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Is this right for you? Product Expert Mike S says:
Flat tow your vehicle safely with this precise, responsive braking system that can be easily switched between towed cars. LED display lets you easily adjust braking power, apply manual override, and monitor the system from your motorhome.
Features:
Specs:
A vast improvement over "on/off," time-delayed braking systems, which brake at a single, pre-set level, the Patriot 3 has a proportional design for precise, responsive braking. The Patriot 3 applies your towed car's brakes with an intensity that matches your RV's braking action. The built-in inertia sensor detects when and how your rig slows down, and it then engages the actuator arm to press your car's brake pedal with an intensity that matches that slowing action. If you slam on the RV's brakes in an emergency situation, your towed car's brakes will respond with the same intensity. If you press the RV's brakes just enough to slow down a bit, your towed car will decelerate in the same way. The result is improved control, better stopping, and less wear on both your vehicle's and RV's brakes.
The beauty of a portable braking system, compared to a unit that installs permanently, is that you can easily switch it between towed vehicles. It's also a great alternative if you own a newer vehicle that you don't feel comfortable modifying. As long as you have a second vehicle breakaway kit (BRK2505 - sold separately), the Patriot 3 can be easily transferred and quickly set up in another car, giving you the freedom to switch up which vehicle comes with you on your next camping trip.
The included controller has an easy-to-read LED display that plugs right into your motorhome's 12V outlet. The monitor slides into the included rubber stand, which can rest anywhere on your dashboard, or it can be mounted with the included hook-and-loop strip.
This unit lets you monitor your braking system while you're driving your motorhome, so you'll always be aware that the Patriot 3 is working and functioning properly. Not only does the controller let you know when the unit is activated, but it will also alert you if the unit inadvertently shifts while you're on the road. This could result in too much pressure being applied to your car's brake pedal, which is why a warning will be sent to the controller so you can pull over and make the necessary adjustments.
As another safety feature, if your towed vehicle ever becomes detached from your motorhome, the screen on the controller will alert you by turning red.
By adjusting the brake sensitivity using the in-cab controller, you can control the force at which your towed vehicle's brakes are applied when the system senses deceleration. The settings range from 1 to 10. The higher the setting, the more force will be applied to your towed vehicle's brakes. For smaller vehicles, you can get by just fine on a lower setting. Larger vehicles, or vehicles with less responsive brakes, will require a higher setting. You can also adjust the force purely to match your personal preference.
The controller also includes a manual override button that automatically activates your towed vehicle's brakes. In addition to serving as a safety measure in an emergency braking situation, the manual override can also help correct sway and fishtailing with your towed vehicle.
The setup for the Patriot 3 is very straightforward. The braking system will fit nicely on the driver's-side floorboard of your towed car and plug into your 12V accessory outlet for power. To position the unit, first move your seat back as far as it will go and set the system in place.
Then clamp the bracket on the arm securely around your brake pedal and twist the knob to lock it on. If your vehicle's floorboard is uneven, the included feet can be attached to the bottom of the braking system and adjusted to create a level surface for the Patriot 3 to operate. Move the front of the driver's seat forward until it's resting gently against the back of the unit. If there's too much pressure on the back of the unit, the lights will turn blue and red during the setup process, letting you know that the driver's seat should be moved back slightly. The back of the unit is adjustable as well, allowing you to raise or lower the butt pad to fit snugly against the front of the driver's seat.
Once the unit is in place, setup is simple. Push the "power" button, and the unit will begin blinking blue and green lights, signifying that it's ready to be set up. Then push the "setup" button, which will let the unit run through a quick testing process. When the power light turns a solid green, the Patriot 3 is ready to go.
Average Customer Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars (70 Customer Reviews)
Flat tow your vehicle safely with this precise, responsive braking system that can be easily switched between towed cars. LED display lets you easily adjust braking power, apply manual override, and monitor the system from your motorhome.
After one year of use and multiple trips, I have had no issues at all. Works great in my 2020 Jeep Gladiator.
I've had the Blue Ox Patriot 3 for about a year and have towed with it for about 2500 miles. The system has worked great for me with zero issues. The dashboard display is nice in that you can see when and how much force is being applied. Towing a 2014 Honda CRV I set it to 4 - I think that is 1 below the default but in gentle braking I don't care that it brakes at all as the coach doesn't know the CRV is back there. One thing I highly recommend is a "tell-tale" light that indicates anytime the toad brake pedal is depressed. You can hang from the toad mirror or like mine I built a little wooded stand that I put on the dash. Get a pretty bright one so you can clearly see it in your rear view camera. With the "tell-tale" light you can be sure that the unit hasn't slide around or somehow activated the brake pedal but not reported that to the dash display. I use a Whelen flashing light so it really gets your attention and you know it's not just a reflection on the windshield. It could save you a set of toad brakes!
Patriot 3 was easy to set up and works perfectly with my Coachmen Mirada and Honda CRV. Very pleased.
Peter H - 06/16/2021There is no easy way to actually review this, it is not like i am sitting back there watching it when i have to brake hard on my RV. I know that it works, it does engage brakes. The breakaway works. Two things to note/complain about. When driving, every now and again (maybe once a day), the controller will beep but have no indication of what it is erroring about. I assume connection wireless or power in the back perhaps, but really have no idea. They should fix it so that if any fault is indicated it displays for at least a few seconds, and that one can go back and see history. The other thing is sensitivity and force settings. The instructions have no information at all on how to actually gauge what is appropriate. The sensitivity i can see as I am driving, how easily it start applying force, so this i can adjust on a gut. But force? there is no way to test this. Every single person i talked to or seen videos just set it smack in the middle. In one sense i don't really want it to kick in unless i am braking fairly hard, and i want it to kick in pretty good when i do so, but i fear the delay in applying may make the actual action less helpful. I have only had to panic brake once, i drive a 37' class A, my rear wheels locked for a few seconds, back end started coming out. I really have no idea what the flat tow was doing or not, wish i had history from the system and videos etc. So all in all the product is okay, but it could be better. I dont know of any other system that is better.
I received my Patriot braking system with a damaged part. I contacted the manufacturer and they in turn contacted etrailer. Long story short, the damaged part was promptly replaced. I would do business with these folks again based on their fair treatment in my case.
This review is for E-Trailer. I ordered a complete dinghy towing set-up for the dinghy as a towbar came with the RV we purchased. I called E-Trailer and spoke with a very knowledgeable young lady and when I told her what I needed in layman’s terms she came up with what I would need to complete the dinghy preparation in order to safely tow it behind our RV. Everything they said it would do went just as the instructions directed. I ordered a Roadmaster Falcon 2 set up for the dinghy and they suggested a Blue Ox self contained braking system for the SUV itself. hey also suggested the complete wiring system and plug for the dinghy. To my amazement after the RV and dinghy were connected that also was as easy as they said it would be. Our first tow with the dinghy was great and the unhooking was also a very easy experience. This company was awesome to work with. Thank you for your knowledge and great products.
Installed in a 2013 fiat 500 the hard part was wiring from the breakout switch to the passenger compartment. otherwise pretty easy install. Checked it out it all works as advertised.
Works as advertised. The only drawback was the controller. It only worked when placed on the very left hand side of the dash. I assume this was because of the length of my rig an signal strength. It was a bit out of reach but moderately manageable.
This has to be seated just right or it will default. We had it set as required and it moved slightly on a bumpy road and faulted. Where do you not eventually hit a bump. Then, you have to pull over to stop the coach and reset. This was exacerbated more because we also had to reconnect the battery to slightly move the seat. Then start all over again. We just think it should be more user friendly and not demand perfection to be able to work correctly. We have always used blue ox and this is the first product that performed less than expected. Most of the time we just disconnect and leave it in Place in the case of a safety check, which is especially disappointing.
Excellent product. etrailer was absolutely excellent to do business with.
Marty C - 04/15/2021I selected the Blue Ox Patriot 3 braking system because of the ease of use and the ability to move it to another vehicle if I needed to. Also there was no wiring needed in the towing vehicle. I test drove with the Jeep being towed and everything worked fine. I really liked all the information that the monitor displayed. The etrailer service was excellent and the shipping was quick.
Installation was really easy and works perfectly.
Daniel - 05/23/2021This is my second Patriot 3. The first one worked flawlessly.
works very well, I hook up a quick jump battery charger, that has a 12 v outlet. This last for the 6 hours that I drive. Would suggest this product to others, ease of hook-up, and disconnect.
Very easy to use and set up. It took us a while to figure out how to adjust the sensitivity as it was a bit opposite of what we expected but once we figured that out it worked like a charm!
GreAt service and quick delivery.. everything I get from trailer is top notch and fast delivery
After lots of research and interviewing other RVers, we choose the Blue Ox Patriot 3 brake. E-trailer had it in stock and shipped the next day. Unfortunately, it will be about six weeks before we have a chance to get it installed and in service. Will report back then ...
This system is as advertised. Very simple to setup. The only thing I will add is that no where in the instructions does it mention that the system will not work if the motor home is on parked. The motor home has to be moving so that you can actually see the braking system in action. Other than that. It is great.
Great instructions
This Breaking system is great. I do not know the Ford Ranger is behind me pushing when I stop. No extra pressure is needed on the brake peddle.
PRETTY STRAIGHT FORWARD INSTALL!
Went well except for instructions installing baseplate for my 2017 Silverado. After grille removal was not close to the instructions. I [looked for installation videos for] 2018 model and instructions for grill and bumper removal was right. Nice project and saved a lot on install. etrailer is great at putting together the equipment you need. Love website to research products. Have not pulled truck any where yet. [(Covid)]
Overall, the Blue Ox system has worked out great. I had read a lot of reviews, mostly positive, but some who had some difficulty with the installation, but in my case I had no real difficulty at all. The base plate lined up good, I did use a pry bar to spring it a bit, but nothing major. Ok, so this review if for the entire Blue Ox base plate, Blue Ox Alpha, Patriot II and Hopkings light kit package. I deviated a bit from the base plate installation procedure. I never used the vice grips, I simply installed the 5/8" bolts, leveled the plate and torqued them up after applying red Locktite. I was able to wedge/slip the spacer bars into position and then I drilled the frame using the base plate/spacer bar combination to keep the drill perfectly aligned. I did not have a 17/32 drill so I simply used a 1/2" drill to start each hole. I then swapped down to a 1/4" drill to punch through the frame and progressively drilled the hole larger until I got to the 1/2" bit. I have a Drill Doctor to keep my bits very sharp so they do not drift or wander. Great tool for your shop if you do not have one. I also drilled the hole toward the rear first. Once that was complete, I installed the rear most 1/2" bolt, Locktite and torqued that bolt. I then started a 1/2" hole using the base plate, swapped to the smaller bit and again progressively drill to 1/2" using the spacer as a guide and installed the front 1/2" bolt with Locktite and then torqued. I can see where if you installed the front bolt first, it would be difficult to reach the rear to get the nut started. I rechecked the torque on all the bolts once installed. Word of caution, the nuts have some "teeth" to bite into the frame when installed. These kind of nuts do not want to be tightened and loosened repeatedly. You want to install them once and go right to tightness. Less risk of breaking the wire that is welded to the nuts because the teeth are initially sharp and will bite into the frame. If you tighten and loosen these nuts the teeth get duller and will not grab very well. The purpose of the wire is only to align the nut with the bolt. I did slightly "kink" the wires on the bolts so the nuts started easily on the threads of the bolt. To refit the air dam underneath, I simply measured the distance between the left and right side of the base plate and transferred that dimension to the plastic dam. Rather than cut with a knife, I drilled a 1/2" hole in the plastic dam at the bottom end, used masking tape to mark my cut lines and then finished with a fine tooth jigsaw cutting 1/2" slots. Since the base plate is 1/4" thick the 1/2" slots give me a bit of play and look nice and even. I did not take photos yet, but if I can get back here I'll post a few of the finished product. Among the things I really like about this is how up tight and close the base plate connections are to my bumper. You really do not notice the base plate when you look at the front of the Jeep which to me gives it a nice clean look. I got a Patriot II remote braking system. It took me longer to route the "break away wire" and switch than to set up the remote control. The Hopkins brake light package was easy to install and directions were clear. Spent most of my time deciding how to route the wires from rear to front.
Working as expected, easy to install and remove.
First trip using it was over 2k miles on hills and tight curves and it worked well. A bit bulky though removing and installing in car. Not too heavy.
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