Car Towing Bar?

It won't be as strong as them, but it won't be used several times a day either. It's for occasional use. As for the brakes, when towing, in theory you shouldn't need to use the brakes when being towed, but in practice it won't hurt to help the tower out a bit. If the towing vehicle brakes for instance on a bend or curving approach to a roundabout, the towed vehicle can push the back end of the towing vehicle sideways, causing a jack-knife effect. Braking by the vehicle on tow can assist in preventing this. It pays to keep your wits about you at all times.

Steve

The message from "Mark" contains these words:

I've got something similar and it's excellent, but it's a good idea of the trailing car does some of the braking. Mine's got a tad bent 'cos a friend's inept husband was - well - inept.

The only thing I found was that I couldn't attach it to the back of the Montego - so I welded a cheap coupling to it and now fit it to the towball.

Smashing things though - and way way better than a towrope.

Most of the time, I reckon the towing car could probably cope with the braking on it's own. Under very heavy braking, it looks a bit suspect. Despite that, I'd be inclined to treat it like a rope. Braking with the towed car so the bar is mostly in tension, rather than compression. It's also probably a helluva lot easier and safer to use than a rope, if the driver in the towed or towing car is inexperienced. Less chance of them ramming the towing car up the rear. All sorts of disasters can be caused by drivers who don't know what to do when being towed on a rope.

Do you think for £4.99 this bar will be up for

It probably isn't, but no doubt their bars are designed to cope with vehicles heavier than 2000Kg Mike.

is this fitted to a eye to eye type thing, or the car that pulls has that caravan towing wotist? and if its eye to eye, do you have it the same side or diaganal?

Great, thanks very much for that. I was just about to buy the tow rope from Aldi. For £2 more, this bar would be a much better idea.

For the price it looks to be a bargain. Halford$ sell a similarly basic bar for £20 (where I bought mine from). I've only had to use mine once and that was towing somebody else, but it was soooo easy compared to using a rope!

The bar will cope with most cars provided you accelerate and brake gently - it's difficult for the towed vehicle driver to know how much force to put on the brakes because there's no 'give' in the bar unlike a rope, so the towing vehicle does most of it and the towed vehicle just presses the brakes gently (mainly to show the stop lamps).

You will need easily accessible towing eyes on both cars for it to be much use, if they are obstructed by something such as a towbar (like mine) then you'll have to revert to a rope. I've not tried using the bar on my new car but I don't think it will work too well because the rear towing eye is now hidden by the towbar, and the front one is quite low and some way under the car on the engine crossmember...

Darren

The message from "Julian 'Penny for the guy' Hales" contains these words:

It doesn't seem to matter much. Since I use the towball on mine it's always in the middle at the towing end. The towee can make up their own mind about where to drive.

In news:d9f3pn$irk$ snipped-for-privacy@news8.svr.pol.co.uk, shazzbat decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

I find it's always better for the vehicle being towed to do 90% of the braking.

behind the tow car......... it feels really strange going 30 mph 4 feet behind the car in front let me assure you steve the grease

I have the halfords one - used it lots of times (had it about 6 yrs) and it's been very handy - did a 50 mile motorway tow with it (towing a volvo S80) and it survived me joining the m62 from the m1 full throttle in first, second and third....

It's also survived a "stupidity run" done to deliberately annoy the guy who broke down (suffice to say his vehicle never went that fast under its own power!)

Remember that following driver should be given warning on braking (press brake gently, give him time to react and press his brake before applying more pressure) - he'll have no servo without a running engine so is unlikely to rip you apart by hitting the pedal...

Certainly recommend it to anyone.

Definitely on the same side. Connecting diagonally would be asking for trouble. From the pic it connects to the towing or transit eyes. Dunno how you get on if it's modified by adding a towing hitch. Most towing eyes are to one side or the other, so with a hitch, the bar would not be in line with the cars. Guy. Does it cause any problems? Mike.

I can't see why the frequency of likely use is going to affect the strength to which it's made. It either is strong enough or it isn't. Towbars don't wear out.

Rob Graham

The message from "Mike G" contains these words:

Not for me - but I'm in the front car! Seriously, mine always pulls from the middle of my car but it often attaches to one side of the victim. Doesn't seem to matter. At worst all they do is drive 18" to one side of me which ain't a problem in most cases - till you get to the chicanes.

Isn't there a tendency for the back car to slide to one side under breaking and run into the back of you unless you're braking in a dead straight line?

I currently have a 3 ton webbing strap with a bungie throught the middle of it - keeps it off the floor most of the time and the steel sprung hooks on the ends make it a 5 second job to attach/detach. Doesn't slow the car behind *at all* though...

The first time I used one, I was towing a friend in a 3 series BMW so the gap seemed perfectly normal.

One tip with these things is to make sure you're carrying the right sized spanners. We used a cheapo bar and while it was easy enough to put on, it was bit fiddly to remove using just a ring spanner and pair of pliers.

TBH I've always wondered about so called 'towing eyes'. Are they actually designed to be used in that way? The ones at the front maybe, but the ones at the rear? Some look distinctly flimsy. Just a thin 'U' shaped piece of diameter welded to a strongish part of the underbody. Often hanging downwards, rather than sideways, which would be more appropriate for towing purposes. I'm sure I've seen them referred to as 'transit eyes'. Simply used to hold the car down whilst it's being shipped or transported. What do the manufacturers advise? Anyone know. Mike.

No. they fail after X No of impacts/overload strains etc. The more it is used, the sooner X will be reached. The stronger it is, the higher the value of X, and the longer it will last.

Steve

LMAO

A few years ago I overtook a pair of tow-ers who were doing about 70 on the M56. The gap between the cars was about 4 feet. I was shocked when I realised they were using a ROPE!

I'd been towed by the AA with a bar a few weeks earlier so I reckon I'd have been terrified to have been in the following car. Looked like a recipe for tail-ending each other.