Toad Braking and Accessory Mode Monitor Light

[j-d]

We have two vehicles we can tow four-down behind our Class C. We don't have a rear view camera, but we can see the the top of the toad using a Stick On Wide Angle Lens.

I wanted to be able to have indication that the supplemental braking was 1. applying when I wanted it to apply, and 2. releasing when it was supposed to release. So, I ordered this LED Stop/Tail/Turn Lamp from Amazon. Chose it because I didn't want RED to show from forward, size/shape would let me bungee to the mirror, and it was wired. Many of the grommet mount lights are for commercial vehicles and use sockets.

Actually bought two, and shortly after I wired one to the Brake Switch Light on my Frontier pickup. Hot Stop/Turn wire to Switch, Ground to a nearby screw (once I found one that actually went into grounded metal!) Enough wire to reach to the rear view mirror and I attach it with a bungee cord. Worked exactly as planned. I can easily glance at the rear view in the RV and see the amber light come on and go out. Downside was it lit up the floor area when I drove the truck at night. Addressed that by zipping the Lamp into the carrying case from an old hand held GPS. Still...

j-d's Monitor 2.0 for DW's Corolla... One wire from Brake Switch to Stop/Turn Hot like the Frontier. Re-purpose the power cord from an old 12VDC accessory (like heated mug) and: 1. Use its Ground (shell of accessory socket) and its Hot to the Tail Hot of the LED Lamp. Now, I can monitor Supp Brake as before and have a softer light I can see at night to know the toad's still where it's meant to be.

And... 2.0 can be unplugged when not towing, so it doesn't annoy driving the toad at night. Even better, the Power Outlet doesn't power up till the KEY is in ACC. So now, I have Braking Monitor, Night Marker, and Confirmation it's in ACC. Now for Neutral and Parking Brake Off...

For less than $15 and a couple hours tinkering, I'm pleased! It'll be quick to upgrade the Frontier to 2.0

[j-d]

WyoTraveler wrote:
My Blue Ox Patriot braking system has a remote that sits on my MH dash. It tells me when I am braking and when the brakes are released. I can also adjust the amount of braking from the remote. Comes with the braking system. If you are using 2 different toads it is a great way to go. Portable. Move it from vehicle to vehicle.

We have Brake Buddy and it's got "remote" too. I wanted something that was independent. There was a story going around about BB not releasing and causing tons of trouble. The thrust of it seemed to be trying to scare users into buying some kind of monitoring solution. So in a way, maybe I bought into that.

With the sheer number of systems, not just BB's, in use, there are going to be issues. Malfunction, probably once in awhile. User setup issues, probably quite a bit more.

[WyoTraveler]

My Blue Ox Patriiot braking system has a remote that sits on my MH dash. It tells me when I am braking and when the brakes are released. I can also adjust the amount of braking from the remote. Comes with the braking system. If you are using 2 different toads it is a great way to go. Portable. Move it from vehicle to vehicle.

[Mandalay_Parr]

Good for you.