Toads or Dinghies

[ialwaysneedaroadtrip]

So, Beth...if the car's braking is set to more, what does it feel like while driving? I'm imagining it feels like when you accidentally take off with your emergency brake still on.

And can you manually set that Ready Brute's braking. ...I wonder?

[Bethers]

It will only brake, even when set at a higher braking if I brake the rv. I set it higher in the mountains, for example - so on the downhills, it assists more. On flatlands, I set it less. I have only been able to feel it braking a couple times. It's not at all like your emergency brake. Oh, I hardly ever can even feel that I have a car behind me. It's just there lol

[ialwaysneedaroadtrip]

Lol!
Makes sense.
There's someone here on Craigslist selling an Blue Ox ll tow bar, and a Blue Ox braking assembly. They came out of the basement storage of a 1999 motor home. I'm checking tomorrow with Blue Ox to see if they would work with the base plate I have to get for my car.
Is there anything else I should be concerned about because the parts are so old?

[FinallyTime]

I would be concerned mostly about the brake unit. I see posts on RV.net about problems with the Blue Ox brake systems. Lots of the older tow bars take two people or a lot of time to tinker around and get it just right. The newer tow bars are easy for one person to hook up. If you want the tow bar to stay on the motorhome make sure it's that type. Many are mounted on the front of the dinghy not the back of the motor home. Also if the one you are considering has been sitting around that long, the tow bar might be siezed up.

[ialwaysneedaroadtrip]

Thank you Finally.
I spoke with them, and the situation was too iffy,and I turned the guy down. Plus there's no way to test that brake he has.
I talked with the people you referred me to who have the system all built in. I'm going with that one as soon as I get the money in hand.
Thanks again!

[ellenw]

For those of you with the elephant towing the mouse, relatively speaking, do you leave the towbars attached to your MH all the time? Or your car? Or do you take your towbars off when parked?

And on that note, how heavy are they? Is moving these bars around going to put me back on oxygen?

[Bethers]

I rarely move what's on the mh - only if I'm going to take it any distance without the toad. No need to. And I got lucky and left it on when I went to Q last winter without the car - lucky because Blue Ox was there and did the reconditioning ... took it off to take in to them. Was not difficult, but is a tad heavy.

No need to remove the parts on the car - although I do remove some when staying long term anywhere.

[FinallyTime]

I keep the tow bar attached to the motorhome, no need to remove. To put it in "stow" position, I push the bars together, then to the left and lift until I can hook the catch that holds them in place. They end up together on the driver's side parallel to the rear bumper. I have to use a 6" drop hitch bar (the thing that fits into the receiver on the motorhome) to make the tow bar level with the baseplate on my car. To make sure everything doesn't vanish when I am not around, I use keyed alike locking hitch pins for the drop hitch bar and for the towbar assembly. As K1 said I am a little OCD. LOL

[OregonLuvr]

I also keep my tow bar attached to the Motorhome, I have a cover for it so usually just silicone the arms before I stow it for any length of time and then I have a cover that goes over it to keep the dust, etc out.

The part on my car I never take off. I have padlocks also for the hitch and receiver.

(K2...a little OCD?????) ha ha ha

karen
(K1)

[Irmi]

I've enjoyed reading all your replies and have to admit that I've driven Tina's Fit and ridden in Dawn & Liz's Fit's and they are all extremely comfortable. If I was in the market for another vehicle, I would definitely consider getting a Fit. But since we don't have any income yet and all our vehicles run and wouldn't get anything on a trade in, we have opted to get a trailer to transport our lightest weight car. We tested a trailer today, but because the spoilers under the car give the vehicle little clearance, we are going to try a trailer with a dove tail plus the 5' ramps. It should be in at the dealership in another month. So we'll try again to see how that works. Between the trailer wight and the weight of my car, we still fit in the towable specifications of our motorhome. With the trailer, we will be able to back the trailer but will have to make accomodations to store the trailer, when we go to Florida, for example. That is a risk we're willing to take. We will also be able to use the trailer for hauling wood for our woodstove and any other number of things. I'll let you know in another month if we could get my car on the trailer.