Blue Ox Patriot Brakes Applied Too Stiff To Towed Vehicle

Updated 11/09/2021 | Published 11/08/2021

Question:

We have the patriot brake system set up in our Ford fusion when it is towed behind our Jayco red hawk. I had an incident happen where I felt like I didn’t break that hard in the RV but the Patriot system in the Ford fusion applied the brakes so hard that the wheels locked up and eventually pulled the RV to a complete stop on the highway before it would then let me engage the gas in the RV. It is possible that after the braking system was set up in the car, the seat position was move forward slightly. Would that have caused the calibration with the breaking unit to change enough that this could happen? Or did I just apply the brakes too hard in the RV

asked by: Laura Z

Expert Reply:

It is possible but more than likely you may have pressed the brakes too hard in your RV. The Blue Ox Patriot # BLU37TR will mirror how much force you are putting into your RV's brake pedal. If you barely step on the pedal, the brake will barely press on the towed vehicle's brake pedal. If you press hard on the pedal, the Patriot will press hard on the towed vehicle's brake pedal.

What you can do, is simply recalibrate the Patriot. You can do that by pressing the "One-Touch Setup" button, it will then press on the brake pedal 3 times, once completed it will say "Ready". The monitor in the coach will show you every time the brakes are applied to the towed vehicle and will allow you to adjust the sensitivity or manually apply the brakes if needed.

expert reply by: Bryce D