Blue Ox - RV Towing Systems

In 1989 a local RV repair shop installed a Blue Ox baseplate on our 1984 Toyota sedan. It was mated with a Blue Ox tow bar that could be removed when the car was not being towed. The Toyota's brake and signal lights were wired to operate in conjunction with the motorhome's.

We drove that Toyota over 100,000 miles and towed it at least an additional 100,000 miles. Car, transmission uncoupler, baseplate, towbar and lights worked flawlessly.

When we bought our 1999 Saturn, we wanted to equip it for towing behind our 36-foot motorhome. All it needed was a baseplate and towbar. Naturally we looked to Blue Ox. They had a baseplate that really excited us. The entire thing mounted behind the grill of the Saturn. The tow bar attached to two tabs protruding through the grill opening. Nothing unusual so far. But.. by twisting those tabs a quarter turn, they could be removed. You had to look through the grill to see the remaining baseplate framework. Wow! No metal protrusions spoiling the looks of the front of the car. And, best of all, no more bruised and battered shins from hitting those protrusions. We were ecstatic!

And then the installer showed us the Blue Ox Aladdin tow bar. It mounts into the motorhome's hitch receiver. When not towing, the two telescoping legs fold up snug to the rear of the motorhome. The Aladdin is made of aluminum. It is rust and corrosion resistant. It can be left on the motorhome during storage. Best of all, the telescoping, self-aligning legs make hitching and unhitching the car an easy, one-person task. Just get the car "close enough" and move each of the towbar's telescoping legs to the baseplate's connecting tabs.

The Saturn has been towed more then 100,000 miles over all kinds of roads and in just about every weather condition. Car, transmission, baseplate and towbar have worked flawlessly.

By the way, we still drive and occasionally tow the old Toyota. The Blue Ox Aladdin tow bar adjusts to the 1989 baseplate with no problem.

Blue Ox has been manufacturing RV towing systems for a long time. Whatever your towing needs (trailer, fifth-wheel, car, etc.) or problems, Blue Ox probably has the equipment or solution.

Look for Blue Ox's Destination America crews presenting towing-related seminars at RV shows and rallies. You will also find them answering questions wherever you see a Blue Ox exhibit booth.

Trailer brakes are required in many states for trailers over 1,000-3000#, so an electric brake controller becomes an important part of safe towing. In theory, the tow vehicle brakes should be strong enough to stop the tow vehicle loaded up to its GVWR. And I’m sure there is some sort of extra safety margin built in to handle some added weight from a trailer that does not have brakes. Also in theory, the trailer brakes should be strong enough to stop the trailer. How quickly the trailer would stop on its own, like in a break-away situation, I’m not sure.

The brake controller basically supplies power to the trailer brakes when the tow vehicle brakes are applied. They are adjustable to fit the particular tow vehicle and trailer combination as well as the driver’s braking habits. But that’s where the similarity ends. There are basically three types of brake controllers; time based, inertia based and proportional.

Time based controllers

Supply an increasing amount of voltage to the trailer brakes over time. The longer a tow vehicle’s brake pedal is pressed, the more voltage is sent to the trailer brakes, up to a point. How much and how fast the voltage is supplied to the trailer brakes is adjustable. Time based controllers are the most common type.

There are a few drawbacks to this type of controller. The biggest problem is consistent braking. If you can make every stop almost the same, relative to speed and stopping distance, you probably wouldn’t have any noticeable problems with this type of controller. But what about those stops that are more gradual or more hurried? During the more gradual stops (or slowing), you might feel some tugging or jerking from the trailer. During the hurried (or panic) braking, you may feel like the trailer isn’t stopping and is going to push you into whatever it is you are trying to avoid. Should one of these situations arise, you may want to check out the other types of controllers.

Inertia based controllers

Use sophisticated electronics (some better than others) to sense how quickly the tow vehicle is slowing or stopping (a change in vehicle inertia) and supplies the appropriate voltage to the trailer brakes. This type of controller is much smoother than the time based.

I happened to have the opportunities for a little testing of the Voyager and Prodigy controllers. Coming home from one of the last trips when I still had the Voyager installed, I was driving over the crest of a hill on a curve at about 35 mph. It had rained earlier so the roads were still wet, but it wasn’t raining at the time. Just over the hill and around the curve was a traffic light. As I approached, it turned yellow, and I though I had plenty of time and space to stop, although it would be a slightly quicker stop than what I would normally do. But as I applied the brakes, I didn’t feel like things were going to stop in time. Fortunately, there was nobody in front of me so I aborted the stop and went through the intersection just as the light turned red. I had been thinking about upgrading to the Prodigy for some time before this, and this made it clear I needed something better, so I got the Prodigy and installed it a few weeks later. After a few more trips out with the Prodigy installed and without incident, guess what happened? Yep, the same thing on the same road at the same intersection, but this time it was raining. This time I was ready (but I’m always ready for a traffic light to turn yellow anyway). When the light turned yellow, I said to myself, “Okay, let’s see what this Prodigy will do.” This time I kept on the brakes and everything came to a nice smooth stop. That sold me on the Prodigy.