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Topic: Brand new Blue Ox tow bar gave up (Read 1014 times) previous topic - next topic

Brand new Blue Ox tow bar gave up

Just got these pictures  from a friend.  There old tow bar was 9 years old and they decided to get a new one.  They were towing a jeep when tow bar broke.  This all that I know at the moment.

I didn't ask where they bought it from,  but now hoping it wasn't from Amazon and one of those that are  / was counterfeit .

Well, tried to upload the pictures.  Got message I couldn't upload  heic files.  I never heard of heic file type.  Will do research and see what I have to do.

Got them changed to jpg

Re: Brand new Blue Ox tow bar gave up.

Reply #1 –
 :o

That's an unbelievably catastrophic failure. 

What was the height difference between the hitch and the baseplate connections?  i.e. How level was the towbar?

The toad end should always be level or at most slightly below (~2") the coach end of the towbar.  You never want the toad end higher than the coach because the toad could go over the towbar.  If the tow brake fails to work, you'd want the nose of the toad to go down, not up.  It's really hard to tell from the photos, but it appears the toad connections are higher.

Re: Brand new Blue Ox tow bar gave up.

Reply #2 –
Sure looks like a awful lot of stress to do that just goin down the road

Re: Brand new Blue Ox tow bar gave up.

Reply #3 –
I wonder if that happened while backing the coach up with the Jeep still hooked up. That's the only way I can imagine this happening.

Re: Brand new Blue Ox tow bar gave up.

Reply #4 –
Will get more details later.  He has probably towed this jeep with the old tow bar, I'm guessing 30,000 or more miles. Jeep is only around 2 years old. This is his 3rd Foretravel.  I've seen it hooked up quite a few times and I don't remember it being off level.  I'd think if I had seen it off level,  I would have said something to him.

Re: Brand new Blue Ox tow bar gave up

Reply #5 –
Too bad he is so far away. I have a older Blue OX tow bar and a Readybrake setup that I am wanting to sell, now that we sold the coach. The safety cables go with it. We towed our Geo Tracker and then our 2006 Saturn Vue.
Location? North Central Wisconsin (see? too far away)
Price? $600 OBO.

Re: Brand new Blue Ox tow bar gave up

Reply #6 –
Looking at the photos again, 1 is completely sheared in half and the other bent.  That's a significant bend force that doesn't seem like it could be from pulling the toad during normal towing, but from the toad or something else pushing the arms with significant force.

Did he have the rear camera on to monitor the toad at the time?

Re: Brand new Blue Ox tow bar gave up

Reply #7 –
When backing up with a toad, the toad's front wheels turn hard to the right or left and lock up in a very short distance. Continuing to back up any further risks damage like you see in those photos.