First Time Towing Vehicle

[ricky5924]

Looking into some options for towing my Nissan pickup. This is the first time i've towed a car/truck as I usually pull my motorcycle in a trailer. I really won't be using the towing system a lot, so, I don't want to invest a whole lot of $$$, i'd just like the option of towing a car if I wanted to. I know the brackets for the truck are going to be around ~$300 but I was thinking of getting one of the cheaper Blue Ox tow bars, I found and Adventurer for around $130.00 new. Anyone had any experiences with a similar issue or have any thoughts or input?

Thanks

[chasfm11]

Whatever setup that you choose, you should consider the weight of the Nissan and make sure that all of the components that you are selecting are capable of handling that weight. The most important consideration that you can have is safety.

I'm finishing up setting up our Vue for towing. Our Roadmaster baseplate as $345. We've towed with a Roadmaster Falcon2 tow bar for 5 years and I think we paid around $450 for it. The lastest prices is around $560. If you cannot do the work yourself to install the tow bar, you may be looking at another several hundred dollars for that. You also need to wire the Nissan so that the MH can turn on its lights (or go to some sort of magnetic mount light system like we used on our old Saturn.) I you do wire directly into the Nissan's harness, you'll need diodes or an extra socket kit. I think I paid $30 each for the diode kits. You will also need safety cables. Some tow bar packages come with them but am not sure whether the price on the tow bar that you quoted would include them.

Lastly, there is always the consideration of an auxiliary braking system. We selected the Roadmaster Brakemaster and have 5 years of trouble free experience using it. There is a lot of debate about whether it is legal to tow without some sort of brakes on the toad. The MH may be able to stop the toad but the real question is "in how much space". We've had a couple of close calls where a few inches meant the difference between no contact and a crash. I personally want all the braking power I can get under those circumstances. Lastly, the is question about a breakaway system. Our Brakemaster came with that kit. Without some sort of axillary braking on the toad, a breakaway function would be difficult or impossible.