2002 Media ReleasesJump To | |
Nov 02 - Best Bars Gets A Grip On 4WDsGood news if you own a 4WD vehicle and you’re into mountain biking as well.Because now there is an EziGrip bike rack that is specially designed to fit around the big spare wheel on the back of four-wheel-drive vehicles. EziGrip bike racks have become a New Zealand success story for their manufacturer Best Bars Limited. Designed to fit on a tow bar and securely hold up to four bikes, the easily recognisable yellow and black EziGrip has become a best seller in this market and is now taking off overseas. But they were originally designed with cars in mind. Owners of 4WD vehicles had to purchase a separate offset bracket to allow the bike rack to accommodate the spare wheel mounted on the rear door. Now Best Bars has released a new EziGrip version with an extension built into the bike rack stem. Stephen de Kriek, General Manager of Best Bars says,"The new version is available now from bike shops and accessories outlets in time for summer. By incorporating the offset extension into the design of the EziGrip the result is a much better looking one-piece rack that is also stronger." According to research conducted by Best Bars, owners of 4WD vehicles and their families are more likely to be enthusiast mountain bike riders as well and the company believes that there is a worldwide market for its new EziGrip model. The new EziGrip model will fit all types of 4WD vehicles and buyers can select versions that will accommodate two, three or four bikes at a time. All racks are lockable, to prevent theft and there is a special adaptor that enables number plates to be displayed high on the rack instead of being obscured behind the bikes. << BACK TO TOP >> |
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Aug 02 - Solution For Trailer Law BrakersTow a loaded trailer behind your car, 4WD or van anywhere in New Zealand this weekend and the chances are you’re breaking the law. That's because the vast majority of light trailers towed by New Zealanders are unbraked and when fully laden they will most likely exceed the towing vehicles legal weight limits and may even have difficulty meeting safe braking requirements. But don't throw away your trailer because there is a much simpler solution…...fit aftermarket brakes.New Zealand’s leading towbar company, Best Bars Ltd, has finalised a package that enables braking systems to be retrofitted to most light trailers for considerably less than the cost of a new, braked trailer and certainly preferable to being fined for breaking the law. "Best Bars has been concerned for some time about the number of people who may be towing unbraked trailers that are over the towing vehicles legal unbraked weight limits without realising it" , says Stephen de Kriek, General Manager of Best Bars Ltd. While the law states that trailers with a laden weight of 2000kg or less do not require brakes, that does not take into account the fact that the majority of vehicles doing the towing have a manufacturers’ unbraked towing capacity no more than 750kg – some are considerably lower. A loaded trailer could easily surpass that limit and, according to the LTSA and Police that would be illegal – not to mention that it may also make the insurance policy invalid whilst towing. Anyone caught towing an unbraked trailer over the vehicle manufacturer’s limit would face: Mr de Kriek says that motorists should err on the side of caution and have brakes fitted to their trailers, for safety’s sake, as much as avoiding breaking the law. Even a vehicle with a high manufacturer’s unbraked towing limit could be caught out, despite being within legal weight restrictions, warns Mr de Kriek. If required to undergo a combined braking test it would need to be able to stop in 7 metres from 30km/h – a vehicle towing a heavily laden, unbraked trailer may have problems passing that test. In a real life emergency braking situation that result could be worse than a fine. Mr de Kriek points out that changes to vehicle braking regulations earlier this year also mean that some bigger trailers that did not previously require brakes must now have them fitted."Ignorance of the law is no defence and it is in the best interests of motorists to act now if they want to keep within the law, remain insured and be safer on the roads" he adds. To meet these needs, Best Bars has put together a package for retrofitting of brakes to a wide variety of unbraked trailers up to 2000kg. Owners have the choice of an override drum brake or disc brake package, with stainless steel pistons, marine bearing seals and all connection parts. A galvanised marine option is available for the disc brake package. Trailer braking packages can be purchased on its own or fitted at the Best Bars workshop in Penrose, Auckland or through contract fitters around the country by calling 0800 Best Bars. << BACK TO TOP >> | |
June 02 - Little And Large Get TowbarsTalk about David and Goliath. You might think there is absolutely nothing in common between the mammoth Ford F250 pick-up truck and the nippy little Mini, but you’d be wrong.It’s taken equally innovative engineering solutions to design and make towbars for both vehicles, all done here in New Zealand by leading towbar manufacturer Best Bars Ltd. A mini with a towbar? Yes, even owners of one of the smaller cars on the market like to be able to hitch up a sailing dinghy or fit a bike carrier to the towball for weekends. What’s so special about the Mini towbar is that it has been designed to be completely hidden when the towball has been removed and it is not in use. "People buy the Mini because of its looks and we were very conscious of that fact when designing a towbar for it. By applying our in-house removable towbar tongue technology, we were able to come up with the ideal solution. Now the main part of the towbar remains hidden and the tongue and ball can be fixed in place when required", says Stephen de Kriek, General Manager of Best Bars Ltd. Best Bars put the Mini towbar system through a rigorous on-car test on a special machine at its manufacturing plant and it passed with flying colours. The Mini towbar designed by Best Bars has been adopted as a Genuine Partitem by BMW/Mini dealers throughout New Zealand. Meanwhile, Best Bars has been approved as a Heavy Motor Vehicle Specialist - Manufacturing Certifier, which enables the company to make and certify drawbeams for heavy vehicles weighing more than 3.5-tonnes, like the Ford F250 and its bigger brother the F350. All heavy vehicle drawbeam systems not only have to be certified to meet New Zealand Standards and Ministry of Transport requirements, the manufacturing and design system has to be up-to-scratch as well. In recent years Best Bars has developed sophisticated systems for designing, testing and manufacturing towbars and now it is applying that technology to heavy vehicles. The first to benefit is the new Ford F250, a brawny light truck from the United States, which is now produced for right-hand-drive markets like New Zealand. Best Bars has designed a towing system for this vehicle that is just as tough and it has been tested on the vehicle by the patented machine at the factory. Ford has approved the Best Bars towing system as a genuine part accessory for the F250. "The forces that are exerted on a heavy vehicle towbeam are tremendous and it requires specialised knowledge and technology to produce the goods. To gain certification we have been able to demonstrate our adherence to set manufacturing standards and from a design point of view we do engineering by calculation for fatigue and follow set procedures for welds, in addition to carrying out on-vehicle testing", says Mr de Kriek. Best Bars designs its heavy vehicles tow systems to be compatible with both pintal hooks, for heavy trailers and tow balls, for those who still want to be able to tow a light trailer. << BACK TO TOP >> |
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May 02 - Towbar Design Changes To Improve SafetyFitting a towbar to your vehicle? Make sure that it has at least one tested safety chain mount conforming to an Australian Standard or you won’t be able to legally use it on the road for towing, says Best Bars Ltd, New Zealand’s leading designer and manufacturer of towbars.Under a new rule introduced on April 1 this year, it has been re-emphasised that all trailers are required, when connected to a towing vehicle, to have at least one safety chain attached. In addition the rule requires that those between 2000kg and 2500kg will need two crossed over safety chains, unless the trailer is fitted with a break-away brake system. Previously, trailers weighing more than 2000kg required only a single safety chain as it was assumed that this provided sufficient safety margins. The change has been instituted by the LTSA to reduce the number of accidents involving light trailers, including those fitted with brakes. In the last five years there have been more than 700 accidents involving vehicles towing light trailers, 43 of them fatal. Best Bars has always designed towbars with one tested safety chain attachment as standard and has now re-engineered all of its 2001kg to 2500kg models to include two attachments. They will also retrofit a second safety chain mounts to their products if required. "We have always designed our towbars with tested safety chain mounts they are a necessary safety device. Our design and testing meets and exceeds the governing Australian Standard for safety chain attachment points", says Stephen de Kriek, General Manager of Best Bars. We are glad that the LTSA feels the same way and has now made the correct design and enforced testing of safety chain attachments a requirement, until now any flimsy inferior designed safety chain attachment was legal. It makes sense to make testing a requirement to ensure the attachment is capable of doing the job should an incident occur. Twin chains are required for trailers weighing between 2000kg and 2500kg unless they are fitted with a breakaway brake and the chains must be crossed over each other when attached. Trailers weighing over 2500kg need just one safety chain because of their superior braking requirements. Mr de Kriek adds that Best Bars is recommending that anyone towing a trailer of 2000kg or heavier should use twin safety chain mounts, regardless of the braking system fitted to the trailer. The changes follow similar rules applied in Australia and the LTSA says that all safety chain mounts on towbars must be properly tested for approval. Mr de Kriek says Best Bars is the only New Zealand company to perform on-vehicle testing of towbars to ensure they meet the load requirements, not just of the towbar itself, but also the safety chain mount system. All Best Bars towbar designs are tested before going onto the market. << BACK TO TOP >> | |
Apr 02 - Best Bars Moves Into Heavy Duty TowingNew Zealand’s leader in car tow bars is now moving into heavy-duty towing systems for trucks – with full Government approval.Best Bars has been approved as a Specialist Local Manufacturing Certifier, which enables the company to make and certify drawbeams for heavy vehicles weighing more than 3.5-tonnes. All heavy vehicle drawbeam systems not only have to be certified to meet New Zealand Standards and Ministry of Transport requirements, the manufacturing system has to be up-to-scratch as well. In recent years Best Bars has developed sophisticated systems for designing, testing and manufacturing towbars and now it is applying that technology to heavy vehicles.The first to benefit is the new Ford F250, a brawny light truck from the United States, which is now produced for right-hand-drive markets like New Zealand. Best Bars has designed a towing system for this vehicle that is just as tough and it has been tested on the vehicle by a special machine at the factory. Ford has approved the Best Bars towing system as an official accessory for the F250. Stephen de Kriek, General Manager of Best Bars Ltd says, “Best Bars has developed a great deal of technology for designing and making quality towing systems over the years and it seemed logical to extend this to heavy vehicles. The forces that are exerted on a heavy vehicle towbeam are tremendous and it requires specialised knowledge and technology to produce the goods. To gain certification we have been able to demonstrate our adherence to set manufacturing standards and from a design point of view we do engineering by calculation for fatigue and follow set procedures for welds, in addition to carrying out on-vehicle testing." Best Bars designs its heavy vehicles tow systems to be compatible with both pintal hooks, for heavy trailers and tow balls, for those who still want to be able to tow a light trailer. << BACK TO TOP >> |
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