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Opinion on Blue Ox tow bars and Jeep setup

MetalGator
Explorer III
Explorer III
Hello

I got my Jeep hooked up to my Motorhome this weekend. The Motorhome is a 2018 Miramar 35.3 and I have a 2015 Jeep Wrangler. I purchased the Blue Ox base plate and the Blue Ox Alpha tow bars. I also have the RVI Brake 3 braking system.

I brought the Motorhome to the house and got everything hooked up. I drove around for about 30 minutes towing the Jeep and making sure everything worked as it should. I had a neighbor follow behind me to make sure things looked ok and to make sure the lights were working. Everything worked very well! If I didn't have the backup camera on, I wouldn't even know the Jeep was behind me. I even pulled into a gas station with the Motorhome and Jeep to fill up the motorhome tank. I am gradually gaining confidence it driving the motorhome. I came from pulling a '29 Travel Trailer and now and driving a 37' motorhome.

Here is my issue. The Blue Ox manaual says to make sure there is 3 inches or less difference between the Jeep hookup and the Motorhome receiver. I have measured and it's just over 3 inches. Maybe 3 1/4 inches. The Motorhome is around 19" measured at the hitch and the Jeep is just under 16". I have since loaded a few more items in the motorhome so I will measure again to see if the motorhome dropped any. Is this 1/4 inch or so something to worry about? I can purchased a 2" drop hitch if needed but that extends the towbars out another 6-8 inches and I am afraid that might be a little tight on my mopar wiring harness cable.

Burch
2018 Miramar 35.3 Motorhome
3 fur kids (Monty, ZuZu and Pinto)
Rainbow bridge (Murphy, Petie, Lola)
12 REPLIES 12

MetalGator
Explorer III
Explorer III
I just took a trip with the Motorhome and Jeep (320 miles) and it towed great. I observed many other hookups from other motorhomes at the park and there were many that had much more distance than my setup. At worse, my setup is 1/2 inch off what the manual suggests. I will keep this setup for now as I don't want to have the added slop from the drop hitch.
2018 Miramar 35.3 Motorhome
3 fur kids (Monty, ZuZu and Pinto)
Rainbow bridge (Murphy, Petie, Lola)

et2
Explorer
Explorer
Look on your Blue Ox tow bars, it should be stated on the side somewhere, ours are. Personally, I always try to stay within recommended specs on everything. But if it's just a 1/4" adding a drop hitch for that could setup additional slop that needs taken up.

I just went and looked. Our Adventa tow bars state never more than 4" above the hitch point and not lower.

FIRE_UP
Explorer
Explorer
Metalgator,
You're overthinking this Pal. In our travels, I've seen 45 degree angles on tow bars as folks pulled into campgrounds/front office and both were dead level. And seen that many, many times as we motored down the road. Not that it's right, just because someone's doing it but, they were still alive the last time I saw them. Anyway, most tow bar makers do put a safety limit on the height difference between the coach and toad and, most folks set up there duo in accordance. A little bit out, either way, still works. You have to determine if it's worth any kind of extra work to correct ONE QUARTER OF AN INCH!

Heck, the tires could of either vehicle could be off a few psi and, that will influence your ride height of either vehicle which, would also influence your height difference in tow bar hookup. I think I'm running about 3.5" in difference in our present setup. Been that way for a year now and, the Jeep still follows where ever we go with no issues.
Scott
Scott and Karla
SDFD RETIRED
2004 Itasca Horizon, 36GD Slate Blue 330 CAT
2011 GMC Sierra 1500 Ext Cab 4x4 Toad
2008 Caliente Red LVL II GL 1800 Goldwing
KI60ND

doc_brown
Explorer
Explorer
1/4" Would not be an issue for me.
Steve,Kathy and Josh
Morpheus(Basenji)at Rainbow Bridge
2004 40' TSDP Country Coach Inspire DaVinci
350 Cummins, 3000 Allison
2014 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport S, Air Force One Braking, Blue Ox

Islandman
Explorer
Explorer
If you have air bags as part of your rear suspension on the motorhome, you can adjust the height a little bit to get yourself more in line with your desired level. And the amount of fuel in the motorhome when you measured the height might have an effect also. As several other posters have also noted, I don't think that you need to worry about anything if you're only a 1/4 inch outside the desired height tolerance.

dubdub07
Explorer
Explorer
If the Jeep is lower that it is in need of a 4" lift I would say!!! LOL!

Bill

ON edit.....I love Blue Ox. Best in my opinion.
2013 Fleetwood Discovery 40G
TOADS: 12 Jeep JKUR Wrangler, 16 Cherokee Trailhawk, 15 Grand Cherokee, 13 RAM 1500 Longhorn (not a toad) American STEEL = American profits
RET USAF MSGT (26yrs) and still DoD ATC.
DW,DS,DD in the MH w/Westley the killer PUG!

MetalGator
Explorer III
Explorer III
Here is an article from Blue Ox. This says 4" so I would be OK if going by this article.

Blue Ox Towing Physics 101
2018 Miramar 35.3 Motorhome
3 fur kids (Monty, ZuZu and Pinto)
Rainbow bridge (Murphy, Petie, Lola)

MetalGator
Explorer III
Explorer III
j-d wrote:
If I read this correctly, you are 1/4" outside of the 6" range of 3" up to 3" down either side of dead level. I would not be concerned.


That is correct. I am going to measure again as when I measured without the towbars connected, the motorhome receiver was 19" from the ground and the Jeep was about 15 1/2 inches (which is 3 1/2 inches difference). Once I got everything hooked up, it was closer to 3 1/4 inches difference. I just figured the difference was due to the weight of the townbars. At worse I am 3 1/2 inches difference between the motorhome and Jeep. I read on another forum that someone had called Blue Ox and they told them 4" is OK but my owners manual says 3".
2018 Miramar 35.3 Motorhome
3 fur kids (Monty, ZuZu and Pinto)
Rainbow bridge (Murphy, Petie, Lola)

j-d
Explorer
Explorer
If I read this correctly, you are 1/4" outside of the 6" range of 3" up to 3" down either side of dead level. I would not be concerned.
If God's Your Co-Pilot Move Over, jd
2003 Jayco Escapade 31A on 2002 Ford E450 V10 4R100 218" WB

MetalGator
Explorer III
Explorer III
Jayco-noslide wrote:
In my non-professional opinion I would not use a drop hitch if only 1/4 in. off level.


I am not 1/4 off level, I am 3 1/4 inches off level. The manual says up to 3" is OK. I am high on the motorhome side.
2018 Miramar 35.3 Motorhome
3 fur kids (Monty, ZuZu and Pinto)
Rainbow bridge (Murphy, Petie, Lola)

Jayco-noslide
Explorer
Explorer
Had to use a 4 in. drop hitch on our Class C to tow a Chevy Sonic. It's really a problem because I drag easily but I guess I have no choice because the hitch has to be real close to level or other bad things could happen. In my non-professional opinion I would not use a drop hitch if only 1/4 in. off level. Or at least I would hook up and re=check how off level it is. However, you should probably listen to the pros. Also, your Class A probably starts out a lot higher than my Class C so probably wouldn't drag with a 2 in. drop?
Jayco-noslide

bgum
Explorer
Explorer
Don't worry about it.