Smart Sydney: Don't DIY Your Towbars

Towbars and hitches have been around for a good few decades and in that time it’s become apparent to governments and manufacturers that certain laws and regulations need to be in place to protect the general public from avoidable accidents. The creation and attachment of towbars are heavily regulated, meaning it’s definitely not a DIY job.

When towbars first came into existence they were little more than angled pieces of steel bolted onto the back of a car.

With a little bit of imagination you can see how this could all go quite drastically wrong.

Over the years regulations and laws have seen the towbars coming onto the market face numerous stress tests to ensure that there is very little chance of the towbar failing or acting in a way that could endanger people’s lives.

These stress tests put new kinds and makes of towbars under increasing amounts of pressure and force over a period of time and over a number of repetitions. However, it’s not only the towbars themselves that have had to change.

For the benefit and safety of other road users whatever your towing needs to be hooked up to the electrics of your car, so simple things like indicators and hazard lights are still in full effect when the car is viewed from behind.

This means that installing a towbar is not longer as simple as bolting a steel frame to the rear of the vehicle – complex electrical systems need to be taken into account and installed safely and in a manner that won’t see them easily removed, like jolting them out of position by going over a particularly bumpy bit of road.

There’s so much more to how towbars need to be created and installed that there’s no longer any room for DIY. If you intend to get a towbar installed on your car, you’ll need to speak to a specialist.

This blog was posted in TopTips, Towbars, Trailers and tagged in hitches, Towbars