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N.S.A. Ready brake question

June 11, 2019, 10:01:36 pm

I need a brake system for the toad and ran across a pretty good deal on a N.S.A. Receiver style ready brake today. I know a couple of people that have them and like them but they don't have a rock guard net between the coach and the toad like I do. I have a blue ox tow bar with a blue ox rock protector net, is anyone using this setup with a N.S.A.ready brake?? Does the braking wire between the coach and toad have interference with the net to where the brake won't work? Attached is a pic of what I'm looking at.

Please don't turn this into a what's better or worse post, just looking for any input on THIS setup to help my buying decision


Thanks
Keith

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Re: N.S.A. Ready brake question

Reply #1 – June 11, 2019, 10:45:23 pm

We have the Readybrake shown in your post. Really like it. Simple. Install, adjust, and forget.
When the accompanying red light on the dash comes on you know the brakes are being applied in your towed. Another nice thing is that your towed brake lights get activated when you apply the coach brakes.
One warning tho: If you stop the coach on a slight downhill angle the towed will push forward on the Readybrake (it only takes 20#) and your towed brake lights will stay on, possibly leading to a dead battery, depending on how long  the lights are on.
We have a stone guard that the DW and I concocted. Not real pretty but sure does the job, especially when running thru fresh asphalt pothole repairs.
The Readybrake cable on the towed end moves about 2" at most, depending on your adjustment. The lever end on top of the Readybrake arcs forward under 20# of towed vehicle "push" inertia. I doubt very much if the stone guard will interfere with the braking function.

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Re: N.S.A. Ready brake question

Reply #2 – June 11, 2019, 11:07:01 pm

I had this style when we towed our wrangler and the one woth the attached arms with our Cherokee.  Both work well.  The brake lights on the toad come on when the brakes are applied which depends on the cable slack.

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Re: N.S.A. Ready brake question

Reply #3 – June 11, 2019, 11:48:11 pm

https://www.readybrake.com/uploads/3/9/4/0/39400577/s921560123739151755_p34_i3_w640.png

Sling adapter for Blue Ox tow bars.

Buy it, I had to buy all new rotors and brake shoes on my Jeep Liberty. I should have sent Blue Ox the bill.

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Re: N.S.A. Ready brake question

Reply #4 – June 12, 2019, 09:16:33 am

We have more than 50K miles towing with NSA setup.  We get the toad brakes checked regularly and have never had any excess wear or evidence of overheating.  Be sure you follow the install instructions for the slack in the brake cable, some slack required. 

Lots of ways to do toad brakes.  This was was appealing to us from a cost and mechanical perspective.  I have had this type of baking system on every jeep we have owned (5) since the late 1960s (1947 CJ2A)

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Re: N.S.A. Ready brake question

Reply #5 – June 12, 2019, 09:29:08 am

The one thing I noticed immediately after installation was that it felt like the tail was wagging the dog.
The increased distance from the coach to the towed caused this feeling. Time took care of this change in towing feel.
I must say that the weight of our coach is considerably less than your coach so the change in driving feel because of the different length spacing from just having the tow bar to a setup with adding the Readybrake showed up.
If our Blue Ox tow bar stuck out as far as the one in Lance's picture I would have returned the Readybrake or altered the stickout of the Blue Ox front 2" bar length.

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Re: N.S.A. Ready brake question

Reply #6 – June 12, 2019, 12:56:35 pm

I have used the BlueOX "Autostop" surge brake activator for about 10 years.
I currently use it on my 1984 Supra and on my 2015 Jeep Wrangler.
I wore out and had to replace the thin cable inside the Autostop.
It has worked very well and makes towing legal in any State or Province.

The brakes on the towd are not always applied when the towd stop light is "ON" because the towd brake light switch is activated with much less brake pedal travel then is required to apply the brakes. I added a second brake light switch to the Wrangler which is adjusted to be applied just as the brakes are being applied and is connected to a light on the motorhome dash. The brake lights on the wrangler are feed from the original wrangler brake light switch. I did not add this extra brake light switch to the Supra. 

There was an added complication to the wiring because the Supra has three different lights on each side at the rear, a tail light, a signal light, and a stop light while the Wrangler lighting is "OLD TIME" with only two lights on each side, a tail light and a brake/signal light.

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Re: N.S.A. Ready brake question

Reply #7 – June 12, 2019, 01:13:46 pm

The BlueOX "Autostop" surge brake activator can pull the cable up to 5 inches, not just two inches as  mentioned in a previous post.
The hitch assembly attached to the towd slides forward/rearward relative to the motorhome receiver hitch by up to 1.3 inches.
I ran the activation cable to the under side of the brake pedal to obtain maximum leverage and maximum cable movement.

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Re: N.S.A. Ready brake question

Reply #8 – June 12, 2019, 01:19:05 pm

Roger in Reply #4 mentioned towing a 1947 CJ2A in the late 1960s.
In the 1990s, I towed a 1942 Willys MB which was equipped for mud racing and rock crawling. Fantastic on the trail but very crude on the street.

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Re: N.S.A. Ready brake question

Reply #9 – June 12, 2019, 04:02:26 pm

My '47 had a 6 cyl,Studebaker Champion engine in it, an 8,000 lb Ramsey winch on the front end four Firestone tires with lugs that looked like tractor tires. I could chain it up to a tree put it in first gear low range, let the clutch out and the wheels would turn on dirt or dry pavement.  Towed it most everywhere it went.  Mostly St Croix River river bottom mud.  Great fun.  Next one was a '73 CJ5 with a V8. Big tires and more fun in the mud.

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