Hi Fellow RVers We just came down to New Orleans from Barrie Ont with our new 33 Terra towing our car. We had a Blue ox tow bar installed by our dealer and everything was just fine, well at least till we hit the Indianapolis beltway. Looking in my monitor I noticed that the car had shifted to the far right, of course in the construction zone. After finally finding a place to pull over I found that the right arm of my tow bar has disconnected. The pin that held the arm was gone and so was my harness, the lock ring pin had failed. I strongly suggest that if you have one of these replace the pins with a locking type the same that you would use on your receiver 1/2"shaft I had just checked it (and I do regularly) looks like the safety cables knocked it off Beware and be safe
I have a Blue Ox tow bar with the Toad Stop Brake with about 26,000 miles on two different motor homes. I know exactly what you are talking about because it has happened to me. Very scary. If you stop too fast (unless you have a good toad brakeaway system) the toad can damage the back of your coach. My dealer recently told about a a customer who did $6,000 damage to the back of his coach with his toad. When I bought my unit about 3 years ago, they were using brass looking circular clinch pins with a shaft going down through the center. The shaft is on an eccentric and can be closed on either side of the circle. One way is secure and one way is not. )You can get them at ACE hardware for about $1.69.) When I bought my Blue Ox, the dealer explained it to me and said to always do it that way or it would come out. I figure I have hooked up the toad about 400 times. I evidently did it the wrong way and after about 80 miles. It worked it’s way loose and the pin came out like yours. I drove back and found the pin along side of the road about ½ mile back. Now, my wife never talks to me when I am hooking up and she always checks the pins and clinch pins. There are a whole bunch of different types of clinch pins available which have a more positive clinch, but are a little harder to take in and out. When recently in Elkhart, IN Wally World, I left the pins on the ground and then the big sweeper ate them during the night. I think your problem was probably the lack of training from the Blue OX installer. On another forum, somebody indicated that some kids at a mall had removed his clinch pins as a prank and he lost one arm of the tow bar like we both did. He replaced the clinch pins with two keyed alike master locks and reinstalls the pins and locks after decoupling the toad, which makes hard too lose. Lots of different ways to skin this same cat. Good luck and I have heard of Blue OX’s going 100,000 so get to towing and have a great day.
I think Lindsay is describing what I have seen called "lynch pins". Like this: Lynch Pins. When they are snapped into position, the pin can't come loose. Our Blue Ox Aventa tow bar had about 100,000 miles on it when I replaced it last week. The metal shaft that is turned by the release lever on one side was deteriorating. It was flaking away. Since we were way out of warranty, I searched the web and found a replacement for hundreds less than the Blue Ox MSRP: AdventureRV.net. I called first to make sure they had it in stock, then ordered it online. They shipped it the next day, and it arrived three or four days later.
QUOTE(Denali @ Oct 30 2009, 12:27 PM) [snapback]19813[/snapback] I think Lindsay is describing what I have seen called "lynch pins". Like this: Lynch Pins. When they are snapped into position, the pin can't come loose. Our Blue Ox Aventa tow bar had about 100,000 miles on it when I replaced it last week. The metal shaft that is turned by the release lever on one side was deteriorating. It was flaking away. Since we were way out of warranty, I searched the web and found a replacement for hundreds less than the Blue Ox MSRP: AdventureRV.net. I called first to make sure they had it in stock, then ordered it online. They shipped it the next day, and it arrived three or four days later. Hi ..yes the lynch pins the small ring pin that secures the main pin, I can see if the safety cables brush up against them they could be knocked off, thats why I opted to install trailer hitch lock on both sides, definitely gives me peace of mind and no pranksters can fool with it
Yep, lynch pins it is. The second photo at the link is it exactly. I still use them, but recheck each time. I aways put them facing the centerline of my toad and no way can the safety lines touch them. I don't know if you guys have the Blue Ox Toad Brake system, but I really love it. No setup time ever. I will always remember watching a guy in the rain with his knees in a puddle, setting up his Brake Buddy with his wife holding an unbrella and both of them getting soaked.
I have about 60K on my Blue Ox Aventa. In a moment of stupidity I once hooked it upside down to the rig's receiver. Since it swivels at the top, it fit's just as easily the wrong way as the right way. When I negotiated some low spots in the road, I destroyed the hooked fold-away mount that allows you to stow the hitch when you're parked. Just my luck that it's welded to the hitch and can't be easily replaced. For those who have not done so, I would suggest you clean the rods under the rubber boots occasionally. They build up with crime and can hamper back and forth movement. Blue Ox will refurb a tow bar. The cost is variable depending on the work done and obviously it has to be shipped, but I suspect that it is cheaper than buying a new one even online.
I clip the cable ties holding the rubber boots on one end and then spray the lub (The one they recommend.) onto the telescoping shafts after cleaning them good. I never really thougt about how much forces are on the tow bar until my lynch pin came out (due to pilot error).
I hook a bungee cord from one pin head to the other, pulling towards the center, after putting the lynch pins in. I also replaced the cables with high tensil strength chains and take the slack out with bungee cords so they can't move around and they hold the hooks tight. I go to a farm supply store and buy new bolts, high tensil and shear strength. Much cheaper than blu ox.
When you install the attaching 1/2" shaft pins, insert them from the inside, between the arms, to the outside. This will put the lynch pins on the outside of the tow bar. As you drive, the shafts will ALWAYS work their way towards the outside which will actually put more stress on the 1/2" attachment shaft bend, rather than on the keeper mechanism. This will eliminate the problem altogether. The shafts will never fall out again and there will be no strain on the lynch pins.
