Hopkins Towing Solutions BrakeBuddy 39494 Brake Buddy Brake System - Classic 3

In Texas and in many other states, a vehicle towed behind a motorhome is required to have brakes and this product makes me legal when towing my Jeep.Installing the wiring isn't an easy task, but it's doable thanks in large part to YouTube videos. The instructions included were vague and generic, but I did find videos to explain exactly how to set it up on my model of Jeep Gladiator. Once I had all the wiring done, then it's a relatively easy task to use the brake each time I tow.The wiring is predominately for power to activate the brakes and the brake lights, but the device itself actually works off of inertia. When the internal sensor detects the motorhome/vehicle slowing down - it applies the brakes manually with a device that clamps onto the brake pedal via a shaft coming out of the device. Sometimes it can be a chore to get that clamp attached to the pedal and to the shaft.To test it, you can simply raise the back end of the box, and if all is working properly then the shaft extends and the brake pedal will be depressed.It also has a "breakaway" line that should the tow vehicle become detached from the motorhome, it will automatically apply the brakes and stop the Jeep from being a runaway vehicle.I suppose it's working properly, because when I'm running down the road in the motorhome, I can't see what's happening inside the vehicle. In testing, however, I do know the brake lights and turn signals are working properly so I presume the rest of the contraption is fine as well.

Took a chance on the warehouse deal and it was open box but product was never removed from box!! Works just fine, it is an on or off brake buddy, but it is what I am used to after owning a few much older units, feel much better with a new unit.

TLDR; this is a janky solution to braking, it locked the brakes of my towed vehicle, and the customer service does not exist.We bought this to install in our tow-behind-vehicle while we travelled around the US. It seemed to work okay for the first 1,500-2000 miles until it locked up the braked of our tow vehicle while driving down the highway. Always use a TPMS for your towed vehicle!These brake buddys are certainly not a comparable substitute to having an actual towed-car braking system installed in your vehicle though it is cheaper. These are INERTIA braking devices so really only made/meant for emergency braking.The install, I was able to do myself and involved some zip ties and wiring. Also needing to drill through the firewall in the floor of your vehicle to feed the wires into the engine compartment. I did have to replace the brake pedal with an after-market pedal from an autoparts store because my pedal was too small for the "universal" brake adapter as well.After that, the actual body of the brake buddy was fairly loose and didn't fit well for a solid footing into the driver's seat. Reinforcing with towels for a custom fit was the only way to make that work. The cord that actually plugged into the unit itself and then to the input in the engine compartment had some wiggle room but I didn't think anything of it.Apparently, while doing limited city driving to get onto the highway, the brake buddy engaged the brakes. This shifted the unit enough to disengage the power cord enough, locking up the unit. We realized when we were going 70 MPH down the highway when the TPMS for our towed vehicle started beeping that something was wrong. As we pulled to the side of the highway, the smoke was more and more evident. The wheels eventually reached over 230 degrees according to the TPMS.The hubcaps melted. The tires go hot. Luckily there wasn't much more damage and a brake shop approved our towed vehicle as road worthy. I called Brake Buddy and they continuously deferred me and never returned any phone calls or emails.I would not buy from them or buy this again.

Product seems to work like it should. Here is my issue. The wiring is stupid!! For the emergency disconnect you wire a red and black wire front the front of the car to a red and brown wire in the cab. The wire on the battery trickle charger that ties into the positive post of the battery is black NOT red like everything else that ties into the positive terminal.Why do they not make it all color match?

Initial installation harder than we expected. Once that was done it's very easy to use. It worked GREAT! Drove from Az to VT. We were impressed.

Has everything you need, battery tinder and enough wires to complete everything