Supplemental Braking System for Honda Fit

[dbcassidy]

Can anyone recommend a supplemental Braking System for a 2019 Honda Fit, manual transmission towed behind a Thor Gemini?

The dealer who installed the Blue Ox Alpha Tow Bar, also tried installing a Patriot 3 Supplemental braking system.

No matter what modifications we made to the Patriot 3, we could not get it to install and configure the setup.

Blue Ox Customer and Technical Support was of no help.

Can anyone who has installed a supplemental Braking system for a Honda Fit tell me what they used?

[Pete'sMH]

I’m putting a Stay- in-Play in my Focus. It’s some work to install but then it’s always ready to go without setup or storage issues. It’s one of the few proportional systems which, I think, is a worthwhile feature. It would not be difficult to remove if/when you sell the car. I’m also putting a wireless remote monitor in my coach so I will no that it’s working.

[16ACE27]

A Fit? At under 2600 lbs this should be all you need:



But if you'd feel more comfortable with more there are numerous systems that should work; you just have to follow the directions.

Try looking on Etrailer.com:

[Elite Washington]

We have the road master invisibrake in our Jeep and the system works great. The control sits under the seat and everything is out of the way. Just plug in the power cord and call it good

[MRichaud]

+1 on the Invisibrake. A bit fiddly to install, but once in it's unobtrusive and works great.

[dbcassidy]

Thanks for all your replies and working with a first-time poster to this forum.

It appears that installing a permanently mounted system such as the Invisibrake or the Stay-In-Play in the Honda Fit will be the way to go.

[Mr Sunshine]

Originally Posted by dbcassidy

...No matter what modifications we made to the Patriot 3, we could not get it to install and configure the setup. Blue Ox Customer and Technical Support was of no help...

That seems odd. I've toured the Blue Ox factory and it's a great company. Did you talk to them about your issues, or did the dealer tell you they called them and got no help?

We have the no longer available USGear Unified Tow Brake system on our toad, and it is so easy to connect. We tend to connect and disconnect our toad a lot. Many folks get along just fine with portable units, too, and you save the install effort or cost.

[Elite Washington]

Originally Posted by dbcassidy

Thanks for all your replies and working with a first-time poster to this forum.

It appears that installing a permanently mounted system such as the Invisibrake or the Stay-In-Play in the Honda Fit will be the way to go.

It’s costs a little more but it’s really a no worries system once it’s installed. I would say if you don’t plan on keep the car for a long time a portable unit might be Better

[dbcassidy]

Originally Posted by Mr Sunshine

That seems odd. I've toured the Blue Ox factory and it's a great company. Did you talk to them about your issues, or did the dealer tell you they called them and got no help?

We have the no longer available USGear Unified Tow Brake system on our toad, and it is so easy to connect. We tend to connect and disconnect our toad a lot. Many folks get along just fine with portable units, too, and you save the install effort or cost.

Yes. Both the dealer and I contacted Blue Ox.
Customer Service assured both of us that the Patriot 2/3 would fit and asked us to make some modifications to the Patriot and get back to them on the results.

After two hours of the dealer trying to configure the Patriot 3, on the phone with Customer Support and sending them pictures, they appeared to have run out of ideas.
For whatever reason, Blue Ox would not let us escalate the issue to their Engineering dept.

Upon going home, I contacted Ellen Kietzmann's office, telling her I was not happy with the lack of support I received from Blue Ox.

Long story short, yesterday the Engineering Dept at Blue Ox, got a hold of a Honda Fit and verified that the Patriot 2/3 is too large for the Honda Fit's floorpan and we should look at other manufacturers supplemental braking systems.


Do Blue Ox ultimately do the right thing?
Yes (after my contacting the President of the company).

Do most dealers have two days to spend on an issue of this type?
No (I'm sure most dealers would have tried to install the Patriot 2/3, found it didn't fit and talked the customer into purchasing a permanently installed unit).