quote:

I always cringed watching someone back-up the toad to lock those for the stress on the bar.

Why do you feel this stresses the tow bar?

I don't understand how the tow bar would be stressed more by backing the toad than by moving the coach forward.

Another thing to look out for is frozen locks. I pulled off once when the weather was below freezing and the locks on my Falcon 2 didn't latch. I noticed the toad trying to pass as we were pulling out of the campground. Both locks were frozen and I had to pour hot water on the latches to get them to lock up. I pay more attention to what the toad is doing as I start to pull off each morning.

Just another experience on the RV learning curve....

quote:

Originally posted by Route 66:

quote:

I always cringed watching someone back-up the toad to lock those for the stress on the bar.

Why do you feel this stresses the tow bar?

I don't understand how the tow bar would be stressed more by backing the toad than by moving the coach forward.

There's a big difference between backing up, having one side lock, the turning the wheel (sometimes not), stressing the already locked side that the toad, now under power is pivioting around to get the other side locked.. (deep breath)... than simply driving forward and letting it lock on it's own. I would rather pull a 4000lb rolling load into submission than using a 25000lb+ MH as an anchor and pulling against that. Are those normal loads? No, can they happen? Sure. I just don't want to be doing it on purpose.

Well, we pull our MH forward while pushing the brake activation button in the MH. Works everytime.

I have a Roadmaster Sterling tow bar and after making the connection to the car I back up the car until one side locks. I then slowly drive the coach forward with the better half watching to other lever. When the second lever drops and locks she raised her hand. This has worked well for six years.

It's clear that we all have different methods of locking the tow bar arms, and these various methods work well for each of us.

One thing I will add is I believe pulling the MH ahead quickly to lock the arms would stress the tow bar as well as backing the toad quickly.

IMHO, pulling the MH forward gently or backing the toad gently makes no difference on the tow bar.

It seems that several of us will just have to agree to disagree on this.

I hook up and then pull forward, with my DW watching to confirm everything locks into place and the toad is freewheeling.

Then I slow down enough to give her a chance to jump into an open storage bay and let her out at the next fuel stop.

Results in a safe towing situation and an unusually quiet ride.

On my Blue Ox tow bar, the latches are sleeves that pull back to unlock the bar, if the red ring is visible, it is not locked. From the damage described, it probally was from backing up even a small amount at a bad angle. You get in a tight spot and don't even think about it when trying to get out. Though one other thing could do it, is the tow bar relatively level with the hitch? if it is too high or low, the toad could have tried to run up under the MH. I have to use a drop hitch on mine because the receiver is so high on my MH.

I turn the volume up on the rear camera. I can clearly hear when each arm locks as I pull forward. If I don't hear two clicks I stop and check the tow bar.