How To Select The Right Towbar

How To Select The Right Towbar

11 February 2015, 2:41PM
Stanford James Public Relations and Marketing Communication

All towbars are the same, right?

Wrong!

They may do the same job, but a good towbar is one that has been designed especially to suit the vehicle to which it is fitted. There is no such thing as a generic towbar.

That means anyone who buys a new towbar online from an unknown original, without knowing what vehicle it was made for, could be putting themselves, and others on the road, in danger.

“A towbar fitted to a vehicle that it was not designed for could be a recipe for disaster,” says John Frear, GM – Sales & Marketing of Best Bars Limited, the leading towbar designer and manufacturer in New Zealand.

“If it has to be adapted to fit the vehicle or does not have the correct fittings it could lead to failure whilst towing on the road......with unfortunate consequences.

“You should never fit a second-hand towbar, either, even if it is designed for the right vehicle, as there may be hidden corrosion or metal fatigue.”

Mr Fear advises drivers to have a towbar fitted by a reputable vehicle dealer or specialist fitter and to ensure that it carries at least one of the following statements; one that reads ‘Genuine/Approved Accessory’ and the other should indicate ‘Manufactured in accordance with NZS5467’. These signify the towbar is made for and approved as a genuine accessory by a motor company and/or that it also meets the required New Zealand safety standard.

With towbars available from a number of less-than-reputable sources, both locally and imported, Mr Frear says it can be confusing for buyers wanting to know if the product is not only safe and reliable, but will also fit their vehicle. To be certain, he says, it pays to go to a franchised dealer or specialist fitter who supplies towbars that are made especially for the vehicle in question.

In order to be approved as a genuine accessories supplier, towbar makers must meet stringent design, testing and manufacturing standards, including building them to NZS5467.  Buyers should make sure their towbar is made by a manufacturer that has long established credentials as a supplier of genuine accessories to a wide range of motor companies.

Over the past two decades, Best Bars has gone further than any other towbar manufacturer in New Zealand to ensure that its products can be used in complete confidence and that they suit vehicles sold in this market.

Every towbar design is put through a rigorous testing regime on a special rig which is independently calibrated & certified. The rig duplicates the tremendous forces exerted on a towbar, not just in a normal vehicle life cycle, but for far longer than most people will ever use it.

“It is highly unlikely that any towbar will ever get that amount of use in its lifetime,” says Mr Frear, “but it is essential to set very high thresholds to ensure maximum safety limits are designed into these products.”

Best Bars supplies towbars as approved accessories to most new vehicle distributors in New Zealand, and a growing number in Australia, and says the ability to test to the most extreme conditions is part of its ‘best practice’ approach to meeting their requirements.

That’s very comforting to someone who regularly tows an expensive boat or caravan and doesn’t want to risk losing their investment, let alone causing a crash.  Equally important is the validation of the products made by Best Bars that the comprehensive testing programmes provide.

For more towbar advice got to www.bestbars.co.nz.

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