Community Forums

badturks5 · 08-29-2016, 07:29 AM

Looking for advice, my rig is a 1998 Fleetwood American Tradition DP. I just bought a 2013 Chevrolet Equinox fwd. Looking for advice on tow bars, base plates, aux braking systems. This is all new to me so any and all advice is welcome

Crasher · 08-29-2016, 07:47 AM

You are going to get all kinds of personal opinions. I have the Blue Ox base plate and tow bar. For auxiliary braking, I have the M&G system. Works perfect everytime and easy to hookup.

CJ7365 · 08-29-2016, 07:52 AM

With the current thread about the blue ox tow bar that broke and the "I dont give a crap" attitude they had, I would nt buy the last bottle of water from blue ox

wigginsjsr · 08-29-2016, 07:58 AM

We use Roadmaster Sterling Tow Bar, Roadmaster base plates, and SMI auxiliary brake. No problem with any of it after 8 years. Toad is 2008 Saturn Vue.

psi500 · 08-29-2016, 08:07 AM

We just put a NSA Brute Force tow bar/breaking system and a Blue Ox base plate on our 2014 GMC Terrain. Have towed close to 500 miles without any problems. I think the Equinox and Terrain would take the same base plate if bought from Blue Ox.

Crasher · 08-29-2016, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJ7365

With the current thread about the blue ox tow bar that broke and the "I dont give a crap" attitude they had, I would nt buy the last bottle of water from blue ox

I've only had ours for 14 years towing a 6300# Avalanche and Blue Ox just rebuilt it 3 years ago for $30, so I guess I won't know if it's any good for another 14 years. I'll be sure and let you know.

CJ7365 · 08-29-2016, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crasher

I've only had ours for 14 years towing a 6300# Avalanche and Blue Ox just rebuilt it 3 years ago for $30, so I guess I won't know if it's any good for another 14 years. I'll be sure and let you know.

Sounds good, I'll be waiting for your reply in 14yrs

firedoc · 08-29-2016, 12:36 PM

We tow a 2013 Terrain with Roadmaster base plate and Sterling tow bar and M&G brake system. Have probably 6000 miles on it. Very satisfied. I did have it professionally installed. Was uncomfortable with the Ready Brute system I had before.

dennis45 · 08-29-2016, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJ7365

With the current thread about the blue ox tow bar that broke and the "I dont give a crap" attitude they had, I would nt buy the last bottle of water from blue ox

Well, I read it on the internet therefore it must be fact. But we have not heard "The Rest of the Story"

I have all BlueOx set up (see my signature) and would go the same route again without hesitation.

jleamo1 · 08-29-2016, 01:05 PM

I bought a Demco Commander tow bar in 2010-2011 ish and have accumulated approximately 40,000 miles on it so far, no issues at all. M&G brake system in the Jeep, no issues with it either.
I have a Friend had to have his Blue Ox Aventa rebuilt after 22,000 miles of road time, I thought it was premature but I am no tow bar expert (towing a Saturn car). I went with Demco due to their pricing and previous experience with their products was great.

lanerd · 08-29-2016, 01:41 PM

About 20,000 miles towing on our Terrain with the Roadmaster All Terrain tow bar, base plate, and light kit. Brakes are U.S. Gear's Unified Brake System.

Word to the wise. replace the fuse that is required to be pulled before towing with a switch. Pulling that fuse each time and then putting it back in is a real PITA.

Ron

Easyrider · 08-29-2016, 04:44 PM

We use the Blue Ox base plate and are very happy with it. Blue Ox has sold a lot of towing equipment and I think it would be unrealistic to expect any manufacturer that has that much volume in sales to not have an occasional problem. I don't know the whole story involving a tow bar that failed. But I do know that eventually everything wears out, I'm starting to feel worn out myself, and if something isn't used correctly that also leads to eventual failure. I'd be confident buying towing equipment from any major manufacturer, and the determining factor for me was how it looked and how it did the job I needed it to do, which was towing and stopping the towed vehicle.

Slice · 08-29-2016, 05:23 PM

Demco dominator. Tow and base plate. Jeep Liberty. M&G brake. Works great. Couple min to hook and unhook.

MSHappyCampers · 09-01-2016, 01:37 PM

I recommend the NSA ReadyBrute Elite towbars with built-in ReadyBrake. It's low cost, simple to install and use, and rated at 8000 lbs.

We used the Roadmaster baseplate on our CRV because the front is "clean" when not towing!