Community Forums

scottsdaletom · 12-10-2005, 01:09 PM

I'd like some information on towing. I haven't towed yet, but will be soon. I have a 2003 Scottsdale w/8.1 Vortec engine on the Workhorse chassis.
Any advice on what brand of towbar is good? I'm also wondering what would be better to tow..a Chevy Cavalier (auto transmission), or a manual transmission Ford Ranger.
My main question is about the Brake Buddy. I think it would be a good thing to have. I'm aware that it only comes in handy for those emergency stop on a dime type situations, but that's good enough for me. The way I look at it, what's your peace of mind worth. Mine's worth the $1000 bucks or so that they cost.
Some seasoned RV'er's I know say they are unneeded and a waste of money. I think this pretty much parallels along the lines of the saga of whether to drive w/propane on or not.
Like I said, what's your peace of mind worth?
I'd like some opinions on the Brake Buddy, or similiar auxiliary systems, and the need for them. Yes?/No?.
Thanks in advance

scottsdaletom · 12-10-2005, 01:09 PM

I'd like some information on towing. I haven't towed yet, but will be soon. I have a 2003 Scottsdale w/8.1 Vortec engine on the Workhorse chassis.
Any advice on what brand of towbar is good? I'm also wondering what would be better to tow..a Chevy Cavalier (auto transmission), or a manual transmission Ford Ranger.
My main question is about the Brake Buddy. I think it would be a good thing to have. I'm aware that it only comes in handy for those emergency stop on a dime type situations, but that's good enough for me. The way I look at it, what's your peace of mind worth. Mine's worth the $1000 bucks or so that they cost.
Some seasoned RV'er's I know say they are unneeded and a waste of money. I think this pretty much parallels along the lines of the saga of whether to drive w/propane on or not.
Like I said, what's your peace of mind worth?
I'd like some opinions on the Brake Buddy, or similiar auxiliary systems, and the need for them. Yes?/No?.
Thanks in advance

Greyhound · 12-10-2005, 03:57 PM

Tom,
I use the Roadmaster. Have on two vehicles and am very pleased with it. I tow a 2000 Suzuki Grand Virtara (4wd) stick shift. I used the same bar when I was pulling a Saturn.
As for the Brake Buddy. I have used one for over seven years, made two panic stops and was glad it was back there. If you look at the laws of the states, you will see they can be confusing as to what is needed and what isn't. A friend of mine (retired CHP) put it this way:"we (CHP) will not pull you over to see if you have supplemental braking, but if your in an accident, we will do a spot check." I guess erring on the side of caution is something to consider.
Bob

wallynm · 12-10-2005, 05:07 PM

We have a Brake Buddy and have been happy with it. I have never had any other so can not compare it to anything else. The new BB have porpational (SP) braking and a couple other new features to meet the competion. I think they (that is the ones like BB that use the FROG electrical power outlet to run a compressor and other widgets) are all about the same so would buy on price.

We use the alert and brake away sustem.

ploiselle · 12-10-2005, 05:18 PM

I can only speak for the Break Buddy, but IMHO it works as advertised. I also have had to make two panic stops and I don't think that I would have been successful without it. I tow a Grand Cherokee which is very heavy. Since both of the vehicles that you are looking at towing are fairly light, I would choose the vehicle that would best suit your needs once you get to a location.

As for the towbar, I only have experience with Blue Ox. What I like is that it is easy to hook up and that the baseplate is almost undetectable when not in use. I have the aluminum Aladdin Tow Bar which weights 21 pounds.

scottsdaletom · 12-10-2005, 09:45 PM

Thanks to Greyhound, ploiselle, and wallynm for the sound advice. It's looking like the brake buddy (or similiar devices) is the way to go..
Any other opinions out there?

ajbjrvers · 12-11-2005, 02:20 AM

To; Scottsdaletom

Re; Flat towing Cavalier.

I tow a Pontiac Sunfire, 4 forward speed automatic,make sure yous has the right tranny. I have Blue Ox base plate, blue ox Aventa II tow bar, both have worked well for over 6 years.

MAKE SURE THE HEIGHT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MOTORHOME IS NO MORE THAN 4 INCHES, BETTER AS LEVEL AS POSSIBLE. If you tow the Cavalier you will need at least, a 6 inch drop receiver. Drop reciever a must if height difference is more than 4 inches. I learned first hand what happens , I almost lost toad on highway because baseplate just about pulled off car and at that speed , the brake - buddy would stopped toad fast, but I don't think following cars would have avoided toad.

Go to Blue Ox website for more info on products, read TOWING 101.

You have seen me mention Brake - Buddy, I've used mine since 2000, works for most stops, not just panic ones, there is a transmitter in the toad and a reciever in motorhome which lights up red when brake-buddy applying brakes.

The only invasive ?? installation is running wire for motorhome plug from griil of toad to inside of toad by drivers feet. if you want to use brake-buddy in another car just run another wire ,as above in 2nd car. I don't think the addition cost for the aluminum tow bar is necessary unless you have an over-weight problem.

Hope this info helps.. Thanks AJBJRERS

Doc Mark · 12-11-2005, 04:10 AM

Hi Tom - I guess I am the odd-man-out. I had a Roadmaster bar and it was awful. Hard (sometimes impossible)to unhitch unless dead level and straight, heavy and a nuisance to assemble the gear on the tow car (first you assemble 2 tubes that attatch to the car, then the cross-bar that goes between these - then you have to attach 4 short safety cables and 2 long ones) a real pain, especially in the cold or wet. Took about 10 minutes to hook everything up.

I now have a Blue Ox Alexus Tow Bar (I tow a Honda Pilot - a fairly heavy car - if you tow a lighter vehicle I would recommend the Blue Ox Aladdin Bar - weighs only 23 lbs!) and LOVE it. It detaches easily even when out-of-level or skewed, and attaches to the tow car like a dream. All you do is plug in 2 short light-weight connectors to the socket on the tow plate, and attatch the towbar with the pins. Then attatch the 2 safety cables and plug in the lights - voila - done in 3 minutes!

As for the braking system, I opted for the US Gear system. It is installed in the tow car, and requires only attatching the break-away cable to be fully operative (all electronics go through the brake light cable).

Now let me say that I have relatively severe arthritis, and I look for solutions that don't require bending, crawling under things etc. So, the install/remove Brake Buddy was just not for me. Plus - the US Gear rig allows you - in the cockpit - to adjust the amount of braking force as you are going down the raod. A real plus in my estimation.

TXiceman · 12-11-2005, 04:43 AM

When we had a MoHoand towes a dinghy, we used the Road Master Falcon bar w/o a problem. We also used the Brake Master dinghy brakes and never a problem.

As for the issue of dinghy brakes, I feel they are 100% necessary. A lot of the gasser chassis manufacturers say supplemental brakes on any towed load over 1500#. Some try to justify no dinghy brakes by saying it is not a trailer, but all the MoHo chassis knows is that there is an extra 3000# of something behind you that needs to go and stop at the same time the MoHo does.

It is hard to fathom that folks spend $30K plus on a dinghy and $100K (more or less) on a coach and try to skimp on the basic safety items such as a $1K braking system.

Ken

Our Cow · 12-11-2005, 06:16 AM

We tow Jeeps. Sometimes a 99 Wrangler and sometimes a 05 Wrangler Unlimited. We use exclusively Blue Ox products. Aventi II towbar and Apollo Brake System in both vehicles. We bought a used towbar and went to Quartzite. Blue Ox was there and I ask them if they would check it out for me. They rebuilt it for NO CHARGE! They did have a tip jar which I definitely added to. When I ordered my Apollo the compressor on the first one wouldn't shut off. I called for support and they overnighted me a new one and I got it the very next day! Customer Service has been unbelieveable. http://www.aemfg.com is Blue Ox website. Also I work at RV Parks year round parking rigs. Never any trouble unhooking Blue Ox towbars. Some others are sometimes a struggle. Happy Trails no matter what products you use!

Fillitup · 12-11-2005, 06:01 PM

I have towed two Jeep GCs at 4000 lbs each with my Scottsdale with the 8.1. We have towed about 25,000 miles with the setup. I use the Roadmaster Sterling towbar because of the high weight tow rating it has and it has served me well with no problems. It also has channels in the bars that the wires go through instead of coiling them outside the bar - at the time purchased some manuf. did not have this convenience. I also use a Brake Buddy system and have had a little trouble with the alert option but the actual BB unit itself has worked fine. I can't complain and would probably buy the same tow setup again but I have not heard anything but good things from others about Blue Ox also - so you would also probably be happy there too. Just take it easy - go slow and be careful until you get some experience with towing under your belt. I want to add that my inlaws have towed a manual Ranger a lot and if I did not tow a Jeep or Honda SUV - I would go with the manual Ranger.

Edmund A Skibinski · 12-12-2005, 04:06 AM

Tom, I'm using the Sterling tow bar from Roadmaster and Brake Buddy supplemental braking on my coach. ED.S

Cruzer · 12-12-2005, 09:58 AM

I run the Blue Ox Aventa II on both my Jeeps. I've had good success from Blue Ox and you can get them quite reasonably at RVupgrades

scottsdaletom · 12-14-2005, 07:15 PM

I'd like to thank everyone who provided me some great input.
The good news is today I received in the mail the January '06 issue of MOTORHOME magazine. Inside was a smaller TV Guide sized 34 page phamplet called "2006 Guide to Dinghy Towing".
What a great bunch if info. Just what I needed.
The Towing 101 link on the Blue Ox website was a great source of info also.
Thanks again,
Tom