Community Forums

BerylCop · 01-31-2014, 08:22 AM

Am considering purchasing a Roadmaster Falcon All-Terrain Tow Bar and base plate system for my 2008 Itasca Sunrise 32H motorhome for towing a 2011 Honda CRV. Also considering a Brakebuddy Stealth braking system. Also looking at Blue Ox but cost factor is moving me towards Roadmaster system. Any comments/opinions are appreciated.

djhinds · 02-01-2014, 07:53 AM

I tow a 2011 CR-V and I use the Blue Ox tow bar and base plate because it is almost invisible on the car when not in use. It is easy to install and remove. I went with M & G brake system and love it. NOTHING inside the car, only one air hose and a breakaway cable to hook up for the brake system. Takes about 20 seconds to hookup. I also went to a dealership and had a key made that won't start the car to leave in the ignition while towing. Make sure you turn the key as far off as you can then make sure radio is off. I never pull any fuses as they are very hard to get back in. I also ran a charge wire up from the car / motorhome plug to the battery with a fuse inline to keep battery charged. Had a dead battery before I installed the charge line but never after installed. Love the CR-V.......

Dave

phinneyj · 02-04-2014, 11:28 AM

I set up a Honda Fit for my Tow. I went exclusively Roadmaster. Once installed and the EZ2 brackets are removed you can barely see the added base plate. For my specific application all the other base plates required modifications to make the base plates fit. The Roadmaster was truly a bolt on system that appears to be a lot more robust than the other solutions also.

ScottsJourney · 02-06-2014, 05:59 AM

I have a 2007 crv. I went with the Roadmaster and Brakebuddy elite. It is easy to hook up and I have not had any problems.
Scott

VAParrothead · 02-09-2014, 04:32 PM

I, too, am considering a Roadmaster Falcon All-Terrain Tow Bar, with InvisiBrake, to pull a 2002 Honda CR-V. Cost was a factor for me, too.

Oldme · 02-09-2014, 04:38 PM

We use the Acme EZ tow dolly for our 2005 CRV.
Simple to use.
There are several discussion threads here on Acme.
The search will bring them up.
Our 24' Class C tows it effortlessly.

Before I made that purchase, I saw some if the base plates that tore off
of the uni-body cars and I did not like that at all.

Everyone likes something different.

dennis45 · 02-09-2014, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djhinds

I tow a 2011 CR-V and I use the Blue Ox tow bar and base plate because it is almost invisible on the car when not in use. It is easy to install and remove. I went with M & G brake system and love it. NOTHING inside the car, only one air hose and a breakaway cable to hook up for the brake system. Takes about 20 seconds to hookup. I also went to a dealership and had a key made that won't start the car to leave in the ignition while towing. Make sure you turn the key as far off as you can then make sure radio is off. I never pull any fuses as they are very hard to get back in. I also ran a charge wire up from the car / motorhome plug to the battery with a fuse inline to keep battery charged. Had a dead battery before I installed the charge line but never after installed. Love the CR-V.......

Dave

I use BlueOx Hitch, Baseplate and Patriot and am satisfied with the whole system. I took Dave's advice and got a "Blank Key" cut from Honda. Now I can use the blank and turn it to Acc. which leaves the steering unlocked and still allows to use the Programmed Key to lock the doors without having to step on the brake and shift to park to remove the key. Simply leave the Blank in the ign and lock the doors.
You will require a Charge Line off the MH to ensure you do not end up with a dead battery in the toad.

Thanks Dave for the information on the key. Makes life a lot simpler.

poppopc · 02-09-2014, 06:37 PM

We have the 2011 CRV, blue ox base plate and the even brake assist.
Works well. Have had a problem at low speeds ,if you get on the coach brakes it will lock up the brakes on the CRV..found that if you pump the brakes on the coach before leaving I have not had anymore. Troubles. Can't see why you need to lock the doors on the CRV while driving. I just put in N AND TURN TO acc. When we
Stop at a rest area it is still hooked to the MH.

phinneyj · 02-09-2014, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldme

We use the Acme EZ tow dolly for our 2005 CRV.
Simple to use.
There are several discussion threads here on Acme.
The search will bring them up.
Our 24' Class C tows it effortlessly.

Before I made that purchase, I saw some if the base plates that tore off
of the uni-body cars and I did not like that at all.

Everyone likes something different.

This sounds a little off to me. In my mind, a base plate hard mounted to the car makes for a stronger union over a car 'strapped' to a tow dolly. I think we could find many more instances of vehicles coming off of tow dolly's than base plates being tore off of 'uni-body' cars.

bearaboo · 02-10-2014, 07:54 AM

Recently there was a post about a base plate coming of a toad. Many people got twisted up about it. It appeared to be an isolated incident on an old toad. What is unknown is, how old was the base plate, who manufactured it how, was it installed, etc. With the number of people towing, if there was an issue, I'm sure it would appear on these forums. I've towed with both a dolly and four down. Each has merits. You will justify whatever works for you.

Oldme · 02-10-2014, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phinneyj

This sounds a little off to me. In my mind, a base plate hard mounted to the car makes for a stronger union over a car 'strapped' to a tow dolly. I think we could find many more instances of vehicles coming off of tow dolly's than base plates being tore off of 'uni-body' cars.

Well all I can say if it seems a little off to you, use the computer and do a search for Blue Ox Failure. That is were I found the pictures.

Here are 2 failures here on IRV2:

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f85/2011-...te-178331.html

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f85/blue-...ure-73725.html

also

Untitled Document

Woodalls Open Roads Forum: Tech Issues: Jeep liberty failure with blue Ox baseplate

A Towing System Catastrophic Failure 2002 Cavalier

Like I said everyone like something different.
You pay your money and take your pick.

phinneyj · 02-11-2014, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldme

Well all I can say if it seems a little off to you, use the computer and do a search for Blue Ox Failure. That is were I found the pictures.....

Thanks but Google and I are old friends. I guess I could do the same and find just as many instances of cars falling off tow dollies. Don't get me wrong, I seriously considered the Tow Dolly as a cheaper alternative. I even looked at the ACME, not impressed. To each his own. The 'scare' mongering being used to sell the ACME, which seems to get a lot of 'marketing' around here is a bit annoying. Personally, I don't see anything that convinces me that Base plates 'ripping' off of uni-body cars is some major issue.

If it makes you feel any better I have a Roadmaster Base plate. The Blue Ox application seemed weak to me.

phinneyj · 02-13-2014, 05:20 AM

Oldme,
Just could not sleep so I decided to check out the links you provided for us. Pardon my confusion, but I understood you to say that your decision for going with the ACME is because of failures attributed to vehicles with unibody construction. Of the 5 examples you gave us, only two are Unibody constructed cars, Only one of those could loosely be characterized as a vehicle structural failure. All the other failures where from the appliance failing, in these cases, Blue Ox base plates only. Failures occurred either from improperly installed bolts or bad welds on the base plates them self. For the most part all of these failures could have been prevented from good periodic inspections.

Back to my confusion, did you mean failures in general, both vehicle structure and appliance failures or did you identify other vehicle structural failures?