Is it normal For The Blue Ox Patriot To Not Have Much Braking Power On 2021 Jeep Wrangler?

Question:

While testing my Blue Ox Patriot on my 2021 Jeep Wrangler, it doesn’t seem like the brake has enough braking power. I road in the towed Jeep while somebody else was driving the towing vehicle and I saw that the brake was operating. When driving the towing vehicle at a low speed, I would operate the manual brake on the controller and the jeep wouldn’t slow down the towing vehicle at all. It seems like after the Jeep is turned off and the brake booster is depleted after just a push or two of the brake peddle, the Patriot isn’t pushing hard enough to slow the Jeep down. I’ve adjusted all of the settings up and down as well as adjusted the actual brake for optimal positioning. I call Blue Ox and they’re going to have me send it in but is there anything that I can try before doing that?

asked by: Lucas K

Expert Reply:

Unfortunately Lucas, that is the limitation to the Blue Ox Patriot Portable Flat Tow Brake System # BLU37TR. This is why I always recommend going with either the Demco Stay-iN-Play # SM99251 or Air Force One # SM99243 braking systems as they actually tie into vacuum brake boosters to give the additional brake pressure. I will say I am not surprised the braking system on your Jeep is not slowing the tow vehicle pulling it as Jeeps are very light and with very light towing capacities they were never designed to stop a lot of weight. Especially when the brakes do not have the booster helping to slow the vehicle.

expert reply by: Bud M