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Is this right for you? Product Expert Mike S says:
Get intense, emergency braking or steady, smooth braking in a single portable system. Easily switch between proportional or full braking. One-touch Auto Start makes setup fast and easy. Remote lets you change settings from your RV.
Features:
Specs:
Note: Removing your vehicle's floor mat before installation is recommended.
The Brake Buddy Select 3 is a proportional braking system that 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.
The main unit of the Brake Buddy Select 3 is designed to activate only when deceleration is actually taking place. It is built with advanced terrain-sensing technology that keeps the unit from activating when you go over bumps in the road. As a result, your towed car's brakes won't engage unless you intend for them to engage.
You can also select the full-braking mode. When in this mode, the Brake Buddy will activate your towed car's brakes at the maximum preset intensity, regardless of how intensely your RV is decelerating. The full-braking setting is ideal for when you're towing a heavy truck or SUV, or if you're towing your car down a steep incline. By setting the power to a higher level, you can ensure that the momentum of your towed car won't cause it to push against your RV.
The braking power settings determine how intensely the Brake Buddy Select 3 applies your towed car's brakes. When you're first setting up the Brake Buddy, choose a braking power based on your vehicle type. Begin with a pressure that falls into the recommended range for your towed car, as seen on the chart below.
| Vehicle Type | Recommended Braking Power |
|---|---|
| Hybrids | 10 - 20 psi |
| Cars and Compact SUVs | 25 - 45 psi |
| Small Crossovers | 25 - 45 psi |
| Crossovers and Small SUVs | 35 - 65 psi |
| Mid-Size Pickups | 35 - 65 psi |
| Large SUVs and Pickups | 45 - 75 psi |
After selecting an initial setting, press the plus or minus buttons on the actuator unit's control panel to fine-tune the power setting. The setting should be enough to cause your towed car to give a slight tug at your RV during a braking event. Braking power doesn't normally need to be reset unless you're changing to a different towed car.
Once the overall braking power is set, you can customize the sensitivity on the Brake Buddy. The sensitivity setting determines how aggressively you need to brake in the RV for the Brake Buddy to activate your towed car's brakes. If you set the sensitivity high, then your car's brakes will activate with just a light tap of your RV's brakes. Setting the sensitivity low ensures that your car's brakes will only activate when you hit the brakes in your RV with a fair amount of intensity.
The included remote control allows you to monitor or change settings for the Brake Buddy Select 3 from the comfort of your RV's cab. You can easily switch from proportional braking to full braking and vice versa with the push of a button. You can also change the Brake Buddy's sensitivity settings, which makes it easy to fine-tune the braking as you drive so that you can adjust based on feel. Finally, the remote will illuminate to alert you of any errors with the Brake Buddy system, including a breakaway event.
Instead of connecting to a 12V accessory outlet, the Brake Buddy Select 3 draws power directly from your towed car's battery. To do this, the included wiring harness connects to your car's battery. Install the harness by routing the wire end through your car's firewall and into your engine compartment. Connect the harness to your battery with the included battery wire and ring terminal.
Mount the connector that's on the opposite end of the harness in a convenient, out-of-the-way location beneath your car's dash.
To connect the actuator unit to this connector, use the included Easy-Pull harness. This harness plugs into the connector below your dash, then into the braking system. When connected, the harness carries both power and breakaway functions in a single cord. And the large grip ring and wide handle make it easy to hold while connecting and disconnecting the actuator, all without ripping connectors or pulling on wires.
If you're concerned about your car's battery going dead as you tow, don't worry. The Brake Buddy Select 3 includes a 15-amp charger that pulls power from your RV to keep your car's battery charged while the Brake Buddy is connected.
Not every car is built the same. Some have brake pedals with unusual shapes. Some have uneven floorboards or mats. These differences can make it difficult to set up a portable braking system in your towed car. But the Brake Buddy Select 3 is able to fit in almost any car on the market.
The Brake Buddy's actuator arm comes with an adjustable Quick-Lock clevis, which securely wraps around your towed car's brake pedal, regardless of the pedal's size or shape.
The clevis also comes with a quick-locking lever. Once you adjust the jaws of the clevis to fit your brake pedal, turn the lever to tighten the clevis in place. And when you're done towing, disconnecting the clevis is a snap. Just turn the lever to release the clevis jaws, and remove the clevis from your brake pedal. It's that simple.
Uneven floorboards can cause a portable braking system to sit at an angle in your towed car. This affects the leverage of the actuating arm, which can result in ineffective braking. Each of the TruFit risers on the Brake Buddy Select 3 actuator unit can be individually adjusted, raising or lowering each corner of the actuator unit, so that the system sits level in your car. As a result, the actuator arm is able to press straight against the brake pedal to ensure that your brakes are properly depressed every time.
To adjust the height of the risers, twist them counterclockwise, either by hand or with the included riser wrench. Pull each riser out to match the height you need, then twist the riser clockwise to secure it at that height.
The Brake Buddy Select 3 will automatically check your brakes every time you start it up to confirm that your vehicle is ready to tow. After setting up the unit in your towed car, press the Auto Start button on the unit's control panel. The arm of the unit will push and release the brake pedal several times, removing vacuum pressure from the brakes to prevent overbraking. The unit will also check for any connection errors.
California residents: click here
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (182 Customer Reviews)
Get intense, emergency braking or steady, smooth braking in a single portable system. Easily switch between proportional or full braking. One-touch Auto Start makes setup fast and easy. Remote lets you change settings from your RV.
I’ve towed close to eight thousand miles in the past year. I had an incident when someone thought it amusing to pull my hitch pin while I pumped gas. The hitch dropped off about a half mile later and my break buddy saved me from any serious damage. Just got home today from a 3600 mile trip and no problem.
Mike - 10/21/2022I looked at several supplemental braking units and wanted one that was portable with nice features like wireless monitoring and parameter changes while flat towing my Jeep Wrangler. I reviewed the videos on the etrailer site for features and installation instructions, they’re well done and really helped with my buy decision and installation guidance. I decided on the Select 3 mainly because of the option for full or proportional braking, as I live in CA and take my RV through mountain passes often. The installation was straight forward with the help of the etrailer videos, very well done. The initial testing of the unit was a bit tricky, but it worked, after leveling the unit out. The first trip with the unit was from Southern CA to Paso Robles through the “Grapevine” pass and some other large hills, the unit worked well and gave me the extra braking I needed while flat towing my jeep behind my RV. During this trip, the unit was inconsistent in bleeding the brakes upon startup. I shared this information with etrailer in detail, and they sent me a replacement unit after trouble shooting. I want to thank etrailer for excellent support of a product which I entrust the safety of my family to while in use. The new unit has been wonderful on two other trips so far. I’m very happy with the performance and ease of use for the Select 3. It just takes a few minutes to position in the jeep, activate and get going down the road after the initial install was complete, which only took a few hours to run simple wiring. The unit is not very large or heavy, and easily fits in a normal storage compartment of the RV when we arrive at our destination. I look forward to many more trips with my family in our RV and the Select 3 giving us the supplement braking we need in our jeep on any road type.
Brake Buddy is a time consuming pain in the gleutious maximus. If not disconnected at the end of the day, it will drain the tow vehicle's battery. The clamp for the brake pedal is very poorly designed and often requires a 10 minute wrestling match while kneeling on the hot asphalt, or in the mud. While towing, a any significant bump will render it inoperable requiring a stop to reset it (at the tow vehicle). Mine stopped working completely at the end of our first trip at about 2,200 miles. Save your money...and grief.
Considering the fact that the most-towed vehicle is the Jeep Wrangler, this product barely fits and the leg adjusters are nearly useless on our 2016 Jeep Wrangler. I had to remove the pedal extender that my wife uses because she is not even 5’ tall but did not have to that when we used our old classic Brake Buddy. Other than that, the unit works as advertised and no other major complaints so far after 2 days and over 1,000 miles.
Joseph - 01/18/2022Works great on our 2007 Mini-Cooper S. Had one issue of the tow car battery being dead after a couple hours towing. The manufacture sent a return authorization so they could test everything. Turns out you cannot have the key fob in the ignition while towing. We leave it on the center counsel and battery stays fully charged since. Performance is exactly as you’d expect from a hard-wited brake controller.
It seems to work fine although I did run the battery down by not turning off the key and unit when stopped for lunch in the middle of a trip. Had to find someone to share their jumper cables. We made it
This item really didn't work in the Honda Fit that I was going to use it in. The unit was too big and the clamp didn't work on the brake pedal. However I informed you that I wanted to return it and that was handled well. So even though I gave you a low rating on this product, I'll give you an Excellent on the return. Thank you!
Jenny N - 09/14/2022The brake buddy was easy to install and ha worked great from the very first use. The only reason I would not give it 5 stars is the release for on the back that lowers the handle is plastic and has broken, the release needs to be more robust. I have used it many times and am very pleased except for the handle release.
customer service is very good, but it still doesn't work. worst thing they made me pay $XX.00 for packaging, they did pay for shipping. I would suggest that they mail a replacement, then i could use their packaging to return. Still dont have repaired part
Jenny N - 09/29/2022Brake controller works great. If you are installing yourself(wiring it to vehicle) it takes some time. If you have never done electrical work on your vehicle I would suggest paying someone to install. Installed on our 2017 Jeep Wrangler. Tight install when placing it between the seat and brake pedal. Once installed and setup works great. Can’t really tell it is working behind our 36’ motorhome, but do not need to press brake pedal down any harder on motorhome to stop. Wish it had a manual button for applying just the Jeep brakes so I can verify it works when moving slowly, like my trailer used to be.
The people at Etrailer were so helpful and knowledgeable about this product! The Brakebuddy has performed very well. I had a few questions and the support they provided was exceptional. This was definitely the right product purchased from the right place!
Hi Miranda, here are the pictures of the bracket and Brake Buddy installed in my Jeep. Works very well. I tried to move the seat forward a bit but when the Brake Buddy activated it pushed the seat adjuster and moved the seat all the way back. Thank you for the bracket.
Electrical connection to unit comes loose on rough roads. Poor connection design. Other than that works fine
Everything was great except two things. I would buy this again.
1. The wiring was toooo short by at least 4-5 feet. I bought a sheathed wire set and had to splice the two lengths together.
2. Probably not your problem for most applications. The legs for the unit did not extend far enough to reach the floor mats. I had to use a short length of 2x6 lumber (with holes drilled for the front feet) to make the unit level with the brake peddle.
Works awesome, comforting to know it's working the brakes on my towed vehicle and the remote gives me feedback and adjustability on the fly
works great. it let's the remote know of problems so it is easy to reposition or adjust it a little.
The cord end that goes in the dash mount does not make good connection. The Brake Buddy loses power on occasion. I replaced an old Brake Buddy Vantage Select. This unit is very smooth. I would give it 5 stars if it wasn't for the loose connection of the cord where it goes into the dash mounted receptacle
Sierra K - 10/25/2021Great product, easy to install. Works as advertised. I would recommend this product to my friends and family. This is the third product I have ordered from etrailer, all the items have been of the highest Quality and were shipped to me in a very reasonable time frame. I am happy I chose etrailer to do business with. Also, etrailer provided easy to follow installation video’s for these products.
Install was not an issue, took an hour or so. Setup is easy, it's a tight fit but not hard at all to BB into position. As far as operation I have not had any issues thus far, the BB works as advertised. There is peace of mind knowing it's there, when activated it does help to slow the motorhome (Jayco Class C), I would recommend.
This unit doesn’t really fit my 2012 Wrangler. When traveling over rough pavement it will become dislodged. The adjustable pegs don’t adjust and will not lock in place. I have managed to make it work, but not as advertised.
My Blue Ox Tow bar and Break Buddy System perform as advertised. I tow my Buick Enclave behind my 30’ class C with confidence.
Very unhappy with this product. Proportional braking doesn’t work, locks up the brakes on slow steep hills. Never see it breaking on the remote monitor under hard and sever braking. At this point I’m only hopeful the breakaway will work if it’s needed. Would not recommend. Install wasn’t hard and set up is ok but sometime it fails during brake bleeding. Last trip I gave up as it would not complete the brake bleed process. Very unhappy.
BrakeBuddy is a great product. I had verified this newer style included a 12 volt plug. It does, but there is no where to plug it in according to their manufacturer, Hopkins. I will need to rewire two tow vehicles before I can verify that this item works. The box was delivered and dropped off on my driveway without a signature for a $1300 item!!! Also, the box was not even taped shut. I have verified that all the parts are present.
Thomas M - 01/24/2022The Brakebuddy is an expensive part but I am concerned about the quality. The power cord socket is faulty and caused the unit to stop working traveling through Texas. The remote has the same problem, the power cord cuts out and has to be disconnected and reinserted to get it to work. I contacted Brakebuddy and they are supposed to send a new power cable but have not received it yet.
Thomas M - 02/03/2022I only gave the unit 4 stars because the first one would not work. etrailer quickly replaced the faulty unit and I was on my way. Easy install it you keep all of the wiring straight. I would suggest laying the different harnesses out on the floor of bench before starting as different ends on different harnesses to go the same places. Having the big picture in mind will save time.
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