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Re: Towbar failure...again [2 Attachments]

Reply #25 –
Yahoo Message Number: 109591
Here is a pic of the one I picked up a couple months ago. Welds look solid.

2005 Intrigue Suite Sensation #11890 Cummins 400 ISL

Re: Towbar failure...again

Reply #26 –
Yahoo Message Number: 109592
Yours is welded on the sides of the bar where ours was welded at the end. That must be the change.

Tammy

Affinity 6611

Re: Towbar failure...again

Reply #27 –
Yahoo Message Number: 109594
That is unbelievable. It looks like a far weaker inferior design than the Adventa.

Rich 2002 Magna

Re: Towbar failure...again

Reply #28 –
Yahoo Message Number: 109595
I've had two Roadmaster Sterling tow bars over the last 23 years. No problems either, but the issue with the sliding arms has always been cleaning and lubricating. If not cared for the arms will gum up and quit sliding. There are all kinds of approaches to cleaning and lubricating, but I made a big change in my protocol three years ago. I quit lubricating. Lubrication tends to attract more dirt. What I do now is spray with Simple Green and clean with a paper towel. I then spray water from another bottle to rinse, and wipe dry with a second paper towel. I do this every time I disconnect. I used to finish with a spray of silicone lubricant, but I stopped that. The free sliding of the arms has not been affected, and the tow bar stays cleaner and intervals of disassembly and major cleaning are much farther apart. In fact, no major cleaning in the last three years. Lubrication does not seem to be necessary provided the arms are kept clean before pushing them in.

George Harper
04 Allure 31093

Re: Towbar failure...again

Reply #29 –
Yahoo Message Number: 109610
I'm towing my excursion at close to 10k lbs as it sits. Blue Ox does make tow bars rated at more than 10k, but the maximum spread at the attachment points was not wide enough to attach to my Dring shackles on my aftermarket custom front bumper (the Dring shackles are custom and are welded to the front side of the bumper, extend through the bumper, and are also welded to the gussets on the back side of the bumper). I couldn't put on a heavy duty front bumper and have a Roadmaster or Blue Ox bracket mounted to the TOAD as both the bumper and tow bar brackets mount to the same place on the frame.

Anyway, for those pulling really heavy TOADS, one option is what I went with, a Hunter Manufacturing Medium military tow bar. Mine was new old stock. It is rated at 39,000 pounds. Each of the two tow bar arms are about 65 to 85 lbs though. The pintel hook is rated at 20k and my hitch receiver at 10k.

I didn't feel safe being right at the upper limit of a 10k rated tow bar. Not convenient for frequent disconnects but I have piece of mind. Since these pictures were taken I have mounted a boat trailer style swing away jack on to one of the tow bar arms which made hooking up a lot easier. Now I attach tow bars to Dring shackles on bummper, then to each other with supplied pins, open jack and crank to desired height, then drive lunet ring right in to pintel hook. The boat jack made hook up a lot easier. Using Airforce1 brake controller.

Keith 02 Affinity 6123

Re: Towbar failure...again

Reply #30 –
Yahoo Message Number: 109612
I solved my problem. Got rid of the 6.0 Excursion which was having too many problems. Got a Lexus LX 470 (Landcruiser) which only weighs 6000 lbs and is phenomenally more reliable at the same age and mileage as my Excursion and it is all-wheel drive. Had Blue Ox rebuild my Adventa 2 which is more than capable of handling my Lexus. Other than less space in the Lexus,  wish I'd done it a long time ago.

Rich 2002 Magna

Re: Towbar failure...again

Reply #31 –
Yahoo Message Number: 109616
WOW! THAT is a towing rig!

I'm getting along fine with my Roadmaster set-up. But then, I'm towing a 2300 lb Fiat 500. J

Don Hutchins

'08 Allure 470, 40' tag, Cat C-9 w/ Cat tranny
Don Hutchins
'08 Allure 470 #31613
40' w/tag, Cat C-9 & Cat tranny

Re: Towbar failure...again

Reply #32 –
Yahoo Message Number: 109617
Rich,

Does the Lexus LX 470 Hold 6 People>? And being all wheel Drive, you have no problems Flat 4 Towing>?

Dave 2004 Intrigue

Re: Towbar failure...again

Reply #33 –
Yahoo Message Number: 109620
I have a 1994 LandCruiser 80 Series. Remco out of Omaha sold me a drive shaft disconnect for the rear axle. Actually, I have made several vehicles "four down" toads with their products.

Steve

2002 Intrigue 11454

Re: Towbar failure...again

Reply #34 –
Yahoo Message Number: 109623
Rich,

I'm with the same question as another. my understanding is that you can not tow "All-Wheel Drive" vehicles 4 wheel down as it causes the transfer case and other components to be turning as you tow down the road.
Now is this Lexus has a Transfer case disconnect putting all wheels in "neutral" I believe your good to go. does it have a disconnect?

Dave


07 Country Coach Allure 430 #31495 12 Jeep GC Toad

Mountains of So Cal and
Henderson, Nev
Dave & Jodi
2007 CC Allure 40’ Tag #31495
2012 Jeep GC
Big Bear Lake, Ca & Henderson, Nev

Re: Towbar failure...again

Reply #35 –
Yahoo Message Number: 109626
Have to check for the individual vehicle. In some cases the only version that can be towed four down is the allwheel drive version.

Ray

They say wine improves with age! As I enter my golden years, I say age improves with wine! The Born Loser

Re: Towbar failure...again

Reply #36 –
Yahoo Message Number: 109635
Yes it will hold 6 people but the third row rear seats are pretty small. Contrary to what Lexus says it flat tows without any problem. Transfer case in neutral, transmission in park key of. Engineers who owned them and flat tow have checked this out. It's apparently a liability issue. You forget to put the transfer case in neutral you're screwed. At 11 years old and a hundred and sixty thousand miles it has way less problems then my Excursion Eddie Bauer when it was new and I off road a lot and it will go places the Excursion wouldn't even dream of. The Roadmaster base plates for this vehicle are far superior to the Blue Ox. I got an adapter to use my Blue Ox bar with the Roadmaster base plates.

Rich 2002 Magna.

Re: Towbar failure...again

Reply #38 –
Yahoo Message Number: 109641
Mine is a 2005 LX470. Towability would apply through 2007. I'm not so sure the 570 can be towed 4 wheels down. You would have to investigate that.

Rich 2002 Magna

Re: Towbar failure...again

Reply #39 –
Yahoo Message Number: 109643
Rich, I like the Lexus LX 470 that you have. I never realized how many seats they had. I have 4 kids so would need a toad that could hold 6. Obviously that limits things a bit. Could you tell me what you needed to do to up fit the Lexus to tow 4 down?

Dave 2004 Intrigue

Re: Towbar failure...again - added comparison picture.

Reply #40 –
Yahoo Message Number: 109906

Sorry it took me so long to get this up. Here is a comparison picture of the two tow bars.
Tammy

Affinity 6611

Towbar failure...again

Reply #41 –
Yahoo Message Number: 109550
Just came across something to keep in the back of your head when purchasing a new coach. The new steerable tag coaches can drag your vehicle in certain conditions causing serious damage to the towbar and complete failure. To my knowledge no real test have been done between coach builders and towbar manufacturers. Buyer beware.

Alex Ritchey 2000 CC Affinity B&B #5773

Re: Fwd: [Country-Coach-Owners] Towbar failure...again

Reply #42 –
Yahoo Message Number: 109551
Would like to see more info as to where the weld failed? Was it the tow bar itself or the brackets mounted to the tow vehicle? Has the tow bar been in a bind at one time by trying to back the tow vehicle? Photos would help if possible. Thanks!

Dennis '09 Allure 470 Crane Prairie
 

Re: Towbar failure...again

Reply #43 –
Yahoo Message Number: 109553
I've been a selling & installing dealer for all the major brands for going on 20 years now. First off I can't understand this reasoning that a rear steer can have any adverse effect on the load being put on the tow bar or the toad. I've hooked many of my customers with bus conversions that have rear steer tag's and not one of them has ever broke a tow bar or hurt the toad because of rear steer, yes some have just plain wore them out with extreme mileage, and yes some have miss-used them normally when they change toad's on the fly and didn't compensate for the different height. BUT never have I heard of an issue from rear steer. That's like saying it'll tow a trailer different! Now I have had a customer wipe out another customer's coach in my lot because of the rear steer, not paying attention and the ass end swung into the other coach making a turn and tore the rear cap off of the one sitting. I've driven many rear steer bus conversions over the years, towed my personal toad back behind for a customer (1500 miles) so I've got some personal experience driving those type of coaches. I've got a call into blue ox after reading this and will report back what I hear. My first thought over the bar breaking is luckily it's blue ox and they will take care of it, second, being this is the second time what are you doing wrong? I'm not saying that to rise you up, I'm saying that because this just isn't something that happens very often and when something like this happens I always want to see the set-up in person to see what's really going on and see what's wrong.... Something is, just need to figure out what!

Safe Travels

Jim Lewis

Infinity Coach