Does towbar installation need the RV at the shop?

[Rich_in_Tampa]

I'm set to have my Blue Ox tow bar, baseplate, and Brake Buddy installed next week.

My dealer says he really just needs the TOAD. My RV has a 7-pin tow connector. He says that if I give him a careful measurement of the height of the receiver hitch, once the baseplate and Brake buddy are installed, there is really no reason I have to bring the RV to the shop. He can use any handy receiver hitch at his shop to show me how to connect everything.

Just a sanity check: does this sound right? It would be mighty handy. Thanks.

[Batman_777]

Yes,,, It's the measurement of the ball height that is critical. Take variety pics of the hitch showing a tape measure and with the ball in place.

[BobGed]

Assuming he is also installing a light kit, either using diodes or dedicated bulbs, I would bring the MH to the shop when he's all done to make sure it's working correctly.

[Alan_Hepburn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Batman_777 Yes,,, It's the measurement of the ball height that is critical. Take variety pics of the hitch showing a tape measure and with the ball in place.

Blue Ox doesn't use a ball - the tow bar fits directly into the receiver on the back of the RV. When we had ours installed they asked me to bring the RV around when I picked up the car. That way they can verify the wiring and measure the hitch height themselves. If you want to take the responsibility of those two tasks then they probably don't need the RV...

[RVThere]

My dealer also required both the toad and coach to be left there so they could check all the wiring, etc.

[FleetMan]

I've got the Blue Ox and the US Gear system. The installer needed the toad for the better part of one day for the base plate and wiring and the coach for an hour or so for the coach portion the day we picked up the toad.

[Batman_777]

It really is wise to have the MH at the shop

[LandHo]

Installer only needs the MH to make sure the electrical connections at the end of your MH is working. IMO, MH not needed. You can measure from the ground to the center of your MH hitch receiver to determine whether you need a drop hitch for the tow bar. You can test the elec connection of your MH with a multimeter. If all this stuff is new to you... the peace of mind that everything is working would be a reason to have MH at installer's place.

[Gary RVRoamer]

Quote:

Blue Ox doesn't use a ball - the tow bar fits directly into the receiver on the back of the RV

Just for the record, this statement is not universally true. Some Blue Ox tow bars couple to a ball mount, while others will slide into the receiver directly. It all depends on which model Blue Ox tow bar you buy.

[Rich_in_Tampa]

Aladdin.

[paz]

I agree it would be a good idea to take the RV to the shop so the dealer can make sure all the lights and connections work.

A good reason for this is RV manufacturers may do the wiring of the 7-pin connector a little differently. For example, our motorhome has separate brake lights and turn signals, and the manufacturer installed an a converter before the 7-pin connector to combine the turn signals and brake lights. Since our toad has separate turn signals and brake lights, I had to remove the converter. Some manufacturers supply converters and some may not. If your motorhome has combined turn signals and brake lights and your toad lights are separate, you need a different kind of converter. IMO, it would be good to have the RV there so the dealer can check everything out. He can also show you how to hook up properly and you can make a practice run on your drive back home.

[chasfm11]

I was one who took only his toad to have the baseplate installed. The dealer handed me the tow bar and said "mount it yourself."

When I got home, I discovered:
1. The lights on the toad didn't work. After fussing with them for a while, hooked the toad up to our van (it has trailer wiring and I was only using a 4 pin connector on the toad at that time.) and it worked fine. I then took the MH down and a blown 3-2 converter was discovered.
2. I tried to connect the tow bar to the toad. I couldn't Again, I fussed and fussed with it. I took part of the baseplate back to the dealer who found nothing wrong. A second trip back with both the baseplate connector and the tow bar demonstrated to the dealer that the parts just didn't fit. New parts were ordered and installed.

This time, I solved my problem When we got a new toad, I installed my own base plate and wiring. I did have some issues with the baseplate but I was able to work through those better than I did with the dealer the first time.

I believe it testing EVERYTHING. You don't have to have the MH at the dealer if you are responsible for fixing whatever happens after the dealer is done. Be prepared, however to fix any problems that the dealer causes. Personally, I'd just as soon correct my own mistakes.

[wa8yxm]

When my system was installed I had to have the coach in the shop for the brakes (US-Gear Unified Braked Decelerator) to be installed on the coach but that's all. The car had to be there for the baseplates and the rest of the braking system.

Now, as for the coach, I'd take it to the shop when you go to pick up the car

That way if they need to use a "Drop hitch" to get the tow bars near level they can choose it at that time, show you the proper hookup (Assuming they know how to do it) test your towed brake controller and such... ANd you can tow it home.

Better to find problems on the "Shop to home" trip than on the "home to campground 1,000 miles away" trip I always say.

I found 2 problems with my installation... One of them was pulling out the drive, at 3AM on Jan 2, on a 2,000 mile trip. Thankfully that one (Broken wire, tail light lead, on motor home) was easily bypassed.

(Since US gear system has a battery Tie-Line (Cocah to towed) which acts as a "keep charged" system...... I simply turned on the parking lights on the towed)

[Batman_777]

There's one more thing about the receiver height..
Make sure the RV is at it's riding height (i.e. air bags inflated) when taking the measurements.