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Our Brake Buddy finally burned up inside and probably could have caught my Jeep on fire. I didn't even know it had happened. When I got to my destination my Jeep had the smell of an electrical fire inside that took a while to get rid of. I will throw that Brake Buddy away; I am afraid of the product. It has never worked properly, not ever. Then it finally burned up. It only lasted a little over four years. I will go to ReadyBrake which is much more simple in operation. From what I hear, it simply works.

Thanks, wmurphy for the info. I have always believed that keeping it simple was the best thing to do. I am sure glad the Brake Buddy didn't catch my toad on fire when the thing burned out. It did really stink up my car for a while. That product probably worked properly less than 50% of the time it was ever in use; it's just an awful product. One time, when we pulled into a park in Moab, UT as I was removing the 12 volt connection the plugin from the Brake Buddy came apart small parts flew everywhere. Of course, we had to drive down a huge steep grade when we left there with no braking system. This month's FMCA magazine has an article on auxiliary braking systems. I just downloaded the PDF file yesterday. I definitely will be going to the Ready Brake for sure!

I tow a Jeep Liberty and my first braking system was the Blue Ox Auto Stop (somewhat like Ready Brake) and the cable eventually broke since I had used it for many years with another coach and toad. It finally gave up. Three years ago I had a Brake Buddy System professionally installed. I have had nothing but trouble with it. First thing was brakes were on going down a steep hill smelled brakes, not good. The indicator light in coach broke because made of very poor thin plastic. It would run my Jeep battery down when I used the 12volt in the Jeep. Had a shop add a 12 volt plugin directly from the battery which the Brake Buddy blew out. Had a shop install a direct connector from the battery which I could unplug. That worked for a while until the Brake Buddy finally burned up inside and is unusable. I will throw it away soon. There were many more problems with the Brake Buddy than I can list here. I want to go to the more simple Ready Brake system and have it professionally installed. They may even be able to use the Auto Stop tubing in my Jeep for the cable. Any thoughts?

A friend of mine just sent me this: You can now become a Fan, Friend, or Follow Arizona States Parks through Social Networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter! You can then share information about Arizona State Parks with your friends and family. Show your support! State Budget Proposal May Eliminate State Parks The holidays are here and you are focusing on friends and family but we encourage you to remember the importance of Arizona State Parks to our economies, communities, and environment. Learn More at the Arizona State Parks Foundation Web site. The legislature went into Special Session today to consider budget cuts and may vote on them at any time. The cuts proposed in House Bill 2001 of the 5th Special Session, are catastrophic to Arizona State Parks and will eliminate the agency’s ability to operate. The proposal unveiled this morning impacts Arizona State Parks with Fund Reductions and Transfers totaling $3,151,100, coupled with Fund sweeps of $6,088,700 The proposed cuts would force significant (a minimum of 75) reductions in staff, thereby forcing a closure of much of the park system this fiscal year. Without the revenues that the open parks generate, the agency will be forced to dispose of much of the property that it currently manages. This proposal was presented this morning and is not yet enacted but could be voted on at any time. Thank you all for your continued support and partnership! It's important to note: HB2001 seeks $205 million in cuts to begin to address a deficit currently estimated at $1.5 billion. The proposed cuts to State Parks would equate to almost 5% of their solution, while State Parks currently receives less than 1/10 of 1% of the overall state budget. Additionally, State Parks receives NO money from the state General Fund, but the impact of the park system on the state economy is more than $266 million. Arizona has already closed many of its rest stops along its Interstates.