2004 Media Releases Jump To Detachable towball Winning Idea Not All Towbars Created Equal
Detachable towball Winning Idea The detachable towbar tongue, pioneered in New Zealand by leading towbar manufacturer Best Bars Ltd to keep motorists on the right side of the law, is growing in popularity. Like all developments, it was a deceptively simple idea – the tongue and ball assembly can be removed without any tools by taking out a safety clip to remove a pin, thereby allowing the tongue and ball assembly to be slipped out of a sleeve on the towbar. The removable tongue is required for vehicles with low number plates that are obscured by a permanent tow ball, thus preventing a clear photo from speed cameras. But now many other motorists are discovering the advantages of being able to remove the tongue and towball and a new, second generation model has been released by Best Bars. The new version includes a rubber collar that holds the tongue firmly in the sleeve and prevents it from rattling on the towbar. Along with this development, Best Bars has also produced a towball mounted on an angle tongue, which provide a low tow height for cars in one format, and when reversed it raises the height of the towball for four-wheel-drive vehicles and utes. "We expect these enhancements to give the removable tongue towbar system a real boost," says Michael Parker, Managing Director of Best Bars. "A lot of people like the idea of being able to remove the tongue and towball when they are not towing a trailer. It means there isn’t a towbar protruding behind the vehicle, making life easier for parking. A lot of motorists are specifying the removable tongue towbar for that reason." Mr Parker says the removable tongue is also catching on with owners of four-wheel-drive vehicles who want to preserve their departure angles when they drive off road. The second generation removable tongue towbar now adds to the sophistication and ease of use of this type of towbar. Best Bars is also introducing an accessory that provides increased security for people who leave trailers on towbars with removable tongues, protected by a lockable hitch on the towball. Thieves could still unhitch the tongue to take the trailer, but Best Bars has introduced a lockable pin, which prevents this from happening. If ever there was a reason for a clampdown on dodgy towbars in New Zealand, this photo illustrates it perfectly, according Colin Richman, who heads Best Bars Ltd, the largest towbar manufacturer in the country. The towbar in the photo failed in dramatic fashion whilst the Auckland owner was towing a trailer behind his car. Fortunately he was only pulling out of his driveway when it happened and there was little damage and no injury, but the consequences could have been much worse if it had taken place on a busy motorway, says Mr Richman. << BACK TO TOP >>
Not All Towbars Created Equal Best Bars has been calling on the government to make it illegal for towbars to be fitted to any vehicle in New Zealand unless they have been built to the required standard. “Obviously this one hasn’t and it’s very fortunate that there was no accident when it broke. It’s very easy for anyone to cobble together a towbar that looks OK but is not capable of doing the job. This failed towbar was made from thin walled exhaust tube and was welded to the chassis of the vehicle, which is an absolute no-no. The quality of the welding work itself was terrible, certainly not up to the specification required. It was obviously made on the cheap. Before it broke, the owner thought it looked very solid, being a large diameter tube, but once he saw the wall thickness he was horrified,” says Mr Richman. Mr Richman says there is no information on how many dodgy towbars are fitted to vehicles around New Zealand, but feels that even one is too many – as the potential risk is severe. Best Bars was instrumental in helping to formulate NZ Standard 5467:1993 more than a decade ago, which laid down the rules for the safe manufacture of light vehicle towbars. But the Standard has never been adopted into regulation and is only a voluntary code, not mandatory. Mr Richman says it is time for all towbars in New Zealand to be manufactured to the Standard and identified as such, as are towbars made by Best Bars. All welders must be approved to NZ Standard 4711, too. He adds that if a towbar does not carry a label identifying that the bar was designed and manufactured to the Standard then its safety must be called into question. The forces applied to a towbar in everyday use can be significant and there is no room for second best. All towbars made by Best Bars are manufactured from steel plate and tube that has been mill tested to meet the required use. All fastenings are high tensile and the product goes through a six tank paint process for protection from the elements, including a zinc phosphate treatment prior to painting. Each towbar design is then put through an on-vehicle test by a special machine developed by Best Bars. It replicates loading to 1.5 times the towbar’s maximum rating to provide an extra safety margin. The Best Bars factory is also accredited to the international ISO9001:2000 quality programme. Mr Richman says a towbar has to be made to last the lifetime of the vehicle, so the quality of the design, manufacture and fit has to be first class. He adds “The design and fit of a towbar is just as important as the way it is manufactured. Every car and light commercial model is unique and the towbar has to be designed specifically to suit each particular model. It is especially important that the towbar is made to be compatible with the vehicle’s crumple zone and chassis so that crash safety is not compromised and that the chassis is loaded uniformly.” Best Bars has built up a wealth of knowledge and expertise on towbars over the past 21 years and now designs and makes towbars as original equipment for many vehicle manufacturers both in New Zealand and Australia. The way it designs them also makes it easier to fit, reducing fitting charges and the customer’s downtime without the vehicle. Best Bars has more than 600 current towbar designs and has produced over 500,000 towbars to the Standard. << BACK TO TOP >>