Parts Needed to Power a Blue Ox Patriot 3 and Maintain the Towed Vehicles Battery During Flat Towing

Question:

Im thinking of flat towing a Ford Focus. In the cars owner manual it specifies disconnecting the cars battery during towing. Whats the best way to power the brake system in the toad? Im considering a Blue Ox Patriot 3 braking system for my toad vehicle. I could run a line from the disconnected battery to the Blue Ox Patriot which is a simple solution. What I dont know is how much power a typical braking system uses. I would not want to deplete the toads battery in a days driving. The other option would be to run a power line via the 7 pin connector on the towing vehicle. If I do power the breaks from the MH, what stops the toad in the event of a catastrophic hitch failure and the loss of power from the MH?

asked by: David S

Expert Reply:

You are on the right track and we have the parts that you need to accomplish this. You will not want to power the Blue Ox Patriot Radio Frequency, Portable Braking System # BLU37TR from the motorhome for the reasons that you mentioned.

What I recommend you do is use the 12 Volt Outlet Kit # RM-9332 to power the braking system directly from your Focus's battery. In order to ensure that you do not deplete your Focus's battery while flat towing you can add a charge line.

- Roadmaster Battery Charge Line Kit for Motorhomes # RM-156-75

- Roadmaster Battery Charge Line Kit for Towed Vehicles # RM-156-25

This will allow up to 15 amps to be transferred to your towed vehicle's battery from your motorhome during travel. This will allow you to maintain the charge on your Focus's battery, while still using the Focus's battery to power the braking system to avoid the catastrophic failure issue you mentioned.