On October 31st We experienced a catastrophic failure of our Blue Ox tow bar. Resulting in our 1/2 ton Chevy truck breaking away from our motor home. The safety cables kept the truck more our less behind our RV. Bringing it all to a stop caused the truck to impact the back of our motor home. The damage to our RV is in the $8000.00 range and less than $1000.00 on the truck. We are fully insured and we are bringing the RV in for repairs Monday Nov 27.

 

I am sharing this with the hopes of saving someone a similar fate. I am identifying the tow bar here only to encourage others using the same equipment to have it thoroughly inspected by a qualified service tech. 

 The Tow bar was a Blue Ox Avail model BX7420 tow bar purchased new from Blue Ox in 2015. This tow bar is rated at 10,000 lbs, my toad is 6400 lbs as weighed. The failure point was at the outboard end of the 2 inch shank that fits in the receiver on the RV. 

 

 I can't begin to describe the feeling of looking in the mirror and seeing my toad in the oncoming lane and the sickening feeling of it striking the rear of our home. When everything stopped moving we looked over the damage and hugged each other so very thankful no one was hurt. This could have been so much worse. Had the truck struck an oncoming vehicle or someone on the side of the road the story would have a tragic ending. 

 Please if you are towing with this make and model tow bar, stop using it until it is fully inspected by a Blue Ox certified Representative. 

 

Regards and Safe travels