SMI AIR FORCE ONE BRAKE CONTROLER

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I am having a great experience with mine, installed on a Freightliner chassis and my 2006 Honda Accord, 6-spd manual earlier this year and close to 2,000 tow miles.

Absolutely no complaints.

I might recommend a factory certified installer, unless you have plenty of time. They spent about three hours on my coach, and a bit more on the Honda. The Honda was a close fit with so little room to mount things.

It's not complicated, just tedious. The indicator for the brake system being applied in the Honda turned out to be a bit problematic but not a deal breaker.

What tow and towed vehicles are you contemplating?
 
I have the AFO on my Jeep Liberty and like it.  I traded coaches and left the coach side stuff on the older coach and got the newer AFO for the 'new' coach.  I'm not sure what is newer about it though as it works exactly the same, as far as I can tell, as my other install.

I used SMI in Evansville, IN, for the install on both my jeep and the MH as I frequently travel close to Evansville.
 
I replaced an Even Brake in the beginning of the year. Works as advertised and is a whole lot easier to connect.
 
Will be towing a 2010 hybrid escape. Buying Journey in Manassas VA in June.  Private sale, looking for dealer to install base plate etc.

Jim W.
 
I had the Airforce One system installed on my 40ft Monaco about 3 years ago.  It works great and has presented no problems so far.  It's real easy to hookup and disconnect.

Gary
 
Just had the Air Force One installed last month.  Only used it on one trip, but everything seemed to work perfect.  Was easy to connect and disconnect.  We found a guy that came to our house and installed it here for $1400. 
 
4ducksrus said:
We found a guy that came to our house
Click to expand...

Now there's a great plan in action!

FYI - the little booties for the air lines while not in use are a must because mud daubers and such critters love to build nests in such things - ask an aircraft owner how he knows that....
 
The only problem I noticed with the system is that the cable seems to be tight (short)  We're thinking of getting a longer one.  That's the only complaint and it's really not even a that!

Now, how would an airplane pilot know about those little critters?
 
4ducksrus said:
The only problem I noticed with the system is that the cable seems to be tight (short) 
...
Now, how would an airplane pilot know about those little critters?
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My rationale about the short cable was that the tow bar could never extend it past its length without losing the towed.

....

I rebuilt a Cessna 150 that had been in my open hangar for six years and I filled a five gallon pickle bucket with mud dauber nest dirt. The will get into every open orifice they can and that is one serious reason why pitot tubes should be covered when a plane is parked. Blue birds can only build nests in the engine cowl openings, so they are not a problem.  ;D But that nest will smoke like crazy when the engine warms up!
 
skyking4ar2 said:
My rationale about the short cable was that the tow bar could never extend it past its length without losing the towed.
Click to expand...

That's pretty much what we thought. 

skyking4ar2 said:
I rebuilt a Cessna 150 that had been in my open hangar for six years and I filled a five gallon pickle bucket with mud dauber nest dirt. The will get into every open orifice they can and that is one serious reason why pitot tubes should be covered when a plane is parked. Blue birds can only build nests in the engine cowl openings, so they are not a problem.  ;D But that nest will smoke like crazy when the engine warms up!
Click to expand...

Yeah, we've had an old TT stored in the back of our property and we have all kind of nests in every crevice imaginable!!  I worry about that with the MH, but I try and go out and sweep and dust around the outside pretty regularly when we're not using it.
Edit: Fixed quotes.
 
American trucks in manassas that will install it also a fair price. Hope to be in Gettysburg July 6.

Thanks for all info

Jim & Kathy
 
Jim,

Just a little note...the kit comes with a brake application monitoring light for the toad that tells you that you have applied the brakes in the coach and the toad brakes are being activated. I think there is a requirement in some states to be able to monitor whether the toad brakes are actually applied.

They wanted to mount mine on the dash of the toad or at the toad's rear view mirror. The problem is the light is LED blue. In Arkansas, and in some other states, only official vehicles can display a blue light. The way it was wired, every time you hit the brakes in the toad, connected to the coach or not, the blue light came on. I actually had mine mounted in the grill of the toad with a disconnect switch, so if I wanted to use it, I could see it in the rear view camera. It would make more sense to me to wire it back into the dash area of the coach.

A minor item, but my home state had an issue in years past with a blue light being used to stop women motorists and several were attacked. Being ex-law enforcement, I was all too aware of the issue. Also, many states have laws about light colors and where they can be displayed. Again, just a note...

Kim
 
We have had our AF1 for 31/2 years/44k towed miles and it has worked perfectly. When I had it installed by SMI in Evansville they installed the activation light on the towbar. The bright LED's show up in the rear vision camera well enough.

After a year I rewired the power for the light to the dash of our motorhome because now I see the light out of the corner of my eye and know exactly when the car brakes are applied and have come to apply just enough m/h brake to avoid using the toad brakes unless necessary.
 
Kim &Jeff

Thanks for the info weas not aware it had such an option. I will ask them if they can put light in cab of MH.  Do you need the light?
 
Tin man said:
Kim &Jeff

Thanks for the info weas not aware it had such an option. I will ask them if they can put light in cab of MH.  Do you need the light?
Click to expand...
When we purchased our second CRV I replaced the M&G brake on our old car with the AF1 because it had an adjustable brake AND a light to let me know when the brake was actauting. The M&G wore out two sets of brakes on our 2002 CRV in 40,000 miles because it was on as soon as I applied the m/h brakes. The brakes on our 2008 CRV still look great after 43,000 miles.
 
When I step on the brakes on the Escape Hybrid, the battery get charged.  Interesting, I wonder what happens when they are at full charge, Ill have to toalk to my service manager about it.

Thanks

Jim
 
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