Are markings for tow bar cut out on the diffuser?

[Llanigraham]

I haven't got a bar yet, but none I've looked at have a breakaway eye. Not sure how that would fit with the bar being so far up inside the bumper.

 

It can be done, with small hands and a g-clamp. 

I've got one somewhere, that I was going to fit, but then read that it is only to be used with an unbraked trailer below 750kg!

[Frenchtone]

So, am I to assume me and countless farmers/stockmen are illegal when we all just hook the breakaway loop of small unbraked trailers/stocktrailers over the tow hitch?(breakaway loop as supplied by IWT Corwen)

My Westfalia fixed hitch has 2 slots under the bar for attaching the flimsier braked trailer system! - which is of course designed to snap after application of the trailer brakes after a breakaway!

Think this has been covered back in 2011!

[KBPhoto]

So, am I to assume me and countless farmers/stockmen are illegal when we all just hook the breakaway loop of small unbraked trailers/stocktrailers over the tow hitch?

 

No idea as to whether it is 'illegal' or not, but when I did my trailer driving training / test we were told that if a hitch was to break, the most likely place was across the arm below the ball.

 

If this were to happen, then the breakaway cable over the ball would do nothing to stop a runaway trailer.

 

Possibly Graham was referring specifically to the manufacturers specifications on his tow bar.

[Llanigraham]

As Tony says this has been discussed before and no-one can find a legal definition, however when I looked at the fitting instructions for the Skoda fitment that goes around the tow bar I noted that it stated max load 750kg, which leads me to believe that it is only to be used with the chain/thick wire type fitting used with unbraked trailers, and not with the break-away cable fitted to braked trailers and caravans.

 

The instructions from the Caravan Club on their training course now state that with a braked trailer it is quite acceptable for the break-away cable to be hooked around the ball and then clipped back onto itself, and a friend who has just taken his towing test did exactly that on the Test and passed, so it is obviously acceptable to them.

 

My tow bar is the official Skoda Westphalia one.

[Frenchtone]

I accept hitches break, but I would suspect only in a severe accident or after misuse, if you look at an IWT single axle P6 trailer with the robust breakaway loop, without compromising the loop by extension it would be difficult to use a car mounted ring and 'D' shackle - have a close look next time you see one!

The IWT loop is about 10" oal and in a figure of 8 shape, and of 10mm diam Bowden cable.

I have a pic somewhere which I will upload later when I have located it

[Frenchtone]

^^ Here in France a friend, Sgt in local Gendarmerie, verified Graham's points above! - must be EU regs!

[Llanigraham]

Coffee and a Pastis in the cafe this morning, was it Tony?

[Frenchtone]

I wish, its hissing down here and cold with it! - 18'C yesterday - verification of above points was made some time ago when I had acquired a car transporter for my kit car!

[Yety]

I'm intrigued.

 

I've got a Westphalia factory fit tow bar, and two trailers - one four wheeled braked, and the other two wheeled under 750Kg.

 

Do I read that the cable on the heavy trailer is okay looped round the tow hitch, but the 750Kg trailer chains need a separate "eye" of some sort attached to the tow bar? If so, is it a Skoda add-on, or aftermarket?

 

I'm not a caravan tower

[Frenchtone]

my interpretation would be to just hook it over the hitch

[weasley]

The guy that fitted my removable towbar pointed out where I should latch a breakaway cable.  Being removable, there is the minuscule chance that the ball could separate from the frame.

 

On a related tangent, I was once in a car from which the trailer detached, with no cable.  I was about 12 at the time, travelling in the back seat of my uncle's Citröen GS.  My uncle said something like "eh up - there goes the trailer" at which my cousin and I turned around, expecting to see it rolling to a stop, maybe with some sparks.  At first we saw nothing - no trailer at all.  Then we looked up and saw the trailer completing a double somersault with twist and performing a perfect three-point landing on the verge, completely undamaged.  My uncle hitched it up again and off we went.  We assume that the trailer hitch dug in and launched the trailer into its acrobatic routine.

[Llanigraham]

I'm intrigued.

 

I've got a Westphalia factory fit tow bar, and two trailers - one four wheeled braked, and the other two wheeled under 750Kg.

 

Do I read that the cable on the heavy trailer is okay looped round the tow hitch, but the 750Kg trailer chains need a separate "eye" of some sort attached to the tow bar? If so, is it a Skoda add-on, or aftermarket?

 

I'm not a caravan tower

 

Good question, Jerry.

As I now understand it:

The braked trailer can be hooked around the towball, Confirmed by the Trailer Test and Tony's Gendarme.

The unbraked trailer should be "secured" to the vehicle so that if it becomes detached it still "follows" the towing vehicle. Secured is the word used in the Legislation, but it doesn't specify how. 

Good isn't it!!

Personally, the few times I now use an unbraked trailer I hook the chain as tight as possible around the ball.

[33q]

Sadly I witnessed the aftermath of a trailer detachment. Trailer veered into the path of oncoming vehicles where it launched a car over a hedge....both occupants killed.

 

Make sure the trailer is properly hitched and the safety chain is secure

[Frenchtone]

So why do IWT supply unbraked trailers equipped with only a shortish fig '8' Bowden cable job, - that must be legal, if it needed to attach to the towing vehicle surely they would have to make it longer - unless of course you have a jawed towball and pin, then what? The fog descends!!

[Dexta Man]

Tow ball failure? I've seen a couple of pics of caravan/trailer accidents and they all seem to be firmly attached even if they are upside down! The dia of the steel just below the ball is what, 1 inch across, whats the shear strength of that, compared to the four bolts used to secure the towbar to the chassis (well, just a strong point on a monocoque body).

Jerry

[Llanigraham]

So why do IWT supply unbraked trailers equipped with only a shortish fig '8' Bowden cable job, - that must be legal, if it needed to attach to the towing vehicle surely they would have to make it longer - unless of course you have a jawed towball and pin, then what? The fog descends!!

 

I've only just worked out what IWT is!!

 

I suppose it depends on what the breaking strain is of the Bowden cable is, but it only needs to be a bit longer than the distance from the mounting on the trailer to the connection on the towbar, as it is supposed to be designed to allow the trailer to closely follow the towing vehicle if it comes off the ball, and not to become a projectile.

 

Now if you look at a Nato hitch that really does have a strong safety chain!

[Frenchtone]

ifor Williams silly!      :p can't get the uploader to work, both on here and photobucket, think its win 8 etc  -  i'll try on a win 7 unit later

[KBPhoto]

Definitive answer - yes, the markings are there.

 

 

I guess that the four cross hairs are for pilot holes to be drilled so that the stamping tool can be correctly aligned. But I don't think my dealer did use the tool.... See this post.

[gjscott]

How is the lower bumper removed to make the cut-out ?

[Llanigraham]

If you mean the silver bit, there are push-in clips around the edge and a couple of bolt/screws at the back.