Unified tow brake question

[alvinator]

I have a US Gear unified tow brake. How hard are the brakes applied in the toad when you press the lever on the controller in the MH?

Can you lock up the brakes on the toad?

[Pirate1]

I usually have mine set to a high number too. Don't recall any heat issues or anything like that. May depend on weight of toad. Mine is about 4.5k.

[alvinator]

Off Pavement wrote:
Vacuum pump working? Does the vacuum pump run and do the brakes hold when you pull the emergency break-away switch activator?

Vacuum pump is working. I pulled the breakaway and the pedal is locked up tight. I may have the Coach dash controller improperly aligned but the coach is in the paint shop for a few days.

Al

[alvinator]

Off Pavement wrote:
Vacuum pump working? Does the vacuum pump run and do the brakes hold when you pull the emergency break-away switch activator?

I will check both items. Thank you!

Al

[Off_Pavement]

Vacuum pump working? Does the vacuum pump run and do the brakes hold when you pull the emergency break-away switch activator?

[alvinator]

anconn wrote:
I had used my Unified brake fine on 2 trips set at 2-2.5 . last trip I for some reason known only to those of us that have grey hair set it 5 for a 10,000 mile trip. Well the brakes worked but I had to get new rotors and pads on my toad front wheels.

I can dial mine all the way to 9 and my Malibu rotors don't even get hot. That is what concerns me. I changed motorhomes and swapped out the controller. The work was done by a Workhorse dealer. After the swap, the brake was not working.
We did phone troubleshooting with US Gear and they concluded the power module was not working.

We replaced the module and we test drove the coach with the toad. A tech rode in the car to verify that the brake was working and it is but I checked the temperature of the front rotors of the toad at a rest stop and they were only 125 degrees F. The coach front rotors were 275 degrees. I braked it hard coming into the rest area.

I don't know what to think.

[anconn]

I had used my Unified brake fine on 2 trips set at 2-2.5 . last trip I for some reason known only to those of us that have grey hair set it 5 for a 10,000 mile trip. Well the brakes worked but I had to get new rotors and pads on my toad front wheels.

[lanerd]

Exactly. Applying the toad brakes without the mh brakes is not recommended. Just way too much weight for the toad to try and brake. In addition, you never want the brakes to lock up...you just lose traction that way.....that's why most have ABS.

I have adjusted my control module on high one time (inadvertently) and within a mile, I had the toad brakes billowing smoke. Tires weren't locked up, but boy were they hot. FWIW, I only felt a very slight tug on the mh.

I usually leave my control set for about 2...that way the toad isn't trying to stop the mh, but under full braking conditions (emergency stop), I get full braking from the toad.

Ron

[rk911]

depends on where you've set the control module. but you don't normally apply the brakes in the toad that way. it's a proportional braking system. the pressure you apply to the MH brakes is the same in the toad.