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The Proper Towbar for Your Vehicle
Monday, 07 December 2009 08:49 | Written by Byron Jonas
The vast network of highways and roadways that crisscross the country attract countless motorists out onto the pavement every year, many of them yearning for some adventure or thrill just on the other side of the horizon. It is with that notion of adventure that many people end up choosing to bring with them as much of their possessions (or at least the necessary ones) as possible.
The vast network of highways and roadways that crisscross the country attract countless motorists out onto the pavement every year, many of them yearning for some adventure or thrill just on the other side of the horizon. It is with that notion of adventure that many people end up choosing to bring with them as much of their possessions (or at least the necessary ones) as possible.
That's where having a towbar installed on your vehicle comes into play: to allow for the use of a trailer behind one's vehicle and thus expand the volume of things that travel with you on the road.
Towing a trailer properly isn't quite as simple as it seems, however, and it's important to make sure that your towbar meets certain standards of performance. Also known as a tow hitch, your towbar needs to be able to manage high degrees of stress and put up with pulling a significant load, able to guarantee that the vehicle and the trailer move more or less in sync with each other.
Of course, it isn't just any kind of towbar that can perform that way. You need to make sure that the towbar you have installed already, or that you want to install, meets the standards of the industry and furthermore to hear what a professional in the field has to say before deciding what kind to choose and what sort of trailer to use with it.
There are two general categories of towbar: some have a tow ball propped on top of a tow bracket while others involve a tow pin and its corresponding tow jaw that latch onto a trailer loop. It is important to understand that the first variety mentioned provides for better coordination between the vehicle and trailer in motion, though in the case of the latter variety this result can be obtained to some degree by slackening the pin.
A receiver towbar is one which generally includes a removable tow ball, whereas a fixed hitch will generally have the tow ball and all built right into the frame of the vehicle. In all cases, the hitches are connected directly to the chassis of the vehicle, allowing for heavier objects to be towed. Certain towbars built with a square receiver sockets which enable the weight to be more evenly distributed during towing, thereby reducing the risk of accidents.
The most crucial aspect of using your towbar comes at the moment of loading the tow ball, and it is of the utmost importance that horizontal and vertical loading be carried out with precision. Even the slightest error here can have bad results, and if you do not know what you have to do in this regard then be sure to consult somebody that does have experience in loading hitches, thereby reducing the risk of hurting others on the road or incurring damage to property.
For the absolute safest in towbars, there is a special variety referred to as a Lunette Ring. This model is comprised of a pintle hook and the Lunette Ring itself, and these are best for people towing large loads and/or operating on rough ground such as in rural areas.
by ByronJonas
The vast network of highways and roadways that crisscross the country attract countless motorists out onto the pavement every year, many of them yearning for some adventure or thrill just on the other side of the horizon. It is with that notion of adventure that many people end up choosing to bring with them as much of their possessions (or at least the necessary ones) as possible.
That's where having a towbar installed on your vehicle comes into play: to allow for the use of a trailer behind one's vehicle and thus expand the volume of things that travel with you on the road.
Towing a trailer properly isn't quite as simple as it seems, however, and it's important to make sure that your towbar meets certain standards of performance. Also known as a tow hitch, your towbar needs to be able to manage high degrees of stress and put up with pulling a significant load, able to guarantee that the vehicle and the trailer move more or less in sync with each other.
Of course, it isn't just any kind of towbar that can perform that way. You need to make sure that the towbar you have installed already, or that you want to install, meets the standards of the industry and furthermore to hear what a professional in the field has to say before deciding what kind to choose and what sort of trailer to use with it.
There are two general categories of towbar: some have a tow ball propped on top of a tow bracket while others involve a tow pin and its corresponding tow jaw that latch onto a trailer loop. It is important to understand that the first variety mentioned provides for better coordination between the vehicle and trailer in motion, though in the case of the latter variety this result can be obtained to some degree by slackening the pin.
A receiver towbar is one which generally includes a removable tow ball, whereas a fixed hitch will generally have the tow ball and all built right into the frame of the vehicle. In all cases, the hitches are connected directly to the chassis of the vehicle, allowing for heavier objects to be towed. Certain towbars built with a square receiver sockets which enable the weight to be more evenly distributed during towing, thereby reducing the risk of accidents.
The most crucial aspect of using your towbar comes at the moment of loading the tow ball, and it is of the utmost importance that horizontal and vertical loading be carried out with precision. Even the slightest error here can have bad results, and if you do not know what you have to do in this regard then be sure to consult somebody that does have experience in loading hitches, thereby reducing the risk of hurting others on the road or incurring damage to property.
For the absolute safest in towbars, there is a special variety referred to as a Lunette Ring. This model is comprised of a pintle hook and the Lunette Ring itself, and these are best for people towing large loads and/or operating on rough ground such as in rural areas.