Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club

what do you tow,, we have a jeep wrangler X (the 2 door 4x4 model)

wonder what tow equipment to use and what the coach needs...

We have a 1995 21' BFT. It is equipped w/ a plug for electric,, and whatever else it might operate. It also has that brake control mounted under the steering wheel. I am wondering what tht is for..as I use to hve one that controlled the toad's brakes... in another life, vehicle. didn't pay attn. as I had a husband that took care of those things. The husband I hve now knows nada about that sort of thing.

appreciate any advice/ideas anyone might have to help us decided how to go w/ this.

thanks! JG

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Life is what you make it

My toad is a Honda CR-V. I use a Roadmaster Sterling AT tow bar. A brake controller like you described is usually used for towing a trailer. My braking system [an old VIP--I don't recommend it as it's very cumbersome] has a small box mounted on the driver's side door. I would recommend either Invisibrake or Unified tow brake.

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2000 Born Free 24RB

I use a Roadmaster Blackhawk 2 All-Terain to pull a 2004 Ford Explorer - a bit of over kill on capacity but I got a good deal on it and thought I might use it for other applications some day. I really like the Roadmaster - however, I have not had experience with other brands.

I also have a roadmaster Even Brake that I also got a good deal on - seems to work ok so far, I havnt used it all that much. I will tell you one possible draw back to it - if anything goes wrong with it, even if it is a $2.00 part the cost for repair from Roadmaster is $299.00 and you pay shipping one way. Now that could be a good deal or a bad deal, the one I bought was a older model and when that $2.00 part failed I had to send it in for the $299.00 rebuild, They fixed the problem, replaced some other parts (I assume because they could fail soon also), and upgraded the electronics to the latest including a new transmitter and monitor. So I think it was probably worth the cost as I now have a brand new unit. The 299 plus what I originally paid for it used was still cheaper than a new one.

Used tow bars are relatively cheap - but you still need the brackets which are vehicle specific - and make sure you get all the parts required if buying used - those few missing cables or pins can cost dearly ala carte.

I agree what you see under the steering wheel is probably a electric brake controller for pulling a trailer of some sort - but hard to tell without seeing it

ive seen enough trailer break controls to know that's what it is... but im thinking it's got the wiring to at least hook on to the jeep w/ a pigtail
we used to build Alaskan campers* and that's how I know the little bit that I know.

*in my other life,, thanks for your help and info. im still in a quandary as to what to purchase. ;/


JG

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Life is what you make it

From my experience the trailer brake control only feeds the brake signal to the back trailer outlet on the vehicle. I dont think any of that wiring will be useful if hooking up the vehicle to a rv.

Basically you need to get tow bar (or tow trailer), brakes, and lights.

Several ways to do that and allot of different opinions on the different options.

I had a master tow dolly with electric brakes and add on tow lights - That was ok and probably the cheapest way to go. But I decided to go to flat tow thinking it would be a lot easier and more convenient - so far it has been.

Picking up good deals on used and including the brake unit rebuild I probably have close to 1000.00 in to it. The Explorer I bought already was wired for lights and had the tow brackets on it.

If I had allot of money I would probably opt for a different set up - But I have to watch my penny's - Especialy if I want to get a new Born Free someday -

thanks!

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Life is what you make it