Tow Bar / Base Plate Recommendations

[RJ]

Blue Ox?

Roadmaster?

SOB?

TIA!

[usbusin]

I have always used Roadmaster on my Ford Explorer and my current Ford Taurus X SUV.  No problems. 

When my tow bar got a little "loose in the Joints' after maybe 150,000 miles of towing, I sent it to Roadmaster in Portland, OR and they rebuilt it for free!

GaryD

[eagle19952]

there all good....but their not all the same $$...
I would look for one that is rated 6000 #'s or more

[luvrbus]

You can get as fancy or expensive as you like ,the Curt is a good tow bar for the money 129 bucks at Del City and the less than a 100 buck Reese sold at Walmart is not bad or you can pay big bucks for the BlueOx and Roadmaster fwiw at Quartzsite now this time of the year a guy sell all types and brands for a real good price and usually has the base plates  

I see a lot of the GM owners buy from Harbor Freight they don't seem to be impressed with a 1000 dollar tow bar , I towed 2 Jeep all across the US with a 50 buck tow bar from Tractor Supply, Van is the proud owner of it now

[Lin]

I have a Roadmaster Stowmaster 5000.  I once had a cheaper one, but I like being able to fold it up on the bumper.  I got it used on Craigslist for about $100. and have seen others for sale at flea markets for about the same. If you look for one used, make sure you get the bumper attachment pins with it.

[Van]

sorry RJ late to the party again but it sounds like you got good advice here already 
P.S u get those ambers yet?

[Seangie]

RJ -

We bought Blue Ox cause they had a good name and known for good support.  Our first base plate we received would not fit.  Nothing on it was square and the welds were horrible.  My next door neighbor who was a welder by trade said if he saw welds like that on a jobsite he would fire the person on the spot.  So we sent that one back and got another that was slightly better and after making modifications to our van I got it to fit.

After 6 months the bolts started snapping.  None of them were quality and I had to replace them all with grade 8 bolts.  I've just recently repaired it again for the 4th time and I've had to double nut everything with locknuts.

It looks like I'm going to have to weld some more metal on it to get it to be a permanent fixture.  

In my experience I would never buy from them again.  And we have their patriot braking system which is a world of problems on its own.

Here's a link to the video of the 2nd baseplate - 20130522_191656.mp4: http://youtu.be/YYgFeLxBfnw

-Sean

Wandering the country in a 1984 Eagle 10S.  
www.herdofturtles.org

[Dave5Cs]

I got 2months ago Roadmaster 5250 e bay 300.00 with brackets and all bolts and cables. Works well with the NSA surge brake and the breakaway cable type.

[Oonrahnjay]

RJ -

We bought Blue Ox cause they had a good name and known for good support.  Our first base plate we received would not fit.  Nothing on it was square and the welds were horrible.  My next door neighbor who was a welder by trade said if he saw welds like that on a jobsite he would fire the person on the spot.  So we sent that one back and got another that was slightly better and after making modifications to our van I got it to fit.

After 6 months the bolts started snapping.  None of them were quality and I had to replace them all with grade 8 bolts.  I've just recently repaired it again for the 4th time and I've had to double nut everything with locknuts.

It looks like I'm going to have to weld some more metal on it to get it to be a permanent fixture.  

In my experience I would never buy from them again. ... 

     I bought a very nice Blue Ox tow bar - it has the slipping locks on the two triangular legs of if you're within about 4 feet of being lined up, you can hook up.  This is for a a 3200 pound Jetta TDI.  Yeah, expensive, even though it's not their biggest/highest weight capacity unit.  But it works well.
     The base plate was kinda funky but it fit the first TDI I had OK.  But that car was hit by a drunk doing about 115 MPH running from the cops and when it flipped end-over-end, it really smashed in the connector sockets etc.  So I bought a second baseplate for the replacement TDI.  It wasn't really any better and it has rusted like an Eagle in Michigan.  But mine came with Grade 8 bolts, everything lined up.
     So, I'd give the towbar a 9/10 - really happy with it, but the baseplate is pretty much 4-5/10 - pretty shoddy quality.

[Seangie]

Bruce -

We have the Blue Ox towbar as well and I must say that the towbar itself isn't bad.  Its held up well.  Its rated at 10k lbs and has had no issues pulling our 8k lb van.  I'd give it a 7.5 or 8 out of 10.

-Sean

Wandering the country in a 1984 Eagle 10S. 
www.herdofturtles.org

[Emcemv]

Surprised no one asked this.....you getting a bus RJ?

[Emcemv]

Surprised no one asked this.....you getting a bus RJ?

[RJ]

Surprised no one asked this.....you getting a bus RJ?

One Piece At A Time Johnny Cash

[chessie4905]

   He's going to buy the latest rage....a truck conversion and wants to tow a vehicle behind it.

[Dave5Cs]

57 C 8)addie with a 4106 toad behind it!.......