Types of Tow Bars

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Super8mm

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Sep 8, 2014
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113
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DFW Texas
I am looking at Tow Bars with a capacity of 10,000 lbs.

I see that there can be several types of connection types for the receiver hitch such as Couple, Pintal, Receiver Tube and Ball In Socket.

What are your favorites and why.

Thanks
 
Presumably your RV will have a square tube receiver, so either you use a direct mount (has a square "stinger" that fits in the tube) or a coupler, which would require a ball mount inserted into the receiver.  You could insert a pintle hook instead of a ball mount, but that is of vale only if you have a reason to need a pintle (e.g. to tow farm equipment, or do very frequent disconnects, etc).

There is little reason to choose a ball mount either, unless you have reasons for having a ball available for other towing. However, the less expensive A-frame tow bars all use a ball mount. You generally don't get the ball & socket type until you get into the upper tier tow bars designed for maximum convenience.

Personally, I like the convenience of the high end ball & socket tow bars that slip directly into the receiver. They are the easiest to hitch/unhitch, especially on uneven ground.
 
Thanks Gary that is sort of what I was thinking but wasn't sure in today's world. 

For coupler style I always carry 2 in my truck, a 2" and a 2 5/16".  I have used the Pintal style but only on military trailers and they always felt like they had a lot of slop to them.  The ball and socket and the receiver seemed pretty close but the ball and socket seemed to be more flexible.

The one I am thinking about so far is the Blue Ox BX7420 but I still need to look at some of the other brands.
 
The receiver-direct type has the advantage of storing the two bar on the RV, whereas the others disconnect from the RV and either fold up on the towed or get stashed somewhere, e.g. under the RV.  If you don't tow other things with the RV, there is little reason to use a ball coupler or pintle type.  But if you are looking to tow another vehicle with your truck and already have a ball coupler, using the ball type makes sense.
 

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