tow bars and braking systems

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alanrose

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We recently bought a 38' fleetwood pace arrow (gas) and are looking to buy a tow bar with braking system to pull a 2007 Honda civic?  Can anyone suggest some tips on brands, ease of use in hooking up and taking off the toad and finally pricing and installation costs.  Thank you in advance.

Alan and Rose
 
Welcome to the Forum, Alan and Rose!

The tow bar folks gravitate towards the Sterling (which I use) and the Blue Ox, with some Demco salted in there. I am not well versed on the braking systems for gassers, since I use the air brake system from my diesel pusher, but Air Force One, which builds a gas version of the system I use, is obviously my favorite, but there are several reputable brake systems for your gasser.

Both of these topics are discussed regularly and with great vigor by their proponents and searching the posts in this thread as well as the Library should get you some good information.

I can be hooked up and ready to roll (or reverse that) with my SMI Air Force One brakes and the Sterling All Terrain tow bar in less than ten minutes and I don't have to do anything with my Honda but unlock the steering column and leave it in neutral. Many are towing like you are, gassers and Civics, and will add their experience as well.

Installation costs run the gamut, depending on how helpful you want to be, but we were installed, lit up, and braking for less than $2500. Some of that depends on which system you buy, whether you can find the bar and connecting pieces used, etc.

Others will add their experience, hopefully, addressing your specific coach and/or your Civic.

Kim
 
There are a number of tow bars and I'd hesitate to recommend one over another, That said I really liked my Blue Ox, it "Stows" on the motor home leaving only the base plate on the car... Some are even less "Visible" when the car is not being towed.

Brakes,,, I opted for the US GEAR, Unified brake decelerator on my first towed, This is a good system electric over hydraulic, it provides vacuum to the brake booster so you do not need to "Bleed down" the booster like the box in the driver's seat systems, it's "out of sight out of mind" once it's installed in the car so you do not need to do anything special to drive, Just unplug the control cable.

Another system which will likely be my NEXT towed brake, is the Ready brake,  This is a surge brake system (It is activated by the pressure of the car pushing against the motor home) and is thus 100% self adjusting once initial set up is done, again there is nothign to connect and disconnect save the control and safety cables, nothing inside the car but a clamp on the brake pedal that's visible to a driver.

THIS system can be purchased to fit as an add-on with my Blue OX, or with a tow bar of it's own.  (The Ready Brute)
 
We are very pleased with the performance of our ReadyBrute Elite tow bar that combines the ReadyBrake system with a high quality all terrain aluminum to bar rated for an 8,000 maximum load. Hooking up is easy, with the brake system requiring only a snap hook cable connection to the toad. The tow bar stays on the coach after unhooking, and folds off to the side.We've towed two toads over 40,000 miles with it, with no problems.
 
After researching breaking systems for a couple of months while waiting on our MH I elected for the SMI Stay-In-Play. I wanted something that was easy to hook up and would only activate with the MH brakes; that was very important. My tow bar, base plate, and light system are Blue Ox mainly because it is the most popular and (again) easy to hook up and disconnect.

 
NY_Dutch said:
We are very pleased with the performance of our ReadyBrute Elite tow bar that combines the ReadyBrake system with a high quality all terrain aluminum to bar rated for an 8,000 maximum load. Hooking up is easy, with the brake system requiring only a snap hook cable connection to the toad. The tow bar stays on the coach after unhooking, and folds off to the side.We've towed two toads over 40,000 miles with it, with no problems.
Click to expand...

Another vote for the ReadyBrute; we have towed nearly 30,000 miles with it.  The ReadyBrute can be configured to work with any of the major baseplates; my Malibu was fitted with a BlueOx baseplate which is hardly noticeable when the car is unhitched.
 
I have just recently (within the last week) completed the set-up for our 2005 Jeep Wrangler X. In my opinion, the Blue Ox, Roadmaster, Ready-Brute, are pretty equal in quality. I went with the Roadmaster XL Base plate ($399.00), and the Motor Home Mounted Roadmaster Sterling All Terrain Non-Binding Tow Bar with Quick Disconnect features ($1,156.00). I went with this setup because of the ease of connecting and disconnecting the towed vehicle. The Non-binding tow bar is essential, IMO, at camp sites, boon docking, and so forth because we are often on uneven ground. I installed the base plate and tow bar assembly myself. On a Jeep it is easy, not so easy on a Ford

I opted for the SMI Stay-IN-Play Duo Supplemental Barking System because of ease of use. The initial installation cost $750.00, the SMI System cost me $995.00. After the installation, all you need to do to operate the system is to turn on a switch and connect the break-away cable and you're good to go.

Disclaimer: I only have a couple of hundred miles under my belt with these products, but so far they seem to be of great quality.
 
Oscar Mike said:
... Sterling All-Terrain ....I went with this setup because of the ease of connecting and disconnecting the towed vehicle. The Non-binding tow bar is essential, IMO, at camp sites, boon docking, and so forth because we are often on uneven ground.
Click to expand...

I, too, made my decision on the All-Terrain for this very reason. I have had more than one occasion to have a very awkward angle of the tow bar, and this feature is priceless.
 
I am looking at tow bars also for my 2005 Civic SI. I am going with the Roadmaster over the Blue Ox. The reasons are I am going to install the base plate and the Blue Ox requires you to drill a hole on the frame. I like the design of the connection to the frame  ::)better on the Roadmaster. I would look at the install instructions on both sites even if you are having it installed. I would go with the same manufacture for the tow bar although I am looking at Ready Brake. I have to check the path for the cable first.
 
If you do not already have the tow bar... Check out Ready Brute with Ready brake.  Tow bar and braking solution in one.. one of the better braking solutions as well.
 
I will also add my vote for the Ready Brute Elite tow bar and the Ready Brake System, I have towed our Acura 15,000 miles so far and am about to tow it 8000 miles to Alaska and back, >>>works great very nice system>>>just like the previous posts have said.  Clean it now and then and thats it, nice system.
 
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