I towed a 2000 Jeep Liberty a few years ago using 5,000 lb. safety cables. Not knowing any better I towed it for 4 years that way until I had a baseplate failure and the cables seperated also when their S-hooks straightened out, resulting in a total seperation of my toad. Fortunately, I had a Brake Buddy in the Liberty and when the seperation occurred, the Liberty came to a total stop with a string of Nashville rush hour traffic behind it, without causing any damage or injuring anyone. Without the brake system, I'm not sure how I would have handled causing a wreck and injuring or killing someone.
I wouldn't take a chance of leaving home without a brake system in my tow vehicle or a set of 10,000 lb. safety cables.
MPond wrote: But if you ask any of the auxillary brake manufacturers, they'll tell you that California & Montana require brakes on the toad.
For example: BrakeBuddy.com implies that anything over 1,500 lbs in California, and over 3,000 lbs in Montana requires Aux. brakes.
Roadmaster Braking Laws shows a similar map with the same towing laws - 1,500 lbs for California and 3,000 lbs for Montana.
Both of these sites (like many others out there) neglect to tell you that these are Trailer towing laws, not vehicle towing laws.
I'm not advocating that anyone tow without toad brakes; I'm simply advocating that we base these discussions on accurate information.
But ReadyBrake says "Towed Cars: Brakes must be sufficient to stop within a specified distance according to weight, at 20 mph." for California. And "Towed Cars: No laws regarding." ouch - for Montana http://www.readybrake.com/state_laws.html. But they do tell you that trailers are different.
BUT, Montana law says:
" 61-9-312. Performance ability of brakes. On a dry, hard, approximately level stretch of highway free from loose material, a motor vehicle or combination of vehicles, upon application of the service brake, must be capable of stopping at a speed of 20 miles an hour within the following distances:
(1) 25 feet for passenger motor vehicles, except buses and pioneer vehicles;
(2) 40 feet for buses, trucks, and tractor trucks;
(3) 45 feet for motor vehicles registered or qualified to be registered as pioneer vehicles under 61-3-411(2)(a) when equipped with two-wheel brakes or 25 feet when equipped with four-wheel brakes;
(4) 40 feet for all combinations of vehicles; and
(5) 30 feet for motorcycles, quadricycles, and motor-driven cycles.
History: En. Sec. 2, Ch. 139, L. 1965; R.C.M. 1947, 32-21-143.2; amd. Sec. 44, Ch. 516, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 25, Ch. 431, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 178, Ch. 574, L. 2001.
See Para. (4) above.
That shows how good those "lists of towing laws" are, no matter WHO sponsors them!
CM1, USN (RET)
2002 Fleetwood Southwind 32V, Ford V10
Toad: 2006 Jeep Rubicon LJ
Other toad: '06 PT Cruiser, Kar Kaddy dolly
Toy: 1977 Dodge W100 CC SWB, 3/4 ton axles & springs
"When seconds count, help is only minutes away!"
MPond wrote: But if you ask any of the auxillary brake manufacturers, they'll tell you that California & Montana require brakes on the toad.
For example: BrakeBuddy.com implies that anything over 1,500 lbs in California, and over 3,000 lbs in Montana requires Aux. brakes.
Roadmaster Braking Laws shows a similar map with the same towing laws - 1,500 lbs for California and 3,000 lbs for Montana.
Both of these sites (like many others out there) neglect to tell you that these are Trailer towing laws, not vehicle towing laws.
I'm not advocating that anyone tow without toad brakes; I'm simply advocating that we base these discussions on accurate information.
But ReadyBrake says "Towed Cars: Brakes must be sufficient to stop within a specified distance according to weight, at 20 mph." for California. And "Towed Cars: No laws regarding." ouch - for Montana http://www.readybrake.com/state_laws.html. But they do tell you that trailers are different.
But ReadyBrake says "Breakaway Required: Yes" for California. And on the CA DMV site there is a specific exemption for RV's towing cars.
So did they just get it wrong, or are they trying to sell more break away brakes?
2003 Country Coach Intrigue, Cummins ISL 400
Toad: 2006 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (LJ) toad, with just a few mods...
Other rig: 2005 Chevy Silverado 3500 Duramax Dually / Next Level 38CK Fifth-wheel Toy Hauler w/ quads, sand rail, etc...
Tarheel 2 wrote: I towed a 2000 Jeep Liberty a few years ago using 5,000 lb. safety cables. Not knowing any better I towed it for 4 years that way until I had a baseplate failure and the cables seperated also when their S-hooks straightened out, resulting in a total seperation of my toad. Fortunately, I had a Brake Buddy in the Liberty and when the seperation occurred, the Liberty came to a total stop with a string of Nashville rush hour traffic behind it, without causing any damage or injuring anyone. Without the brake system, I'm not sure how I would have handled causing a wreck and injuring or killing someone.
I wouldn't take a chance of leaving home without a brake system in my tow vehicle or a set of 10,000 lb. safety cables.
There you have it a real life story that reaffirms why I have a Break Buddy - argue all you want about laws - it is a safety issue to me.
2012 Winnebago Journey 36M Cummins 360
131 Campgrounds since we retired in July 2009
Tarheel 2 wrote: I towed a 2000 Jeep Liberty a few years ago using 5,000 lb. safety cables. Not knowing any better I towed it for 4 years that way until I had a baseplate failure and the cables seperated also when their S-hooks straightened out, resulting in a total seperation of my toad. Fortunately, I had a Brake Buddy in the Liberty and when the seperation occurred, the Liberty came to a total stop with a string of Nashville rush hour traffic behind it, without causing any damage or injuring anyone. Without the brake system, I'm not sure how I would have handled causing a wreck and injuring or killing someone.
I wouldn't take a chance of leaving home without a brake system in my tow vehicle or a set of 10,000 lb. safety cables.
There you have it a real life story that reaffirms why I have a Break Buddy - argue all you want about laws - it is a safety issue to me.
Yessir, "there you have it", ONE breakaway story...
That makes a total of what, perhaps five, that I have seen here since 2003...
Out of how many THOUSANDS of towed vehicles?
So, once again, it comes down to perceived risk, and once again it would seem the risk is quite low.
If the risk was high, seems to me The Insurance Institute For Highway Safety would be lobbying all the states to pass firm requirements for braking systems on towed vehicles, and would be testing such braking systems to ensure that they ALL worked as they are supposed to, and Underwriters Laboratories and Consumer Reports would be conducting tests as well!
Since NONE of that is happening, it would seem the risk is negligible!
In fact, that is, IMO, one of the problems with the industry: There are NO standards of operation which must be met, there is no process for approval by anybody! In fact, the forum member who frequently states how easy it was for him to build his own system out of a cruise control actuator could copyright his design, start gathering parts, and build them for sale, with NO REQUIREMENT FOR TESTING AT ALL!
It seems nobody cares.
Again, the real risk must be VERY low!
a braking system is still a good idea, though. IF it works as it should.
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