Recommendations for A frame fitters please ? (1 Viewer)

Charlie

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Please this thread is not to debate the legality or rights or wrongs of A frames.

I'm looking for reccomendations for somewhere that can supply and fit an A frame kit to a Toyota IQ. I will not be using tow bars to tow cars.

Any ideas please ?
 

PeteH

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Don`t really know, as I always DIY fit mine anyway. Same with tow brackets if you fit it yourself, you know its right. I have a Car-a-tow. off E-bay, which has been on 4? cars now, just get the different pull bar and brake cable (if required). A few hours work and your in business. I am actually designing and fabricating my own (hidden) fittings for a `71 Classic Vehicle as they do not make one!.

Pete
 

Minxy

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I thought you were selling your camper Charlie?
 
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Charlie

Charlie

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I thought you were selling your camper Charlie?

As per the sale thread Mel we are desperately trying to find a bungalow within our budget so we won't have to part with the motor home. I did have a full price offer for the MH off a really nice chap of the AS owners forum. He had sold his van and was ready to travel down from Scotland to buy and collect but until my hand is forced I can't bear to let it go. We are away to look at another property in the morning. Wish us luck ......
 

Derbyshire wanderer

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We had ours done at Towtal. Really great people and a quality job.
We had the cable break after 15 months due to being constantly being bent by the brake pedal ( as we left it connected all the time) and found it at 3pm on a Friday afternoon when hooking up to go to Scotland. A call to them resulted in the answer " get here by 4 and we will sort it" so off we went with the the wife driving the car and me in the mh. They replaced the cable foc and helped to connect the car to the mh. Disaster averted at no cost to us and on a Friday afternoon - what a great result from Towtal.
 
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Charlie

Charlie

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We had ours done at Towtal. Really great people and a quality job.
We had the cable break after 15 months due to being constantly being bent by the brake pedal ( as we left it connected all the time) and found it at 3pm on a Friday afternoon when hooking up to go to Scotland. A call to them resulted in the answer " get here by 4 and we will sort it" so off we went with the the wife driving the car and me in the mh. They replaced the cable foc and helped to connect the car to the mh. Disaster averted at no cost to us and on a Friday afternoon - what a great result from Towtal.

Thanks.. Does the Towtal system apply the towed cars brakes whe the motor home brakes are applied ?

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DuxDeluxe

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Thanks.. Does the Towtal system apply the towed cars brakes whe the motor home brakes are applied ?
For what it is worth, The Unibrake system is fully electronic and works using the servo system in the tow car. No elastic bands, overrun brakes or anything. Not cheap but very good indeed and adjustable from the MH cab
 

Steve and Denise

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I think I may have already said a-frames in Chesterfield fitted the one to our IQ super job and from my view one of the best in the market light and easy to use
no fanning about with anything that is not nesasary a good product at a good price. Don't listen to all the crap about reversing from some shisters.

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Feb 22, 2008
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Thanks.. Does the Towtal system apply the towed cars brakes whe the motor home brakes are applied ?

I have the Towtal a frame with RVi Brake2 inertia system from the US which Towtal tried to supply.
The Towbar is fine but their service was poor and it took weeks to obtain the braking system so I obtained it direct from the US in 48hours hence I would not recommend them.
The towbar is good and the RVi brake is a unit that sits in the car footwell and applies the brakes automatically and not being an overrun system does not apply the brakes when reversing although that is very limited by the steering doing its own thing.
www.rvibrake.com
 

Cal54

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I had mine from Armitage Trailers, Ferrybridge. Great service from the company but the A frame was so substantial it was very heavy and didn't fit in the boot of my Picanto. Car and A frame now sold!
 
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Charlie

Charlie

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For what it is worth, The Unibrake system is fully electronic and works using the servo system in the tow car. No elastic bands, overrun brakes or anything. Not cheap but very good indeed and adjustable from the MH cab

Have looked on the website but could not find prices.. Is this a system you have yourself ? If so any problems at all ? The car we have is a Toyota IQ ,

Thanks !

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DuxDeluxe

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Have looked on the website but could not find prices.. Is this a system you have yourself ? If so any problems at all ? The car we have is a Toyota IQ ,

Thanks !
No problems at all. Worth giving them a call
 
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Charlie

Charlie

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Had mine fitted by A frame chesterfield stainlees steel, lightweight and as above very good value £875 would recommened

Was that just for the A frame or the kit and brackets that get fitted to the tow car ?

Hardly any if any of the fitters seem to give prices. It would be helpful but unless dopey heres limited computer skills are getting in the way I cant see and indication of cost..

I was told last week that because our van is quite late ( September 2013) the towbar would have to be type approved ( I would not have anything else fitted) and special requirements are needed for the electrical connections. To be honest it just got far to complicated and while Im no auto electrician Im not daft either.

So another wee question... Sorry... But to those that have these devices have any of you had to have magic boxes or any special wiring done so the system works ? I understand a 13 pin set up is required on the Motor home.

Thanks .

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DBK

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Was that just for the A frame or the kit and brackets that get fitted to the tow car ?

Hardly any if any of the fitters seem to give prices. It would be helpful but unless dopey heres limited computer skills are getting in the way I cant see and indication of cost..

I was told last week that because our van is quite late ( September 2013) the towbar would have to be type approved ( I would not have anything else fitted) and special requirements are needed for the electrical connections. To be honest it just got far to complicated and while Im no auto electrician Im not daft either.

So another wee question... Sorry... But to those that have these devices have any of you had to have magic boxes or any special wiring done so the system works ? I understand a 13 pin set up is required on the Motor home.

Thanks .
Charlie, I can't comment on A frames but my 2013 Ducato has a tow bar and unlike some vehicles the electrical side isn't too difficult so it shouldn't be expensive. Mine has a little black box which is connected to the rear lights and this then feeds the wires in the towbar socket.

I can post a picture of it tomorrow if you want. It is visible if I open a back door.
 
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Charlie

Charlie

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Charlie, I can't comment on A frames but my 2013 Ducato has a tow bar and unlike some vehicles the electrical side isn't too difficult so it shouldn't be expensive. Mine has a little black box which is connected to the rear lights and this then feeds the wires in the towbar socket.

I can post a picture of it tomorrow if you want. It is visible if I open a back door.


I was told that a towbar wiring has to be quite different for towing a car on an A frame. My thoughts were well yes its 13 pin rather than the more normal 7 pin that is used for say towing a trailer.

It all got terribly complicated to the point where I wish I had never started out with towing a car at all. But I have bought the car now so need to somehow get to the bottom of it before my head explodes.

There is no point in me talking anymore to the suppliers as they just confuse me and we end up going backwards... This is turning out to be a right old caper..

Thank you very much for the offer mate but unless your vehicle is set up for towing a car then it may not help with what Im trying to understand. (y)
 

DBK

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I was told that a towbar wiring has to be quite different for towing a car on an A frame. My thoughts were well yes its 13 pin rather than the more normal 7 pin that is used for say towing a trailer.

It all got terribly complicated to the point where I wish I had never started out with towing a car at all. But I have bought the car now so need to somehow get to the bottom of it before my head explodes.

There is no point in me talking anymore to the suppliers as they just confuse me and we end up going backwards... This is turning out to be a right old caper..

Thank you very much for the offer mate but unless your vehicle is set up for towing a car then it may not help with what Im trying to understand. (y)
It makes sense the wiring might be different as it probably needs to know not just that the brakes have been applied but how hard they being applied - but that's just a guess!

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Charlie

Charlie

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It makes sense the wiring might be different as it probably needs to know not just that the brakes have been applied but how hard they being applied - but that's just a guess!

The brakes are applied by a motion sensor which is sited in the towed car. This somehow reacts and applies the brakes proportionately .

I was told initially that a standard 13 pin set up was required. One extra connection within the 13 pins that is not used was utilised so as to illuminate an LED up in the cab IF the braking system was to suffer a malfunction.

Then a few days later I was told the whole wiring that is the above mentioned 13 pin set up was inadequate because the van is of the later variety.

I have not yet actually had the tow bar and electrics fitted to the van. The fitter Josh told me about this black box that is used these days as wiring into the existing wires using scotchlocks is no longer realistic or acceptable .

I hear talk about Can bus systems but that is a bit above my understanding.

I can get the type approved Towsure kit with 13 pin wiring done for £350 as I would be pulling in a favour. This is including the extra wire up to the cab with the LED to warn of malfunction..
 

DBK

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The brakes are applied by a motion sensor which is sited in the towed car. This somehow reacts and applies the brakes proportionately .

I was told initially that a standard 13 pin set up was required. One extra connection within the 13 pins that is not used was utilised so as to illuminate an LED up in the cab IF the braking system was to suffer a malfunction.

Then a few days later I was told the whole wiring that is the above mentioned 13 pin set up was inadequate because the van is of the later variety.

I have not yet actually had the tow bar and electrics fitted to the van. The fitter Josh told me about this black box that is used these days as wiring into the existing wires using scotchlocks is no longer realistic or acceptable .

I hear talk about Can bus systems but that is a bit above my understanding.

I can get the type approved Towsure kit with 13 pin wiring done for £350 as I would be pulling in a favour. This is including the extra wire up to the cab with the LED to warn of malfunction..
You're quote sounds about right. I can't remember what ours cost three years ago but it was something like £250 or perhaps a little less but it didn't have a wire run to the front.

I can't see why a 13 pin socket makes it difficult. Mine as two 7 pin but it's just the same wires surely?

The canbus thing is potentially a bit difficult to explain but if I give a simple example it might help. In the old days the bulbs in a rear light cluster all had their own wire running from the front of the vehicle. So when you pressed the brake pedal a micro-switch or pressure sensor closed and sent current down to the brake lights. With a canbus there may only one thick wire carrying power to the light cluster where there is a circuit board which decides which bulb to light up. The circuit board is told what bulb to light up by digital signals and these low power signals can come down the same wire to the light cluster.

That's a simplified explanation and there are different systems but it explains why you can't use scotchlock connectors - there are simply no wires you can connect to. You can blaim Bosch, it was their invention I think!
 
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Charlie

Charlie

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You're quote sounds about right. I can't remember what ours cost three years ago but it was something like £250 or perhaps a little less but it didn't have a wire run to the front.

I can't see why a 13 pin socket makes it difficult. Mine as two 7 pin but it's just the same wires surely?

The canbus thing is potentially a bit difficult to explain but if I give a simple example it might help. In the old days the bulbs in a rear light cluster all had their own wire running from the front of the vehicle. So when you pressed the brake pedal a micro-switch or pressure sensor closed and sent current down to the brake lights. With a canbus there may only one thick wire carrying power to the light cluster where there is a circuit board which decides which bulb to light up. The circuit board is told what bulb to light up by digital signals and these low power signals can come down the same wire to the light cluster.

That's a simplified explanation and there are different systems but it explains why you can't use scotchlock connectors - there are simply no wires you can connect to. You can blaim Bosch, it was their invention I think!

Perhaps the 13 pin is used so there is that spare pin that is used to illuminate the LED up front if a malfunction takes place in the braking system sited in the towed car ?

I kinda get the can bus thing and your explanation has helped so thanks for that. I also get the need for the box that is now used rather than scotch locking.

What I don't get is what the heck extra they want in addition to the above.. Like I say above I don't pretend to be clever or to have a full and comprehensive understanding but I'm not daft either..

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DBK

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Perhaps the 13 pin is used so there is that spare pin that is used to illuminate the LED up front if a malfunction takes place in the braking system sited in the towed car ?

I kinda get the can bus thing and your explanation has helped so thanks for that. I also get the need for the box that is now used rather than scotch locking.

What I don't get is what the heck extra they want in addition to the above.. Like I say above I don't pretend to be clever or to have a full and comprehensive understanding but I'm not daft either..
Can't help much further I think. I can only suggest try and find someone who has an a frame and have a look at it.
 
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Charlie

Charlie

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Can't help much further I think. I can only suggest try and find someone who has an a frame and have a look at it.

Yes I agree.. That said I may not understand what I would be looking at.. I will speak to the tow bar installer on Monday to see if he can explain what the requirements are then find an A frame installer that will agree we are all singing from the same sheet the get it all fixed up..... I thought I/We had got that far but it seems not.

Thanks !
 
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Mine runs from a 7pin. The RVi brake unit operates from the towed car 12v socket and reacts to inertia from towing vehicle slowing which also carries a wireless remote control unit indicating set up, braking level and allows testing while moving.

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