We've got brakes!!!

We first started this RV thing in 1997 when we purchased a used coach and did the weekend thing for four years. Although we towed a car behind, first on a tow dolly and later a Saturn with all four wheels on the ground, we never thought much about having an auxiliary brake system for the towed car, or the "toad", as we RVer's like to call it. In 2001 we purchased a new Monaco LaPalma and continued to tow our Saturn. (The picture to the right is of the LaPalma.)

In the fall of 2002 we attended an RV rally in Claremore, OK, and attended a seminar on tow brakes. This seminar was presented by one of the vendors at the rally. The vendors are the people who come to the rallies to sell us all those extra things that we just cannot live without for our coaches. The tow brake seminar made an impression and I got to thinking we probably needed one of these things. We purchased the unit and the vendor, Frank Damron, installed it for us, wiring up both the coach and the Saturn. This was a fine addition to our RVing experience. We have gotten to know Frank and Sharon Damron over the years while attending numerous rallies and they have become good friends.

In March of 2006 we traded off our Saturn for a new Chevy HHR. The HHR became our new "toad" but it was not wired for the tow brake. That May we were at a rally in Goshen, IN, and we had Frank wire the car so we could use the brake again. This was great until October 2006. We were at another rally, this time in Tucson, AZ, when I decided we just had to have a new coach, a diesel this time around. After convincing my dear wife that we just had to have this beautiful 2007 Monaco Cayman we made the deal to trade. Unfortunately, we did not complete the deal until after the rally was over and Frank and Sharon had to move on. Oh well, we'll just catch up with them at the next rally, which would be in the spring of 2007, and have it done then. I did remove the controller box that was attached near the driver controls in the LaPalma before we let it go. Only problem is I did not know what I was doing and ruined the controller. When we got to the next rally Frank was unable to do the install on the new coach. He had the, now damaged, controller sent back to the factory, on my nickle, to be rebuilt. They did a good job and sent it back to me in the mail. Okay, we'll get with Frank at the next rally in the fall of 2007. As it turned out we had to cancel out on that rally.

Well, after a year and a half without using the tow brake package, which is kind of dangerous and not a good idea, we have it working again. In Frank and Sharon's travels across this great country, doing their work at rallies, they wound up this past week in Shawnee, OK, at a Good Sam's Samboree. At this point he was only forty miles away from where my brother lives, which is another 40 miles from my house. Since my brother, Bill, was wanting Frank to put new shocks on his coach we made arrangements for Frank and Sharon to go to Bill's house and work on both coaches. Frank wound up working on our coach for over five hours for a very nominal fee. When I headed out to return home around 3:30pm he was just getting started putting the eight new shocks on Bill's coach. But, thanks to our good friend, Frank, we now have a working tow brake system and are now legal again in all 50 states and all of Canada. Now it's about time to get back on the road.