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The Right Towbar for Your Car |
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Written by Byron Jonas
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Monday, 07 December 2009 08:49 |
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The freedom of the open road beckons so many people from all over the country every year, and being able to get as much of one's belongings into the car and on the road is very appealing to many people that decide to undertake a road trip.
by ByronJonas
The freedom of the open road beckons so many people from all over the country every year, and being able to get as much of one's belongings into the car and on the road is very appealing to many people that decide to undertake a road trip.
Of course, there is only so much that a person can fit into their ordinary vehicle, which is why many people choose to buy a trailer of one sort or another.
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 basic forms of towbar on the market: one version which includes a towball mounted on a tow bracket, and another which incorporates a tow pin and jaw along with a trailer loop. The former variety will allow for greater articulation of the trailer's and car's movements, whereas the latter variety is a little more rigid (though if there is enough slack in the pin the same result can be achieved, more or less).
Receiver towbars are a variety of towbar that include a removable tow ball and are included in some larger vehicles on the factory line, while fixed towbars are ones which are built right onto the car's frame and come in heavy duty vehicles. Either way, the towbar is attached right to the vehicle chassis to ensure that the load being towed is properly resisted and doesn't damage the vehicle. For optimal distribution of weight during towing, special square sockets exist, and using these helps improve the safety in a towing operation and decrease the risk of an accident happening.
It is incredibly important that when connecting the trailer to the vehicle, the loading of the tow ball be performed correctly both horizontally and vertically - people without experience in performing such loading operations should seek out the advice of someone that does know what they are doing, and that way prevent possible damage to property and persons.
One of the safest varieties of towbar is known as a Lunette Ring, which forms a very secure coupling by means of the mentioned ring and the pintle hook on the vehicle. This sort of towbar is ideal for heavy loads and for people towing on rugged terrain.
About the Author:
Byron Jonas understands that towbars are an crucial accessory for a vehicle, which explains why he got qualified advice before buying a towbar on his vehicle. |
