ridger
Member
- Location
- Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Fairly sure I seen a picture on here recently of one which had came out, and the horse trailer it was pulling was wrecked. Camt find the picture mo matter what I search for! Anyone remember?
Detachable towbars.
- Thread starter ridger
- Start date
Cowabunga
Member
- Location
- Ceredigion,Wales
No but it does happen if care isn't taken to secure the hitch properly in its socket. I sold my caravan some 25 years ago and the new owner, local to me, hitched it up to take it to the London marathon. He got about three miles from home [London 200 away] when the hitch detached and the caravan was a write off. I believe that was a BMW X5 but the hitch was probably a Westfalia.
Bramble
Member
I think it happened frequently with Discovery’s. We had 2 vehicles that they fell out of, one pulling a plant trailer on a country road (no damage) The other one happened a couple of years later and it was pulling a livestock trailer on the A40 with a bull in it. The stopped upside down on the otherside of the road, luckily no one else involved and the bull was OK.
Informed LR when the first one happened, lots of correspondence etc. ‘Well sir, it’s never happened before etc etc, it must have been something you have done to it’. Informed them again after it happened to the second vehicle ‘Well sir, it’s never happened before.......’
Next thing we had a general recall letter, all Discovery detachable hitches were to be altered....
Informed LR when the first one happened, lots of correspondence etc. ‘Well sir, it’s never happened before etc etc, it must have been something you have done to it’. Informed them again after it happened to the second vehicle ‘Well sir, it’s never happened before.......’
Next thing we had a general recall letter, all Discovery detachable hitches were to be altered....
Cowabunga
Member
- Location
- Ceredigion,Wales
I believe those particular hitches were prone to wear which increased critical clearances. They clanged and clunked quite a bit.
Weren't they limited to a lower weight, while a fixed hitch was recommended for 3.5 tons? For a while?
ridger
Member
- Location
- Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Found it,
ridger
Member
- Location
- Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Not on here though, I got my wires crossed
Dukes Fit
Member
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
Detachable towbars were still rated for 3500kg but were recommended for “occasional” towing and to be removed when not in use.
If towing regularly it was replaced with the fixed towbar which ironically uses the same socket
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
Err, don’t you have to run safety chains on a trailer anyway, back to the tow vehicle, in case they do come adrift ?
we do
we do
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
Btw, that is a REALLY shitty looking tow bar in that above pic - I’m surprised it’s legal . . .
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
Standard type of hitch which is on just about every car, ute or 4wd that is capable of towing
Paddington
Member
- Location
- Soggy Shropshire
Is wiring for electric trailer brakes included in your towing lead ?
I like how the breakaway cable appears to be simply looped over the actual towbar, not onto a point on the vehicle chassis - ergo no breaks applied to the trailer when it let go. Appears very rusty too.
I have one like that on my Hilux over here, never seen a trailer socket like that though, is it a 13 pin jobby for auxiliary electronics?
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
Most people do just that with the breakaway cable, just take a stroll round any market car park to see. Of course that renders the breakaway cable redundant, and something VOSA jump on these days apparently.
Paddington
Member
- Location
- Soggy Shropshire
We inherited a couple of single axle trailers without breakaway cables fitted, our trailer centre reckons if the trailers were properly loaded with say 100kg on the towball, then the front of the trailer would dig in the road in the event of them becoming detached. I had a mental picture of sheep suddenly moving behind the axle and the trailer doing a wheelie down the road, so fitted a breakaway chain to be safe.
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
with those flat plugs, yes
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
for electronic trailer brakes
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
So, am I to assume it ISNT a legal requirement to have mandatory, rated, safety chains between trailer & tow vehicle ?
just a breakaway cable to the brakes ?
what about small, unbraked trailers ?
as for relying on the front of the trailer to dig into the road & thus stopping it ? FFS
Someone I knew was killed on a motorcycle when a run away trailer coming the other way ( with no safety chain ) took him out
just a breakaway cable to the brakes ?
what about small, unbraked trailers ?
as for relying on the front of the trailer to dig into the road & thus stopping it ? FFS
Someone I knew was killed on a motorcycle when a run away trailer coming the other way ( with no safety chain ) took him out
Last edited:
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
no, they don’t dig in
They skid down the road & take out a motorcyclist coming the other way . . .
- Tags
- caravan drift hilux land rover