BlueOX Aventa LX Locking

[fatguy57]

I used my new Aventa LX for the first time this weekend. I had a minor problem getting the right arm to lock in the extended position. Got it to lock eventually, but not as easily as the left arm. Also when in the stowed position same arm will not lock in the fully retracted position. The left arm locks easily extended or fully retracted. Do I possibly have a defective towbar. When fully extended it does lock for towing.

[Pigman]

First I'd call Blue Ox and see what they say. It might be a lube problem that you can remedy yourself. If not you might have to ship it or that leg back to Blue Ox.

John

[paz]

We have a Blue Ox Advanta LX, and the arms don't lock in the stowed position. There is sort of a detent so the arms stay in the stowed position, but they do not lock. You can yank on the arms and they will open without pressing the levers.

In the extended position, both arms lock firmly. Some people pull the motorhome forward to lock the arms after the car is hooked up, but we always back up the toad. Sometimes one arm is a little difficult to lock when the car is hooked up, but that's because I didn't get the car perfectly straight behind the motorhome.

[SideRoads]

DW watches when I pull the MH forward to ensure the arms lock, wheels turn, and lights light.....No problems....The arms don't usually lock until I pull forward, unless there is enough room for them to be extended to the lock position when I hook up the Jeep.

[Cruzer]

When the arms are retracted there is a detent to hold the arms from sliding out. The arms themselves have a round nub on the end of them. There is a rubber grommet in the rear of he case that this nub pops into when fully retracted. It takes a bit of a shove to set it and a bit of a tug to extend it when the rubber grommet is grabbing the nub on the end og the shaft.

The rubber grommets do wear out because they do get exposed to the elements. I replaced mine after 3 years because one would no longer stay in. It required disassembling the tow bar to get to them so you need a bench vise and some good sized sockets.

[Norm4015]

We back up the car and see if one of the arms didn't lock. If an arm doesn't lock turn the steering wheel slightly in the direction of the unlocked arm and pull the motorhome forward about a foot and it will lock. (When sitting in the car's passenger seat, if the arm on the right didn't lock, turn the steering wheel clockwise about 1/8 turn.)

After we check the lights my wife watches the towbar and makes sure it locks and she makes sure all the wheels are turning. So far I've always remembered to stop and wait for her to get in the motorhome before hitting the road.

[nalcon]

I have a CRV for a toad. I am reluctant to back it up to lock the tow bar because I then have to go through the pre tow sequence again. Going from Reverse to Neutral is not recommended. Only Drive to Neutral. Therefore, I just pull ahead with the MH and the bars lock. Never had a problem doing it that way. My wife is my spotter and verify it locked. Plus I use the rear view camera. I'm concerned in the hustle of hooking up and doing all the checklists I may forget about the Drive to Neutral rule.

[MuckSavage]

Yep, when the bars are stowed, it's into what Blue Ox calls a "soft lock". After hooking up, I pull the MH froward while turning the wheel side-to-side. Both arms will lock as the DW looks on. Then check that the toads steering whell turn, all lightss work, Tow-V-Aire works, etc, etc.

[fatguy57]

I appreciate your inputs, I ended up sending the one leg back to BlueOX for them to fix-repair. The service rep had a bit of a hard time believing it would not "soft" lock in the stowed positioned and told me to slam it hard. Tried that to no avail. The other leg locked easily in the stowed position. I guess I could have lived with it, since it did lock properly for towing. But for what this thing costs, I want it to work properly in every function.