A brake system control unit includes one or more sensor interfaces configured to receive a brake torque signal from a brake torque sensor. The brake system control unit also includes a torque estimator configured to generate an estimated brake torque signal based, at least in part, on a brake model and a brake actuator command. The brake system control unit further includes control circuitry configured to generate the brake actuator command to actuate a brake actuator of a brake system. The brake actuator command is generated based on a brake pedal command and a load alleviation command. The load alleviation command is based on the brake torque or the estimated brake torque signal, depending on whether a sensor fault condition associated with the brake torque sensor is detected.