To Brake or Not to Brake

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larrypowellnc

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 21, 2013
Posts
306
Location
Central NC
There seems to be a lot of questions concerning brakes and brake requirements for toads.  I drive a Class C on a Ford E350 chassis with the 6.2 liter V10 and tow a Ford Focus using a Master Tow dolly (no brakes).  I've been using this combination for a year now with no problems.  I've traveled in snowy weather, heavy traffic and open road without a hitch (pun intended).  I use the haul/tow setting on the transmission and try to leave plenty of room between me and the vehicle in front, although there is always some idiot who thinks you can stop an RV like a car.  I was concerned about the varying state laws regarding brakes and toads.  In researching on the web I found the following site with a simple table listing the states and brake weight requirements for trailers:  www.rockettrailers.com/TrailerBreakLaws.htm.  I checked out some of the states and found they don't have a classification for toads so I can only assume they fall under the trailer laws.  Anyway happy RVing everyone and drive safely.
 
Your Post remnds me of the Joke about the man that jumped off the Empire State Building, a man on the 50th floor hollers at him "How is everything" and the Jumper replied "Fine So far".
 
Good joke and applies too....  Here is why.

There are many who tow with no brakes on the towed and get away with it,  HOWEVER, every once in a while they fail to stop in time and end up re-ending someone.    Now, if that someone is not knowledgeable and if their lawyer is likewise, You are not too bad off but.. I know more than a few RVers who are engineers or who majored in Science, and I know still more non-RVers who have the same qualifications.. WE know this.

If all wheels are braking, then your stopping distance, Once all wheels lock up, is roughly the same no matter if you are driving a Yugo, A Lamborgini, or a Steel hauler tipping the scales at 160,000 pounds.  WEIGHT factors out of the skid distance equation.  For any given stretch of road it boils down to Speed Squared times a constant. and the constajnt is the same for all vehicles  (K*S^2)

but if you have wheels NOT assisting in the stopping of the ride (that is free wheeling) then both the mathmatical equation, and the stopping distance, get much, much longer.

Now with a dolly, you do not want brakes on the car itself activating, but you do want brakes on the dolly  You do not have a choice there.

To not have brakes on the dolly (or the trailer if either towing 4-down (Car=Trailer) or on the auto trailer if toing 4-up (Car = Cargo) is simply reckless.  And that, is expensive.
 
A dolly IS a trailer and the car is the load on the trailer, so it does fall under trailer laws. Cars towed "4-down" usually have different rules, but it still varies by states.

As the others have stated, you substantially shorten the minimum stopping distance by having brakes on a trailer or toad. Maybe you will never get into a situation that requires the shortest possible stop distance, but that's a gamble I choose not to take. The situation is rarely fully in your control, and sooner or later you will run into something that makes you wish you had more braking (pun intended).
 
I hope you're not behind me on the one time you cannot stop in time.  ::) Most of us who have been RVing for a long time believe toad brakes are essential to safe driving, regardless of whether they're required by law.  By the way, if you go to Canada, you will need brake assist which is required in every province.

ArdraF
 
Thought I would share, a fellow Snowbirder at our CG did not belive in TOAD braking for the same reasons you stated.

He has a Cycle Lift on the Back of his MH and tows his car (brand new Jeep) 4-down using and extender. 

Last year on his way home he had to apply maximum/maximum braking and the weight of his TOAD collapsed one of the arms on his Tow Bar and the new car hit the Cycle Lift driving it into the rear cap of his Beaver.  The TOAd did not diconnect but the damage was extensive and expensive (far greater than the cost of a TOAD braking system). 

His Insurance Company would not pay.  He now has TOAD Braking.
 
Gary RV Roamer said:
A dolly IS a trailer and the car is the load on the trailer, so it does fall under trailer laws. Cars towed "4-down" usually have different rules, but it still varies by states.

One of the more intersting things is those charts that show the laws on towing 4-down, for many years they showed Michigan had no requirement for brakes on a towed.. Then someone, perhaps someone reading my posts on the topic, I don't know, looked at the definition of trailer..  Turns out a car towed 4-down, in Michigan, is a trailer.. (You Redesign it for towing when you attach the base plate or tow brackets or tow bar) and thus needs brakes if over so many pounds. very few cars UNDER that many pounds.

And the civil law should you rear end me,, Still applies no matter what the state.
 
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