to us. Trailers have been using surge brakes for many years before us and now our ReadyBrake will be 20 years old next year. If there were problems from using a surge brake it would have been widely known by now. Most trailers connect with a ball hitch too.

We are not asking for you to go against your manufacturers recommendations and feel that you should use your own judgment."

So, I go back and forth about getting the ReadyBruteElite and the RVIBrake2. All in all, seems the ReadyBruteElite would be the easiest install.

[klutchdust]

drivingsilver wrote:
What about the ReadyBrute Elite system being a surge towing system?
The owner's manual of our 2014 Navion iG G says this:

We do not recommend the usage of a “surge- style” braking device. The usage of a surge brake (especially when coupled with a hitch ball located outside our recommended limits) places excessive stress on the hitch. This abuse of the ball mount and the hitch may cause premature hitch assembly failure.

We will only be pulling a smart car (1800 lbs), so do you think the ReadyBrake system will work for us despite Winnebago's warnings? Also, will not be using a ball mount, of course.

Thanks all!

quote "The usage of a surge brake (especially when coupled with a hitch ball located outside our recommended limits) places excessive stress on the hitch"

Not sure what they mean. the ready brake is an extension of the original hitch however the tongue weight on the hitch is minimal as the toad carries it's own weight.

what am I missing?

[drivingsilver]

Sorry, but my understanding of "hijacking a thread" is when one goes completely off topic and starts a whole separate conversation on another topic totally unrelated to the topic's subject. This thread is discussing the ReadyBrute system. I didn't realize that I should start yet another thread on the exact same subject -- thus creating more content and mess in the forum and more difficulty for those searching for a discussion on the ReadyBrute? Don't get it, I try to always search a forum and if there has been a discussion on a question I have, I will always Reply to the thread -- no matter how old. Maybe this forum is run totally differently?

[Bobbo]

Instead of hijacking this thread from over 6 months ago, if you will start a new thread, we can discuss it.

[drivingsilver]

What about the ReadyBrute Elite system being a surge towing system?
The owner's manual of our 2014 Navion iG G says this:

We do not recommend the usage of a “surge- style” braking device. The usage of a surge brake (especially when coupled with a hitch ball located outside our recommended limits) places excessive stress on the hitch. This abuse of the ball mount and the hitch may cause premature hitch assembly failure.

We will only be pulling a smart car (1800 lbs), so do you think the ReadyBrake system will work for us despite Winnebago's warnings? Also, will not be using a ball mount, of course.

Thanks all!

[steveandjil]

Thanks guys, this is exactly the detailed info I needed!

Steve

[Bobbo]

His cable is still too tight. If it is adjusted properly, you can pull the car end of the brake cable forward enough to unhook.

Even if you can't pull it hard enough, you take a lock pin out of the clevis pin that holds the loop on the Ready Brake, and that end is laying in your hand.

This is all that is holding the Ready Brake end in, and is EASILY removed.

[Dutch_12078]

I think the fellow with the View either hasn't learned how to properly adjust the cable per the instructions that came with it or the installation was not done correctly. In 40,000 plus miles of towing two different toads with our ReadyBrute Elite tow bar, I've only found a need to adjust the cable a few times early on due until the initial stretching was stabilized. I added a turnbuckle to our setup to make it a simple process to fine tune the cable length. If the cable is too tight to easily unclip when unhooking, then it's not adjusted correctly. There should be a small amount of slack in the cable. The ReadyBrute Elite has a preload spring built into it, and the dash indicator light in the coach should not come on in downhill or light braking situations.