Rigid towing bar - connect to rear towbar?

[taurus]

I have to recover a car tomorrow evening, it's a bit of a distance and has a steep downhill section, plus a lot of busy junctions. The person I am towing has never been towed before so I don't want to risk using a rope.

I thought of buying a rigid towing bar - only snag is the only car available and suitable has a towbar that covers the rear towing eye.

So the question is, can you securely attach a rigid towing bar to the ball (or stem of the ball) of a towbar? Or can you adapt the towing bar to fit around the stem?

(I don't have a rigid bar so I can't check - just wanted to ask before buying one.)

Ta!

[colnerov]

Hi, yes you can, there is no reason why not. However I think your biggest problem will be finding one that has an eye that will go round the neck of a tow ball.

There is a different technique to using a rigid bar. As you have a novice behind tell them to leave the braking to you unless you give them a signal to assist with it. The other thing is get them to keep the bar inline with the direction of travel otherwise when you brake it will push the towed car off to one side. My apologies if you know all this.

Colin

[taurus]

Thanks Colin. It's the bit about finding an eye big enough to go round the neck of the tow ball that's making me scratch my head. Looking at them in the internet some look like they are adjustable, but it's not clear.

Just thought I'd ask on here in case someone has solved this already. If not I'll but one tomorrow and look at adapting it. I've seen a few steel box section bars with a tow head on one end and an eye connection on the other, but I don't like the look of how the eye connects. It doesn't seem a good design.

[Good Scrap]

Go to a trailer suppliers and get a cheap trailer hitch. Then bolt/weld it to the bar. Last time I needed to do something similar I bolter the hitch to some box section, then used the stock holes in the bar to bolt it to the box section.

Edit to add just found this pic of something similar
smg.photobucket.com/user/MGJohn/media/Trailer%20Pictures/ModifiedHitch2.jpg.html

Just make sure you orientate the ends to suit the eye on the car being towed.

Brian

[composimmonite]

I use a large bow shackle. Got one from Machine Mart. Only problem is when braking towing vehicle the shackle "clanks" forward into the hitch and then the same again when taking up the slack.
To be honest I'd say try and find a mate who has been towed before and simply use a rope as even a solid hitch on towball with inexperienced person could be an "eventful" journey
Might be a controversial subject but see if you can borrow / hire an A frame. I've got one and makes things a lot easier.

[Deleted]

You can buy bars that have a tow hitch on them.

The following car HAS to brake before at the same time or the bar will be damaged especially if the towing car brakes whilst on a bend but straight bars are only meant to be used for short recoveries of broken down cars, the car being towed also needs to be taxed and roadworthy and the person controlling the car needs to be insured to drive that car as they are in control of the car.

[nomad]

Rope is safe (was legal - not sure if it still is?) if both drivers know what they're doing. best avoided if you're towing someone who isn't experienced.

See if you can hire an A-frame, make sure it's fitted properly.

Rigid bar - another option, advise you get a spring-loaded type (I think rigid non-sprung are now frowned on)
or modified hitch (to use towbar on front car),
both work best if bar/hitch runs rear centre (towbar?) to front center of towed car, otherwise braking & moving off will pull sideways.

^ 1300 Dolly has given a few suggestions but his ideas are a lot different to mine. You might want to read up and check for yourself what is advised and what's legal/illegal.


Go careful and you should be fine. Don't rush - gentle starts & stops, lots of indicating, avoid busy times/routes/junctions, plan ahead and no sudden changes of direction.

Hope if goes ok for you!

[waveman1500]

A tow truck will be a lot cheaper than a car accident, or a fine. I wouldn't risk it. Call a tow truck or hire a trailer!

[taurus]

Hmmm - a post I put up saying thank you for suggestions seems to have gone AWOL - so I'll repeat my thanks for some good suggestions.

Just for the record, it's all legit. My licence means I can tow no problem, I've been towing caravans & boats for years. The car is MOT'd, taxed, insured - but the timing chain has gone. The owner hasn't been towed before which is why I wanted to look into using the bar.

As it happens, reminded by good advice on here, I've looked into trailer hire. There's a guy on ebay hires a trailer suitable for the car for £35 a day and he lives near me. So that's how I'll do it.

The trailer I've used in the past went when Mouldsworth Motor Museum had to close.

[chairchild]

Just a pointer - most rigid towing bars, are NOT meant to replace the tow-ee doing the braking.



Used to have to tell this to at least a customer a month when I worked in Halfords, after they complained the bar had bent in half when towing a massive 4x4 through stop/start traffic, with the towing car doing all the braking

[dodgerover]

Mar 26, 2015 7:10:29 GMT taurus said:

As it happens, reminded by good advice on here, I've looked into trailer hire. There's a guy on ebay hires a trailer suitable for the car for £35 a day and he lives near me. So that's how I'll do it.

Thats cheap enough, do they want 2k cash deposit?

[taurus]

I'm ringing him in the morning to confirm so I'll find out!

So far sourced a replacement 40k engine, didn't realise Vauxhall twinport engines were so much more than the non-twinport.

[slomoshun]

Years ago used a solid bar to tow a Nissan Sylvia with my 1.0 litre Suzuki Sj 410
Built a bar from scaffold tube with tow hitch one end and shackle to fit to nissan.
Tow bar reinforced and professionally fabricated and welded for safety.
The Nissan engine ran but had no brakes whilst the Sj 410 had good brakes but no power to tow.
Probably not as the law intended but we pushed the Sj 410 with the Nissan Sylvia.
Sj410 engine running to aid steering and braking.
Always remember going up this long hill. A gardener working on the grass verge looking amazed as this little jeep flew up the hill towing quite a big car.
Anyway by being careful and checking the tow bar we completed a 70 mile cross country tow without incident.
None of this information is of any use to you in deciding what tow method to use but with a little thought and a safety in mind attitude things can get done.
Have to say with the bar attached it felt 100 times safer than a rope and no take up of slack / snatching / rope breaking / stuck in traffic to worry about.
Only used that method once so not talking from years of experience.
Legal issues must be looked into as law now different and more vosa about than in the day i did it.

[carat 3.6]

I've got a home made straight bar with a trailer ball hitch welded on one end, it's made of 3mm walled box steel and has never bent yet.

Far safer and easier than towing on a rope.

[Deleted]

there are a few local trailer rental places here that charge from £35 a day with a £100 cash deposit so there should be some near you with similar costs.

[Ryannn]

I've done it two ways.

1. Put a trailer hitch on the end of the bar.
2. Take the towball off and slot the normal towing end through one of the holes.

[taurus]

All sorted now. I hired a trailer and have recovered the car. I don't think I'd have fancied towing a novice even with a rigid bar that distance. This way I could do it single handed and use the motorways.

[Iain]

Mar 26, 2015 12:35:23 GMT chairchild said:

Just a pointer - most rigid towing bars, are NOT meant to replace the tow-ee doing the braking.



Used to have to tell this to at least a customer a month when I worked in Halfords, after they complained the bar had bent in half when towing a massive 4x4 through stop/start traffic, with the towing car doing all the braking

I bent a spring loaded MachineMart/Clarke one thinking it was supposed to replace the braking. Almost rear ended my dad (felt like I had) with my big old Volvo. Almost learnt the hard way.

[colnerov]

Hi, in my defence regarding the tower doing the braking I also said to keep the bar inline with the direction of travel. The reason for this comes from experience from when I used to work for a bus company recovering buses and coaches of 12 tons, the tower does all the braking before the bend and then pulls the casualty round it. But we did use one piece solid bar and the bar was mounted centrally both ends. The rigid bars available in the likes of Halfords are multi piece designed to break down to go in the boot and so are inherently weaker. A one piece bar made of scaffold tube or 3mm box will be a lot stronger. I have used multi piece bars to recover cars and 4x4s big and small and have not bent it. It is all down to technique and understanding what you are doing.

Colin