Please school me on tow bars?

[Waterwulf]

Hello...I have a 28 foot Ford with the V10 and want to get set up for towing a vehicle. I do have a tow bar on my Rat Rod Rail but that's just a simple Y bar for dragging it around with my truck. I know nothing about RV type tow bars so go easy on me.

Does a RV tow bar fit only one vehicle or is it universal with some type of model specific mounting brackets? In other words, if I buy a certain tow bar, will it fit multiple vehicles with different brackets/mounts? What does self centering mean? Does that mean that I can just get the hitch close and latch it up and then it will center itself when I take off? What makes a good tow bar for an RV? I'm sure I will have more questions but this will get me started. Thanks

 

[John From Detroit]

Ok first if there is a "base plate" to match your simply "Y" bar to your towed car... IT ill work just fine (IAssuming it's strong enough)
Tow bar systems have two or 3 parts (Ready Brake is the 3rd part(.
THe bar itself. many options here. One is your simply Y. you already know the advantages and disadvantages so I won't bother describing them.
Most of the RV typers ther arms are depending on your point of view extendable or retractable When you go to hook up if you are a bit "off center" you can stil hook up as one arm will be a bit shorter than the other then when you first start to pull out.. SLOWLY the arm extends and locks in the extended position so it works just like your "Y"
One of the options is storager.. Some store on the motor home
Some on the Towed
Some on.. wherever you stuff 'em when parked.... I like the ones that store on the Motor home.
Now the 2nd main part. The base plate.. This is the part that goes on the towe vehicle. and that is specific to that vehicle.... And to the tow bar you choose.
Ready brute tow bars (They make an adapter for some other models) have the Ready Brake. This is a surge brake system.. IF the towe is trying to push the motor home (Normal when you stop) a spring loaded device .. the spring is compresed and a lever PULLS the brake pedal on the towed. It's a very good system but you need to be careful about the car's cable.. It can rust and bind.
But if IU ever got anothe rmotor home.. that's what I'd use.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

The tow bar is the easy part, implementing the brake system is the trick. UHaul has a hydraulic version of the ready brake on some of their trailers. If only it were so easy for toads. All the systems out there have some degree of success and popularity, I guess it all comes down to doing the reviews and pulling the trigger on one. It's worked out for me that on the few long trips I've done, we get someplace we want to roam and go rent a car for a few days. If I ever get serious about this, will have to climb the toad learning curve.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The tow bar itself is universal, though there are a couple different types. It gets mated to the towed vehicle with a "base plate", which is designed to mate to the particular year/make/model of towed vehicle and present a standard interface for attaching the tow bar. There are two widely used tow bar interfaces, named for the two tow bar companies that created them, i.e. Roadmaster or Blue Ox. Other major tow bars (Demco & NSA) use those two as well.

The best (most convenient) tow bars are designed to install on the tow vehicle using a standard class 4/5 receiver hitch and both tilt & swivel. They do not use a ball mount hitch like your simple Y-bar, but you can use the Y-bar type if you don't mind the extra hassle of aligning the bar to the coach and removing the bar from the towed vehicle each time. Most RV owners decide the coach-mounted bars are a much better idea.

Yes, the coach-mounted bars are self-centering, which basically means the arms unlock to extend/collapse during the mate-up of towed to coach, then fully extend and auto-lock as the coach moves forward. Greatly simplifies hitching up, and is equally useful if unhitching on uneven terrain.

All the top brands of tow bars are excellent: Roadmaster, Blue Ox, NSA and Demco.

You will want a towed car aux brake system as well as the tow bar, and also stop/tail/turn signal lighting for the towed vehicle.

By the way, we typically use the term "toad" for a "towed vehicle".

 

[Kirk]

By the way, we typically use the term "toad" for a "towed vehicle".

At least most on these forums do and probably a majority of the younger folks but some of us old guys still cling to the old ways and like "towed."

 

[Professor David]

This is a fairly involved subject. I would recommend that you watch several youtube videos on towing vehicles with a motorhome to answer some of your basic questions. Then you can decide what fits best for your set up and budget. Here are some videos to start with:

 

[Ray-IN]

I've seen many vehicles towed behind an MH with a simple, solid Y-bar permanently attached to the frame of, usually a Jeep universal.
Depending on weight a towed vehicle must have a braking system and all must have a break-away system installed.

 

[Waterwulf]

Thanks for the replies. They've really helped. The best news here is that the tow bars unlock for hooking up and then self center and lock themselves. The tow bar on my Rat Rod Rail is just a simple Y bar. It was impossible for one guy to hook up by himself, especially on the trail so I built a system with a small video screen and an eyeball camera to look down on the hitch from above as I drive the Rail up to the hitch. I have a rope system to lower to hitch onto the ball when it's in the right position. Thanks be to the RV Gods that I won't have to do that here.

So what I've gotten here is that modern tow bars are fairly universal within reason but the mounting plates are model specific. The better ones do self center and lock. Brakes for the towed vehicle are a good idea. Thanks for the suggestions. Now I have a place to start.

 

[Isaac-1]

There are also adapters to either adapt tow bars to different brands of base plates, or some adapters to adapt one brand of base plate to a different brand of tow bar. Let me give an example, we started out with an older, but like new new Blue Ox Aluminum tow bar, and a Blue Ox base plate on my wife's Jeep Cherokee. Then due to concerns about metal fatigue on this particular model of tow bar, upgraded to a Demco Commander tow bar with Blue Ox tow bar adapter that would let it mate with a Blue Ox base plate. Then a couple of years ago we bought a cheap light weight used dedicated TOAD (Toyota Yaris), which came already equipped with a Roadmaster Base plate and setup for a Roadmaster tow bar. So I ended buying a Roadmaster to Blue Ox cross bar adapter, to replace the Roadmaster cross bar. The end result is both the Cherokee and Yaris base plates have Blue Ox style connectors on them now, and so does the Demco tow bar.

 

[Gizmo]

This is a timely and helpful post for me. Many years of experience in RV's, though all in towing trailers, new to motohomes and looking to get a tow bar set-up. Thank you all, especially Professor David, the videos you shared look to be helpful.

 

[Professor David]

This is a timely and helpful post for me. Many years of experience in RV's, though all in towing trailers, new to motohomes and looking to get a tow bar set-up. Thank you all, especially Professor David, the videos you shared look to be helpful.

I just bought a set up for my motorhome and toad a few months back so it's a all pretty fresh. Took a bit to figure out what would work best for our needs.