Which tow car?

[The Lb’s]

I have to replace my car soon, so thought I may as well get one we can double up as a tow car for the motorhome. So where do we start? I like the look of the Abarth’s....but I only do ‘pretty‘ not practical! It’s got to be big enough to take 2 dogs in the back ( I know I’ll have to have the seats down most of the time, that’s ok) Where do we start with the A Frames please? Towbars2towcars in Grimsby do a lot of advertising on eBay, does anybody have any experience of them? Many thanks in advance for your help x

 

[Steve and Denise]

We had one of their aframes on a VW Up great little car you want at least the hi up model with the higher horse power.

 

[Badknee]

Not sure but I think Mr Chrysalis has one from T2T

 

[Mr Chrysalis]

Not sure but I think Mr Chrysalis has one from T2T

Thanks Paul, I had missed this thread. Yes I bought a Fiat 500 from Towcars2Towbars, very happy with the car, the service and the A frame. There is a small campsite nearby that you can stay at whilst they do any work. They will also check your Motorhome electrics and add a warning light to it if required. An Abarth would be lovely, ours is just a Sport. With the backseat down there is bags of space for a couple of medium dogs in the boot, or on the back seat if you prefer.
only thing with an A frame is difficult to reverse, but never been an issue. If I had space at home a trailer with a car on could be an alternative. Paul can tell you all about that!

oh, they also supplied the cover for the front of the car

 

[The Lb’s]

Thanks, that’s really helpful, and what a lovely looking car! Our motor homes are similar too, we’ve got the Rapido 8094df x

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[Geo]

Do yourself a favor and save a small fortune BUY ONE READY DONE there are hundreds out there
Unless of course you must have new

 

[Mr Chrysalis]

Do yourself a favor and save a small fortune BUY ONE READY DONE there are hundreds out there
Unless of course you must have new

T2T specialise in selling ready converted cars

 

[Geo]

I know but they simply add on the cost of their excellent system to the retail price of the vehicle.
More often than not buying used privately will save £1000 to £1500 plus on a vehicle already fitted with an electricly operated braking system.

 

[emjaiuk]

We had one of the earliest A frames from Alan Bee of Car-a-Tow, and spent 20 years happily towing around the continent, including annual trips to Spain.
Now however, although we still tow in the UK we no longer risk it in Europe. When we get to the stage of changing our car I'm seriously thinking of getting a Smart Car and purpose made mini trailer. I've seen them in use and you can get two dogs in the back!.
If you decide on an A frame, remember than the over-run braked types are usually pretty heavy. Electronic braking types can be much much lighter.

 

[Mr Chrysalis]

We had one of the earliest A frames from Alan Bee of Car-a-Tow, and spent 20 years happily towing around the continent, including annual trips to Spain.
Now however, although we still tow in the UK we no longer risk it in Europe. When we get to the stage of changing our car I'm seriously thinking of getting a Smart Car and purpose made mini trailer. I've seen them in use and you can get two dogs in the back!.
If you decide on an A frame, remember than the over-run braked types are usually pretty heavy. Electronic braking types can be much much lighter.

We had a smart as a toad and yes there was room for the dogs in the back. But it was also used as my wife’s main car between trips and it just wasn’t big enough for that

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[Swifter]

Thanks Paul, I had missed this thread. Yes I bought a Fiat 500 from Towcars2Towbars, very happy with the car, the service and the A frame. There is a small campsite nearby that you can stay at whilst they do any work. They will also check your Motorhome electrics and add a warning light to it if required. An Abarth would be lovely, ours is just a Sport. With the backseat down there is bags of space for a couple of medium dogs in the boot, or on the back seat if you prefer.
only thing with an A frame is difficult to reverse, but never been an issue. If I had space at home a trailer with a car on could be an alternative. Paul can tell you all about that!
View attachment 461059
oh, they also supplied the cover for the front of the car

Nice paint . Is that a standard colour ?

 

[Mr Chrysalis]

Nice paint . Is that a standard colour ?

Thanks. Yes it’s a standard on the Sport model.

 

[The Lb’s]

We had one of the earliest A frames from Alan Bee of Car-a-Tow, and spent 20 years happily towing around the continent, including annual trips to Spain.
Now however, although we still tow in the UK we no longer risk it in Europe. When we get to the stage of changing our car I'm seriously thinking of getting a Smart Car and purpose made mini trailer. I've seen them in use and you can get two dogs in the back!.
If you decide on an A frame, remember than the over-run braked types are usually pretty heavy. Electronic braking types can be much much lighter.

I thought towing in Europe was a no-no full stop, including a trailer? I'd be happy to get a trailer and tow that way if I thought I could get away with it...

 

[Geo]

Your trailer will be 100% legal anywhere
provided you comply with load and train weight limits as yyou would in the UK
A Frames only guaranteed trouble free in UK

 

[Charlie9038]

Abarth 595 with Lnb frame, love it & I don’t go to Europe with it as not needed

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[The Lb’s]

We picked this up yesterday with an Armatage A frame, so it’ll do for the Uk for now x

 

[Mr Chrysalis]

We picked this up yesterday with an Armatage A frame, so it’ll do for the Uk for now xView attachment 461967

Very nice car
We had anArmitage A frame. They are strong, and the jockey wheel makes it easy to hook on to the towbar. It is quite heavy though, a 2 man lift if you need to. Remember to attach the little clip to your brake pedal and remove it after towing!

 

[Mr Chrysalis]

Very nice car
We had anArmitage A frame. They are strong, and the jockey wheel makes it easy to hook on to the towbar. It is quite heavy though, a 2 man lift if you need to. Remember to attach the little clip to your brake pedal and remove it after towing!

Oh, something to watch with the car. Like our Sport ( also has the black surrounds to the light clusters) you will find that the alloys stand proud of the tyres, and as the tyres are low profile, extra care is needed when parking next to normal heigh kerbs!

 

[The Lb’s]

Very nice car
We had anArmitage A frame. They are strong, and the jockey wheel makes it easy to hook on to the towbar. It is quite heavy though, a 2 man lift if you need to. Remember to attach the little clip to your brake pedal and remove it after towing!

I’ll be leaving all of the technical stuff to my husband, I liked it because it was pretty!!
I will show said husband your comment later, but the chap we bought from was very thorough and helpful. Thank you

 

[The Lb’s]

Oh, something to watch with the car. Like our Sport ( also has the black surrounds to the light clusters) you will find that the alloys stand proud of the tyres, and as the tyres are low profile, extra care is needed when parking next to normal heigh kerbs!

Oh, now less said about that the better. My husband owns an alloy wheel reverb business and has had to do 1 or 2 of mine in the past...I don’t stand a chance with these then

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[Charlie9038]

This is s our kit, Abarth 595 Competizone on lnb towframe great little car.

 

[Christoph]

This is ours. Cracking little Peugeot 107 and Towtal A frame. Hardly know it’s there. Will be selling it after lockdown as we’ve sold our motorhome.

 

[The Lb’s]

This is s our kit, Abarth 595 Competizone on lnb towframe great little car.

View attachment 461981

Nicely colour co ordinated too

 

[pandas]

We had one of their aframes on a VW Up great little car you want at least the hi up model with the higher horse power.

We did the same - great little but big cars.

 

[gradyp]

Genuine question as I'm thinking of getting car for travel in this country.
I know the restrictions of towing on the continent
My question is are the front bumper irons on the tow car strong enough to be used as a towing point as I imagine there are large strains and pressure on the point of connection on the car which it was not engineered to take.
To be fair I'm not aware of any premature failures on cars of the front of cars.

Cheers Paul