Blue Ox or Propride

[dkottum]

Hitch head angled down towards the rear helps with the stability of the tow vehicle in turns and resists the movement of the trailer off center alignment going down the roadway.

Andrew Thomson (Can-Am Airstream) wrote a good article about it a few years ago. Anyone have the link?

[Echelon73]

I hate to start a new thread to ask this question, so I will just ask it here. How much do you feel a used ProPride is worth (3-4 years old)? I am really wanting to try one, but I just wonder how much should I be willing to pay for a used hitch. Any ideas?

[dkottum]

Echelon, call ProPride and ask if they have any reconditioned ProPrides available.

[Echelon73]

I have a lead on a 3-4 year old one that has the WD bars correctly sized for about $1500. Do you think I am better off going for this deal (local) or calling Sean about a reconditioned one? I guess I could just call him and see what he has available.

[KrisE MN]

I bought a Blue Ox today off ebay, reconditioned from a dealer with alot of good feedback on product. Apparently these are from customers that don't buy the right equipment so change orders.

We'll see. I drove my AS home 3 hours without any issues. I had to even watch my speed once I got comfortable on the highways. She rode so well I caught myself a few times forgetting she was behind me going 70. LOL

I did get slight sway when some rigs passed, but nothing white knuckle. I'm mostly concerned about overall safety especially if I travel on the plaines in high winds and such...

I spent 225.00 on Blue Ox. I'm one of those weekender, local gals for the most part. Hard to justify 2K at this time.

Just to clarify: I got the 550 lb tongue weight. I'm towing a 67 GT with a Saab 9-7x V8. Pretty light weight and from what I've read too stiff can damage things. My GT specs are: 3010 weight, 396 Hitch Weight.

Airstream moved the specs link so I thought I'd put it here.
Document Archive - Airstream

Thank you everyone!!!!

[switz]

On the Blue Ox website, they have different length shank balls to help get the ball to the correct elevation since the hitch head has only 1.5" increments for elevation changes.

[KJRitchie]

Just wondering if the standard shank for the Blue OX is good for a 1/2 ton pick height. Can't recall the distance from the ground to my Tundra's receiver.

Kelvin

[KrisE MN]

Originally Posted by switz

On the Blue Ox website, they have different length shank balls to help get the ball to the correct elevation since the hitch head has only 1.5" increments for elevation changes.

I don't know if that's correct. From this video at least... I guess I'll find out and let you know. This video helped me alot! E-trailer video:


http://images.etrailer.com/Merchant2...n-bxw1000.webm

[gmw photos]

Originally Posted by dkottum

Hitch head angled down towards the rear helps with the stability of the tow vehicle in turns and resists the movement of the trailer off center alignment going down the roadway.

Andrew Thomson (Can-Am Airstream) wrote a good article about it a few years ago. Anyone have the link?

Well yes, and what Doug says here is true too. The fact the head angles down, and that the trunnion pivots ( on a BlueOx anyway ) angle slightly outward at the bottom when viewed from the rear, create a geometry that effectively makes the bars want to self center. Hence: "antisway".
It works, or least I can say it works with my rig ( Nissan Frontier with 19' SOB ) and I could tell a very noticeable difference between just "on the ball" vs "with the BlueOx", especially on very windy days where the wind is gusting from the side. Just on the ball, a heavy side wind, I could tell it was moving around back there. Not dangerous like, but for sure, I knew it was there and moving side to side in the gusts. With the blue ox, I really almost have to be trying to see if it's actually moving around. In all honesty, the truck all by itself with nothing in tow does "some moving around" in side wind gusts, so I reckon I can't expect it to be totally perfect when hitched. Hey, it blows a LOT here in the midwest.

[KJRitchie]

I contacted Blue Ox asking them what size bars; 1000lb vs 1500lbs given my hitch weight of my AS is between 1100 and 1200 lbs. They recommended the 1500lb bars.

I use the 1000lb bars on my Equalizer. Given the Blue Ox bars are tapered vs the Equalize bars which are square throughout the whole length is the 1500lb Blue Ox bars the correct choice?

Thanks

Kelvin

[AWCHIEF]

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

I contacted Blue Ox asking them what size bars; 1000lb vs 1500lbs given my hitch weight of my AS is between 1100 and 1200 lbs. They recommended the 1500lb bars.

I use the 1000lb bars on my Equalizer. Given the Blue Ox bars are tapered vs the Equalize bars which are square throughout the whole length is the 1500lb Blue Ox bars the correct choice?

Thanks

Kelvin

The folks at Blue Ox know what they are talking about.