Search the Community

I just purchased a 2017 Ford Edge SEL. I am looking at the Blue Ox and Roadmaster base plate assemblies for my new car. I have a Blue Ox tow bar on coach. I am leaning towards the Blue Ox because it appears to have more attach points to the frame, but the Roadmaster appears to be of simpler installation. (In either case I will have a shop install the equipment). Would like opinions/recommendations/experiences on both systems. Thanks, Larry Valdez 2016 Tiffin Allegro 37AP 2017 Ford Edge SEL

Recent installation of a special build Hydralift for transporting our companion 1200 lb. Garia 2+2 VIA 4-passenger street legal Low Speed Vehicle (LSV). Now we can tote it along with us while still flat towing our Jeep GC when desired. Installation performed by NIRVC-Lewisville, TX, our Newmar Platinum Dealership. While at it, we also had a 4-litre auto-deploy high pressure fire suppression system from Fire Fight Products (.com) installed in the engine bay as an additional safety feature. For those interested in knowing, The Garia 2+2 VIA is a 4-passenger street legal all electric Low Speed Vehicle (LSV) manufactured in Denmark and new to the US market. The Garia LSV comes OEM equipped with all required US safety devices as prescribed by the NHTSB, DOT and fully meets all CFR 49.500 requirements. As shown, our LSV has been duly registered and issued license plates for our home state. The LSV can be legally driven on public roads where posted speed limits do not exceed 35 MPH and can also cross roads where the speed limits are greater (up to 50 MPH). It is also permissible to traverse roads where the speed limit is >35 MPH (up to 50 mph) for a distance of 1/4-mile when connecting to another street where posted speed limits are 35 MPH. The Garia has both ECO and Sport mode settings whereby in Sport, it can achieve a maximum speed of 25 mph in it's stock configuration (adjustment to the power controller will allow the LSV to reach speeds of 35 MPH if desired). To mitigate the outcome of being stopped by lessor informed Police Officers (and we' know that's going to happen on occasion), just like an automobile, we must carry with us (in the LSV), copies of our Registration, Proof of Insurance, and display a valid State Inspection, etc. We also have written documentation from the US DOT (CFR 49.500) and the National Insurance Association which details the laws governing the permissable use of LSV(s) on public roads in each of the 50 contiguous States. And while we are not "golfers", we wanted the LSV to use for our recreation when traveling the USA in our coach while we can continue to flat tow our Jeep Grand Cherokee along with us when we want to. Hope you enjoy the photos.

I have a little seaplane, a jet ski with wings. A homebuilt aircraft. In our fleet, a dozen or so planes were built north of the border, in Canada. There, the Canadian Ministry of Transport dictated that (a) fuel boost pumps were not permitted inside the fuselage; and, ( inline fuel filters also constituted an unacceptable hazard. As a result, our small 400-plane fleet lost two of its dozen or so Canadian-certified aircraft, killing one of the pilots. Oddly, neither accident would have occurred, had the planes been certified to the more lenient US standards. My Beaver Patriot Thunder was also subject to the additional constraints of our northern friends, who I generally regard with admiration and profound respect. In the case of the Beaver, the front axle hubs were not allowed to have oil bath bearings, like American models. The logic: a leak might compromise braking. So, apparently, Beaver owners are afflicted with the same requirement of some older American models: periodic bearing repacking is needed. I've a few question for those who have to repack their steering axles: How often do you re-pack the bearings? Is the interval one of miles or years? What shop time is involved? How much have you spent in the past to have bearings repacked? Have you transitioned from packed to dry hubs? If so, what is required? Thanks for helping me get my bearings on... well, bearings

I was pulling out my hair, suffering sporatic blown flasher fuses, on a recent trip. Then, the flasher unit itself failed. It was a maiden voyage with our new-to-us Patriot Thunder, our guests rolled their eyes every time I slid open the window to signal with my arm, got honked at, pulled into a truck stop to change yet another set of fuses. Finally, I unplugged the dolly lights and didn't blow another fuse. Today, after three hours of diagnostics and disassembling the dolly electrical system, I finally spotted the culprit: two tiny bites on a pair of wires going through a brand-new finder to the light assembly bolted to the outside. Yes, after catastrophic blowouts on BOTH sides of the dolly due to inferior OEM tires, I had to install new fenders. They arrive prewired, are simply mounted and plugged in. Turns out, at the factory the person who installed the lights put so much pressure on the wiring where it passes through the 1/4" hole that the insulation was severed inside of 2,000 miles of use. Of course, none of the pass-throughs are engineered with a 20 cent rubber grommet to protect the wiring; so, this kind of failure was bound to be repeated, had I not wrapped the wires in thick rubber tape. It seems dollies are designed to sell, rather than to last.

Posed this ??? on another Forum. Not sure if many or anyone is using this combination to haul bikes around on the back of the Motorhome. So, Here's one I haven't seen. Does anyone use a Blue OX Aventa LX Towbar, with a Roadmaster 2" Dual Drop Hitch Receiver with a Swagman XC-2 Bike Carrier installed. Does the Swagman XC-2 Bike Carrier clear the top of the receiver (notch) where the Blue OX Aventa Tow Bar sits when not in use? It looks like the angle of the Swagman elevates enough to clear the Aventa LX Roadmaster 2 "Dual Drop Receiver

We're at the end of our first thirty days' ownership of a new Beaver Patriot Thunder, and the learning curve remains steep. Compounding our problem is the dealership's failure to locate our manuals: they were removed from the rig when the Silverleaf system was installed, and somehow became misplaced. Were it not for online resources, I'd be lost. But, I'm chugging along, learning many lessons from the coach, online resources and fellow Monaco/Beaver/Navistar owners. The highlights: Leveling systems are not created equal. The Beaver utilizes a dual mode arrangement that has a Valid Technologies touchpad, Power Gear hydraulics. When I hyper-extended the left rear leg to lift the bus off a jackstand onto which it had settled, I popped a seal in the leg. Ever since, it has dripped fluid. Worse, it doesn't send the computer an "Up" signal; the alarms persist during the first few minutes of driving and system logic is boogered up, even though operations are possible with only air-leveling. Utilities bundled for the purpose of linking a kitchen slideout to the main coach are fertile grounds for leaks and shorts. Inspection of those areas should be made periodically. Tag wheel tires suffer indignities others don't. Small divots out of the tread are to be expected, don't necessarily compromise the safety of the tire. Remember to raise your tag axle when making sharp turns. Full-length slideouts are tricky business. Visually confirm perfect sychronization between the ends of the slideout when extending and retracting. Do you know how to manually retract slideouts? Every owner should. Power reels depend on operators ensuring the hose/cord are wiped clean during retraction. The health of the reel depends on that simple act. Our Beaver suffers silently with a loss of shore power. A popped circuit breaker in the garage could spell drained batteries in the RV. Each time I enter and exit, and after I run heavy loads on the same circuit, I glance at the Silver Leaf DC POWER screen to make sure the inverter is powering (recharging) the battery and not vice versa. Few owners follow manufacturers' maintenance guidelines. Ostensibly, our new rig was sufficiently cared for, but many lubrication points in the chassis look like they've been untouched, in the coach's five year life. Use your nose. We noticed a diesel smell in the bedroom en route. 'Turns out, someone had dragged the tail, torn the exhaust pipe open. That's a big safety item. Use your ears. I detected a faint clanging from under the driver's seat while driving down the road. The generator's long cantilevered exhaust pipe had, via lever action, loosened the bolts securing the exhaust to the generator manifold. A HUGE safety item, potential carbon monoxide poisoning threat. According to my tire expert, all truck tires represent an imminent blowout risk at ten years of age. He looked at mine, with their pristine tread and perfect sidewalls, dated late 2005 and pronounced them overdue for replacement. Not just the steering tires, but ALL of them.