Hi, I’m a new member of the Newell gurus, but I’m not new to rving. I am looking to purchase a tow bar to tow a 2016 Chevy Silverado 1500. The Pick up truck is 4 wheel drive and is able to be towed 4 wheels down. We had a tow dolly and a different toad, but the dolly has been sold so we are transitioning to a different set up. Any recommendations ? I haven’t purchased the needed base plate so I am in the very beginning stages of this progress. Years ago I used a very inexpensive tow bar from Reese hitch which was all rigid and on the Jeep that we towed, but needed to folded up or removed and stored when not being used. I believe something more substantial will be needed for this vehicle. Suggestions welcome, and used equipment is welcome and will be considered. Thank you.
Ready Brute tow bar with integrated Ready Brake, tow bar and vehicle brake in one very robust unit
Well, I can tell you what I've been using along with all the top models I've seen on the newest coaches.
First off, braking:
We've always had the AIR FORCE ONE braking system and insist everyone has one...or similar...to which there are none like that system.
As for tow-bar/baseplates:
I've used ROADMASTER for the past 5 years to tow our Raptor.
First was the Sterling, and now I'm using the NightHawk with side lighting.
RM is nicely designed and the cabling runs internal down the tubes. Only small downside is stowing; the cables stay on and are best managed with the nice cover.
Others will use:
BlueOx is very popular. Demco is out there, but very very few in numbers.
Now, being honest...all of the failures in the past 2 years...and I know of at least a half dozen...have been with BlueOx. Most have been Jeeps. The plates and/or bolts have fractured, causing catastrophic failures including one Jeep being a runaway total.
Yes, the fact that BlueOx has probably been the most popular towing assembly may account for the higher incidents of failure. HOWEVER, there are several take-home points for you to consider.
1. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS maintain/check your plates, bolts and hardware..not just routinely, but pretty much every time you hook up, as well as periodically on your longer hauls. I know of a very (very) accomplished...aka professional driver...who by the grace of GOD, did one of these checks after hearing about these failures ONLY TO FIND HIS BLUEOX PLATE had fractured and one arm had already snapped off. He was very fortunate and now a believer in frequent checking.
https://youtu.be/Kaf23jdxw2g?si=aB6nVMlVUnwriPml
2. Safety tethers to secure your Baseplates to the Frame. This is ESPECIALLY critical on Jeeps with aftermarket bumpers, in which some folks will secure the baseplate to the BUMPER...and then guess what? Yeah, the bumper breaks off and takes everything with it...including the breakaway break system!
So, these are some suggestions, based on real world incidents and not just my opinion.
I think the RM and BO function pretty much the same way, now, with the tension release. The connection are basically the same idea...a single pin through the tow arms.
I can't give you my opinion of using a BO, or any other braking system since the RM and AFO is all I know and I have no complaints with either.
HTH
I was reluctant to go with BlueOx but had no choice for my Jeep since I have the steel bumpers and winch. I do have the Roadmaster tow bar with BlueOx pin adapters. Love my airforce braking system. I wouldn't change that part of things. As Steve mentioned there have been a few BO baseplate failures which resulted in runaway vehicles. The main issue is keeping the tow bar and baseplate within 3" of deviance. Any more than that and it introduces forces against the baseplate which lead to its failure. That can be said about any base plate tow bar combo. I wanted to remove my Roadmaster baseplate from the hybrid Sahara I traded in but the RV shop would not remove and reinstall on my new V6 Rubicon since the hardware on RM's are proprietary and are one time use to the chassis. This is what I was told. As I dug further, the hardware could be obtained but the RV shop would no longer take liability or install it for me. So, in the grand scheme of things, I would just buy new and have a reputable shop install it. I don't want to deal with insurance asking me who done the install when my Jeep lets go and hits the bridge support. Incidentally, the baseplates I have seen fail take the safety cables with them since the cables are attached to the factory mounting points that break away with the section of baseplate that lets go. You could pull the safety cables around another area of the towed vehicles chassis if they are long enough I guess. Again, I play with their rules so they [insurance] doesn't put the fault on me.
Interesting discussion and timely for me. I have had a Roadmaster 8000 since the late 90's towing a F350, then a Raptor, now back to a F350. When I first built and installed a base plate for my F350, No readily made adaptors were available like they are today.
That first base plate broke off at slow speeds at a highway convergence in very heavy traffic at maybe 10 mph. It slowly drifted over lanes from #6 lane to #3 where I was able to park my coach on the shoulder and run across stopped traffic that was in Awe of this truck making a slow "cut off" cars. Thank God nobody was hurt, or vehicles damaged. I was by myself. then came the smaller problem of getting both vehicles home. That story is for another time.
The Roadmaster wasn't damaged, it was locked into the broken base plate. All in all, I think I used that RM towing 7k lbs trucks for about 100K miles. I have been noticing all of the joints have some wiggle. If I counted all the joints, I'd say 4 points(?), plus some wear into the receiver it was giving me a wiggle when breaking into a turn. In other words, I can feel the slack being taken up or extending thru my chassis at the steering wheel. So, I bought the Blue Ox about 2 weeks ago. It's designed to tow 16K. It very beefy. It weighs 2xs as much as the RM and I hope to get 100K miles out of it. After all this I even shimmed my 2 1/2" receiver with 18g sheet metal. I want no movement back there.
So, buy heavier duty than you need. Verify connections and looseness each hookup. I found a loose bolt once on my Raptor mounting bracket. I second the vote for Air Force one braking systems.
Karen and I travel about 15k miles a year, so my components like tow accessories get used a lot.
I'm with you, Dave...GO BIG!! Man, a 16k BO? Sheesh.
My next bar might be more capacity than the NightHawk.
For all...
I made take fire here, but that's ok...I've changed my perspective, out of the BEST SAFETY I can provide, and hope that maybe this will change your perspective as well.
I'm now in a camp with quite a few others who say that I tow-bar is CHEAP when compared to what it's being asked to do.
So, I'm all in favor with the 3 year replacement plan!
Around a circle of Newell buddies, we were discussing the last few tow/plate failures...and here are a few of the irrefutable comments which, once you heard them, ya kinda felt guilty.
"Think about the fact you're in a (up to) $2.5M 65k pound coach pulling (up to) a $100k heavy SUV/Truck."
"You're dropping well over a $THOUSAND to fill your tank after a couple legs."
"Your tires are replaced every 5 years for $8k."
"Your insurance is (up to) $20k/year"."
"And yet...you balk at replacing your $1k tow-bar every few years?"
P.S. I think I need a stiff drink after listing all of those figures!!
If I could build on Dave’s commentary, and I have posted this comment on the forum previously.
I looked carefully at all the pictures I could find of the infamous run away toads. No doubt it is a scary and dangerous situation. In none of my comments do I assign blame.
I came to a couple of conclusions. One, the failure mechanism was side to side fatigue of either the frame of the towed vehicle or the baseplate. Two, the mounting, the frame, and the baseplate were not engineered robustly for side to side stresses. Three, lifted vehicles with large tires exacerbate the situation.
I couple that with an experience I had last year while driving on I75 in Florida. I came up behind a rather late model Newell towing an F 150. I was absolutely SHOCKED at the violent slamming that I observed as the toad moved from one side to the other. When the toad would oscillate from side to side, it slammed at the end of each oscillation. I waved the owner into a rest area to warn him of the situation. I said he could not feel it in the coach. I examined the tow bar and base plate with him to try to understand what was going own. He had a standard tow bar and a riser to make the tow bar level. Both were simply pinned with normal pins, and both had a small amount of slop. I am of the opinion that that slop was the root cause of the violence I observed.
I am also of the opinion that the steerable tag increases the side to side forces on the towed vehicle in slow speed manuevers. I am of the opinion that oversized tires increase the side to side forces.
I would highly recommend that anyone towing install any of the devices intended to take the slop out of the connection. I would highly recommend that if you are towing a Jeep, that you examine the base plate to see if there is any side to side bracing. If not, have someone weld in side to side bracing.
Just my .02
I use 10,000 Lb. rated Blue Ox because I started out with one and then have been given a couple more along with lots of spare parts. I had to weld one Blue Ox baseplate that cracked due to my negligence in noticing the bolts were loose which caused the crack. The tow bar I'm currently using will be retired today when I arrive at my stick house, I have another to take it's place. I do not like Blue Ox policy of not rebuilding anything 8 years old but I understand why. The tow bar I'll start using is one Blue Ox rebuilt a few years ago and has not been used since. I have no idea what brand I would use if I had to buy one.
I use M&G 2.0 braking system. I believe it is basically the same as Air Force One, the difference being the M&G air cylinder is mounted externally while the AF1 is mounted inside the cab. For the Ram truck I chose the M&G external mounted cylinder, a personal choice since I install my own baseplates and braking systems.
I'll give a big SECOND to Richards comments about side to side movement. I've put many thousands of miles towing either a Silverado or Tahoe or Lexus GX470 behind my Newells and Foretravel. Never felt any movement caused by the toad. Once one of the pins broke off of the towbar arm and I only noticed it when I saw the Tahoe in my side view mirror! Never felt it but I'm sure it was swinging from side to side.
To give a different perspective I was towing the GX470 with my Roadtrek and it was a handful. I could feel and see the GX moving side to side. It was scary enough that I unhooked and Cindy drove it following me. Now I had towed the GX for almost 10,000 miles and never felt it behind the FT which is much lighter and shorter than the Newells.
So I agree that the minimal slop in the drawbar etc. is causing a violent enough movement to cause stress fatigue and failures. Especially if the toad is not built on a true frame and is only sheet metal. So think about what kind of toad is best. I'll put my money on a truck type vehicle.
YES on the anti-slop!!
I have not one, but TWO anti-rattle hitch lighters since we have 2 reducers sleeves. It's amazing how much different it feels when you're towing. YIKES.
I found this guy in Texas...make'n USA strong so I was happy to send him my money.
https://www.hitchclamp.com/collections/3-clamps