Getting Hitched - Magazine article.
Comments
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Yes I also saw this. Following the very lengthy discussion on this subject I am surprised the Club included a picture in it's advice section of a possibly illegal connection of the breakaway cable. Come on Grinstead Towers a comment please.
Also why has the new layout of the mag got 'pixilated' headlines?
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EJB. No! Old towbars (pre 92 I think) may not have a dedicated connection point. Newer ones should have and this should be used. The picture shows a new car fitted with a detachable towbar (I think) and the breakaway cable looped around the hook. This may be not be the correct way to connect IF there is a connection point. There is loads of confusion about this subject - just Google 'fitting a breakaway cable' to get even more confused! In the 'Ask the Expert - Archives' section the confusion goes on!
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My own car ( 2 years old), and many others, has a detachable tow bar with nowhere to attach a cable.
I don't believe this subject is actually mentioned in law, anywhere.....it lies alongside the A Frame fiasco.
What a grey world we live in
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The photograph in question appears to show a Land Rover Discovery which has TWO attachment points on the chassis which are suitable for using a breakaway cable properly, AND a large ring above the tow hitch which is intended as a recovery point and is capable of well over it's rated load of 3.5 tonnes.
So just lazyness or crass ignorance on the part of the person hitching up?
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Looking carefully at that photograph the breakaway cable is of the type where the clip is supposed to clipped back on the cable so it "may" have been the only option. Or it could be lazy as suggested.
However to call this article "a detailed look .. " is simply not correct. "A brief very high level overview" would be more appropriate.
I remember excellent documents could be obtained from the club when I first bought a van, they were well written and truly detailed, covering many aspects of towing, gas, hook ups and so on. More recent documents and many articles seem over-simplified and dumbed-down to a point where they are almost worthless.
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It all depends on what is meant by 'improperly attached'. If there is no dedicated anchorage point the owner has no option other than to loop around the towball neck so there's no way he can be prosecuted.
One could, however, argue that there may be a case against the towbar manufacturer for failure to provide a robust design or against the fitter who may have installed it incorrectly or without necessary care.
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Main picture!
Not yet seen a Freelander with an offset number plate, removable panel for tow electrics access and a whopping great eye in the middle.
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Have to agree that the Freelander having the towbar fitted is not the vehicle used for the main picture. Totally different towball/hitch.
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Looking at the picture in the CC Magazine it looks as if a Discovery or even Range Rover Sport has been used. Having towed with a Range Rover Sport for 3 years it has a large ring, located between the electric plugs, which is attached to the chassis. That is exactly what is shown in the photo in the magazine. We used to attach a climbing carabiner to this ring and then put the breakaway cable through the carabiner. Who ever took this photograph was careless at best and incompetent at worst. The CC should offer an apology in the next magazine or even come on to this forum and explain why the photo was taken because it does not show how a breakaway cable should be attached to the vehicle in question.
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I know someone who was fined & received points on his licence for not using a breakaway cable properly. I cant remember the full details unfortunately as it was a few years back. About 2011 IIRC. They done him for "Dangerous load" He was pretty P****D about it as he had just borrowed a car transporting trailer to move a classic car to save some money.
DaveFL2, My 2013 FL2 has a factory fit towbar. It's not the swan neck detachable type though, but where the ball is bolted with the spacer to the bar, the plate is deeper and has a large hole in it to clip on to.
Ian.
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Until quite recently there was no requirement to have a dedicated anchorage point in order to gain type approval. I believe the requirement was introduced in 2015, but I may be wrong. Either way it still leaves an awful lot of towbars manufactured before that date that do not have such an anchorage point and which theorectically must not be subsequently modified.
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I haven't looked on this forum for a little while now, but felt compelled to when I saw that photo in the latest CC magazine. Defies belief that the editorial staff could have passed that without at least some comment regarding use of attachment points, if available.
In any case, the magazine is pretty worthless in my opinion. When did we last see a critical review of any product, car, leisure battery, whatever. Too worried about upsetting the advertising revenue, I suppose.
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I have seen the results of fitting the breakaway cable wrapped around a detatchable towbar with a caravan halfway up a bank with the land rover discovery a little further up the motorway minus his towbar good job it went left and not right, also a friend of ours had exactly the same happen to him with the caravan running into the back of his discovery when he braked writting off the Caravan. I understand this particular problem has been dealt with
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This discussion has just left me more confused than ever! I have a fixed towbar with a very small hole to which I can clip the breakaway cable or a screw type carabinier (think that is how you spell it). Do I have to use the latter to be legal? I cannot get any form of clip through the hole on the towbar. Chapter and verse please in replies.
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I have read so many different statements for this issue, My Caravan handbook say's not to put it round the ball neck, but I have also read that some of the clips fitted to the cables are not designed to be clipped in to hole on the tow bar and should be lopped around the neck of the ball?
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Older systems can still be used legally, but should be upgraded where possible. An older towbar can be welded or drilled to fit a fixing point for a breakaway cable. Similarly, a new cable can be fitted to an older van.
Maybe the club could break its silence and comment!
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The links below may help someone.
My caravans one must have been changed at some time as it is the newer type and my tow bar is drilled through on the flange that the ball is bolted on to.
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I think that it is much more likely that the hitch slips off of the tow ball than than the tow ball becoming detached. Why? .. because it happened to me ( hence Hitchglitch). In that situation, looping the cable around the tow ball works fine.
We had a removable Westfalia tow bar with no attachment point. Nobody ever pointed out a problem, including the very experienced dealer who used to hitch it up for me after service.
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Just seen the Alko tutorial link on fitting their breakaway cables. It shows quite clearly that with a fixed ball and 'clip' type cable, link it over the ball and tighten it up. But will get a new type cable next time I go to the accessory shop.
Hitchglitch - now we know!!!!
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