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As part of my never ending upgrades and to stay ahead of “Murphy’s Law” I decided to configure my rig to be towed by any truck with a 2” ball receiver. I have AAA plus RV which covers the first 100 miles of tow. After that it’s $4-6 per mile. It can add up fast.

My rig is light enough (4200 lbs) to use a Harbor Freight collapsible tow bar which is rated for up to 5000 lbs.

Toyota front bumpers are not strong enough or safe enough for mounting points so I fabricated a new tubular steel bumper from schedule 40 steel pipe and 1/2” strap steel supports. It went together quite well and I’m very pleased. I also fabricated a custom wiring harness to to adapt tow vehicle output directly into my factory light  wiring. No additional lighting needed. It folds up nicely and is carried inside the coach. I need only unhook the rear driveshaft and can tow myself across country if needed.

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited by fred heath
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Yeah, this is an interesting solution. Nice job.

 

Do the mounting tabs on your custom bumper bolt directly to the bottom edge of the frame rails? Possibly straight through, bottom to top? Not so sure mine are in the kind of condition that I'd want to try something like that...

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47 minutes ago, Ctgriffi said:

Yeah, this is an interesting solution. Nice job.

 

Do the mounting tabs on your custom bumper bolt directly to the bottom edge of the frame rails? Possibly straight through, bottom to top? Not so sure mine are in the kind of condition that I'd want to try something like that...

On my rig the factory bumper brackets mount to the top of the frame rails. I reused the existing mounting holes just added longer grade 8 bolts. It basically slides in from the front. Makes it easy for one person to install.

I was impressed with the quality of this tow bar considering it only cost about $60.00. The safety chain and hooks are not included with this. I’ve always been an “overkill” kind of guy so I used 5/16” galvanized chain with locking hooks. I’m sure 1/4” would have been plenty strong. Total material investment was less than $150.00 including wiring harness which is also a HF item. I’m very happy with the end results.

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