Warning... brakes on tow car
Thought I would share this experience in the interest of safety.
It may be that I am the only one who has experiened it, and if so that is good news as my experience could have been very dangerous.
I had an A frame fitted to a Subaru Justy, by a well known and reputable company. Cost about £1200, so not a cheap affair.
No issues whatever with actually towing, I should add that I am experienced and have held a class one hgv for close to 40 years.
The issue arose when the car was being driven solo.
The braking mechanism is a cable from the A frame, going through the bulkhead and connecting to the brake pedal via ferrule and clip.
The length of the ferrule reduces the amount of pedal travel, which is fine unless you have to jump on the brakes as I did when touring the Yorkshire Moors. I ran out of travel and quickly pumped the pedal again and was able to pull up with very little to spare.
I knew immediately what the cause was, so now when not being towed the pedal connection is removed and MORE IMPORTANTLY tied to the side, away from the pedal travel area via a short bungee. I say this because in checking out the issue I also found the hanging cable and ferrule can still impede the vbrake pedal travel.
Comments
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Sound to me as though its either not been fitted correctly or is not fit for purpose. It it bake and insist a safe system is fitted.
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When I contacted the company after the incident, they said it was not a custom fit. Just like a 'one size fits all'.
Hence the reason for posting. As I said it may well be that this particular car suffers this issue but sharing it wont hurt. Even if it makes people have a second look at their own installation.
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Another point when considering an a frame method of having a car against the much better method of it being on a trailer with proper mechanical braking system, the brakes on the towing vehicle must under some stress with about a ton or more not giving much braking assistants on the tow hook
Some friends of ours tow a car with an Aframe and has had the car detach from the M/C twice now on heavy braking, (he is nearly the same as us with annual site visits) except, as us this year
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A few replies and comments and im very glad to see nobody so far has had the same issue.
On the comments so far.
No not many Justys left on the road. A shame really as its a cracking little motor. Kerbweight 885kg, MPG average 48.9 (real useage not from some book) With the back seat squabs pulled forward the dog has more level flat room that we do! If they still made them I would buy a new one without any hesitation
Re servo on brakes. When braking you have the whole weight of the car pushing forward so the brakes work just fine, and with so little weight to stop, not having a servo isnt a big deal.
Re becoming detached.... The same system and chance as towing a caravan or trailer.
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Not if it breaks😋
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Which is why a towed car is commonly known in the MH world as a Toad. 👍🏻
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This thread started as a warning. On the braking system of a tow car when NOT being towed.
A couple of replies have suggested a trailer as being a better option than towing a car. Someone, perhaps a newbie, could be reading this and think this is a good solution.
There are more than a few reasons why this is not the case, quite the opposite infact.
A tow car, on 4 wheels, one roughly at each corner will ALWAYS be more stable than a trailer.
Putting a car on a trailer raises the centre of gravity by AT LEAST 16 inches. (42 cm. Smallest trailer from Brian James)
Unlike a caravan, you cant move the weight around in a car on a trailer, so to achieve a correct nose weight you will need to have a trailer MUCH longer than the car being carried to allow for trim adjustment. Not doing so will invariable result in either a low or high nose weight. The only nose weight with a tow car is that of a portion of the A frame.
You will be adding at the VERY LEAST 450kg to the weight being towed. (again the smallest vehicle transport trailer from Brian james)
No pitching with a tow car.
No swaying (unless its a rear engined when this is possible)
Cant jack knife.
You will have another item, in the shape of the trailer to put somewhere when you arrive at a site or at home.
If you encounter a tight area, or want to park en-route you cannot easily reduce your overall vehicle length.
Lastly we have cost. A Frame, around £1200. New car transporter, smallest I could find £2200.
Except for going to Spain, a country, world renowned fot its vehicle development and technological expertise :-) . (Well they can make tortillas)
Arguments please?
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You’re asking for an argument on CT! 😱😱😱
I'll argue that it is not a tow car. Will that do?😀
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Except for going to Spain, a country, world renowned fot its vehicle development and technological expertise :-) . (Well they can make tortillas)
It's not only Spain, it's throughout Europe. It's just that the chances of getting caught in Spain are obviously higher than elsewhere.
It have yet to come across a car/A-frame combination that has been type approved. Not only that, but as likely as not, the type approval of the towed vehicle is null and void because the provisions for the attachment of the A-frame have not been approved by the car manufacturer.
Besides, the braking efficiency of the A-frame is questionable to say the least and, last not least, the attachment of the A-frame is operator sensitive. It is a potential safety hazard if not assembled correctly and there is no independent means of checking whether it was done so.
To the best of my knowledge, the A-frame/car combination doesn't fulfil the lighting requirements for a trailer. This applies in particular to the presence of front position lamps, front reflectors, side reflectors, rear triangular reflectors (unless integrated in the board to which the number plate is attached), possibly also the legally required reversing lamp.
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