Hopkins 39524 Brake Buddy Select Iii

Excellent installation instructions. Easy to put in and take out when you're not pulling the Toad. Drove from Southwest Florida to Vermont then all the way to Wyoming. Unit works great.

It’s a job hooking up the wire harness to the battery but it’s easy to use.

Products works well for our tow vehicle, which is a Honda Element.

Update: I was able to contact tech support and they had me send it in with no cost to me. Screws and top were replaced (looks like a used top with a couple scuffs but I’m more concerned with how it works than looks). The diagnostics said it was good to go and the remote was tested to 65 feet.I bought a Brake Buddy Select 3 for my 2002 Jeep Wrangler. It was pricey but had good reviews, came packaged well with all the wires and connections, and was removable which I liked. It is a VERY tight fit in my Jeep. With the drivers seat all the way back I still have to press the brake pedal an inch or so to connect it. Not a big issue since it’s not enough to activate the brakes or lights. Do to getting it right before a 2 month trip I didn’t get a chance to test it so off we went. First thing I noticed was the remote didn’t connect when it was in the front of my 37’ class A RV. Since this is designed for tow behinds I would expect it too. So the remote is worthless to me. After a couple of days I noticed the top red half and the bottom gray half were separating. When I looked closer all the screws had fallen out. I was able to salvage 2 screws bug the rest were gone since my Jeep has no carpet and has drain holes. I put them back in but the need tightened regularly. The brake buddy still works but I’d expect more out of an expensive brake system. Next screw started falling out of the internal components including the gray plug in which then fell out leaving me without a brake system. I have to keep disassembling the top and bottom to replace the screws. After the trip I was able to test it behind another vehicle and I had to turn the sensitivity up to the max to get to activate on all but hard stops. I saw no difference from full or progressive settings. I’ve tried the brake buddy.com online contact and calling technical support with no answer. I will update with any progress.

Easy setup, pairng remote to unit simple. So sometimes I wondered if it was working. Hit the brake hard and remote indicated brake.

This is a really nice unit. I liked that it has a battery charger included which saves me having to worry about killing my battery while travelling. The air compressor is pretty hefty so I assume it's drawing a good bit of juice when operating. Finding a spot to get the wire through the firewall can be tricky. I was lucky as I found an existing penetration with a rubber grommet and was able to push the wire through it. You also need a connector from the tow vehicle that has 12volts available to power the battery charger. Best to check that before you buy. I installed the Bake Buddy in 2015 Kia Soul. Unfortunately, the clamp for the brake pedal does not fit because the pad is very small. I had to fabricate a piece of wood to put behind the pedal in order to get the clamp to work. Looks like the clamp on prior models would have worked better. I bought the select 3 system cause I thought it was the latest, best design. Also had to put the sensitivity at #6 on the unit in order for it to apply any brake pressure. That seems like a too much, but any lower setting and the unit would provide any braking.

easy install compared to other devices.

I purchased the Brake Buddy Select 3 to allow me to flat tow my 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid behind my motorhome. The installation of the wiring, while not a trivial effort, was straightforward. The brake pedal clamp/claw is just plain awful. I had to make a spacer for the back of the brake pedal to get the clamp to stay in place. Some sort of clamp that fastened to the brake pedal arm just above the face of the pedal rather than to the pedal itself would be a much better alternative.While the unit is supposedly designed to work with the unique brake systems on hybrid vehicles, I found it to be too eager to apply the brakes even when calibrated to operate with a hybrid (i.e., set to its lowest level of brake pedal force). While I eventually got it adjusted to the point where it works fairly well, it still applies the brakes more abruptly and with more force than it should, despite the unit being set to "proportional" mode and at its lowest level of sensitivity. Panic stops are extremely rare in a motorhome but they do occasionally happen, and I remain concerned about the brakes on the "toad" locking up if such an incident occurs.