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ronheb454's avatar
ronheb454
Explorer
Oct 09, 2014

Tow Bar Advice

I recently purchased a Thor Miramar 34.1 and have a 2014 Ford Focus that I want to tow. I am new to RV'ing and this is our first RV. I have been looking at the Blue OX Tow Bar's and the sales rep was pushing the 10,000 lb., bar. I wasn't quite sure why I needed a bar with that capacity. I see a number of folks using the Road master Tow bars and I guess it is like a number of things, everyone has an opinion however I am curious as to what I should be looking for in a tow bar as I want to purchase the base plate for the Ford Focus but need to decide which tow bar I want to purchase, Blue Ox, Road master, or maybe another band that I am not aware of right now. I am just looking for some advice or things that I should be looking for, thanks for your help.
  • I use Stowmaster to drag my 4 door dakota. Before that I drug my 2 door dakota with the same gear, just took it off the old truck and bolted it on the new truck.

    I have about 50K miles on this setup and the only issue I have is that the slides are tight from gunk because I was foolish enough to not read that I should NOT use WD 40 or other petroleum based products to lubricate. I am in the process of cleaning them now and one is working fairly well but the other is still hard.

    Oh, I bought my setup used from someone that had been dragging a Durango before me. No telling how many miles there and I have never had any problems towing with it.

    It folds up on the truck, can be quickly removed from the truck and the little extensions can be removed easily so that all you see are the little square receivers for the parts that stick out to attach the tow bar. It is relatively light weight and I can remove and carry it by myself.
  • I have Blue ox Alpha works fine I tow a Fusion Hybrid its rated at 5000 lbs
  • j-d's avatar
    j-d
    Explorer II
    Look at the Ready Brute systems from Night Shift Auto. The towbar incorporates the braking system, and is adaptable to popular baseplates.
  • Thanks much, I did not know there was an adapter for the baseplate, good to know.
  • when we set up our Escape I had the hitch company install the Roadmaster base plate because it was less expensive and easier to install (also less expensive) than the Blue Ox.

    I ended up getting a great deal on a used Blue Ox and Brake Buddy so I purchased the Roadmaster to Blue Ox adapter. all is working fine, it's the Blue Ox Aventa which is rated at 10,000, he used to tow a Suburban.

    I called around on the baseplate install and the hitch shop I always use was 300.00 less than the other guy in town and the owner does all the work. JMHO

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