IMPORTANT SET UP INFO & TIPS ON TOWING 4 DOWN BEHIND YOUR MOTORHOME from a "VETERAN FULL TIMER" — and an in depth look at the Ready Brute Elite Tow Bar System. When we were getting ready to travel full time, I immediately decided that I was not going to pull our tow vehicle on a dolly for many reasons. I wanted a manual transmission car and I wanted to tow 4 down aka Flat Tow. I didn’t want the hassle of a tow car that needed special relays or fuses to keep the battery from going dead while being towed, having to stop every few hundred miles and run the transmission thru all the gears and on and on it can go. Joanie & I are retired and getting older, so I wanted a car and a tow bar system that was going to be easy to set up and disconnect. And we have accomplished that goal.

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Once I bought the Ready Brute Elite Tow Bar, I chose to ditch the coiled safety cables and went with high tensile strength chain. Everything we need to connect and disconnect we carry in a bag in the car. That way we are never hunting for or losing any of our equipment.

I love the fact that with the Ready Brute Elite Tow Bar I actually have two braking systems. The "Ready Brake" that’s built into the Ready Brute Elite Tow Bar, but it also uses the existing brakes on the car. Now in addition to the braking system, I also installed an emergency break away cable. This cable and hardware will set and hold the brakes on our car in the event it should ever become separated from our RV while towing. Great safety feature and it’s required in some US states and in Canada.

I decided to not use the factory connecting pins. I chose locking pins to connect the tow bar to the RV, the hitch and to the car.

Cost of our system towing 4 down:
For me it was right around $3K but I bought everything new:
• To purchase the Base plate and installation was right around $850
• The Tow Bar itself was right around $1,150 or so at the time and it didn’t come with Blue OX Clevis’
• So I had to buy 2 Blue OX Clevis’ for the ends of the tow bar
• The over and under hitch
• 3 Rattle Clamps
• Chains and fabric covers
• 6 locking pins all keyed the same
• The bike rack and bike cover
• The tow bar cover and straps
• My tool bag, gloves etc.
Add it all up and with tax was right around 3K but mind it was well worth it. We’ve been using it now for 5 years and haven’t had a lick of trouble with it.

SAFETY
• ALWAYS check your towing equipment and car after you’ve stopped at a rest stop or anything like that. This is why I chose pins with locks. I have read and seen where some people had their pins tampered with and the cotter pin had been removed. It wasn’t pretty. Also make sure your breakaway body hasn’t been tampered with by someone pulling the cable. That’s why I use a zip tie to that area like I showed you.

• Never start talking to someone while hooking up. This is where you can become distracted and make mistakes

Stay safe everybody and take hooking up your tow vehicle seriously. Hope to see many more of you on the road.

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DISCLAIMER:
We are in no way experts or professional mechanics. But being a journeyman millwright for years & being EX Military, has proven to be very helpful in my lifetime learning how to care for & maintain all sorts of machinery & equipment like: helicopters, airplanes, tanks, motorcycles & many types of other vehicles. That, along with 18 months preparing & upgrading our RV before we went full time, & now traveling for several years has gained us a lot of knowledge. Regardless of what we recommend, consult a professional if you're unsure about working on your RV. Work you perform or products you purchase based on any information we provide is at your own risk.