Fitted a front tow ball

[davidpbo]

I have just fitted a front tow bar to my Nissan Pathfinder.

The objective is to allow us to push the boat up our drive. The angle into the gate is sharp, I may have to come across a verge with high curb and ramp down to line up as the gate is not overly wide.

I have had the trailer up empty in the past.

It was a relatively easy job to fit. Remove front tow eye and bolt on in its place. There was a matching set of tow eye captive nuts on the other chassis member for the other end of the bar. I drilled a 50mm hole on some unseen plastic trim behind the bumper to get to one of the bolts easier with the torque wrench. Still took 2hrs without T break!

The sockets which take the tie ball arm don't lie any lower than the sump guard. I will take a picture later. I went for three positions Left, Centre, Right.

 

[ffiill]

Way back in the 1960s my Dad had a Hillman Minx Estate with which he towed our caravan.
He fitted a removable front ball which he put to good use whilst we were on touring holidays.

 

[TSB240]

I have just fitted a front tow bar to my Nissan Pathfinder.

The objective is to allow us to push the boat up our drive. The angle into the gate is sharp, I may have to come across a verge with high curb and ramp down to line up as the gate is not overly wide.

I have had the trailer up empty in the past.

It was a relatively easy job to fit. Remove front tow eye and bolt on in its place. There was a matching set of tow eye captive nuts on the other chassis member for the other end of the bar. I drilled a 50mm hole on some unseen plastic trim behind the bumper to get to one of the bolts easier with the torque wrench. Still took 2hrs without T break!

The sockets which take the tie ball arm don't lie any lower than the sump guard. I will take a picture later. I went for three positions Left, Centre, Right.

You wont regret the time it has taken. I fitted one to our Shogun and even SWBO can now steer our trailer round corners and down straight slipways.

I dont know if you have the same bar as us http://www.watling-towbars.co.uk/front_towbars.html but I found some square tubing fits in the mount and can be used as a pusher bar with the ball coupling mounted on the other end. Never need to get the tow vehicle wheels wet when launching.

 

[Avocet]

You wont regret the time it has taken.

+1. Definitely worthwhile. Did it on my old Series III Landy when we used to trail and sail quite a lot. Just SO much easier to launch and recover! On a lot of vehicles, reverse is a slightly lower ratio than first too, so you also get extra traction pulling up a slipway. The front overhang is normally less than the rear, so you get more precise directional control when manoeuvring, and, of course, the steered wheels are closer to the two hitch. It really improved our trailing and sailing enormously.

 

[Seajet]

I asked a major towbar dealer about a front towball and was told to get knotted as it contravened H & S, a hazard on the front of the vehicle !

I suspect I'd got the wrong person, and / or they weren't able to supply.

 

[TSB240]

Anybody quoting H and S in relation to tow bars obviously knows their business really well!

If permanently fixed then it might contravene construction and use regulations 1986.

Ours is inside the front Skid plate and mounts onto the towing eyes which remain the only front projections once the removable ball hitch is taken off using the quick release drop nose pin.

 

[Lakesailor]

They'd probably have to have it approved and all that malarky. As you are unlikely to use it on the road or above 5 mph that is a load of tripe. How many Landies do you see with front tow balls? Every caravan park round here has one. You could always take it off when not using it.

I'd fit the ball so that you can see down the side of the trailer to aid steering and aiming. ie fit it on the nearside.

 

[Seajet]

Well in my personal case the requirement has gone away, it was to help getting the boat into an ex-girlfriends' narrow gateway.

Incidentally I asked Hayling Trailers about a modified trailer to allow lowering my boats' keel for maintainence, they were happy with all my ideas - for a price-, then I asked if they could give me any guidance as to whether it would fit in the narrow stone walled gate, with a narrow road to turn off.

I thought they would have the experience or maybe even a computer programme to find out, but the answer was " buy it ( £1,000 extra to standard so then £3,500 ) and find out ".

Funnily enough I declined, equally strangely they've gone bust...

 

[Daydream believer]

Funnily enough I declined, equally strangely they've gone bust...

And the girlfriend???

 

[Seajet]

I did say ' ex '...

 

[Avocet]

It's got nothing to do with 'elf & Safety. The problem is that it's now illegal to fit a towbar (or ball) that hasn't been approved to Directive 94/20/EC to a passenger car first registered after 1998. Type approved tow bars have to be fitted to type approved attachment points on the vehicle. Obviously, few (if any) car manufacturers type approve tow bar fixing points at the front of their vehicles. Clearly, I wasn't bothered with a 1980 Series II, but more of a problem on a saloon car or modern 4x4.

If I was doing it again today, I'd make it removable. It's worth sparing a thought for the pedestrian you might hit one day (and, in some cases, the airbag trigger(s) that might not work properly if you add extra ironmongery to the front of your car).

 

[davidpbo]

Ball and extension arm is removable and everything left if well back behind the front of the car.

Lakey I chose to have additional sockets fitted because of limited width of entrance, it is even less likely to work if the car cannot be central to the trailer but I have the choice.

Yes it is a Watling system and they were very helpful. Ordered Wednesday a.m., it was modified, resprayed and delivered on Friday.



for some reason the picture showing the arm removed and the limited impact on ground clearance won't upload.

 

[prv]

I was wondering whether I should suggest this to my mate with the Infamous Ebay Speedboat (engine now professionally fixed so hopefully a bit less infamous from here on out). But then I thought, I already like the idea of Lakesailor's clip-on trailer hitch extension bar (see http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...el-with-extending-hitch&p=1329974#post1329974 ), so perhaps all that's needed is to put some kind of hook on the end of that bar instead of a second ball-hitch. The hook can then clip onto the front towing eye of the car. The towing eye has to be strong enough to pull the car, so as long as the extension bar is well-made (and the design is proven, as Lakey's made several) the system should be perfectly secure, right?

Pete

 

[Lakesailor]

Looks like a perfect system.

 

[prv]

It's got nothing to do with 'elf & Safety. The problem is that it's now illegal to fit a towbar (or ball) that hasn't been approved to Directive 94/20/EC to a passenger car first registered after 1998.

But does the regulation that stipulates that, only apply to use on the road?

Pete

 

[Lakesailor]

help getting the boat into an ex-girlfriends' narrow gateway.

Gosh. That's a new way to describe it.

 

[Lakesailor]

But does the regulation that stipulates that, only apply to use on the road?

Pete

Quite.

 

[Seajet]

Gosh. That's a new way to describe it.

If she could fit a 7'7" wide boat I'd really be worried,though I have met the odd girl who might !

 

[Avocet]

But does the regulation that stipulates that, only apply to use on the road?

Pete

Yes, that's correct. Off-road, pretty much anything goes - hence the desirability of making it removable.

 

[prv]

Yes, that's correct. Off-road, pretty much anything goes

So, if we assume that nobody's daft enough to try driving down the road pushing a trailer (or pulling it by driving the car in reverse), what is the relevance of the regulation to front-mounted towbars?

Pete