[ronbo]

Several comments were made about towbars. I'd like to relate a story...

I used to have a brand *** towbar and a regular ball-type hitch. Having gotten quite used to seeing my Wrangler dead-center in the backup camera, you can imagine my surprise (a really calm word for it now) when I glanced down one time and saw it over to the right of the screen. I slowly-slowly-slowly eased the rig down and to a stop on the shoulder. Seems somehow the little assembly that grabs onto the hitchball itself had gotten fatigued/bent/twisted (no way I coulda hit something, I'm talking about the part inside the coupler itself) and allowed the ball to work itself out. All that held us together was the cables, and luckily they held the towbar from dropping to the ground and catapulting the Jeep over my head. Fortunately there was minor damage to the rv or Jeep, but the coupler was history.

Immediately after that episode I went out and bought a Blue Ox, mainly because all of the joints are bolted and pinned, not simply captured or held in place. I want the security of KNOWING it's together and going to stay together until I unlock it.

I bring all this up not to diss any brand (which is why I didn't list who it was at the beginning), but to implore everyone to do some research and get a GOOD unit, and to inspect it often. Pulling a toad ain't like dragging around your little red-wagon when you were a kid, these things are big and expensive!

Seeing an off-center Jeep is bad enough, but I have nightmares about looking out the side-window of the rv one day and saying "Hey honey, look at the Jeep going down that ravine. Sure looks like ours, but with a lot more scratches and dents".

Thanks!
Ron