TowTector

Well I’ve browsed this forum and learned some helpful information in the last year. I know that hitch mounted mud flaps have been a topic of discussion before but I don’t feel there has ever been a solid answer when it comes to winter towing.

I purchased a newer Ram 1500 with the rear dual exhaust this year and now need to purchase a new hitch mounted mud flap to protect my wheelhouse for as much slush and rocks/debris as possible. I’ve narrowed my search down to Towtector from some comments seen here and on other forums on their quality and dual exhaust cutouts. Now I need to decide between the Dual Brush strip version or the Single Brush Strip and Rubber Flap version. I will be using this both summer and winter but the concern is more geared toward winter as I tow the wheelhouse just about every weekend.

Any real world experience on brush strips versus rubber in winter?

Attachments:

1. 

   Towtector-Dual-Brush.png
   

2. 

   Towtector-Rubber-and-Brush.png
   

Have you looked at rockstar mudflaps for your ram? The ram exhaust cutouts look 10x better than towtector imo. I’ve got a set and am happy with them after 5yrs. I was told the brush flaps will accumulate ice in slushy conditions

Smellson wrote:

Have you looked at rockstar mudflaps for your ram? The ram exhaust cutouts look 10x better than towtector imo. I’ve got a set and am happy with them after 5yrs. I was told the brush flaps will accumulate ice in slushy conditions

Smellson – I had planned on buying those flaps originally. What turned me away was the tabs that rest against your painted bumper to prevent swaying. I saw they give you a 3M protective sticker to put on your bumper but I was not a fan of that idea.

I have the Tow-Tector Dual Brush version on my RAM 1500 with Dual Exhaust and I really like it alot.
You do have to cut away the brushes in front of the exhaust outlets and do a small bit of installation and trimming on the brushes under the exhaust outlets to fit them to your truck, but they won’t let anything through to your wheelhouse or boat.
I think they look good installed too.

Nodakk wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Smellson wrote:</div>
Have you looked at rockstar mudflaps for your ram? The ram exhaust cutouts look 10x better than towtector imo. I’ve got a set and am happy with them after 5yrs. I was told the brush flaps will accumulate ice in slushy conditions

Smellson – I had planned on buying those flaps originally. What turned me away was the tabs that rest against your painted bumper to prevent swaying. I saw they give you a 3M protective sticker to put on your bumper but I was not a fan of that idea.

That’s valid! I’ve had to replace my stickers twice now.

Karry Kyllo wrote:

I have the Tow-Tector Dual Brush version on my RAM 1500 with Dual Exhaust and I really like it alot.
You do have to cut away the brushes in front of the exhaust outlets and do a small bit of installation and trimming on the brushes under the exhaust outlets to fit them to your truck, but they won’t let anything through to your wheelhouse or boat.
I think they look good installed too.

Have you used yours in the winter at all? How does the dual brush strips handle slush buildup?

Not heavy slush but I thought it worked just fine on what I was in.

My only experience was towing a buddies boat with his regular TowTector brush, and the dual exhaust melted them no problem, they couldn’t handle the Hemi.

I have the rubber outside brush inside for my 18 Ram and it works great. Have not used it in slush but would think it would be better than the brush only. Give them a call they are very helpful and somtimes are running specials. May still use the word hunt in there promo code for a discount. worth a try

Mr. Pike 81 wrote:

I have the rubber outside brush inside for my 18 Ram and it works great. Have not used it in slush but would think it would be better than the brush only. Give them a call they are very helpful and somtimes are running specials. May still use the word hunt in there promo code for a discount. worth a try

Thanks! I’ll have to give the promo code a shot

Have you looked at the Rockstar Towflap? I had a Towtector for many years with my 2011 Chev Silverado. Loved them but bought a new 2021 Silverado with dual exhaust so needed something different. Did a lot of research and ended up purchasing the Rockstar Towflap and couldn’t be happier. Love that it’s easy on/off but the best part is that it sit under rear quarter panels so no more banging shins, knees, etc on the hitch mounted towtector, rock tamer style mud flaps.

mallardmayhem wrote:

Have you looked at the Rockstar Towflap? I had a Towtector for many years with my 2011 Chev Silverado. Loved them but bought a new 2021 Silverado with dual exhaust so needed something different. Did a lot of research and ended up purchasing the Rockstar Towflap and couldn’t be happier. Love that it’s easy on/off but the best part is that it sit under rear quarter panels so no more banging shins, knees, etc on the hitch mounted towtector, rock tamer style mud flaps.

I had wondered if the Towflap offered the same protection behind much closer to the rear wheels. I do like it being half the cost of a new Towtector

I have the single towtector brush used it for 5 years and it sucked at keeping stone chips off boat and i think it made it worse on the trailer. Also got caught in snow a couple of times with boat. Towtector threw up so much snow slush and road salt It about filled the boat and brushes froze solid.

The closeness to the rear tires doesn’t affect much of any to coverage. Properly adjusted to the tongue weight if trailer and I believe the coverage is just as good if not better than Towtector. What drive me crazy about Towtector is wet gravel road slime, snow, mud would collect on the brushes. This setup is heavy rubber, swift kick and the grit falls off.

For anyone that was following this, I contacted Towtector and they told me they were in the final stages of a new design for dual exhaust trucks. Sounds like I might have one shipping to me as early as next week. I’ll post pictures when I receive it

Bringing back an old thread for anyone interested. I ordered the new design from Towtector for my Ram with dual exhaust. It’s a level 3 and hope it works as well as my last one.

Attachments:

1. 

   103D040B-FFB9-4C58-B8EE-7BE66A53F639-scaled.jpeg
   

2. 

   3863D485-3966-4547-B3EA-33F9524DE50C-scaled.jpeg
   

I had the first one they shipped to a customer and ended up returning it. No matter what I used on the bolts to hold the Towtector in place, it would shift and end up hitting my bumper. Which caused it to ruin the paint on a one year old truck. Contacted Towtector about the problem and tried their solutions, and it happened again. Luckily, they have awesome customer service and gave me a refund.

P.S.- I believe the heat shields are supposed to go on the other side to protect the backside of the brushes from the exhaust. I also disliked this design as I didn’t want sharp metal that close to my painted bumper.

Time will tell I guess. They make it pretty clear that the neck of your hitch needs to be wide enough for it to sit in there properly. I had to dig out out an old one I had with a bigger neck. Maybe a design flaw… but there’s no way that heat shield wouldn’t touch my bumper the other way. I don’t pull anything in the winter , so hopefully it works out. If not, they do have great CS.

Ya I searched around for a while to find an adjustable drop hitch with as long of a neck as possible. Ended up with one that was longer than recommended. Even with threadlocker, the bolts holding the Towtector to the hitch would come loose if there was any head wind during a trip

Hopefully it works better for you than it did for me

I’ve owned 3 Towtectors on 3 different trucks over the last few years.

My recommendations – always get the aluminum version if possible! Buy the extended hitch from Towtector and the storage bracket. Keep a adjustable wrench in your truck in case the mounting bolts vibrate loose.

I would not recommend just the rubber flap as it’ll kick rocks into your bumper and tailgate. I liked the protection of the Tier 4 but the thing was heavy as heck and would act like a plow in deep snow pulling the fish house.

I am now onto a dual brush on my 1500 and we live on a gravel road. Fishing 4 days a week and no rock chips in the fiberglass.

Rather than an extended hitch, I added a 1/16″ thick piece of adhesive closed-cell black foam on my bumper just above the hitch to prevent my TowTector’s bolt ends from rubbing. Works great and it’s a color match to my truck so don’t even notice it when the TowTector isn’t in use. Without that, it would definitely be getting scratched up. I’ve got some 3M auto protection tape on my trailer fenders and that’s working equally well, so I’m sure that could handle bumper duty for the TowTector too.