M & G supplemental brake installation

Yesterday I had the M&G supplemental brake and break-away system installed in my 2005 Grand Cherokee with the Hemi engine and my 2007 Fleetwood Excursion 39S.  I had it installed by M&G in Athens Texas.

They were superb!!!!!!

The first thing I noticed when I arrived at the facility was how clean the shop was kept.  As I am a retired Navy pilot I appreciate clean work spaces.  ;D  They have a 3 bay garage.  We put the GC in one bay and the MH in the center bay.  In the center bay they have a work pit so they can install the air line.  They let my DW and I into the pit so we could see the undercarriage of the MH.  The let us stay in the MH while they were doing the install.

Monty is the manager and main installer.  He told us it would take 4 hours to install and it took exactly that amount of time.  They test drove the GC and gave us a thorough briefing on how the systems work.

The owner is Leon (84 years young) and he showed up in his 1979 MCI bus conversion.  Nice rig!

We towed the GC from Houston to Athens for the installation so we could get a baseline on stopping distances before installation to compare with the "after" installation.  Very significant difference.  During the drive home I did a test "emergency stop" and was very pleased to watch the GC in the camera stay very stable.

I am very pleased with the system, the installation experience and would highly recommend M&G Brake Systems.

Don

Don,

Glad to hear you joined the "hassle-free" M&G user ranks and that you are a happy camper. Leon is one heck of a nice guy and a good engineer.

I'm a little surprised that it took 4 hours for the install; Ours took about an hour, although that didn't include the breakaway which I installed myself later. Their new installation facility wasn't open when I had mine installed and a couple of Leon's guys did the installation at a local shop in Athens.

I have no doubt that you will continue to be a happy camper.

For folks considering a supplemental/auxiliary braking system for their toad, click here for a description of several systems. Note that the article omits the marketing hype that accompanies competing products.

Hi Don,

Congratulations on the new M&G system. I just had it installed for the third time. I love it! Very easy to connect/disconnect and works very well.

Also congratulations on a successful Naval Aviation career!!! I don't know how you guys do it. I spent 4 years on Destroyers and use to plane guard the Ranger and Kitty Hawk. Nothing like watching a Navy pilot land on a postage stamp!!! ;D

Tom said:

I'm a little surprised that it took 4 hours for the install; Ours took about an hour, although that didn't include the breakaway which I installed myself later. Their new installation facility wasn't open when I had mine installed and a couple of Leon's guys did the installation at a local shop in Athens.

Click to expand...

The 2005 GC with a hemi engine leaves very little space to put the M&G required parts in the engine compartment.  They have to move the fuse box and "peen" a support bracket a little to fit the cylinder.

Don

Jim Dick said:

Also congratulations on a successful Naval Aviation career!!! I don't know how you guys do it. I spent 4 years on Destroyers and use to plane guard the Ranger and Kitty Hawk. Nothing like watching a Navy pilot land on a postage stamp!!! ;D

Click to expand...

Thanks.  I just retired from my second career as a Continental Airlines pilot.  After 42 years of seeing this country from 40,000', it's time to see it from road level plus there are too many crazy people in airports now.  ;D

Don

Thanks for the clarification Don.

Just wondering.. How big was the difference in stopping, both regular and panic type stops.

I can't give you a detailed figure in feet but I can say it was a very noticeable difference in stopping distance.

Don

Would love to have the distance in feet both with and w/o the M&G (Or any decent system)

Don Jensen said:

Thanks.  I just retired from my second career as a Continental Airlines pilot.  After 42 years of seeing this country from 40,000', it's time to see it from road level plus there are too many crazy people in airports now.  ;D

Don

Click to expand...

Can't say I blame you. I don't care if I ever get on another silver tube!!! Used to love to fly but not anymore. That new Airbus A380 really scares me. Way too many people in one place that could easily fall out of the sky.

You will enjoy the view from 0' much more. We've had a couple of retired military/commercial pilots on the forum. They seemed to enjoy ground level more.

Don, while you were looking at Leon's rig did you happen to notice the tow bar?  It's his design which he sold to Roadmaster.  Quite unique, allows you to back the rig while towing.  Roadmaster is supposed to come out with their version of it one of these days.

Backing while towing isn't a matter of tow bar design, it's the castering of the towed's front wheels.  We have successfully backed our rig up as much as 10+ feet, until the wheels started to caster.  No tow bar will overcome that problem.

caltex said:

Don, while you were looking at Leon's rig did you happen to notice the tow bar?  It's his design which he sold to Roadmaster.  Quite unique, allows you to back the rig while towing.  Roadmaster is supposed to come out with their version of it one of these days.

Click to expand...

You're right, it certainly was unique.  I could see right away what the design was supposed to allow.  Same principle on aircraft tow bars.

Don

Ned said:

Backing while towing isn't a matter of tow bar design, it's the castering of the towed's front wheels.  We have successfully backed our rig up as much as 10+ feet, until the wheels started to caster.  No tow bar will overcome that problem.

Click to expand...

Ned,

I remember when Leon came out with that tow bar. I also saw one at the American Coach service center. Had a talk with the owner. He said it is possible to back up with that bar. I can't remember the exact design but it has an X between the coach and towed. Looks nothing like the rest of the tow bars. Wish I had kept the info.

I remember the tow bar, but fail to see how the tow bar design solves the castering problem.  Once the toad front wheels start to turn, there is nothing the tow bar can do about it.

Ned,

Can't explain it to you as I've forgotten the details but it has to do with the cross bar and the connection to the coach. I think there might be two points to connect instead of just one. However it is attached the bar counteracts the reaction of the front wheels. Maybe it doesn't work for great distances but it might be good for shorter.

Ned,

I just tried to do  search on the tow bar. Not much there now perhaps because he has sold the patent. However there was  small article about a guy who had installed the tow bar but didn't get a chance to test it before hitting the road. Found himself in a backing situation. He was able to back into a driveway and turn around. Wish I could find more info.

According to Leon, the backing ability varies with the toad.  He said, for example, "with that Tahoe you could back around a corner". The basic design is two bars, crossed like an X, with two points of attachment on both the coach and the toad. I have no idea how that arrangement relates to the caster problem.

I'm not an engineer but let me take a stab at it.

Commercial airplanes are routinely backed up with a tow bar.  However if they used the same hook-up as a car (ie. 2 attachment points on the airplane) you would have the castering problem that you have with cars and you would not get an aircraft 2 feet off of a terminal gate.  An airplane tow bar only has one connection point to the nose gear.  That point is a pivot point.  The tug that is pushing it has another single point attachment point and that is another pivot point. 

When the nose wheel of an airplane starts to go in the wrong direction (castering) the operator of the tug turns in the opposite direction to the turn to get the nose wheel pointed in the right direction.

Leon's design is essentially a 2 pivot point tow bar just like an aircraft tow bar.  You could use an aircraft type towbar on a car but your safety factor would be greatly diminished.  When an airplane accidently disconnects from the tow bar it is no big deal.  You just GENTLY (so it doesn't squat on the tail) apply the brakes and stop. 

It is really funny to watch someone try and push an airplane for the first time.  Of course they are no where near obstacles.  ;D  It takes awhile to understand the relationship between aircraft and tug and the issue of if you want to go left, you turn right etc..

Don