HSVBamaBob Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 Good Morning All,Well, we have gone and done it! We are going to 'retire' the 5th wheel and move on up to a Motorhome in preparation for fulltiming in 2017.Wanted to tap your brains on what you consider to be the best Tow Bar and Brake system. There is a thread in this forum that indicated Blue Ox was the best Tow Bar and the Air Force One Proportional brake was the best brake. Of course that thread ended in 2012, and I suspect that technology has advanced markedly in 3 years.Our new Motorhome will be a Berkshire XLT, towing a Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk. Since the Berkie has a 15K towing capacity I wonder if the expense of a proportional braking system is necessary?Finally, the overarching criteria for the towing system is quick, foolproof connection/disconnection to the Toad. The Trailhawk comes standard with frame mounted tow hooks, so I imagine hookup to a tow bar will be pretty straightforward.TIA for your advice and recommendations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nana25k Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 We have a DP and use the SMI air force one. No issues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay L Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 The most popular tow bars seem to be Blue Ox and Roadmaster. I had the Blue OX and friends had the Roadmaster. The Blue Ox worked great for 75,000 miles the Roadmaster system also worked well for my friends. I had the Buddybrake and it worked well. It took maybe 5 minutes to set in place, connect to the brake pedal and plug into the DC accessory plug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark and Dale Bruss Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 It doesn't matter what the tow capacity of your motorhome, the car in tow needs some kind of braking system to stop the car in the event of a break-away situation. At that moment, the car is no longer attached to the motorhome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dewilso Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 I've had Roadmaster.....didn't like the stuff hanging on the front. I've had Blue Ox, was just fine, easy to connect & disconnect. When disconnected very little iron is left exposed. Used a Brake Buddy for many many years, worked OK, but was kind of a PITA to put in, take out and store. I now use a Ready Brute, with Blue Ox base plate on my Jeep. This tow bar has a built in surge brake/break away system. Easy on, easy off, just like the Blue Ox, and nothing to store. Easy to install, and a good SMALL company to work with. Oh the Ready Brute is now called the Ready Brake Elite. The factory does the same "rebuild" service that Blue Ox provides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWharton Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 We just went through this exercise, 5th to MH and Toad braking systems. Here is the thread: http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showtopic=116540&hl=swharton#entry760208 Our primary goal was we did not want anything tht had to be put in/taken out of the toad each time we wanted to use it. We ended up with the Ready Brake Elite and love it..........We have used it for 2 months and it has been flawless except for our mistakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick werth Posted October 29, 2015 Report Share Posted October 29, 2015 Blue Ox and RViBrake system. Like them both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutch_12078 Posted October 29, 2015 Report Share Posted October 29, 2015 We've been very pleased with the performance of our ReadyBrute Elite combined tow bar and auxiliary brake system. The tow bar is rated at 8,000 lbs, and is an all terrain hook up. The brake system hook up only requires snapping a clip on an eyelet. I do recommend installing the optional break-away kit as well. The manufacturer, NSA, can equip the ReadyBrute arms to connect with any of the popular base plates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray,IN Posted October 29, 2015 Report Share Posted October 29, 2015 This is our first, and last MH. We use a Roadmaster tow bar, and a M & G braking system for the Jeep, including the brake-away system. We have the classic Falcon tow bar, and if I had it to do over, I would have bought the all-terrain model tow bar. The M & G air-powered braking system is great, it's an install and forget type system. The Jeep braking is proportional to the MH braking force. FWIW, installation of the M & G system is not difficult, just time-consuming; the instructions booklet is excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim & Alice Posted October 29, 2015 Report Share Posted October 29, 2015 This is our first motor home, and we have used this equipment for three years: Blue Ox Aladdin Tow Bar US Gear Unified Tow Brake Blue OX is well known... and the US Gear Unified Tow Brake is absolutely fantastic for breaking while towing, and for hookup and unhooking easily & quickly. Jim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSVBamaBob Posted October 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2015 We just went through this exercise, 5th to MH and Toad braking systems. Here is the thread: http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showtopic=116540&hl=swharton#entry760208 Our primary goal was we did not want anything tht had to be put in/taken out of the toad each time we wanted to use it. We ended up with the Ready Brake Elite and love it..........We have used it for 2 months and it has been flawless except for our mistakes. Thanks for the link to the thread! TBH, I also posted this question to another Forum we are on and I was really surprised. I figured the Blue Ox-Air Force One would be the most frequently reported setup. I was wrong. The Ready Brake Elite with a Blue Ox baseplate beat every other setup by almost 4-1. I'm still intrigued by the Air Force One (mainly because it works off the air brakes) but NSA does make a point that sometimes mechanical is better than hi tech Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk W Posted October 31, 2015 Report Share Posted October 31, 2015 We have owned and used two different Blue Ox tow-bar systems and had great success. We also used the Blue Ox base-plate on three different towed vehicles and particularly like the way it looks when everything is removed from the front of the tow vehicle. We also used two different models of Brake Buddy with excellent service. I liked the portability of it and ease of moving between vehicles. It is very difficult to tell you which is best since most of us have only used one or perhaps two different products and so do not have any basis to compare them. Since our tow vehicles were all light in weight I never saw the need for braking except in a hard stop, which the BB type of units supply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mariner Posted November 2, 2015 Report Share Posted November 2, 2015 We've used the Ready Brute w/braking system for over 5yrs. Especially liked the simplicity of the inertial braking system which only takes a second to hook up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk W Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 One other thing to keep in mind as you shop. The definition of what is "best" is a very subjective thing. In the mind of nearly anyone, best means the system that the individual has used and been most satisfied with. But very few of us have actually used more than one or perhaps two different systems. My suggestion is that you look at what is available and the costs of the different systems, then find what seems to suit your needs and see if it has a solid following to indicate that it is reliable and long lived and if it is, go with it. Most owners of any RV equipment choose one and if they are satisfied they never change and just stay with the one that they are used to and trust. Just because I (or anyone else) happens to believe that my system is the best, does not mean that you would agree. As an example is the long time argument between proponents of RV systems with progressive braking and those with one that only applies in a hard stop. But systems work just fine and serve very well if used in the way that they were designed, yet most owners of one will tell you that the other just isn't good. Which is the best car, Ford of Chevy? This issue is very little different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris-n-Dennis Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 Chevy, of course snark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WOBentley Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 We have a Blue Ox Avail towbar. I live 20 min from Roadmaster's HQ but they do not make a stock base plate for my 2015 AEV JK350 Jeep. On the other hand Blue Ox had exactly what I needed. As for a braking system, I went with the Intellibrake system. Both have worked very well for close to 12,000 hilly Northwest and Central California miles over the last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadhobos Posted November 23, 2015 Report Share Posted November 23, 2015 Lots of luck with the DP. We are considering the same route. We have a Falcon II tow bar and opted for the RViBrake and we didn't know what vehicle it was going in. It's light weight, and easy to setup. My wife can set it up with no problem, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mohamer Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 Just set up a Jeep Liberty to tow, used SMI Stay-IN-Play brake system, works very well, no air brakes. Tow bar and Base Plate are Demco, they work very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimalberta Posted November 27, 2015 Report Share Posted November 27, 2015 This is our first motor home, and we have used this equipment for three years: Blue Ox Aladdin Tow Bar US Gear Unified Tow Brake Blue OX is well known... and the US Gear Unified Tow Brake is absolutely fantastic for breaking while towing, and for hookup and unhooking easily & quickly. Jim. This is the same set up we use and it works very well. I like the fingertip control for adjusting the sensitivity of the braking for the toad as well as the manual lever to brake the toad separately if needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris-n-Dennis Posted November 27, 2015 Report Share Posted November 27, 2015 Blue Ox and RViBrake system. Like them both. X2 Initially was going ReadyBrake but it was not compatible with our Jeep Patriot (nor was any other braking system that involves penetrating the firewall due to lines and hoses). Got the RViBrake2 and couldn't be more pleased with the way it works and the outstanding customer support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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