tow vehicle
is it neccessary to have an extra braking system on the tow vehicle
Forum Discussion
kaydeejay wrote:bjroadshow wrote:Hi and welcome to the Forum.
is it neccessary to have an extra braking system on the tow vehicle
I'm assuming you are asking if you need an auxiliary braking system on a vehicle you are towing behind a motorhome? Also known as a Toad.
I don't know what the LAW requires in BC (or anywhere in Canada for that matter) but, as others have stated, there are some States that require brakes on the toad.
Regardless of the legalities, the Law of Physics comes into play. An unbraked toad will increase your EMERGENCY stopping distance - period!
How much it increases it will depend on the weight of the toad as a percentage of the weight of the towing vehicle.
If you have a 20,000# motorhome with a 4000# toad behind it, without brakes your "stand on the pedal" stopping distance will increase by 20%. Enough to put you into the back of a semi-trailer or the back seat of the car that stopped in front of you.
Second consideration - if the toad breaks away, what is going to stop it? Let's hope it's a barrier or a tree, not a minivan full of a family of kids.
Bottom line? - get brakes!
"Second consideration - if the toad breaks away, what is going to stop it? Let's hope it's a barrier or a tree, not a minivan full of a family of kids."
What are the safety chains for? If the toad breaks away it may be banging away at the back of your coach but if the chains/cables are unable to hold it back there why bother to put them on? For the amount of toads being moved everyday verses how many have actually gotten loose the odds of it happening are slim. Like flying, some do crash but not very often.
I agree with having all available safety features but why chains/cables if they don't do anything or the concern is they won't do anything.Just install a breakaway braking system.
