I am looking at the Ready Brake system for my towed. I was wondering if anyone here has installed one in a Sidekick, 4X4, auto, free wheeling hubs and four doors, c 1995? The front of the engine compartment where the cable goes is a dual wall and I was wondering if any special parts are required to install. I have long enough drill bits to do the installation, just need info on how log the treaded inert is and do I need one to go through the double wall?
"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to go". R. L. Stevenson
I have a very simple and reliable system in my car that is only about $35. It is a cruise control motor from a junkyard Nissan car, about 3" in diameter, and has a cable already attached to it to fit to the brake pedal. Apply vacuume o the CC motor and it pulls the cable, stopping the car. The new CC motor is attached under my dash, noting to attach or disconnect when hitching up other than a 6 wire electrical connector and a quick release air hose fitting for the vacuum attached to the engine manifold on the Bounder and to a couple of check valves on the car. You must make sure that the check valves are in to prevent vacuum loss when the engine is off on the car, and allow power braking when the RV engine is hooked up to the towed car.
I used a 3/8" air hose to run the vacuum line to the car, with air line quick disconnects from Harbor Freight. I think that $15 was the most expensive part. You also need a 12 volt 3 way relay from the junkyard car, the smog controls have lots of them, just pick a car and grab the parts that you need, and brackets to install everything, including the cable mount to the floor, so it can pivot and pull without binding. This allows vacuum to the CC motor, and will open to release air into the CC motor when the brake lights are off.
I also had to run a new brake wire from the brake to turn signal wire back to the rear bumper on the Bounder. This is what energizes the vacuum relay, and applys the vacuum to the CC motor when toad braking is required. If there is to much brake pressure, attach the cable a little higher on the brake arm, not enough braking pressure, lower the cable attachment point to closer to the brake pedal. You do not want to lock up the brakes on that light Suzuki, so I would keep the cable about 2" above the rubber part of the brake pedal. Also I release the brakes and count to one before applying the gas, allowing vacuum into the CC motor, so the brakes are not dragging when I start out from a stop sign or light.
Working from memory, the threaded portion of the ReadyBrake cable housing is about 1½" long. I have seen one double wall installation where they drilled a hole in the outer wall just large enough to clear the outer nut on the housing, making it basically a single wall installation at that point. The hole around the housing was then sealed with silicone seal. The inner nut is usually the easiest one to tighten anyway, so not having access to the outer one doesn't cause any problems.
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