Towing setup - need advice on cost

traveylin wrote:
Welll a Missouri drivers lisc examiner and commercial drivers license inspector may have quality information, for Missouri, but this topic has been beat around the bush many times on this forum with references to tabulated requirements. The responder does correctly id this an an urban myth. Many states do not have the requirement

You have assumed too much. I was not in Missouri when I worked as a Drivers License Examiner. As for the brake requirements, define your 'many states' and I bet you can count them on less than one hand (Missouri is one of them). When that trooper pulls you over, tell him his is full of urban myth.

ThorResidencyNewbee wrote:
I'm ready to finally get my tow vehicle set up. I've decided to go with a ReadyBrute Elite tow bar and Blue Ox base plate. The local RV repair shop quoted me $2,400 out the door for the setup. They said that includes: ReadyBrute Elite tow bar, safety cables, umbilical cord from MH to jeep, Blue Ox base plate, lighting kit for the Jeep and all labor. The parts come to about $1,800 with tax. That means that there is about $600 in labor. This seems like a lot to me. The RV place said that would include instructions on setting everything up, leveling the hitch to Jeep and setting up and adjusting the ReadyBrute Elite cable. Does this sound right or is it way to expensive?

I've looked at the installation videos and it looks relatively simple. I'm just concerned with doing this since an error could be very costly.

Thanks.

Parts including a Demco base plate and all accessories including a wiring harness from COOLTECH were less than $1500 for us and it was simple to install. Besides, I wanted to be sure it would be done right.

ThorResidencyNewbee wrote:
I picked up the ReadyBrute elite yesterday from the RV store. All I can say is wow, it sure looks heavy duty. I've seen lots of older style tow bars on other motorhomes and this one looks super strong. I'm just curious if I need to also add the brake away cable or if that is optional. The RV shop that sold me the Ready Brute said I didn't need it.

Good decision on the ReadyBrute. :)

As far as the Readystop break-away setup is concerned: Technically you don't 'need' it, I don't guess, but most people (including myself) would highly, highly recommend it. If you install it at the same time as the Readybrake cable itself, its very easy to do and adds very little extra work.

Break-away system is one of those things we all hope we will NEVER actually use or find out how well it works, but if the day comes that you do (if toad becomes completely separated from your MH), you will be very, very sorry if you don't have it, and will wish you did.

Will

I picked up the ReadyBrute elite yesterday from the RV store. All I can say is wow, it sure looks heavy duty. I've seen lots of older style tow bars on other motorhomes and this one looks super strong. I'm just curious if I need to also add the brake away cable or if that is optional. The RV shop that sold me the Ready Brute said I didn't need it.

Thanks.

Well, I found a welding shop that was able to move the brackets on my bumper out to clear the Blue Ox base plate. I test fit it all up and it fits great. The shop cut, moved and rewelded the mounting tabs and repainted it all the same day for $75. I thought that was pretty fair. Now I just need my tow bar to show up. The order has been delayed twice now.

ThorResidencyNewbee wrote:
Well, as usual I ran into an issue with the install. --- snip

Well, this is my normal M.O. which is why I paid the extra bucks to have the install done :)

I bought my ReadyBrute from Eckharts Hitch and Welding in Reseda. They did the hook-up, wiring and welded a custom baseplate on my CR-V. He matched it to my MH hitch so no drop bars etc. were needed. $2500 out the door. It's a nice clean install and has worked very well.

Norm's 2 cents

Well, as usual I ran into an issue with the install. The aftermarket tubular bumper on my Jeep occupies the same mounting spot that the Blue Ox tow bar will need. So, before I can finish this up, I will need to find a welding place that can cut the mounting brackets off my bumper and move them out about 3/8" so that I can mount everything back up.

I do have a welder, but I don't try my welding skills enough to do the bumper. I'm glad I didn't have this installed by a shop, because they would have run into the same problem and probably not been able to fix it or if so, charged me a bunch to do it.

Anyways, still looking forward to my first towing trip, but it will probably have to wait until next month. Thanks again for the information.

Welll a Missouri drivers lisc examiner and commercial drivers license inspector may have quality information, for Missouri, but this topic has been beat around the bush many times on this forum with references to tabulated requirements. The responder does correctly id this an an urban myth. Many states do not have the requirement

willald wrote:

Medico wrote:
You did not mention in your original post about an auxiliary brake system with break away protection.

The ReadyBrute Elite tow bar the OP is going with comes with a very good auxiliary brake system, Readybrake. I got the impression the installation he was talking about included installing the Readybrake cable. Soo, the OP does have an auxiliary braking system included (a very good one at that).

It is true, though, he did not mention a break-away system. As I alluded to in my previous post, though, Readybrake does have their Readystop break-away product that provides a good break-away system that works well with their braking system (or any other for that matter). Like I said before, it would be a good idea to go ahead and get such and install it at the same time.

Most states and provinces require this aux. brake system, plus your insurance company would probably require it to insure your rig.

OK, now we're getting into some 'urban myths' that really needs to stop getting propagated.

No, most states do NOT require such, that is a myth that auxiliary brake companies have been very successful in spreading. When you look closer at the specific laws for the various states and how they define things, truth is most states do NOT require auxiliary braking on a towed vehicle.

Many states require such for trailers, but also indicate that a towed motor vehicle doesn't classify as a trailer. A

Sorry but you are flat wrong on a lot of your statement. Braking requirements are based on weight of what ever is being towed and that is how the large majority of states state it - by weight - be it a car, trailer, lead sled or whatever. The idea is to insure the ability to stop the towed vehicle and not let it control the towing vehicle. I was a state driver license examiner for 10 years and did many CDL road tests and the check of the trailer brakes was one of the first items on the test. For those states that stipulate a weight, 3000 lbs is the usual starting point but a lot of folks towing their cars behind their motorhomes (even small cars) opt to have the braking and breakaway equipment. It's not fun to have even a one and one half item pushing you down a mountain because you didn't think it needed brakes.

I just finished setting up my 2013 Chevy Sonic for towing. Bought a new open box Blue Ox Alpha tow bar on Amazon - included free shipping - total $495. Found used Patriot brake on one of the forums $250-but it arrived with minor damage so I shipped it to factory for repair and program upgrade. The upgrade was quoted at $110 and it included a one year warranty (same as a new unit). Plus they repaired all the damage at no charge. I did incur $65 in two way shipping charges. Then I went to Camping World where, as a Good Sam member, all installations of CW purchased accessories costs only $39. The normal base plate install labor rate at CW is $395 so the $39 is a steal. I could have bought a new base plate from Amazon at $350 but I elected to buy from CW for $466 plus that $39 install. Also let them install tail light wiring for the toad and a fuse bypass suggested by Chevy. The bypass is a convenience that allows me to forego digging deep into the instrument fuse panel to pull out a mini-fuse when I want to tow. The total bill counting the 3 installs was $779 at CW. I think when I added it all up (including a 6 inch drop receiver), it came out to $1780. So by buying some equipment from online retailers and having CW do a lot of the installs I feel I saved a ton plus the CW work was outstanding in all respects - very professionally done. Good luck on getting your setup done at a reasonable price. The only install I did was the Patriot brake and it was a snap since you will have to do it every time you set up to tow. Should take about 3-5 minutes.