Fractured Tow Bar

Topic: Fractured Tow Bar (Read 1046 times) previous topic - next topic

Fractured Tow Bar

December 02, 2020, 10:03:24 am

The unfortunate incident reported by Larry (U295 Owner) in a concurrent thread raises (in my mind) a couple questions.

Not A Good Day

1. We don't flat tow - we use a tow dolly. I have wondered, when considering switching to flat tow, about the long term reliability of the tow bars. I see them for sale (used) on Craigslist. Is there any way to assess (beyond a simple visual inspection) the condition of a used or older tow bar? Would there be any advance warning signs before a bar suffered total fracture? Do tow bars have a "time out" date like RV tires?

2. Do not tow bars have safety chains or cables like my tow dolly? If they do, why didn't the safety chains or cables retain Larry's car after the bar broke? How did the car manage to get loose from the coach?

Re: Broken Two Bar

Reply #1 – December 02, 2020, 10:23:03 am

Chuck, our Blue Ox base plates have four bolts each and a steel cable around the Jeep fame. The Ready Brute tow bar is rated t twice the wt of the Cherokee (or more) and has two HD safety cables. The Cherokee has a break-away cable actuated brakes.

I wondered about the constant movement of the tow bar relative to the receiver and the added stress over time so I added a bolt on clamp sort of thing the locks the tow bar tightly in place in the receiver (in addition to the pin). It prevents any movement of the tow bar relative to the receiver. The one in the picture is for the Ready Brute, other styles are available, they ll do the same thing.

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #2 – December 02, 2020, 11:21:00 am

I bought a used Blue Ox, and towed 7 years with it, till a major rally. The plan there was to have Blue Ox do the service rebuild at the rally. They would not even service it, due to the age of the unit. I replaced mine with a new unit that day.

I always use the new safety cables and also have a break away set up on the Jeep's IRV3 braking system. If the bar were to fail, hopefully the safety cables are the first line of defense and the break away system the second, to force the Jeep to a stop.

I had a very nice Demco tow dolly for 3 weeks and after 7 loads and unloads, 2 in the rain, I went back to flat towing again.

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #3 – December 02, 2020, 11:37:13 am

If the tow bar totally fractured, could the "break away" brakes on the car set at that point (while car was still retained by the safety cables)?

If the tow car brakes did set prematurely, could that put enough strain on the safety chains/cables to cause them to part or pull loose?

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #4 – December 02, 2020, 11:39:26 am

I have 8000 lb. Roadmaster and toe a 3000 lb. Sidekick. I built my own toe plate which is beefier than the one I could have bought
and easier to install. It is law that safety chains are installed here and I have Air Force One that has a breakaway brake.

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #5 – December 02, 2020, 11:43:41 am

If there was more slack in the emergency brake break away cable then the safety cables brakes would not set until safety cables failed.

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #6 – December 02, 2020, 11:47:26 am

Chuck, the break-away cable would not engage the Cherokee brakes until all else has failed and the toad is on its own. Lots has to fail for that to happen. And I don't think it would lock up the brakes based on how they are adjusted, just a firm application to prevent a run away car and bring it to a stop.

The break-away cable has a link in it that is designed to break if it gets pulled hard enough to set the brakes. Once the brakes are set they stay on.

I hope we never see it tested.

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #7 – December 02, 2020, 11:47:50 am

Quote from: Chuck & Jeannie – December 02, 2020, 11:37:13 am

If the tow bar totally fractured, would the "break away" brake on the car set at that point (while car was still retained by the safety cables)?

If the tow car brakes did set, could that put enough strain on the safety chains/cables to cause them to part or pull loose?

Chuck comes in with great questions!!!! And I'm sure not an design engineer, to really know the answer.

I think that the safety cables would not stretch long enough to pull the break away pin. But the safety cables would keep the Jeep connected to the coach.
The safety cables are rated at 10,000# each, and the Jeep weighs 5,000#, and I doubt that the locked and skidding tires would be able to break the cables.

Oh my I hope to never find out, or see the results of either the receiver pin breaking or the tow bar failing.

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #8 – December 02, 2020, 11:48:21 am

That depends on how long the brake line is. I had never thought about that but my brake would only come on after the safety
chains broke. The problem with anything breaking is could you feel it in the driver's seat. I don't feel the car back there.

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #9 – December 02, 2020, 11:58:26 am

As with everything you get what you pay for. If it's metal it fatigues during use. If it's overrated it fatigues slower. Tow bar systems must be regularly inspected for damage. Cracks generally start leaking rust before failure. Emergency separation braking systems are a must. Trailers break too.
Buy good stuff that exceeds to weight rating needed.
Inspect regularly
Maintain properly
Replace if damaged.
I would hate to damage my coach and toad, but couldn't even imagine have a liberated toad hitting people. And like my fat coach my fat toad Is 7200lbs empty.
Scott

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #10 – December 02, 2020, 12:03:21 pm

Quote from: oldguy – December 02, 2020, 11:48:21 am

That depends on how long the brake line is. I had never thought about that but my brake would only come on after the safety
chains broke. The problem with anything breaking is could you feel it in the driver's seat. I don't feel the car back there.

Specifically set my brakes to set on toad before full extension on safety chains to set toad brakes and drag it to a stop on the chains. Prevention is better than reaction IMO
Scott

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #11 – December 02, 2020, 12:07:56 pm

Quote from: dsd – December 02, 2020, 12:03:21 pm

Specifically set my brakes to set on toad before full extension on safety chains to set toad brakes and drag it to a stop on the chains. Prevention is better than reaction IMO
Scott

One would hope you would feel the brakes on the tow before it goes up in smoke.

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #12 – December 02, 2020, 12:15:19 pm

Quote from: Doug W. – December 02, 2020, 12:07:56 pm

One would hope you would feel the brakes on the tow before it goes up in smoke.

Based on many accounts of owners pulling their towd down the road with the (towd) parking brake set, or with the transmission in Park, I would say "Not necessarily...".

I had a instance, early in our ownership, of pulling our towd (on the tow dolly) with the parking brake still (partially) set. With front engine/front wheel drive car, there is not much weight on the rear tires. I truthfully could not tell any difference in how the towd felt - our coach certainly did not have any problem overcoming the puny braking efforts of the towd.

Happily, I stopped after about 10 minutes to check the tie down straps on the dolly. Walking back to the towd I caught the lovely eau de toasted brake lining. Fortunately, the brakes were not set tight enough to flat spot the tires, and the brake shoes did not get hot enough to start a fire. I DID have to replace the parking brake shoes when we got home from that trip. Our Sorento (with 4-wheel disc brakes) has weird parking brakes. They are separate cable actuated drum brake shoes inside the rear wheels.

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #13 – December 02, 2020, 12:20:47 pm

Let It go up in smoke. Lol. Think at this moment I have a love/ hate of the forum. I just condemned my receiver part of my tow bar and will replace with solid 2" Stock in the over length to fully extend into hitch. Had thought about it several times before so I'm changing it out. Be real heavy but worth it I think. I guess I needed that little nudge.. Love the nudge, hate spending the money.
Scott

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #14 – December 02, 2020, 12:59:32 pm

Coming north about a mile before the US Mexico border at Laredo 7 yrs agoa truck driver passed me and signaled to me something was wrong at the rear of coach. I stopped and found I was dragging the towed by the safety cables and did not,knowmit. The car stayed straight so no car was showing in the mirrors. The tow hitch ball part had sheared (and it was about 1" thick) right at the bend so the part of it and ball was still fastened to the tow bar (car was a Tracker with tow bar attached to it-not coach). The cables saved the day but meant Ruth now had to drive it thru customs and I had to go thru truck section amd x ray etc. After over an hour we met up on other side and geaded for San Antonio with me looking for a place to buy a new hitch. We finally got one as we headed east on I 10 and Houston as we were going to Extreme to fix damage to coach done in Mexico. Ruth was pleased to sit in coach again and not drive.
Farm supply people I bought the hitch from could not believe the broken part, and to thjs day I do not know what caused it except to say we did hit a bad crack in pavement just before border but not one I would have associated with being a problem.
JohnH

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #15 – December 02, 2020, 01:26:56 pm

Ok, here's my story. I use a ReadyBrute with integrated brakes. I love it and have been using their towbar for a few years.
This summer I had just passed the chainup pullout before going up Monarch pass heading east. I heard or more likely felt a jolt and looked up in my driver side mirror. I saw my Tahoe trying to pass me! I shouldn't see the Tahoe except in my rear camera which I leave on whenever I'm driving the coach. I slowly and gradually pulled to a stop on the small shoulder and climbed out to see what happened. The driver side towbar arm was hanging unhooked from the Tahoe and that pin was missing. I then remembered one day at Harbor Freight I picked up a pair of tractor pins with a nice handle. Like these: https://www.harborfreight.com/58-in-easy-grip-hitch-pin-63671.html
Don't know if it broke or if the retainer pin came out but I removed the other one and put in my old set of pins. No damage to either the towbar or Tahoe, well except for the skid marks....
I've since bought a new set of Blueox pins. and new underwear.
So don't hesitate to do a safety check walkaround whenever you stop (which I do), and make sure ALL components of your towing system are good quality.

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #16 – December 02, 2020, 01:35:10 pm

Quote from: John Haygarth – December 02, 2020, 12:59:32 pm

Farm supply people I bought the hitch from could not believe the broken part, and to thjs day I do not know what caused it except to say we did hit a bad crack in pavement just before border but not one I would have associated with being a problem.
JohnH

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #17 – December 02, 2020, 01:50:58 pm

My RVi3 would activate full braking on all four wheels. It has an air activated piston from its on board air compressor. It is powered by the toad battery which in turn is charged by coach as we are driving. I can test the toad brakes with the tablet that monitors the brake system. I believe it would be noticeable in comparison to an e brake left on by accident. Blue Ox does recommend regular inspection of tow plate and tow bar. I also run with my backup camera always on. Recently upgraded it so much easier to see behind coach, especially when passing and confirming that I have truly passed the vehicle behind me. I'm now rethinking my Tractor Supply easy to remove pins. Now that I've learned how to unbind the pins before removing them I may start using a different set of pins with a positive lock.

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #18 – December 02, 2020, 02:13:44 pm

I only use steel tow bars - not aluminum. I had a sheared off failed aluminum shank right at the coach receiver on a aluminum blue ox tow bar many years ago - the safety cables retained the Geo Prizm we were towing. Replaced that tow bar with a steel 6500 pound rated bar.

I upgraded to a new 10,000 pound rated Blue Ox steel tow bar for our new Jeep Grand Cherokee (previously towed a light weight Honda Fit). I also have 10,000 pound rated safety cables. Installing Air Force One brake system on the Jeep soon (coach already has AF One installed).

I also would never use/trust a ball mounted tow bar. Receiver mount is much more secure IMO.

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #19 – December 02, 2020, 06:28:22 pm

My Roadmaster Sterling suffered a problem on the Alaska Motorcade last year. Too many frost heaves and lifting the front of the heavy car into the air bent the bar that goes into the coach receiver. Roadmaster put two holes in the bar, and one was right at the edge of the receiver, weakening the bar so much that it bent.

I stopped at Roadmaster in Vancouver Washington on my way home, and was going to have it repaired under warranty, but instead opted for a reasonably priced "refurb" towbar (looks new). The new one is an all steel Blackhawk AT and rated at 10000 pounds. It didn't cost much. I'm very happy with the upgrade. The All Terrain feature is great.

By the way, the new tow bars no longer have the second hole in the bar, and are rated lower in towing weight than my old one.

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #20 – December 02, 2020, 07:07:05 pm

One other thing that gives me a little more comfort, I have my rear view camera pointed low enough that I am able to see the entire hitch and tow bar. The only thing that I can't see is the hitch pin in the receiver.

At least if something goes wrong with the tow bar or the Jeep hookup, I can see it as well as able to see the safety cables and also if the Jeep brakes were to lock up.

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #21 – December 02, 2020, 07:12:38 pm

Doug W, no tope at that point and I have only had maybe 2 instances of not seeing one in my 40k km driving in Mexico.. The crack I mentioned was on an off ramp from highway and they are not at those locations. Usually before a town, while driving thru and the far end of a town. I must add they are also usually under the braches of a large tree so a bit dark. There is also usually a small shack with a guy that repairs blown tyres etc. Clever marketing for sure.
JohnH

Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #22 – December 02, 2020, 09:12:29 pm

I use a Roadmaster stow master tow bar, bought used in 2006. All steel construction, very easy to do a thorough inspection of. I check the mounts on the jeep once a week, and check the tow bar every time we stop. Remove and check the bolts in the tow bar once a year.

Re: Broken Two Bar

Reply #23 – December 02, 2020, 10:59:04 pm

To support Roger's post on hitch tighteners, we want everyone to understand that these hitch tightener anti-rattle stabilizers are a necessity and should be supplied with the towbar insert.

Without such a support, inserts are usually moving side to side, up & down, sliding in & out trying to shear the round locking pin, all movements that can trigger disasters. Maybe these small jerky movements can even stress all small towbar parts.

Amazon has three dozen choices:

Amazon.com : hitch tightener anti-rattle stabilizer

Here is our latest hitch stabilizer for our bike rack, that is well built, strong and inexpensive, two for $20. Amazing how bike movements are stopped by just adding the $10 clamp:

Amazon.com: CZC AUTO Hitch Tightener, Heavy Duty Anti-Rattle Stabilizer for...

Our Blue Ox towbar has one of the original stabilizers called Hitch-Vise:

HT-3 Hitch-Vise Anti-Rattle Clamp by Hitch Rider Racks

Just Do It . . .

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Re: Fractured Tow Bar

Reply #24 – December 03, 2020, 06:59:30 am

Tow bar system fractures are certainly a problem, but wear usually comes first. After towing for many years I have learned to pay attention to sloppiness in each of the joints in the system. When the parts get loose they are wearing. I've found tow bar manufacturers don't sell replacement parts, they want to sell you new tow bars because they know fractures aren't far behind.

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