Newbie question again! Tow bar & auxiliary brake setup???

hanko wrote:

Effy wrote:
I use blue ox base plates and Ready Brute Elite tow bars. The Ready brute elite has the brake system built in. I like it because it's completely mechanical so there's nothing to fail, and the install is permanent and can't be seen so there is no brake in to install and take out for every trip. I just hook up the cable and I'm done.

this system is a no brainer. Works great. did you hook up the little red light you mount on the dash?

Yes I did. It's handy to know when the car's brakes engage.

We have a 97 Wrangler - I use the Blue Ox Aventa tow bar and base plate. They are pretty simple base plates for the TJ.

You'll have to think about how you want to approach the braking - passive or portable. The passive systems are more or less permanently installed and many use air from the MH if you have it. The portables install on the floor and push the brake pedal, activated in several ways.

We went for the RVi2 portable because we originally towed behind a 5er without air plus I probably will change Jeeps before too long. The IRV2 is lighter than other portables, uses internal air instead of electromechanical thrust that can be slow, and has a nice wireless cab control. Another big reason for us selecting the RVi2 is it does not depend on brake lights to activate like some others. Our MH brake lights come on with the exhaust brake and I didn't want the Jeep to start braking whenever I was using the MH exhaust brake. The portables are probably not as effective as some of the passive systems that continuously apply vacuum onto the power brake system, but I'm so overbraked with the DP that my only real concern is less wear and tear on the tow bar and breakaway protection for the Jeep. There is an RVi3 out now.

Effy wrote:
I use blue ox base plates and Ready Brute Elite tow bars. The Ready brute elite has the brake system built in. I like it because it's completely mechanical so there's nothing to fail, and the install is permanent and can't be seen so there is no brake in to install and take out for every trip. I just hook up the cable and I'm done.

this system is a no brainer. Works great. did you hook up the little red light you mount on the dash?

We have towed our Jeep Liberty more than 120,000 miles over the past 13 years with a Blue Ox base plate and tow bar. During that time we pulled the base plate off twice and had one tow bar casualty. Blue Ox stands behind their products!

Make sure your base plate is professionally installed IAW Blue Ox procedures. The box frame on my Liberty where the baseplate attaches is only 0.040" thick. Make sure the baseplate has a separate attachment to the frame (mine did not).

Be sure to use an auxiliary brake system on every trip! For most of our miles we used a Brake Buddy but occasionally on short trips I skipped installing the BB. Now I use a Invisibrake which works fine but I wish I had gone with Air Force One. Invisibrake doesn't fit under the seat but is on the floor of the back seat...ugh!

We use the roadmaster tow bar with roadmaster base plates and the invisi-brake braking system. We've been happy with the set up so far.

Another vote for the ReadyBrute Elite tow bar/brake system. Nearly 50,000 towing mile without any problems. Hooking up only requires snapping a clip on a cable loop. We also use Blue Ox base plates...

I had the Roadmaster base plate installed and I went with the Roadmaster BlackHawk 2 10,000lb tow bar and if you have air brakes one of the best systems for braking is the Air Force One.
JR

I use blue ox base plates and Ready Brute Elite tow bars. The Ready brute elite has the brake system built in. I like it because it's completely mechanical so there's nothing to fail, and the install is permanent and can't be seen so there is no brake in to install and take out for every trip. I just hook up the cable and I'm done.

We use a 10,000 pound Blue Ox system and a brake buddy auxiliary brake setup. This is all we have ever had and can not make any comparisons to other systems.

Also strongly suggest you use an TPMS for all your tires. We use Pressure Pro and again can not make any comparison as this is all we have ever use.

Loving God's Country! wrote:
Its me again! Since we've only had our rig for about a month or so we are wanting to set ourselves up to tow our jeep wrangler. What is everyone's input on tow bars and auxiliary brake setups? Thank you!!!

I went with a Blue Ox Patriot auxiliary braking system, Blue Ox Base Plate, Blue Ox Tow Bar and Blue Ox Wiring Harness. Total cost with installation was about $2,500. I have had some issues but Blue Ox has been very good about taking care of them.