Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Topic: Toads Towed.... what happened here ?? (Read 1272 times) previous topic - next topic

Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

December 31, 2018, 08:41:55 pm

This was posted on an RV FB page....

He made it to the RV park check-in and had not noticed the Saturn was missing. We found it on the exit ramp of the Trans Canada Hiway
He had pulled the car for about 6 years, No Problem so, check you baseplate from time 2 time.
Safety cables were hooked to the baseplate just as manufacturer instructs.
All was professionally done but the car frames can just break due to stress after years of towing. (be warned and check for movement or flex on the baseplate)
The frame broke off just in front of the wheels, take a close look at the car photo.

( cant post photos ... format is wrong...)...

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #1 – December 31, 2018, 08:49:04 pm

Quote from: Subsilked – December 31, 2018, 08:41:55 pm

This was posted on an RV FB page....

He made it to the RV park check-in and had not noticed the Saturn was missing. We found it on the exit ramp of the Trans Canada Hiway
He had pulled the car for about 6 years, No Problem so, check you baseplate from time 2 time.
Safety cables were hooked to the baseplate just as manufacturer instructs.
All was professionally done but the car frames can just break due to stress after years of towing. (be warned and check for movement or flex on the baseplate)
The frame broke off just in front of the wheels, take a close look at the car photo.

( cant post photos ... format is wrong...)...

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #2 – December 31, 2018, 08:50:46 pm

Quote from: Subsilked – December 31, 2018, 08:49:04 pm

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #3 – December 31, 2018, 08:54:10 pm

Makes a back up camera pretty important ya think!😎

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #4 – December 31, 2018, 08:57:15 pm

I had a cheap bumper on the Jeep.. added a spot to connect the tow bar.. 1st couple ties not to bad.. after about the 5th noticed some movement .. tabs were shearing from the back and forth on the thin plate. Removed the bumper and added supports inside and out.. towed great after that. Towing is very stressful on components ..

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #5 – December 31, 2018, 09:06:58 pm

Quote from: DavidS – December 31, 2018, 08:57:15 pm

I had a cheap bumper on the Jeep.. added a spot to connect the tow bar.. 1st couple ties not to bad.. after about the 5th noticed some movement .. tabs were shearing from the back and forth on the thin plate. Removed the bumper and added supports inside and out.. towed great after that. Towing is very stressful on components ..

We have a mid 2000 automatic Ford Escape 4 x 2... FWD until you engage the 4WD... but has to be towed on trailer or tow dolly.... we will buy a dolly to tow the Escape starting this spring. I cannot imagine showing up at a CG or RV resort and parking to find that the TOAD is missing....

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #6 – December 31, 2018, 09:08:31 pm

Quote from: Subsilked – December 31, 2018, 09:06:58 pm

We have a mid 2000 automatic Ford Escape 4 x 2... FWD until you engage the 4WD... but has to be towed on trailer or tow dolly.... we will buy a dolly to tow the Escape starting this spring. I cannot imagine showing up at a CG or RV resort and parking to find that the TOAD is missing....

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #7 – December 31, 2018, 10:07:58 pm

I leave the backup camera on all the time when towing. I can see both tow bars and the electric cord easily.

Some years ago a trucker towing two trailers stopped at the weigh station. He was surprised to find out that he was a LOT lighter than he expected. A quick check confirmed that he was only towing one trailer. About that time a State Patrol car pulled up and asked the trucker if he was missing a trailer. It tried to come in the front door of a factory. No one was hurt, but the trailer was somewhat damaged and some brick was damaged.

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #8 – December 31, 2018, 10:46:53 pm

This is a good example of why we need to have a aux brake in the car. Hopefully he did, and that is why he found it on a exit ramp in one piece.
Told this before. Once I came out to go to lunch from work. Saw a tag trailer come loose, go across a burger place parking lot, and up the side of the building totally vertically, then stop like that.
No one was hurt, but made me stop and think how important safety chains, and a breakaway are.

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #9 – December 31, 2018, 11:42:54 pm

We have had an almost first-hand experience with the same story...

Stopped in a Newfoundland parking lot, a person walks over to say he 'had' an identical 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the same BlueOx baseplate, and wanted to 'warn' me about what happened to him.

He was towing his 2002 Jeep behind his motorhome (not Foretravel) over miles of a graveled Labrador highway. Someone flagged him down to tell him he had a towbar attached to a baseplate, but no tow car in sight.

He drove back on the road and found his Jeep Grand totaled against a tree off the road. He left the car in Labrador. The frame of our 2002 Jeep Grand was an open steel box that if flexed over and over could crack and break.

Our current tow car is a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee and has a different frame design.

Many things could have contributed, like the miles of bumpy gravel road, a towbar that is angled down too much causing downward pressure on baseplate, poorly installed baseplate, etc. He said Blue Ox stood behind loss, but I am not sure what that ended up meaning since we did not maintain contact with him.

We later removed our 2002 Jeep's bumper, checked our baseplate, reinforced mounting bolts and added safety cables attaching baseplate to Jeep's frame.

Towing stresses parts and a weak part could fail.

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #10 – December 31, 2018, 11:54:30 pm

Had a good friend that had a later model Grand Cherokee that had 2 episodes with tow brackets and frame ends ( the frame had been reinforced) The third time the wrecker dropped it, and that was the end of that.

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #11 – January 01, 2019, 01:27:55 am

Anytime one of my compartment doors pops open, someone drives up along side to let me know. Hard to believe drivers thought this was normal or wouldn't bother.

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #12 – January 01, 2019, 01:21:19 pm

Last year, 2018, I was hooking up our 2013 Subaru Outback and noticed play in my baseplate. Looked at it closer and it appeared one of the locking nuts was loose. This Blue Ox baseplate had been professionally installed 5 years ago by a reputable trailer business I had used before. I looked it up and told Karen we have a problem and we are going to the factory , Blue Ox, in Nebraska. Being full time a change in our not so solid plans is always an option. We showed up at the factory, got a place in the campground , and a little while later Bob showed up. He designed the baseplates and was concerned about the play- took it back in the factory. When he had things apart he came and took me to the car to show me what had happened. Apparently the Loctite Red was not on the connecting nuts and worked their way loose over the years. He reinstalled with Loctite Red, did some reinforcements, put everything back together strong as new. We have brake away and safety cables and Bob suggests that when hooking up or un hooking that we shake hands with the tow pins to check for movement. Another SOP but a good one.

Be safe and Happy New Year to you all

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #13 – January 01, 2019, 01:53:20 pm

By law (and for safety), safety chains need to be hooked somewhere else on the frame of toad. I have long ones which I attach behind the steering box on our 02' wrangler.
Again, an aux brake with Breakaway, will stop the loose car for the most part,in it's tracks.
Good reads:

State and Province Towing Laws

Roadmaster Inc. - Tow Bars, Braking Systems & RV Accessories

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #14 – January 01, 2019, 02:24:33 pm

A few years ago we were heading for the Laredo border crossing in Mexico and took a wrong turn and finished up in the commercial truck exit. Police came over and helped me out of these lanes and back on to highway so I could drive back to the turnoff I missed. Going down the on ramp I hit a big crack in blacktop and did not know that the hitch had hit the ground and sheared off meaning the car had now broken free but now was being towed by the safety cables. A Mexican was driving past me and waved and pointed so I looked in my rear view mirror and didn't see anything so slowed down and stopped. Got the shock of my life to see the car still there but not fastened to coach by the tow bar. Ruth was not happy about having to drive it thru customs while I took the coach thru the other lanes. Had to drive all the way to Seguin to find a new hitch. Ruth did not enjoy the drive along 10 east but all turned out ok.
JohnH

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #15 – January 01, 2019, 05:21:00 pm

These stories are an eye opener for me. I have been leaning to getting a trailer to tow with. I think that my mind is being pushed that way even farther. Thanks for the heads up.

Larry

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #16 – January 01, 2019, 05:40:37 pm

Larry, towing 4 down is by far the easiest way to do it. I believe the caution here is to check the equipment periodically and be sure everything is secure. There have been many times we wouldn't have had a place for a trailer. It's such a breeze to hook up our Wrangler or the Suburban we used to pull.

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #17 – January 01, 2019, 07:17:04 pm

Imagine his surprise when discovering his
toad was gone..,

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #18 – January 01, 2019, 07:43:18 pm

Larry, I've seen trailer hitches pop off of the ball, so there isn't a foolproof method of towing. The key, as has been mentioned, is checking things constantly. You ought to know what should and should not move. If something moves, and it shouldn't, the answer isn't duct tape but a proper repair BEFORE doing anything else. If something should move, and doesn't, the answer isn't WD40 for a proper repair before doing anything else.

Our travel days usually involve a stop for lunch, so I check everything at hookup and again at lunch. The fuel stop at the end of the day is either another inspection or unhooking - often both.

My safety chains do attach to the baseplate and I wouldn't know where else to attach them. If the whole baseplate came off I'd have to depend on the emergency braking system to stop the car. Of course, I think I'd already see it in the backup camera monitor.

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #19 – January 01, 2019, 08:51:12 pm

A racing aquaintance always towed his wife's caddilac four down. In New Hampshire the ball broke off the hitch the car came loose and snapped the safety chains off and he saw it enter the ditch in his mirror. Complete write off with all the rocks and trees to stop it. Not sure it would have been any different with a trailer when the ball snaps off.

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #20 – January 02, 2019, 12:31:35 am

A system is only as good as it's weakest link. All
points need to be inspected for metal fatigue, after a trips as modern vehicles have very little "what if' metal in them, and we're never designed to be towed. Base plate people can only guess and add a hopefully generous amount of steel WHERE POSSIBLE

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #21 – January 02, 2019, 07:49:17 am

That is one advantage to a truck type frame, the baseplate on my Tahoe and Silverado attaches directly to the frame where the factory tow hooks attach. Much stronger than formed sheet metal on most cars. But the downside is the size and weight.

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #22 – January 02, 2019, 09:22:19 am

Our blue ox base plates used existing bolt locations on our Jeep Cherokee and each has a big heavy cable that goes through the base plate and around a frame member. Safety cables connect base plates to the OEM hitch. Lots of stuff has to fail to lose the car but it is possible. Doing a walk around at every stop is a good practice to learn. Don't forget to check light at least first thing before leaving.

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #23 – January 02, 2019, 10:04:47 am

Quote from: ohsonew – January 01, 2019, 05:21:00 pm

These stories are an eye opener for me. I have been leaning to getting a trailer to tow with. I think that my mind is being pushed that way even farther. Thanks for the heads up.

Larry

Larry I have been looking at trailers also but the problem arises on length. I want to haul a Jeep Cherokee and a side be side 4 wheeler but that puts me at 26' of box with a 4'hitch(minimum) which is 30 foot total puts me at 70'total. Arkansas allows 65' total
it seems that the law is not enforced, as I have talked to people that are over 80' that tell me that have no problem except California. The problem is I don't know about Canada. Alberta and British Columbia website both say 65.5 feet. I would hate to pull up to border and they tell me "NO GO". That being said I am currently looking for a crew cab 3/4 ton truck 4X4 with long bed!
Good luck on your decision
Chris
PS if anyone knows the Canadian response to over length I would appreciate a heads up.

Re: Toads Towed.... what happened here ??

Reply #24 – January 02, 2019, 11:17:36 am

Chris depending on which SxX you have the truck is a better option IMO. I have a 2010 Silverado 1500 4x4 extended cab with 6.5' bed which will fit my Rzr 570 in the bed with the rear wheels on the tailgate. Previously I had a 2004 Z71 extended cab with 6.5' bed, I also used the DGM tailgate bars: Buy Tailgates Accessories Pennsylvania - DG Manufacturing
I did add rear airbags to the Z71 and towed it behind the Newell for almost 3 years with the Rzr in the back. Haven't loaded it in the 2010 yet but will probably add airbags to it also. A 3/4 ton truck shouldn't need airbags but unless you're getting a diesel expect much less mpg with the 3/4 ton over a 1/2 ton.
Also the truck/SxS will be easier and quicker to unhook than a trailer.
Just another option.

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