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Old 04-29-2013, 07:43 PM   #15
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That is why I bought a Ready Brute Elite tow bar with the blue ox ends. Instead of a 3yr warranty with a blue ox tow bar, Ready Brute has a Lifetime warranty to the original purchaser.
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Old 05-01-2013, 10:00 PM   #16
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Thanks for all the thoughts and comments. The bottomline is these towbars indeed have a lifetime (which I did not know about--my mistake) and cannot be taken for granted.

Quote:
Originally Posted by paz View Post
From the Blue Ox website

This is very interesting and supports the position taken by BO in the case of my failed unit. And as someone said mine was admittedly used so one cannot be sure how mistreated it was in its previous life.

Quote:
Originally Posted by danes-on-tour View Post
If you ever go to rallies, you may find Blue Ox there, as they do offer a $25 inspection and refurb service in a lot of these places.

We had ours done in Quartzsite this year - $25 well spend.
Frankly, I think BO should do an inspection of this nature without charge. While some will argue they should be paid for their service, I would argue such service should be a part of customer relations. As a small business owner myself I certainly would not charge a customer for such an inspection of my product to see if it was failing or needed adjustment.

Attached is a photo of the failed part. And BTW as I said what irked me most was BO's failure to even care or offer some words of apology (without of course admitting any guilt on their part).
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Old 05-02-2013, 12:41 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by colo.kids View Post
Frankly, I think BO should do an inspection of this nature without charge. While some will argue they should be paid for their service, I would argue such service should be a part of customer relations. As a small business owner myself I certainly would not charge a customer for such an inspection of my product to see if it was failing or needed adjustment.
Just to clarify - the $25 service by Blue Ox I was referring to is a refurbishment of the tow bar. They take the tow bar apart - they replace the nylon washers and any other small items, and they tighten everything up. I am sure that Blue Ox will inspect your tow bar for free, but any work that needs doing they will charge a small sum for.

This is the system that most automotive businesses goes by. Example: I am sure that Chevy will have a good look at your truck and tell you what needs doing, but I doubt very much that they will service/repair it for free.
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Old 05-02-2013, 05:23 AM   #18
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Mine is all steel. Yes heavy, but after seeing that pic, I don't think I'll mind dealing with that weight quite as much any more?

Are they still selling them with the 8K rating and made of alum? That seems like a LOT of weight on a component like that one....
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Old 05-02-2013, 05:29 AM   #19
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Glad everything turned out well for you. Thanks for the reminder to give mine a once over.
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Old 05-02-2013, 06:14 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jcgribks View Post
That is why I bought a Ready Brute Elite tow bar with the blue ox ends. Instead of a 3yr warranty with a blue ox tow bar, Ready Brute has a Lifetime warranty to the original purchaser.
+1

One nice thing, among many, about the Ready Brute is that you can adapt it to any manufacturer's baseplate.
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Old 05-02-2013, 06:33 PM   #21
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Demco has a limited lifetime warranty on their tow bars.

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Old 05-05-2013, 07:42 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by danes-on-tour View Post
Just to clarify - the $25 service by Blue Ox I was referring to is a refurbishment of the tow bar. They take the tow bar apart - they replace the nylon washers and any other small items, and they tighten everything up. I am sure that Blue Ox will inspect your tow bar for free, but any work that needs doing they will charge a small sum for.

This is the system that most automotive businesses goes by. Example: I am sure that Chevy will have a good look at your truck and tell you what needs doing, but I doubt very much that they will service/repair it for free.
In that case I agree with you that it was money well spent and I also applaud with BO willing to provide the inspection without charge. My opinion of the company is improving.
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Old 05-10-2013, 05:45 PM   #23
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You asked about using a different brand tow-bar with your Blue Ox base-plate. Roadmaster offers their tow-bars with two options to attach to either the Blue Ox base-plate or Roadmaster.
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Old 05-11-2013, 09:44 AM   #24
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Quote:
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You asked about using a different brand tow-bar with your Blue Ox base-plate. Roadmaster offers their tow-bars with two options to attach to either the Blue Ox base-plate or Roadmaster.
I wish I had know this earlier as I would certainly gone that route. Thanks for the info.
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Old 05-11-2013, 06:52 PM   #25
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I have Roadmaster bar and a Blue Ox base plate . All that that was necessary was to order Blue Ox ends for the Roadmaster bar .. Works well
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Old 05-12-2013, 06:04 PM   #26
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Aluminum has definite fatigue life especially around welds. I've seen so many aluminum failures in different things. If you have an aluminum tow bar, it's not a matter of "if" it will fail, but "when"!
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Old 05-16-2013, 07:05 PM   #27
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Aluminum has definite fatigue life especially around welds. I've seen so many aluminum failures in different things. If you have an aluminum tow bar, it's not a matter of "if" it will fail, but "when"!
Good advice. I do not know of course if the yoke is made of aluminum but if that is the case a would think the design is flawed and reckless. It is my understanding this component was replaced with a steel yoke in later years, but still the company dis-avows any wrong-doing and as I said before is above saying their are sorry for any resultant problems or failures.
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Old 05-16-2013, 07:25 PM   #28
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This should be reported to the NHTSA. Catastrophic failure is a liability issue for the manufacturer and they should be involved, I would be talking with them. It is correct that aluminum has a finite modulus of elasticity, but if designed correctly, well consider DC 3's still flying after how many decades.
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