Had one for a couple of years. Pre ordered when they first came out. Love it. Used it with our previous 32ft Tiffin Allegro gas Workhorse and our current 36ft Tiffin Pheaton Freightliner diesel pusher. We tow a Ford Escape. The RViBrake is not just a "better mousetrap" like the others. They wrote a design specification based on feature and performance requirements and user requirements, then designed the system from the ground up to meet it. It's very compact but powerful. About the size of a small brief case - only a couple of inches thick - with a built in handle!! So it's lightweight and easy to handle and store. Everything stows neatly when not in use. Very easy to use. Self adjusting. You put it on the floor, plug it in, clip the push rod to the brake pedal and press the start button. It adjusts and moves itself into the correct postion automatically (kinda fun to watch). Does not press back on your car seat, uses the seat anchor frame or a (free) adapter bar for your model. So it does not rely on weight to hold it in position. The actuator cylinder and push rod press it down and back against something solid. Fully proportional vacuum operated (much more reliable and fail safe than compressed air). So it's actually a vacuum pump not an air compressor. Has an accelerometer to measure deceleration and continuously adjust braking force. Nice plug-in wireless repeater panel for the coach with full control and test buttons if you want to use them. Also has a bar graph that shows you the amount of braking it's applying in real time. Adjustments for the car size, weight ,etc are a snap and retained in non volatile memory until manually changed. I believe it does some learning to customize after the initial setting which needs only 2 selections from 6 buttons. (Light/medium/heavy force and compact/midsize-small SUV/Large truck-SUV.) Very well designed and built. Very durable. Great product and excellent design work. They also have optional remote dipole antennas (on an extension cable) if you have any issues with wireless transmission, Just replace the stalk antenna and hang the little dipole over the car rear view mirror (it's only about 3 inches across). I think they also do repeater/boosters too. They sent us a free dipole when we moved up from the Allegro to the Phaeton because the big diesel in the back would occasionally block the wireless signal. BUT it does not require the wireless panel in the coach to be working. In fact you don't actually have to plug it in. The system in the toad is fully operational and self contained without it.
I noticed the new version has an option for tire pressure monitoring built in. Smart idea, but this option is no cheaper than an independent system, but uses the same wireless panel display in the coach. So it's automatically monitoring the car when in use and you don't have to switch your coach system to a different setting when the car is disconnected. Nice, though I think the option is a bit spendy since it's just some software and 4 tire valve wireless sensor units. No other additional hardware required. I would bet the electronics and software are in all of them and you are basically paying for it to be activated, plus the tire sensors. That's not a criticizm - it's the most cost effective and smart way to do it. I just personally feel they are charging way too much for the option. They have a unique opportunity to set a new price point in tire monitoring and sell a lot more of them - including the brake system. Tire monitoring systems are becoming more commonplace technology. Some of the newest and lowest priced systems have the most and best features. This is an optional addition to the brake system and only monitors the toad tires (so far - give 'em a few months is my guess).
I compared all the portable brake systems. I talked to the designers and was very impressed (I'm an engineer what can I say?). I pre ordered, so we have one of the very first production units. We are very pleased with it. No bugs or problems with the equipment. Their customer support has been amazingly good.
Hope this helps.
John.
Anyone going to the NW area rally in Albany, OR, August 7 -11, we will be there.
