Brakebuddy Advantage vs Classic Brakebuddy

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wperk2

New member
Joined
Sep 3, 2007
Posts
4
Location
LA (Lower Alabama)
I would like to know of anyone's experiences with the Brakebuddy Advantage. I am planning to buy the Brakebuddy system but am trying to decide between the standard Brakebuddy (the Classic) and the new Advantage model. I like the lower cost of the Classic but the Advantage would seem to be more convenient.  Any problems by actual users?

Thanks
 
I own the regular Brake Buddy, and there is a 1/2 second delay between when you step on your motorhome brakes and then the toad's brakes are activated.  The setting is adjustable according to your toad's weight, and how much pressure you want on your brakes.  Works great for us!   :D

Now, the the Brake Buddy Vantage has "proportional" braking which mirrors the braking action of the motorhome.....This sounds like a good idea to me, but I have read several instances of toad brake lock ups with this unit.....

One unit is not more convienent than the other....both are boxes you set on your floorboard.  Its up to you what you want to spend.  We got our Classic BB on Ebay for $100's less than we could have gotten it from PPL or a dealer, and we like it!
 
That is kinda what has me concerned about the Vantage, too.  I was wondering if some stray signals could influence the brakes. Do you recall where you read about the instances of brakes locking?
 
I just puchased a Brakebuddy Advantage last March 2009 from PPLMotorhome. I did not have a problem with it pulling a 2000 Dodge Durango 4x4 during my 3500 miles trip to Key West last month. I used the remote control inside the MH to change between proportional and full braking but I stayed mostly with proportional braking. I used the control to change the sensitivity as well. I bought the Advantage without giving thoughts to the Classic because it was the most recent technology. I have read threads about both systems in this forum and others out there. At the end of the day, you just hope that you did not buy a lemon braking system. As was mentioned both types are easy to use. :D
 
From what I have observed over the years reading people's complaints here and elsewhere, toad brake lock-ups with Brake Buddy or similar units are usually the result of improper set-up, either adjustment (sensitivity, etc) or failure to follow the usage instructions (e.g. push test button 5 times anytime the engine is started). If you do everything by the book, it should work reliably and well.  I'm not saying there has never been an equipment failure (there has), but that's not the most common thing.  Of course, few people ever admit they screwed up, so they blame it on the box.
 
Thanks for the good comments. We just purchased a hitch system for our new coach (we're new at this) and I've read all the threads I could find.  There are many good comments comparing between brands but I've not seen many comparing newer models for the Brakebuddy.  I appreciate all the good comments.
 
We have used a Brake Buddy original model for several years and towing over 150K miles with no problem.  HAve no experience with the advantage but I suspect Gary's comments are correct.
 
OTOH we have used the Brakebuddy for four years and have had it back to the factory twice for "remanufacture".  The first time it burned out the 'cigarette lighter' plug, and the second time it simply stopped working and needed an new compressor.

But when it works, it works well.

But what is this "press test five times if the engine is started" thing.  Thats NOT in my manual.

Rankjo
 
But what is this "press test five times if the engine is started" thing.  Thats NOT in my manual.

I'm not entirely sure what Gary was referring to here, but the Blue Ox Apollo Braking System (which I have) used to have a procedure to normalize the system in which after setting the Sensitivity setting to 8, you had to hold the Test button in while hitting the Sensitivity button 5 times.  After releasing the Test button, the brake arm activated and when it retracted the system was normalized.  After normalization was complete,  you could set your desired Sensitivity setting (1-8) and the system was ready to use.

With the newest control board in the Apollo Braking System, normalization is automatic.  After the compressor builds up the PSI to the required pressure, the normalization occurs, and the Sensitivity lights change from all lit to only lights 1-4 lit.  When you see only lights 1-4 lit, the system is normalized, and you can then set your desired Sensitivity setting.
 
rankjo said:
But what is this "press test five times if the engine is started" thing.  Thats NOT in my manual.

Rankjo

Go to the BB web site and get a newer version of the manual. My understanding is the the push test 5 times is done with the engine off and bleeds power break pressure from the toad so the the BB pressing the pedal gives consistent results.  Otherwise the first time BB activates the power assist from the toad will create some screeching tires. DAMHIK.  ;) (Another good advantage to the press five times is you can be sure the pedal clamp is on properly. Our Fit has a small break pedal and the BB clamp will slip off of it if you aren't paying close attention.)  But then again I guess I should always be paying attention when doing tow prep. 
 
I recently got the BB Vantage Select with proportional braking. On a 1200 trip from lower CA to WA I used the BB in both modes, proportional and full braking. I really could not feel any difference between the two. I also tried changing the sensitivity between low and high, but didn't see too much difference there either. Maybe I'm just not too sensitive.

The one place the proportional might make a difference would be on a long downgrade, but then I try to limit my braking by downshifting and using the engine to control speed.

Anyway, if I had it to do over again, I think I would have saved some money and just gotten the BB classic.  ;D
 
The one place the proportional might make a difference would be on a long downgrade, but then I try to limit my braking by downshifting and using the engine to control speed.

That IS the one place where I wold really want to have a proportional braking system, on steep downgrades.  Of course, I too downshift on steep downgrades but I still need to brake to keep from going too fast, and our toad braking system is of no help in this situation.  With proportional braking, the toad brakes every time the MH brakes.  Without proportional braking, the toad brakes come on fully only when the sensitivity setting is reached, which may be only for panic stopping not when just slowing down slightly. This becomes even more important if your motorhome (like mine) doesn't have an exhaust or Jake brake.

Would you be interested in trading your proportional braking Brake Buddy for my non-proportional Apollo Braking System?


 
FYI, your Brake Buddy braking system/or any supplemental toad braking system are designed to stop the toad's weight, and not the motorhome. I have set my Brake Buddy's settings to stop approx 2,500 lbs, which is the weight of our toad.  :)
 
The BB should have zero impact on the Jake (engine) brake. The Jake brake will take care of slowing the coach down, while the BB will respond according to how you've set it.
 
FYI, your Brake Buddy braking system/or any supplemental toad braking system are designed to stop the toad's weight, and not the motorhome. I have set my Brake Buddy's settings to stop approx 2,500 lbs, which is the weight of our toad.

What you're saying is that you've got the BB PSI set to around 40 lbs which will exert a specific amount of force on the toad's brakes only when the BB detects that it's time to apply the toad's brakes.  But if you're traveling down a steep decline and only applying moderate and occasional braking pressure to the motorhome's brakes, chances are your BB is doing nothing but pushing the motorhome down the hill (unless you have proportional braking or have the sensitivity setting set unusually high).  So in the downhill case, the BB is not stopping the toad's weight.

On the Blue Ox Apollo Braking System, you don't set the PSI to an arbitrary value based on the weight of the car.  The factory setting of 85 PSI is almost always used for the Apollo (the maximum recommended pressure is 90 PSI).  Only the sensitivity setting, which determines when the toad's brakes are to come on, is normally configured or set to the desired setting.  The amount of force that the Apollo applies to the brakes is always full force (not proportional) no matter what the sensitivity setting. 

Like I said before, I wish the Apollo had proportional braking so that it would help the motorhome brake down the steep declines.  Setting the Apollo sensitivity setting higher might result in unnecessary and excessive use of  the toad's brakes when doing a lot of downhill traveling.
 
rsalhus said:
That IS the one place where I wold really want to have a proportional braking system, on steep downgrades.  Of course, I too downshift on steep downgrades but I still need to brake to keep from going too fast, and our toad braking system is of no help in this situation.  With proportional braking, the toad brakes every time the MH brakes.  Without proportional braking, the toad brakes come on fully only when the sensitivity setting is reached, which may be only for panic stopping not when just slowing down slightly.

I will have to review the BB manual on proportional braking. The remote in the m/h has a light that should come on whenever the bb activates the brakes. I had thought that proportional braking would apply the brakes whenever the m/h brakes were applied, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The bb seems to apply the brakes the same whether set to full or proportional.

Anyone with the bb vantage select find the same?
 
I had thought that proportional braking would apply the brakes whenever the m/h brakes were applied, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

I'm wondering what would happen if you increased your sensitivity setting on your Vantage.  Maybe then it would be more responsive to the braking done by your motorhome and might 'seem' to be more proportional.  Can you or anyone explain the difference between full braking mode and proportional braking mode in the BB Vantage?  I don't see a distinction in the website.

I don't think there is an industry-wide, standard definition for a proportional braking system.  I think BB uses the term 'proportional braking' to mean that the amount of braking applied by the BB system to a toad's brakes is directly proportional to the toad's weight.  (The BB's air pressure setting is used to do this.)  It then assumes that it is taking the entire weight of the toad off of the motorhome.  So it's proportional in the sense that it's braking in proportion to the weight of the toad, and the motorhome's brakes will provide braking in proportion to the weight of the motorhome.  Nothing but a play on words, IMHO.

BB Classic and BB Vantage both use an inertial system just like Blue Ox's Apollo, and there is nothing really proportional about it.    I'm guessing that the BB Vantage isn't really proportional as we think of it, even though it has a braking mode setting for it.  It more than likely applies the brakes full force, just like the Apollo does.  The only difference is that for the BB system, the amount of braking force applied is determined by the air pressure setting, while the Apollo pretty much applies the same amount of force for all vehicles (although that is somewhat changeable).

One noticeable difference between the Vantage and the Apollo is that the Vantage claims it doesn't activate when traveling less than 15 MPH.  The Apollo claims it doesn't activate when traveling less than 35 MPH.  I don't know how accurate either of these claims is as I've seen my Apollo remote light come on just before coming to a stop at a stop sign (traveling less than 35 MPH).  I've also had my Apollo remote light come on while traveling 60+ MPH down the highway for no reason at all that I could determine!  ??? ???
 
The Apollo has a knob on top to adjust the pedal pressure.  The internal compressor always charges the reservoir up to 120psi, I believe.  I have ours set to 75psi for the pedal pressure.

If that remote light comes on, get off the highway ASAP as the brakes are being applied.
 
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