Hitch for tow car

[Nan]

We have a new Jayco Entegra 29 foot. We need to buy a tow bar for our Honda CRV four-wheel-drive. We need suggestions for the best tow bar type and price. Thank you, Nan

[Foretm]

Nan,

I would start with the Motorhome Magazine RV Dingy towing guide if you have not already.

https://www.motorhome.com/download-dinghy-guides/

Beyond that, specific tow bars are a very personal choice, so hard to say which is best and what may be right for you. I would look at Blue Ox and Demco, these are some I like. I like the new Demco Dominator for a few reasons, not the least of which is the weight of the tow bar but also the way it stows and the ease of that. Also the safety cables being attached to the bar are a lot let of a mess than the coiled ones. I currently have the Blue Ox Aventa and it works great.


https://www.demco-products.com/rv-towing/tow-bars
https://www.blueoxtowbars.com/produc...ue_ox_tow_bars


I assume you have a baseplate installed already? Typically, Blue Ox and roadmaster are the most popular for the baseplates. If not I would look there for the baseplate you need. Don't forget the braking system which is required in most states. Same thing there so many types of braking systems, but some popular ones are RVI, BlueOx, Roadmaster, etc... I have the RVI, which I like because its pneumatic and can deploy the brakes in a fraction of a second and does not need any specific connections from the RV to the tow vehicle.

Lot of options here, so please let us know how we can dig into things further.

[Nan]

Thank you for your information. No we don’t have anything. We need it all

[Foretm]

I would start with the Dinghy towing guide, lots of good baseline information there. Then I would start with the baseplate. Check both BlueOx and Roadmaster, and possibly others. Pricing, ease of installation, etc... From there I would look at the tow bar next, as it needs to fit the baseplate. Then the brakin system. No experience with other brand than these.


Baseplate - BlueOx
TowBar - BlueOX
Braking System - RVI


Hving towed for a couple years, I really like the Demco tow bars, but no experience with them yet. Absolutely love the RVI, and customer service is outstanding even on older models like I have (RVI2). Good luck and let us know if you have any specific questions.

[craigav]

Originally Posted by Nan

We have a new Jayco Entegra 29 foot. We need to buy a tow bar for our Honda CRV four-wheel-drive. We need suggestions for the best tow bar type and price. Thank you, Nan

I would take the time prior to purchasing a towbar setup to read the manual on your Honda. Most of them (crv awd) can be flat towed but I seem to remember certain year models may not be listed as flat towable. Also, on the Honda's an interesting and important to know requirement is that you need to start the engine (just prior to towing) and shift (with the brake pedal pushed) through all of the gear for a few minutes, and when going into "Neutral" you must do that from being in the "D" drive position. If you go from "R" reverse to "N" neutral and tow you could damage the transmission, always go from D to N prior to towing. Your manual should have more details and perhaps other requirements. I prefer Blue Ox towbar setups, however I know Roadmaster and perhaps others are also good. ~CA

[EJB]

We tow a 2014 CRV with our 2019 Precept 31 UL. I purchased a Blue Ox tow bar used off Marketplace and then got the tow plate and wiring harness from Etrailer and did the install myself. If your handy, it’s not that bad. There’s excellent YouTube videos that walk you through the entire process.
I was comfortable going used on the tow bar because it’s really pretty simple. Solid steel and some pins.
We absolutely love the Blue Ox. Without the rear view camera, I would never know I was pulling something. It’s so simple to disconnect and reconnect. I would highly recommend it.
But beware of the 2014 CRV: They have a known issue with a VTC rattle on cold starts. It can affect the timing chain. $2,000 to repair. It will ONLY happen on the initial cold start. Honda says don’t worry about it. The jury’s out on that. There are a ton of CRV’s on the road. Just an FYI