Towed Brakes: What's working? What's not?

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Smoky said:
The M&G is a great system and we tried to go that route.  But we found that with our Spartan chassis, that Spartan would not honor their warranty if the M&G were installed without their special $300 conversion.  This is a Spartan conversion, not supplied by M&G.  When I looked into it, I concluded it was an unnecessary complication and reduced some of the benefit of the very fine M&G system.
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Smoky

Spartan will not honor their warranty if you use the M&G brake only on those parts that fail due to using the M&G brake. There is no unnecessary complication, I have traveled over 65.000 miles with the M&G connected to my Spartan chassis without the Spartan kit.

Regarding Remco conversions for your toad, ask if you can get the axle lock.  This is a newer technology than the lube pump or the cabled connection.  We had the axle lock installed on our Taurus and it has been flawless over a two year period.  It takes two seconds to activate or deactivate.
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The axle lock as well as the lube pump and drive shaft disconnect are all designed for specific uses. The axle lock won't work on my 4x4 rear drive, for example, but the drive shaft disconnect won't work on your car. The drive shaft disconnect is not older technology. It too only takes a couple of seconds to activate/deactivate and I don't get my hands dirty sticking them behind the wheel ;) Farmer needs to talk to REMCO as to which method works best for his vehicle.
 
Al & RayD,

The M & G air brake system probably will work on your Hummer ever though it has full time power brakes and, of course, on any other towed vehicle as long as there are air brakes on the coach and you do have air brakes.  Go to this web site.

http://www.m-gengineering.com/BrakeSystem.html

I do have M & G on my coach/tow car.  They are the easiest to hook up/activate of any of the tow car brakes.  Take a look at them.

JerryF
 
JerArdra said:
They are the easiest to hook up/activate of any of the tow car brakes.
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You're a brave man saying that in the forum Jerry, although I happen to agree with you 100%. Watch out for the wrath of folks who feel they have "the best" auxiliary braking system  ;D  However, I also believe there's no single system that will work for everyone.

In case folks missed it, there's an illustrated article in our library describing several different auxiliary braking systems here. The article attempts to avoid bias and marketing hype and state just the facts. Excluded from the article is any discussion of a system I found best suited as a boat anchor. The article has been modified several times, as I've learned the details and merits of alternatives.  *
 
RV Roamer: Thanks for the very good explanation about "surge braking". Interesting that U-Haul uses that system. It's easy to see visualize how dirt and road dust build up could be a problem. I wasn't looking for cheap but kinetic energy is law of nature.

A good example of that kind of energy is Mike Tyson hitting me with a sweeping left hook and a loud thud, and then me hitting the floor with a loud thud. Reality wins every time.
 
Gary, looking at the schematics on the SMI web site, it appears the Air Force One has both an air line and an electrical connection to the coach. Hopefully they'll have a demo unit at the upcoming rally in Orlando. I'll add it to the file when I understand it a little better.
 
JerArdra said:
The M & G air brake system probably will work on your Hummer ever though it has full time power brakes and, of course, on any other towed vehicle as long as there are air brakes on the coach and you do have air brakes.  Go to this web site.
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Unfortunately, it won't, Jerry.  That's per the owner of M&G.  There's not enough room to install the required cylinder in the brake system.

Al
 
it appears the Air Force One has both an air line and an electrical connection to the coach.
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Yes, I think it does.  And of course, you also have toad lights to plug in and a breakaway (if used) as well.  When I used an all electric system in my gas coach, I put all the brake and light connections on one seven pin plug, so I still had only one thing to connect (besides the breakaway cable).

In my opinion the only significant difference in ease of use in the several widely available systems is whether or not there is a portable device to attach on the brake pedal or not. Everything else is just splitting hairs.  I'm using a Brakemaster now and it too has an air hose and one wire (for the remote indicator on the MH dash), both part of a single umbilical cord.  The difference (and it too is trivial) is the brake pedal device I have to snap on or remove. Takes about 10 seconds extra.
 
Understand your comments Gary. I started with a box on the floor of the toad and an arm attached to the brake pedal, but it turned out to be a disaster, due largely to the design. I replaced it with the M&G and I must admit that I like the ease of only plugging in an air hose; No box to move or store. I also saved a not insignificant amount of $$ by going with M&G in place of the boat anchor. OTOH had the original box worked as it should, I'd probably still have it and be a happy camper wondering why folks were raving about other systems.
 
Tom,

You're right, in this forum it's dangerous to say anything is the best or the fastest or whatever.  I stand ready to be pummeled.

Al,

Too bad.  Our Geo Tracker didn't have enough space either.  You need approximately 4 inches forward of the brake master cylinder.

JerryF
 
We are using a Brakemaster now - no box on the floor but still an "arm" to connect to the brake pedal (it is anchored to a bracket under the seat). Other than that, it's plug in the air line and go. Sort of halfway between M&G and the "box" solutions.
 
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