[Rudy]

Just at Blue Ox this week. Had hitch serviced and TruCenter installed. My good driving coach drives now like a car.

The Blue Ox brake is a good set in the car brake. I prefer the NSA RV Products Ready Brake Receiver Style Supplemental Brake System.

Regular 500 dollars on sale from factory via Amazon for 332 dollars this week.

[Archived]

Larry,

I’d recommend you check out the Air Force One proportional braking system. Basically a miniture air brake system feed from the coach air brake system.I’ve had one since April 2007 and tow a 5,800 pound Dodge Ram 2500 pick up. It’s an easy hook up, comes with brake-away feature, and installation is also easy. I use an Aventa II tow bar from Blue Ox and Blue Ox base plates. Blue Ox is also a good company to deal with and they too stand behind their products.

Try calling Peter Schuck at (812) 483-3507 if the phone listed on the web page doesn’t get you there. Peter is retired and working horses but his son has assumed leadership of the company. They are good, solid, middle America folks, and stand behind their product.

Best wishes on finding a system that suits your needs.

[Larry & Diane]

Larry,

Check out M & G, no parts other than the device itself.

M & G

[Archived]

Like Tom says the M&G is tops… people that install are awesome too… no one will install a BlueOx for the price they will either.. they do it all and a great job !!

Cheers, Diane

[Archived]

I have always wonder do this braking systems delivery the same braking power as when the motor is running? Seems like they would only deliver the same as when you step on the brake without the motor running.

[AL]

Greg,

M & G is proportional, the harder you push on the brake, more air, the more breaking force is applied to the toad. It fits between the master cylinder and booster. I’ve installed 4 of them myself and they work well.

[Reagan]

The critical consideration is the type of braking system on the toad. Air Force One and M&G are excellent because they are proportional to the coach braking force, but most importantly they convert the pneumatic force of the bus air system into the toad’s hydraulic braking force readily. AF-1 for example maintains vacuum boost to keep the pedal effort similar to that used when the toad is being driven.

But we have gone from vacuum boosted brakes to hydraulic boosted brakes on some vehicles and without the hydraulic boost the pedal effort is considerable. General Motors I believe uses brakes boosted with the power steering pump so instead of vacuum assist it is hydraulic assist and the difference between assisted and not assisted is significant. That system is not likely on the lighter SUVs or pickups, but can be found on heavy duty vehicles.

Ram is now doing the same thing. On the light duty pickups the brakes are vacuum assist and both the M&G and AF-1 work well. When the Ram is a heavy duty, such as the 2500 models the power steering pump provides the boost and neither M&G or AF-1 can apply significant force for braking.

On the other end of the spectrum would be light cars that have no power brake assist. On those a typical bus brake system for the toad may apply too much force to the point of locking the brakes. Selecting the correct system will require some research into how the system works and how it can be adjusted if needed.

[Archived]

We have a Blue Ox Patriot braking system for our towed. It works well on our 09 Ford Explorer. We used to tow an 04 Dodge 2500 4×4 diesel and the Patriot was marginal.

[DON]

Thanks to all for your comments. I decided on the Air Force One.

[Archived]

Reading thru this thread, I have a rookie follow-up question.

If I were to purchase an M&G or AF-1 brake assist system for my eventual TOAD (Jeep GC), are the tow bar and base plate part of the entire set-up or are these three different components all purchased in differents locations?

[Peter]

Different suppliers and purchases.

[Tom]

I installed the Blue Ox base plate and tow bar with the AF-1 brake system. Both work great..