Tow Bar Arm Stuck

One of the. arms on my Roadmaster Sterling hitch was stuck and so was the lever. It could be retracted only by using a 4-pound hammer.

I contacted e-trailer and they suggested soaking it in soapy water for several hours. That removed some dirt and the arm was slightly operable. I then repeatedly squirted silicon lubricant down the arms and that loosened them some more. I let it sit for a time and repeated the process. Finally, I repeatedly squirted lithium grease down the arm working the arm after each squirt. Finally, it then worked flawlessly.

Towing Set Up

I have been pulling toad vehicles since the early 90’s with 4 different motorhomes during that time. There has been a lot of trial/error with tow bars, base plates, electrical, and gravel protection also. I am currently at the point that I am completely satisfied with my current towing configuration. I realize that what works for me may not be what others need, but here is what I have done.

In the past, I have used Blue Ox (B/O) tow bars on the motorhome and B/O base plates on the toad.  The tow bar was very hard to disengage in a binding situation (I now understand that has been corrected), and I didn’t like the rubber boot on the arms. However, I really like the B/O base plate with the removable connecting pins that keep the rest of the base plate mostly hidden behind the toad grill. I now use the Roadmaster aluminum Sterling tow bar with B/0 adaptors Roadmaster provides (as an $ option) that attach the Sterling arms to the B/0 connecting pins. The safety cables for the Sterling have a molded steel ball at one end that fits into a grove in (provided) steel ‘L’ brackets that are supposed to attach to the toad bumper bracket. That wasn’t possible on my toad so I attached the brackets to the underside of the LD’s hitch receiver by the holes where the tow cables are normally attached. I used two 3/8” grade 8 bolts for this. To prevent the cables from slipping up out of the groves I attached a bolt & flat washer in the grove as a stopper. (see photo) The standard hooks on the other end of the cables attach to the  B/0 base plate. 

 I stow the Sterling tow bar to the right looping the right cable up around the LD ladder bracket and attaching the hook back to the cable. I then attach the left cable hook to the right cable which secures everything. (see photo) 

I use a seven pin truck style electrical socket on both the LD and the toad. Reason for this is that I have the SMI Stay-In-Play Duo auxiliary toad braking system in my toad that requires back up 12DC power from the LD engine. The Cherokee also requires an additional wiring harness to keep a computerized steering stabilizer active while the engine is off and it being toad. This too requires an external power supply from the LD. 

To address this power issue, I ran a 10ga. wire from the LD engine battery (30amp fused) to the pin designated for electric trailer brakes in the 7-pin socket on the LD bumper. Also, a 10ga wire from the toad mounted 7-pin socket to the toad battery (30amp fused also).  I got a 6’ umbilical cable with a molded 7-pin plug from Tractor Supply and attached another 7-pin plug at the other end. The cable has 10ga wires designated for the trailer brake power and ground. Smaller gauge wires are there for the brake/tail lights. While parked at an interstate rest stop for a short break, someone stole our umbilical cable. Fortunately, I found a Tractor Supply for a replacement. It just took a little while to attach the second 7-pin plug on the other end of the cable. I now secure the cable to the LD hitch with quick links (tightened with thread lock) to a galvanized solid eye bolt on the hitch plate. (see photo)

Now to address toad rock & gravel protection. Years ago I used a grass skirt across the rear motorhome bumper but this didn’t really help. Mud flaps also gave little protection. I then tried a solid Rock Guard at the rear bumper but actually made the toad scratches worse.  Early last year we got a Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk for a toad, and I really wanted to avoid what scratches our CRV toads (2) had received in the past. I decided to get a Roadmaster Tow Defender fabric tow bar cover. It unrolls and lays on top of the tow bar attaching at the top of the B/0 connector. This makes it very easy to roll back up and store at the rear of the LD. After 7000+ towing miles later, NO scratches on the front of the Cherokee above the hitch level. It is very easy to roll up and stow on the motorhome hitch area. 

Because the 1” square tubing hit the LD rear bumper on a tight turn, I shortened the tube ends 4” which solved that problem. As you can see in the photo, I mounted a separate (non-wired) 7-pin socket to the top of the Tow Defender hitch mount to stow the toad end of the umbilical cable when not in use. (see photo)  The coiled break-away cable lays on top of the Tow Defender when in use and is easily stowed when not in use. 

Since the Jeep is heavier than the stated LD hitch mount I have replaced all the LD’s grade 5 bolts with grade 8 bolts, washers & nuts. This includes the six bolts attaching the ‘C’ channel rear frame extensions to the main Ford frame. All bolts have lock washers, red thread lock and tightened with an air impact wrench. After this last two summer’s trips, one to the Rockies and the other to Newfoundland, all hitch components are still very secure.  The Cherokee has posed no problems towing under all conditions of travel. 

Mike Coachman 12/2018

Towing Fuses

If your tow lights are not working this is the fuse to check.

Showing the position of the underhood fuse box.

Number #26 is the 25amp fuse at the extreme left.


If #26 is OK, check two of the relays in the box mounted on the firewall directly behind the fuse box pictured above.

The relays you are concerned with are the two of the right-hand side - trailer tow relay left and right.

My Thoughts On Towing

I don't claim to know it all.

Why Tow

It's a life style choice. We would not travel without our Jeep. We take our Lazy Daze places many would not. We take the Jeep to the places the LD can not go. If your traveling style means short duration trips, full hooks and stopping at scenic overlooks. You should be fine without a toad.

What To Tow

Unless you intend to do some serious off-road wheeling, I would discourage getting a TJ or JK Jeep. They are special purpose vehicles for rock climbing, etc. If you want the convenience of a transfer case for towing, but don't intend to drive the Moab trails, you would save weight and money getting an older Grand Cherokee or a newer Renegade. 

If you don't need a Jeep, there are some other vehicles, such as the Forester, which can be towed four down with few restrictions.

Got to have a Jeep? Consider the lighter weight TJ model that was built through 2006. If you want a new JK Jeep, consider the lighter 2DR rather then the popular 4DR. Understand that the rear seat on a 2DR is only suitable for dogs and small kids, but it's lighter and turns sharper than the Unlimited. Our rear seat came out the day we brought the Jeep home.

The Hitch

An ongoing topic in the Lazy Days forum is towing over 4,000 pounds which is the rated maximum for the factory hitch. "Beefing up" the hitch is the common suggestion. What constitutes "beefing" is nebulous. How does one find a "good hitch shop". I am not willing to trust that just anyone knows how to do it. All I can say is that doubling the attachment to the frame might be the way to go. That seems like a simple task to me. Weld on two additional braces. Maybe that's all that's required.

We have towed a 4,250 pound Jeep for 95,000 miles on the factory hitch. Since 10% is a common engineering safety margin I am comfortable. I did upgrade the bumper bolts to Grade 8 with larger washers. I found several loose nuts in the process. I used blue Locktight when I put on the new bolts. The bolt upgrade may have increased the tow capacity? Whatever you are towing this is a MUST MOD. Thanks to Larry Wade for this excellent improvement.

September, 2016
I followed Ed Daniels into a hitch shop in Moab, UT. Ed has a TK. The shop owner, Ben Wilson, did not think it needed anything extra to safely tow a 2016 Wrangler. Ed said he liked to tow down rough dirt roads. So Ben added a corner gusset to "beef it" up. Ben looked at my MB and saw no way to add any structural integrity. He drew out the TK design and compared it to the MB design. Way different. He saw no signs of metal fatigue after towing 95,000 miles. No wrinkles in the paint that would indicate the metal has been flexed. I felt better. I asked him to tack weld the adjustable part of the hitch, so it could not move if the bolts ever came loose again. And left feeling better about the LD hitch. If you are in the Moab area and want a pro to check yours out, the man to see is Ben Wilson at 435-260-2044.

Larry Wade's backing plate

 Ed Daniel's TK mod

 Ed Daniel's TK mod

Our MB tack welded just to prevent any movement in case of a loose bolt

The Crux Of The Matter

If I were looking at a used LD I would be leery of one that had a beefed up hitch. I would wonder exactly how much they had been towing? There is not only the 4,000 hitch limit, there is the almost ignored 20,000 pound GCWR. That rating decreases as the elevation increases. I would wonder how the extra weight has affected the transmission? Did the owner monitor the transmission temperature with a gauge? How often was the fluid changed. I would look at the color of the fluid. 

Downhill, the extra weight is stressing two components, the transmission and the brakes. Assuming you are using Tow Haul and allowing the engine to partially brake the decent, the  extra weigh can spin the transmission toward the red line. Using the brakes more heats the rotors. Have you priced those lately? 2008 rigs come with larger rotors that should help. [Had I known Ford was going to make that change, I would have waited a few months to place the order]

It's balancing act to get the toad brakes to engage correctly. You sure don't want them coming on too hard and braking the Lazy Daze. The ability to set when and how hard the toad brakes come on are an advantage of systems like SMI makes. 

Important, But Neglected GCWR

You can move your rock collection from the LD to the toad axle, but all of the weight counts toward the GCWR. There is no free lunch. 

The GCWR is reduced 2% per 1,000 feet of elevation. This applies to ALL E450 chassis with the V10 engine.

An example:

We unhook, if we are going over 6,000 feet for any distance. Think of that long steep grade west of Denver. Our MB is 13,700 + 4,250 for the Jeep, for a total of 18,000 -  inside the max GCWR of 20,000 at sea level, but not above 5,000 feet. Folks, you should be just as concerned about the GCWR as the hitch limit.

Don't care for my example? Think you can load up the toad and have that free lunch? Here's what Wikipedia has to say on GCWR.

Bottom line, if your are towing much over the rated capacity of the hitch, it's a good thing to have it doubly connected to the frame. It's is important to weigh both vehicles, to monitor your transmission temperature and to not tow at higher elevations. And know that a informed buyer may see the beefed up hitch as a concern.

Don Malpas

See also http://www.lazydazeowners.com/index.php?topic=28840.0

and

http://lazydazearticles.blogspot.com/2011/03/strengthen-your-hitch.html

Strengthen Your Hitch

If you tow a vehicle with your Lazy Daze, you should periodically check under the bumper at the mounting bolts. There have been problems with the bolts that hold on the towing receiver loosening and/or snapping off. You may be surprised that all four or some of the ½" bolts have worked themselves loose. In more severe cases, the bumper itself can be bent and even break apart requiring major surgery and reinforcement. 

There may be a design flaw that causes the nuts to work loose. The rear bumper is attached to the chassis frame by u-shape steel extensions with the receiver being secured to the bumper with four bolts, the front two being 3/4" diameter vs. the forward ones that are a smaller 1/2" diameter. The extensions have slots that allow a range of adjustment when the bumper is mounted at the Factory. Unfortunately, the slots are too wide and high for the hardware used. On the passenger side, the slots are 2" wide and 11/16" high. The Factory uses grade 5 bolts with thin flat washers and lock washers. What happens is the oversize slots allow the thin flat washers(.090" thick) to cave in, taking the tension off the bolts and allowing the bolts to loosen more until the bumper is floating free. In this case, only the nine ¼" bolts that hold the front edge of the bumper to the rear of the body keep the bumper from leaving. You can see where the bumper flexes around each of the small bolts in these photos.

The problem is mostly seen on rigs that use hitch adaptors that raise the attachment point for the type of towbars that stay on the RV.

 Example http://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/Roadmaster/RM-048-6.htmlhttp://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/Roadmaster/RM-048-6.html

The receivers are designed to resist down-forces but not for heavy up-forces, On the receiver, when the adaptor is used to raise the hitch, a lot of leverage is applied to the smaller rear bolts under hard braking.

To strengthen the system, the grade-5 hardware can be replaced with much stronger grade-8 bolts and nyloc nuts. To overcome the problem of the oversize slots, make plates out of 1½" wide X ¼' thick steel strap that sandwiches the bumper and extensions together. With the nyloc nuts, even if the bumper bolts loosen, the nuts will not come off.

If you tow, you should check the bolts regularly. The bolts that hold the u-channel extensions to the frame should also be checked for tightness. For good measure, use Loctite thread locking fluid to secure the rear nuts and bolts. The rear of the extension does not have slots and is not subjected to the same loosening problem.

The best solution is to replace all of the hardware with grade-8 bolts and nyloc nuts and to add either thicker, wider washers or go the extra distance and do what is mentioned above. Parts will be around $12.

Going a step further, one can strengthen the hitch by replacing the bumper hitch with one that is more securely attached to the frame. Basically, the receiver is removed, a doubler installed over the existing bumper plate, forward of that are 2 braces that run forward to the frame with a couple of cross beams along the way. Install a different, and easier to use, hook bracket for the safety chains. This should increase the weight limit to something in excess of 5000lbs. $600-$700 for the job.

Contributors: Larry Wade, rstotz

Updated 4 Sep 2014

Toad Braking Systems

If you are going to have a toad, you should have a braking system. Yes, it costs a nice chunk of money, but it’s required in most states and should be required in your own mind.


There are three types of braking systems.


The type some call Brake-In-A-Box have to be setup each time you tow and removed every time you drive the toad. Roadmaster makes the Brake Buddy which is an example of this system. Their movability allows to you have more than one vehicle you can tow while not running up the cost of the braking system.


Another type requires no more setup than connecting a wire. The price of this type is about the same as the “brake in box” style, PLUS installation which can double the cost unless you do it yourself. Besides being easy to setup, the brake system is never in the way. They mount under the hood and the piston that moves the brake pedal is completely out of the way. The products of SMI and US Gear are examples of the second type.


The third type is a mechanical surge brake, no wiring or calibration is required. The ReadyBrake™ Surge Braking System is available separate or combined with the ReadyBrute™ RV Tow bars The ReadyBrake™ is a RV surge braking system designed to apply the cars braking system when you stop in your RV. Its features allow it to mechanically apply the towed vehicles brakes in a smooth and proportional manner without complicated setup procedures.


Don Malpas, Mary Tribbett

Toad Braking Systems

If you are going to have a toad, you should have a braking system. Yes, it costs a nice chunk of money, but it’s required in most states and should be required in your own mind.


There are three types of braking systems.


The type some call Brake-In-A-Box have to be setup each time you tow and removed every time you drive the toad. Roadmaster makes the Brake Buddy which is an example of this system. Their movability allows to you have more than one vehicle you can tow while not running up the cost of the braking system.


Another type requires no more setup than connecting a wire. The price of this type is about the same as the “brake in box” style, PLUS installation which can double the cost unless you do it yourself. Besides being easy to setup, the brake system is never in the way. They mount under the hood and the piston that moves the brake pedal is completely out of the way. The products of SMI and US Gear are examples of the second type.


The third type is a mechanical surge brake, no wiring or calibration is required. The ReadyBrake™ Surge Braking System is available separate or combined with the ReadyBrute™ RV Tow bars The ReadyBrake™ is a RV surge braking system designed to apply the cars braking system when you stop in your RV. Its features allow it to mechanically apply the towed vehicles brakes in a smooth and proportional manner without complicated setup procedures.


Don Malpas, Mary Tribbett

Towing and Toads

The Lazy Daze hitch is rated for 4,000 pounds and will actually handle a little more. How much more? Who knows? The hitch can beefed up so you can pull even more. The real limiting factor is what the Ford drive train is designed to handle. Exceeding what Ford intended will led to early transmission failure. This is the time to get your Ford and Lazy Daze manuals out and understand all those strange terms such GCW (Gross Combined Weight). If you do not know what your LD weighs on each wheel – now is the time. See Weighing Your Lazy Daze.

You can tow close to the 4,000 pound limit with little notice if you stay on Interstates, which are for the most part, are flat runs. It’s when you get on mountain roads where the good scenery lives that a heavy toad will slow you down to 40mph with the peddle all the way down.

Weight is of the least concern to those with a 22/23 foot LD, a little more so for the 26/27 floor plans and of real concern to those with 30/31 footers. This is true of all later model Fords as they are all on the same E450 chassis. Each bump in length leaves less for toad weight.

The Ford Owners Manual explains how much the engine should be degraded for each 1,000 feet of elevation. Due to the loss of power at elevation, there are no cases where you should tow any vehicle above 8,000. Fortunately, there are few places where paved roads are over 8,000 feet except for a few miles.

The most popular toads choices for Lazy Daze are the Honda CR-V, Jeeps and the Suzuki Grand Vitara. The Jeep is the only vehicle that has no towing restrictions.

Motorhome Magazine publishes annually a list of vehicles that can be towed. Take it to the bank.

This is good resource for towing and toads.

CAUTION: You should periodically check the bolts that mount your hitch. Refer to the "Strengthen Your Hitch" article for some added tips to ensure safe towing.

Revised 18 Mar 2011