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RBowman · 07-10-2016, 09:29 PM

Thought this was interesting and want to get input on recommendations for a new tow bar less likely to fail. Posted this on Irv2 truck forum as well:

Just wondered if anyone has had this experience. I'm driving a 45' Showhauler on a Cascadia chassis and so I did't feel much out of the ordinary, but I did notice through my driver's mirror a black rubicon that appeared to be tailgating me and swerving back and forth; then it occurred to me that it was my jeep. I turned on the rear camera and saw that one of the arms on my towbar was broken as it had pulled straight apart out of the shaft. I have a roughly 5 year old blue ox aventa lx with a 10K rating. My safety chains did their job and along with the one remaining arm which was holding onto the jeep from the passenger side, I was able to modulate my speed and get the receiver to wedge up tight to the jeep front bumper and slow to a stop on the shoulder. Amazing as it was, the jeep didn't hit the rear body of the truck, it didn't take out any other 4 wheelers, and because the jeep has an aftermarket bumper/winch combo the last owner put on it, I can't say for sure that it even scratched the bumper. The bumper still has hair on the front of the winch assembly where my wife clipped a deer with it a few weeks ago, and the deer did no damage to it either. Only one of the safety chains got pinched between the bumper and receiver and needs replaced.
I hope this is a freak occurrence, but as I'm shopping for another tow bar in the next couple days, I thought I would see what others suggested for a more bulletproof tow bar. FYI, although I lube the towbar well and keep the hardware tight, I don't run brakes on the Toad and I drive faster than I should drive most of the time I'm behind the wheel. The jeep occasionally has a dirt bike or two on the hitch carrier and some gear in it so can be as heavy as 5500 lbs loaded. I use the aftermarket blue ox two prong claw instead of the standard 3 prong claw because I hook directly to my tow recovery hook single tabs in lieu of having a base plate with the two smaller tabs on each side.Thanks for your input!

07-10-2016, 09:29 PM	#1
RBowman Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Charleston Posts: 16	Tow bar breaks on interstate Thought this was interesting and want to get input on recommendations for a new tow bar less likely to fail. Posted this on Irv2 truck forum as well: Just wondered if anyone has had this experience. I'm driving a 45' Showhauler on a Cascadia chassis and so I did't feel much out of the ordinary, but I did notice through my driver's mirror a black rubicon that appeared to be tailgating me and swerving back and forth; then it occurred to me that it was my jeep. I turned on the rear camera and saw that one of the arms on my towbar was broken as it had pulled straight apart out of the shaft. I have a roughly 5 year old blue ox aventa lx with a 10K rating. My safety chains did their job and along with the one remaining arm which was holding onto the jeep from the passenger side, I was able to modulate my speed and get the receiver to wedge up tight to the jeep front bumper and slow to a stop on the shoulder. Amazing as it was, the jeep didn't hit the rear body of the truck, it didn't take out any other 4 wheelers, and because the jeep has an aftermarket bumper/winch combo the last owner put on it, I can't say for sure that it even scratched the bumper. The bumper still has hair on the front of the winch assembly where my wife clipped a deer with it a few weeks ago, and the deer did no damage to it either. Only one of the safety chains got pinched between the bumper and receiver and needs replaced. I hope this is a freak occurrence, but as I'm shopping for another tow bar in the next couple days, I thought I would see what others suggested for a more bulletproof tow bar. FYI, although I lube the towbar well and keep the hardware tight, I don't run brakes on the Toad and I drive faster than I should drive most of the time I'm behind the wheel. The jeep occasionally has a dirt bike or two on the hitch carrier and some gear in it so can be as heavy as 5500 lbs loaded. I use the aftermarket blue ox two prong claw instead of the standard 3 prong claw because I hook directly to my tow recovery hook single tabs in lieu of having a base plate with the two smaller tabs on each side.Thanks for your input! Attached Thumbnails