Need advice on Tow Bar

[MikeRP]

Hey everyone,

I'm getting my Coach ready for vacation and I'm getting setup to tow 4 down. I have a new Jeep Grand Cherokee and I have a 2012 Sunseeker 3010 w the 7500 lb hitch.

A good friend of mine has an American Coach and he's had it for 10 years. One time on vacation a few years ago his tow bar, a Roadmaster Blackhawk all terrain 2 tow bar, one side would not lock. He didn't have time to mess with it and went to the nearest camping world and bought an exact new one.

He's a very gifted mechanic and took the tow bar apart and he said all it needed was cleaned up and it seems to lock fine now and looks to be in very good condition.

He has given it to me. I'm a bit worried because I have a brand new 45000 vehicle attached.

How do you know a tow bar is worn out?

Should I just buy a new one and send this one back?

Could I send it to Roadmaster to be reconditioned?

Do you guys replace your towbar on a schedule?

Any advice appreciated in addition to the questions!

[tenbear]

My Blue Ox tow bar is 9 years old. I had it checked out by Blue Ox at a Rally a couple of years ago for $25 and they replaced some of the parts and cleaned it up. Works as good as ever.

[Canadian_Rainbi]

trop-a-cal wrote:
They need maintenance to insure operating smoothly. WD 40 should be sprayed on the bar that goes into the sleeve when bar is open and then cleaned and sprayed again, every time it's used. They also come with a cover that should be on when not in use. Your toad is heavy maybe 4500 LBS not 45000. So you have to have a brake system and break away cable, plus lights. Then depending what transmission you have you may need a transmission fluid pump.

Roadmastster says NEVER USE WD 4O on their tow bars. Use only a silicone lubricant. IF the bar needs serious cleaning us something like simple green. I had a road tar problem and had to use a degreaser. Followed up with lots of Simple Green then lots and lots of water. When dry, sprayed with Silicone spray and it was good as new.

You can phone them and talk to a tech--great help.

[MikeRP]

The JGC sticker was around $42000. We've had it for one year and it is a great vehicle. Well have it for 10-12 years so it's a good investment for us. It weighs 4860lbs on a Cat scale. That was a bit close for comfort for me so I asked the dealer and he installed the new 7500lb hitch that they are putting on the same model Sunseelker.

Give me a little bit of headroom and I believe in that go big or go home thing too!

I appreciate your advice I will call Roadmaster ship it back and have it inspected by them and rebuilt if necessary.

It's cool that my Coach is now rated for the 7500 lb hitch.. I looked at the old hitch with the dealer and it's exactly the same but you can clearly see the steel is heavier.

I like the idea of the ready brute elite tow bar. I have a Kar Kaddy SS for sale if anyone needs one. My previous rig weighed about 4000 lbs so I doubt another 900 will make that much difference.

Anyway thanks for all the advice!

[MaverickBBD]

I have used my Falcon 2 All Terrain tow bar on my '94 Cherokee Sport for years. Tow bar was rated at 6k# Jeep weighed behind MH was 3,900#s. Used it on two different motor homes. Had a SMI stay in play braking system installed when it was behind our Class C. The box quit sometime after we moved it to our Class A. Was not too concerned as I figured our 30k# MH did an adequate job of stopping both. Two weeks ago I slammed into an intersection drainage dip in Desert Hot Springs. I was attempting to make the light and speed limit was 55 mph. When the front of the MH hit I went to panic brake mode to slow. The intersection was less then a mile from the park I was headed. When I went around to unhook I was amazed at how wow'd the arms were. Obviously they were not going to slide into the sleeve.

Ordered, received, and installed a new Black Hawk 2, 10,000# tow bar. Since then I just purchased a 2014 Jeep Cherokee Latitude. Curb weight 4,400#. I was shopping for the GC. Thus the purchase of the heavier tow bar. GVWR according to the door on the GC was 6,500#s. Figure the curb weight was around 55. DW liked the smaller Latitude better. Didn't break my heart that it was lighter AND CHEAPER!

I am now going to get an AirForce1 system installed on both vehicles so I can tow either one with my confidence restored.

My advice is go "big or go home". You may be years of satisfaction by being close to margins and I hope you do BUT it only takes on time to 'take it to the limit'. Good luck.

[traveylin]

Just had my bluox tow bar overhauled by the factory. 95 bucks plus return shipping. Cost me 45 to ship it to Nebraska. I had about 25000 miles of use ever 3 years. I will repaint and will have another 3 good years of use.

pops

[dons2346]

Transfer case shifting in now done electronically so make sure you follow the instructions. I would not have any worry about using the Blackhawk tow bar. Clean it good and if things don't lock up, you can take it apart to do a better job of cleaning. Roadmaster now charges to overhaul their bars. Depending on what is needed, it could cost in the neighborhood of 200 bux.

We have a '14 GC Hemi that we don't tow. You will find it is a fun vehicle to drive. Ours gets 22MPG out on the open road.

[dubdub07]

trop-a-cal wrote:
They need maintenance to insure operating smoothly. WD 40 should be sprayed on the bar that goes into the sleeve when bar is open and then cleaned and sprayed again, every time it's used. They also come with a cover that should be on when not in use. Your toad is heavy maybe 4500 LBS not 45000. So you have to have a brake system and break away cable, plus lights. Then depending what transmission you have you may need a transmission fluid pump.

The Quadra-Trac/Drive transfer cases do not need anything to be towed 4 down. As long as you have one of those transfer cases the tranny spins naught. The new GK WK-2s are way heavier than 4500lbs, probably in the region of 5400lbs. Either way, that tow bar should work great. He definately meant $45k. Jeep thinks a lot of their new GC as they are very expensive. Local dealer can't seem to keep them on the lot, however......

ww07

[weathershak]

trop-a-cal wrote:
They need maintenance to insure operating smoothly. WD 40 should be sprayed on the bar that goes into the sleeve when bar is open and then cleaned and sprayed again, every time it's used. They also come with a cover that should be on when not in use. Your toad is heavy maybe 4500 LBS not 45000. So you have to have a brake system and break away cable, plus lights. Then depending what transmission you have you may need a transmission fluid pump.

I think he meant $45000.00 ouch, Ill keep my old Jeep GK:E

[rockhillmanor]

Ditto x2 on all tow bars need to be serviced. I had a brand new one that had to be adjusted after my toad started swinging all over. I would not buy a used one or at least have it looked at by the manufacture before using it.

I'll also just add to buy a auto braking system tow bar.

First time I bought the blue ox tow bar and the brake buddy system.
Had I known more about the inline tow bar braking and some of the other types of braking systems available, I would have NEVER bought the brake buddy.

It sucks getting on your hands and knees to put the brake buddy on the floor of the toad AND taking it in and out all the time.

Do yourself a favor and look into the different braking tow bars. Many members right here on the forum know which ones are the best. Good Luck.

[trop-a-cal]

They need maintenance to insure operating smoothly. WD 40 should be sprayed on the bar that goes into the sleeve when bar is open and then cleaned and sprayed again, every time it's used. They also come with a cover that should be on when not in use. Your toad is heavy maybe 4500 LBS not 45000. So you have to have a brake system and break away cable, plus lights. Then depending what transmission you have you may need a transmission fluid pump.