Towing a Miata

rnychka · Joined: 08 Oct 2006 Posts: 2

I have a 90 Miata that I am towing 4 wheels down. I am trying to get a brake for my Miata. I am towing it behind a 38-40 2001 diesel pusher. I am looking for a braking system that I can put in my Miata. Some use the brake cylinder but I haven't the room in the Miata. Some use the system with the brake pedal and under the seat connections. I haven't the room for something to be put between the steering column and the driver's seat. Any suggestion from anyone out there?
Ron

A King Revolution · Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 7:08 pm Post subject:

I have an SMI Airforce 1 system and tow a Jeep Grand Cherokee. It uses your air brakes on your MH to activate your toad brakes. When you unhook from your MH, there is nothing to move or remove from the floor of your car. They mount a small piston to your brake pedal under your dash so you don't even see it. Well, the Miata is much smaller, and there might be some room issues. Check out the link:

www.smibrake.com
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Fleetwood Revolution 40Ft Diesel Pusher. This is my traveling office and I'm still working to be a full-timer, but enjoying the journey.

tbbnbb · Joined: 28 Jul 2007 Posts: 1 Location: texas

I use a Brake Buddy and a tow dolly.
I have 2 kids in college and 1 more at home.
It provides more flexibility in what to tow.
The Brake Buddy works great. I have the breakaway and remote sensor. It takes about 5 minutes to set up or remove. The advantage is it it falls off the back of your motorhome, it stops on its own. Also since the Brake Buddy uses the brakes, it also uses the brake lights. The Brake Buddy is small enough it should fit under the steering wheel for your Miata.

ABDriver · Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 12:39 pm Post subject: Toad Braking Systems

I've checked out quite a few systems and the best I've ever seen is Tow-Brake. It hooks securely and solidly to your brake pedal and a bracket on the floorboard under your seat. The brake activates only on a faster-than-normal stop or a breakaway. I highly recommend them.
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Jerry

kingrokon · Joined: 05 Jun 2006 Posts: 61

AVOID the cheaper braking systems that use an assembly in between the receiver and hitch ball that pulls on a cable. (The cable then pulls on your brake pedal through a guide tube.)

They won't brake your towed vehicle when you're going down a hill. One problem is that there has to be slack in the cable to allow the towed vehicle to pivot relative to the towing vehicle without pulling on the cable and activating the brake. Going down a moderate hill doesn't pull on the cable hard enough to take up all the slack and activate the toad's brakes. So the towing vehicle's brakes have to take all the load. If the toad is fairly heavy, you can wind up burning up the towing vehicle's brakes.

These systems "at least somewhat work" to keep your rig from rear-ending the car ahead of you on a panic stop; because a hard braking action takes all the slack out of the cable, and it begins pulling on the brake pedal. But on a downhill grade they usually don't do very much.

I speak from experience: I relied on such a system to get me down a 3000-vertical-foot grade. Not only were the brake pads worn down to the metal, but I had to re-turn the rotors and replace the wheel bearings. (Several hundred dollars damage.) We could have wrecked the rig or been killed. The rig barely stopped at the bottom of the grade; we ran through one intersection. The brakes were smoking so bad we thought we were on fire.