Tow Bars

[wbwood]

Got a question about tow bars. When getting a couple quotes for flat towing set up, both companies mentioned the Blue Ox Avail and the Blue Ox Aventa..Both of those are listed as 10,000 lb tow bars. Do I need one that heavy for a ford focus that weighs no more than 3000-3500 lbs?

[j-d]

Our Roadmaster tow bar is Steel. It was used, so a Take-it-or-Leave it decision and I decided Take. At least in Roadmaster, I found that the "Aluminum" bars are of course lighter than Steel, but the percentage isn't all that much. Every pound helps, at least at my age, but it isn't enough to be Make-or-Break. In a 24" pipe wrench, steel vs. aluminum is a big deal. Tow bar, not so much.

[Gjac]

When I bought mine 10 years ago the 10500 lb steel tow bar was cheaper than the lower rated Al bar. The main differance was weight between Al and steel. I choose the steel 10500 lb Demco because I only had to remove it once a year, it was cheaper, I felt more comfortable with the added capacity even though my tow car was only 2800 lbs. Another thing to think about is the fatigue of the moving parts of the bar, starting stopping, potholes etc. takes a toll on metal. I know of two friends that had Al tow bars fail with the lower rated bars.

[mfox20]

But with the dolly you have the headache of loading, unloading the toad, unhooking and finding a place to park it if you are in a back in spot, maintenance on another rolling piece of equipment, storing it at home when not in use. I think over time you will find the extra $1000.00 up front will be well worth it. Just my opinion.

I went with the ReadyBrute Elite setup with the Blue Ox baseplate on my 2013 CR-V. Bought my own parts online to save on taxes then paid a local installer to set it up. Cost was about $2800.

[db7512]

Alpha tow bar at 6500 lbs. My toad is a Fiat 500 and the MH has a 5K receiver.

[Ramair]

One thing to consider is if you go with the 10,000 tow bar then when you upgrade your tow vehicle you will not have to worry about getting a new tow bar. Most individuals keep their MH longer than their Tow Vehicle. Just my .02

[mowermech]

I towed various Jeeps for years with a Reese 5000 lb. capacity fixed arm adjustable width towbar, cost about $145, IIRC. I notice the latest version at Walmart is priced at about $165.
It did the job it was designed to do, no fuss, no muss, nothing bent, nothing broke, nobody was injured or died.
I had never heard of "auxiliary braking" at the time, so of course I did not have any such a thing.

[LakeN]

K Charles wrote:
I went with the Alpha which is good for 6500 lb. to pull a 3200 lb car.

Same here. Going to use with a Ford Focus. Not yet rigged/tested.

Just got Alpha hitch and it looks great!

[enblethen]

Don't forget with the tow dolly you should have light duty hitch on toad for moving it around. Tow dolly should have either surge or electric brakes. Electric brakes in a controller in MH.
I would look around more for tow bar and bracket costs. You should be closer to $2000 installed.

[wbwood]

Starting to think about going back to a tow dolly. I'm looking at minimum of about $3000 with me buying the parts and paying for labor to have it all done. Can save $1000 and headache of getting all done with going with a tow dolly.

[wbwood]

Dutch_12078 wrote:
Or look at the 8,000 lb rated ReadyBrute Elite tow bar that includes an integrated auxiliary brake system. The ReadyBrute is shipped with the arm ends you request to match the popular base plates.

We have and I was interested in it. But the closest place to install them wanted to charge us twice the manufacturers install time because its a brand new car and they never have done it on this model. And doing it myself is not an option.

[Dutch_12078]

Or look at the 8,000 lb rated ReadyBrute Elite tow bar that includes an integrated auxiliary brake system. The ReadyBrute is shipped with the arm ends you request to match the popular base plates.

[enblethen]

I would say it is overkill. I would be looking for one in the range of 5000 capacity MH mounted unit. Roadmaster Falcon II.

[aslakson]

We use a 10,000lb Blue Ox to tow our Honda CRV - after replacing a few Roadmaster 5K unis (one our fault, two they blamed us when it wasn't), I figured the tougher unit was better. At the time, the price difference was only about $30, which made it a no-brainer. So far, the Blue Ox has given zero problems in 5+ years of full-timing.

al

[K_Charles]

I went with the Alpha which is good for 6500 lb. to pull a 3200 lb car.