sticky sterling towbar.

As I just wrote about in another recent thread, Ive had my Sterling(non all terrain) tow bar for about 8-9 years now and even when I made the purchase, I recall them advertising it as non binding(after all, it was the costliess of their tow bars at the time). Make a long story short, Ive always had one side of the bar that binds constantly(that being the right side looking at the rear of the motorhome). I had the tow bar checked and rebuilt at a Rally one time but the Rep/Tech said there was nothing wrong with the bar. Ive tried all the different approaches from turning the steering wheel, starting the car and moving forward a bit.......anything to get the bar to releaase with only limited success. Ive given up so I always have a smaller diameter pin handy with a hammer just so I can knock the hitch pin out of the bar and IM OK with that.

When I replace this tow bar, Ill be sure to get an all terrain model, which I understand pretty much elimates this issue.

Roadmaster has complete manuals for all their devices on line in .pdf format. I would download the appropriate one for your towbar. I bought a used Sterling All-Terrain and had the problem you described. I called Roadmaster and spoke with one of their techs who was very helpful. He had me disassemble the towbar and do a little sanding of the plastic bushings that make up the inside bar. I then cleaned the bar extensively and lubricated it with ONLY silicone spray.....anything else will only attract more dirt and grit. I still had some difficulty with the bar being difficult to move into position. We took a long (8000 mile) trip last year and within the first few days of the trip the bar was functioning like a new one. Guess it just took awhile for everything to smooth out but now it works just fine. I used emery paper on the tow bar and shaft and I also worked the inside tube of the towbar using a long screwdriver and ran the emery paper there as well.
Seems lack of use is just not a good thing for these devices. Hope this was helpful.

http://www.roadmasterinc.com/pdf/85-5008-01.pdf

Sam