Tow bar recomendations

browser5031 · 11-10-2019, 09:03 PM

Bought a a small Toyota Yaris this week to make it our toad. What bars are you guys using for small cars like this? the Blue Ox or the Roadmaster? Also wondering how many of you did the work yourselves as opposed to hiring a shop?

DaveJordan · 11-10-2019, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by browser5031

Bought a a small Toyota Yaris this week to make it our toad. What bars are you guys using for small cars like this? the Blue Ox or the Roadmaster? Also wondering how many of you did the work yourselves as opposed to hiring a shop?

I have had a couple of Blue Ox tow bars and was happy with them. I didn't do the work on the toad myself - always had an installer do it. Didn't always go well, particularly with the installation of auxiliary braking systems...

Dave

chroniekon · 11-10-2019, 11:11 PM

I found the tow bar and braking system on craigslist and did the install myself.

BehindBars · 11-11-2019, 01:25 AM

I installed (myself) a Blue Ox baseplate and towbar on a Ford Fiesta. I researched the choices, and for our car, the Blue Ox has a better look when the bar was not a in use. The tow bar sockets are almost unnoticeable when not in use.

Installing a toad base plate is a lot more work than installing a typical trailer hitch, but can be done by a DIY type person with some automotive mechanical experience.

Mikegjax · 11-11-2019, 06:29 AM

I have the BlueOx base plate on a Smart car that I installed myself. I had previously installed one on a 1999 Malibu.

I use the Readybrute Elite tow bar with Ready Brake unit. The Ready Brake is a surge brake system that is completely mechanical.

Readybrute has videos on their website so you can see how the system is installed and operates.

Gumpster808 · 11-11-2019, 06:51 AM

We have Blue Ox baseplate and towbar.

Have permanent stay and play braking system as well.

We bought our 2018 Hyundai Elantra sport six speed new specifically to setup as our toad.

Since I didn’t want to tear apart our brand new car I had it done by a local independent shop. Did great work and complete install was about $1200 more than what I could have bought everything for.

Everything has worked great with the setup. Hook up, flip the switch to turn on the braking and go.

We also had a charging system installed since the braking system does use power brakes.

The other thing the installer did was run the light for the toad brakes engaged up to the dash of our coach. Very easy to see when they are on instead of looking on the rear view camera to see the light in the toad dash.

Went more or less permanent since we will be keeping the toad for a long time.

Installer did great work including hiding the braking system under the hood and trimming the grill to make room for the tow pin setup.

Had we decided to use the 2012 Jeep Liberty we traded in I probably would have done it myself.

browser5031 · 11-11-2019, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BehindBars

I installed (myself) a Blue Ox baseplate and towbar on a Ford Fiesta. I researched the choices, and for our car, the Blue Ox has a better look when the bar was not a in use. The tow bar sockets are almost unnoticeable when not in use.

Installing a toad base plate is a lot more work than installing a typical trailer hitch, but can be done by a DIY type person with some automotive mechanical experience.

This was my feeling too. I liked the Blue Ox sockets over the bulky Roadmaster ones. The one shop in town that specializes in installing the plates only uses Roadmaster. Roadmasters are made about 15 miles from here in Vancouver, and the shop owner works for Roadmaster on the side in some capacity. So if I go Blue Ox I might have to do it myself.

browser5031 · 11-11-2019, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumpster808

We have Blue Ox baseplate and towbar.

Have permanent stay and play braking system as well.

We bought our 2018 Hyundai Elantra sport six speed new specifically to setup as our toad.

Since I didn’t want to tear apart our brand new car I had it done by a local independent shop. Did great work and complete install was about $1200 more than what I could have bought everything for.

Everything has worked great with the setup. Hook up, flip the switch to turn on the braking and go.

We also had a charging system installed since the braking system does use power brakes.

The other thing the installer did was run the light for the toad brakes engaged up to the dash of our coach. Very easy to see when they are on instead of looking on the rear view camera to see the light in the toad dash.

Went more or less permanent since we will be keeping the toad for a long time.

Installer did great work including hiding the braking system under the hood and trimming the grill to make room for the tow pin setup.

Had we decided to use the 2012 Jeep Liberty we traded in I probably would have done it myself.

Thanks Gumpster. The labor for the one shop in town here pencils out to be about $1000. That is one big reason I can't make up my mind. Might not be worth the hassle of DIY for $1000 other than I would use the blue ox as it looks nicer.

**dcheatwood** · 11-11-2019, 10:09 AM

I had an old Roadmaster but sold it and got a new Demco . Much easier with the all terrain feature. Had original brackets installed at camping world for $69.

milkman55 · 11-11-2019, 11:30 AM

I went with all Blue Ox base plate and the Aclaim tow bar. I used Demco (SMI) Stay N Play brake system. I did all the work myself which at my pace took a couple of days for my Honda CR-V.

You didn’t state the year model Yaris, but the 2019 may not be flat towable according to FCMA.

https://community.fmca.com/topic/144...-toyota-yaris/

browser5031 · 11-11-2019, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkman55

I went with all Blue Ox base plate and the Aclaim tow bar. I used Demco (SMI) Stay N Play brake system. I did all the work myself which at my pace took a couple of days for my Honda CR-V.

You didn’t state the year model Yaris, but the 2019 may not be flat towable according to FCMA.

https://community.fmca.com/topic/144...-toyota-yaris/

It's a 2010 with a manual transmission. It will be a our dedicated tow rig, I spent a lot of time searching finding one with a manual trans and lower (66k) mileage.
Sadly it looks like a lot more of the brand new manual transmission cars they are coming out with are not flat tow options anymore. I feel like it is just easier for the manufacture to say no than worry about a tiny fraction of us that will buy something to be flat towed.

milkman55 · 11-11-2019, 12:50 PM

That sounds perfect, cheap to insure. Based on value you could probably do liability only coverage.

EdFla · 11-11-2019, 01:09 PM

[QUOTE=Mikegjax;2219782]I have the BlueOx base plate on a Smart car that I installed myself. I had previously installed one on a 1999 Malibu.

I use the Readybrute Elite tow bar with Ready Brake unit. The Ready Brake is a surge brake system that is completely mechanical.

Readybrute has videos on their website so you can see how the system is installed and operates.QUOTE]

I also tow a Smart car no brake system weight is less than is required for brake system. Stopping is the same with or without toad.

Gumpster808 · 11-11-2019, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by browser5031

Thanks Gumpster. The labor for the one shop in town here pencils out to be about $1000. That is one big reason I can't make up my mind. Might not be worth the hassle of DIY for $1000 other than I would use the blue ox as it looks nicer.

Yeah it wasn’t worth it to me to try and do it myself with a new vehicle. Easier to have someone do it that had already done 5 in the year when I took it to him in April.

Plus a lot had to come apart on the front end to get it done. He even commented that his wife asked if he was going to be able to put it all back together with all the pieces laying around in his shop.

Three days total to do the toad, coach, test and adjust the surge, etc. and we had a bad propane regulator on the coach so that got replaced as well.

Could I have done it, sure. Sometimes it is easier to write the check than deal with the stress etc [emoji3]. Probably would have taken me more than three days too....

milkman55 · 11-11-2019, 03:08 PM

$1,000 would be a good deal if it includes brakes and lights. The quote I got here in Texas was about $2,000, $1,000 was for just the brake system.

If $1,000 is just the baseplate, I would do it myself. All the work is in removing the front grill trim depending on how the baseplate is designed. It usually replaces the bumper that is behind all the plastic grill trim. Look for YouTube videos that are model specific.

Gumpster808 · 11-11-2019, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkman55

$1,000 would be a good deal if it includes brakes and lights. The quote I got here in Texas was about $2,000, $1,000 was for just the brake system.

If $1,000 is just the baseplate, I would do it myself. All the work is in removing the front grill trim depending on how the baseplate is designed. It usually replaces the bumper that is behind all the plastic grill trim. Look for YouTube videos that are model specific.

Mine was all in for that much more than I could have bought all the parts myself. Baseplate install, braking system, lights, run light to coach dash, etc. For what he charged me wasn’t worth it to try myself.

browser5031 · 11-11-2019, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkman55

$1,000 would be a good deal if it includes brakes and lights. The quote I got here in Texas was about $2,000, $1,000 was for just the brake system.

If $1,000 is just the baseplate, I would do it myself. All the work is in removing the front grill trim depending on how the baseplate is designed. It usually replaces the bumper that is behind all the plastic grill trim. Look for YouTube videos that are model specific.

It was about $1000 for all the labor, including base plate install and brake and wiring system install. He also could get the Roadmaster products far cheaper than anyone I could find online and he was clearly not marking it up or minimally marking it up. Seemed like an honest guy and I will probably go with him as I have a million house projects going on now and time is money. He can probably do in 1 day what would take me 2 full weekends. The only complaint I had was the size of the Roadmaster plate, the Blue ox is so much more subtle.

Gumpster808 · 11-11-2019, 04:12 PM

Yeah, I had Roadmaster picked out as well. My installer spent about 1/2 hour in the phone with me going over things and why he recommended Blue Ox for my setup.

So nice to find someone that provides customer service even before you decide to have them do things for you.

Felt comfortable with him plus he is a FR distributor which is nice for parts. He also had a newer American Dream high end coach in his lot that he was working on as well as other high end coaches.

cfo111 · 11-11-2019, 04:34 PM

Demco is my chose and will always be

MNtraveler · 11-20-2019, 07:08 PM

Blue Ox by dealer. You can do it yourself if you are comfortable removing the entire fender assembly and drilling into the frame. Only have someone do it who has done it before multiple times. The connection has to endure endless battering along the highways. It’s really a heavy duty connection and a it’s safety requirement to have it done correctly.

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