Unlocking an older Sterling towbar

[Boiler Maker]

I have an older Roadmaster Sterling towbar that I'm trying to use for the first time. I can't see how to unlock the towbar from the locked position at the motorhome. This prevents me from straightening the arms so I can hook to the toad. It looks as though the newer ones have the latching mechanism on a spring which you can push forward and release. This one is welded on but has a slot coming out to the right. What releases this?

[Pusherpilot]

On mine I had to rotate the whole unit to the passenger side and unlatch it thru the slot. The whole unit swivels on the receiver. On mine the swivel was really tight so I had to apply a bit of muscle to the arms and give it a twist in a clockwise (facing the rear of the coach) direction till the pin lined up with the gap.
The bars in the stowed position point to the driver side, simply rotate them like a large handle to the passenger side and they come down to the tow position.
Ron

[Boiler Maker]

I had called Roadmaster and once they found an old hand he told me the same thing. Looking at it I couldn't see that it rotated that way although I knew it had to. I didn't want to create more problems by putting to much muscle. (Not that I have much muscle to put anymore). I sprayed with oil and let sit awhile and it worked exactly as you described. Thanks for the respond.

[Pusherpilot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boiler Maker I had called Roadmaster and once they found an old hand he told me the same thing. Looking at it I couldn't see that it rotated that way although I knew it had to. I didn't want to create more problems by putting to much muscle. (Not that I have much muscle to put anymore). I sprayed with oil and let sit awhile and it worked exactly as you described. Thanks for the respond.

From my experience with the towbar we had the rotational motion of the bar wants to be pretty tight. After mine loosened up significantly the toad developed a "rolling" motion that I'm convinced shortened the life of the towbar. I traded it in for a Reman bar that has the latch and it is no longer necessary to rotate it so far every time I hookup. The old bar had appx 75k miles on it so I'm happy with the performance. It's hard to beleive but those things really do wear out!!
Ron