Towbar fitting? (1 Viewer)

[Volusia]

There is probably a thread on here already but I can't seem to find how to search for itoh:.......

Having just bought our first motor home, a Rapido 700 on a VW T4, we want to have a towbar fitted.

We called Towsure ( always used them in the past ) but they don't fit to motorhomes any longer

We are coming to he UK soon with the motorhome and we are going to have other things done....... Does anyone know of a good company that we can ring for an appointment ?

Otherwise has anyone had one fitted in France? We live in the north Haute Vienne?

Many thanks

 

[PaulyP]

I have just had an A frame fitted at Armitages, they were very good.
At the same time there was a giy from London who was having a tow bar fitted on the MH and an A frame to his car.
Look on line for Armitage Trailers, near Leeds.

 

[movan]

Will try and find the receipt for who fitted mine, but in the meantime it might be worth a pm to Old Mo.

I seem to recall he started a thread once on beware when having towbar fitted. He, or a friend of his, found that their towbar had not been connected underneath to a strengthener or something ..... sorry, I am not vehicle wise, but it would be worth the pm, just in case.

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[duane0001]

I had the same problem, we don't fit to motorHomes,
ACCE of scarborough did mine for me with twin electrics too :thumb:

 

[knokinonabit]

Contact Armitages on www.armitagetrailers.com for the web site.
E-mail to info@armitagetrailers.com
Telephone 01977 607157

:thumb:

 

[knokinonabit]

Also you could try Watling Towbars.

www.watling-towbars.co.uk

E-mail info@tow-bars.co.uk

Tel 01727 873661

:thumb:

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[Terry]

Movans on the right track with Armatidges, they fitted a a frame that caused the brakes to set fire on the customers smart car within about 12 miles of there buissness- upon hearing from customer they came out admitting fault but then denied doing anything wrong fellow lost his car and a frame and I belive his wife only had a few months to live hence getting the frame done to give her a last holiday - no idea how he eventually got on but the mere fact that they admit fault at the scean then denied once ins got involved means I would not give them my buissness or recomend them
Terry

 

[knokinonabit]

Movans on the right track with Armatidges, they fitted a a frame that caused the brakes to set fire on the customers smart car within about 12 miles of there buissness- upon hearing from customer they came out admitting fault but then denied doing anything wrong fellow lost his car and a frame and I belive his wife only had a few months to live hence getting the frame done to give her a last holiday - no idea how he eventually got on but the mere fact that they admit fault at the scean then denied once ins got involved means I would not give them my buissness or recomend them
Terry

I have never had anything fitted by them or Watlings and was only passing on info, so can't comment on their quality or integrity.

 

[PaulyP]

Armitages gave me a comprehensive handover.
One of the things they insisted upon was to to stop after a mile or so and check that my brakes were not hot on the car, meaning i had either left the handbrake on or the wire that operated the brakes needed adjustment, and never become complacecent about doing the checks.

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[Southampton]

I used PWS of Poole Dorset. I believe they are the recommended fitter for various dealers. Highly recommended. See the link below.

http://www.pwsacc.co.uk/motorcaravan-towbar.htm

 

[Volusia]

Wow! Talk about quick replies!!

Many thanks to all of you, certainly gave us plenty of options :thumb:

 

[jools66]

We recently had a bespoke tow bar made and fitted by Devon Valley Fabrications at Cullompton Devon (just off M5 junction 28)

Fantastic build and great company to deal with first visit to measure and design, then they made it, power coated (couple of weeks) and then we returned for fitting.

Would recommend :thumb:

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[Phill D]

just for info so you can make a reasonably informed decision..oh:.. the law has changed on motorhome tow bars in the past 12 months which is probably why towsure are out of it. As there is now type ( by type of vehicle ) approval required for each towbar for each particular motorhome.

its a bit conveluted but you need to know if your motorhome is EU type approved. most were not prior to 2009 but some were, oh: also it was not enforced untill 2012 so many more were type approved by the manufacturers between 2009 and 2012 so its not clear or that easy.
the reason is that if its a type approved motorhome ( all since April 2012 have to be ) then only a type approved towbar may be fitted.
if its not type approved motorhome then i believe a bespoke / none type approved can be fitted.

i recently looked into this for my van manufactured early 2012.

Watlings seem to be on the ball with the details of most motorhomes even the main dealers were in the dark as to what tow bars the were legally allowed to fit.

hope this helps.

 

[knokinonabit]

If your vehicle was registered after April 2012 you have to have a type approved towbar.

The only one (as far as I am aware) on the market at the moment is the one made by Memo in Holland. See them here www.autoproducten.com This is sold and fitted by both Watling and Armitages.

Auto-Trail and Elddis have a tie up with Witter which are type approved for their MH and Al-Ko do them for an Al-Ko chassis. You are looking at around the £800 mark for them to be fitted with the appropriate electrics.

I have family members in the industry, one who works for a towbar manufacturer in the design, technical and testing department, and one who has his own towbar fitting business (he won't touch motorhomes !), so my information is pretty well up to date.

If your MH is pre April 2012 you can have one made and fitted by one of the already mentioned manufacturers.

I have a Memo one fitted, just recently, to my MH.

 

[pappajohn]

as an aside....wherever you have a bar fitted insist on 7 pin electrics.

13 pin electrics function is an MOT-able item and ANY fault found will result in an MOT fail.

7 pin electrics are not MOT-able.....yet

ALL towbars and associated wiring are now checked for security of fixings at MOT.

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[grasscutter]

I know very many people have tow bars fitted but it is probably worth mentioning that it does use up some of your weight allowance.
I had one on my motorhome and removed it because it was very heavy.

 

[Phill D]

I could be completely wrong here Guys but my interpritation when i read this up only last week from a transport web site ( which i cant crrently refind ) is that:-

all motorhomes after April 2012 and any that were Type approved prior to that must have a type approved bar fitted to comply with mot. also that all new type approved bars were to be fitted with a 13 pin electrics.

however, this is not retrospective, so if a type approved van had a non type approved towbar fitted prior to April 2012 then it did not need to be changed.

i have decided for now to park me thoughts of a towbar fitting.oh:

 

[knokinonabit]

I know very many people have tow bars fitted but it is probably worth mentioning that it does use up some of your weight allowance.
I had one on my motorhome and removed it because it was very heavy.

Towbars are quite heavy but it's a bugger pulling my trailer without one.

I could be completely wrong here Guys but my interpritation when i read this up only last week from a transport web site ( which i cant crrently refind ) is that:-

all motorhomes after April 2012 and any that were Type approved prior to that must have a type approved bar fitted to comply with mot. also that all new type approved bars were to be fitted with a 13 pin electrics.

however, this is not retrospective, so if a type approved van had a non type approved towbar fitted prior to April 2012 then it did not need to be changed.

i have decided for now to park me thoughts of a towbar fitting.oh:

As far as I am aware the fitting of 13 pin sockets is not compulsory.
No point in having one for my 7 pin trailer plug. The trailer was built after April 2012 by a professional company, not me.

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[Volusia]

My goodness, it's a bit of a minefield isn't it? Thank you all for your amazingly detailed responses. Special thanks to Phill D whose reply even I could understand Dave (my husband )of course understood all the responses... Or said he did

The question now is .... What is the law in France, a country of paperwork in triplicate for everything

I think I may have some serious homework to do now

Thank you all so much - you may have saved us from a very expensive mistake :thumb:

You are all brilliant