Community Forums

RVJeeper · 03-09-2008, 08:38 AM

I thought I had this toad deal all figured out but Blue Ox kind of threw me a curve. I have a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee and recently bought a Blue Ox base plate on eBay at a great price. It's a discontinued model (#BX1115) that doesn't have the removable tow tabs. I got a great price on a Blue Ox Adventurer tow bar from Adventure RV but then ran into a snag. Deep in the Blue Ox instruction manual it states that the minimum recommended tow tab width is 24". Unfortunately this information is not listed in the product description on their website. The base plate tab width is 20", so it's under the recommendation for the tow bar. Blue Ox says it's a safety issue, but they wouldn't say why or what might happen if I use it for this application. Anyone have a clue?

RVJeeper · 03-09-2008, 08:38 AM

I thought I had this toad deal all figured out but Blue Ox kind of threw me a curve. I have a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee and recently bought a Blue Ox base plate on eBay at a great price. It's a discontinued model (#BX1115) that doesn't have the removable tow tabs. I got a great price on a Blue Ox Adventurer tow bar from Adventure RV but then ran into a snag. Deep in the Blue Ox instruction manual it states that the minimum recommended tow tab width is 24". Unfortunately this information is not listed in the product description on their website. The base plate tab width is 20", so it's under the recommendation for the tow bar. Blue Ox says it's a safety issue, but they wouldn't say why or what might happen if I use it for this application. Anyone have a clue?

jhanan · 03-09-2008, 05:49 PM

I'm going to follow this post. I also was thinking about getting the Adventure bar being I'm a part timer to pull my 2005 Explorer. My Blue Ox base plate only has an 18" center line width. I wonderer why we cannot use this tow bar?

Route 66 · 03-10-2008, 04:46 AM

IMHO, the Adventurer tow bar possibly cannot be adjusted to a width below 24".

The INSTRUCTIONS indicate a range of 24" to 40".

It is also possible that a width less than 24" does not permit adequate control of the toad with this tow bar.

RVJeeper · 06-01-2008, 02:11 PM

Just a followup to this post. After seeing several toads with less than 24" base plate tab width using towbars similar to the Adventurer I decided to go ahead and try it anyway. No problems on the first test run of 10 miles, so we took it on a 500 mile trip. No problems at all, even when I cramped the towbar pretty tight getting into a gas station. Of course I'm doing this with full knowledge that if I do have a problem Blue Ox won't be any help... I'm on my own.

jhanan · 06-02-2008, 05:44 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by jhanan:
I'm going to follow this post. I also was thinking about getting the Adventure bar being I'm a part timer to pull my 2005 Explorer. My Blue Ox base plate only has an 18" center line width. I wonderer why we cannot use this tow bar? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I ended up with the Roadmaster Falcan 2 tow bar. It is motorhome mounted, fold away, self locking, and best of all I got it used in great condition for $125 cash off Craigs List. It connected up easily to my 18" wide Blue Ox base plate on the Explorer.