Towbars - What To Look For In A New One
On a recent family camping trip, we decided to go "luxury". So instead of packing tents, we hired a caravan. Almost belatedly I realised I'd need to get a towbar fitted to the jeep. (This was actually an accessory I'd wanted for ages, I just needed a good enough reason to convince my wife it was necessary)
So I made my way down to All Vehicle Accessories (AVA) in South Melbourne with the intention of getting a cheap towbar installed. On arrival I was thinking the less money I spent on the towbar, the more I'd have for the holiday. In discussing these ideas with the AVA professionals though, I quickly learned just how silly this attitude was.
To begin with, they got me thinking about the types of things I wanted to tow. Obviously there was the caravan for the upcoming trip. Following on from that though, I'd probably buy some bike beaks too as my wife loves triathlons. We could take the bikes up to the Dandenongs for a ride.
They then showed me the value of the objects I was going to be towing. To start with, my bike is a bit of a cheapie. I only spent about $800 on it. My wife's though, well given her passion for triathlon training, she spent over $3000 for hers.
I ended up Googling caravan sales to get a feel for how much they are to buy. I didn't realise they were so expensive. I couldn't find anything for less than $5000 and I found quite a few which cost more than $100,000. You can buy property for that much... The one we rented was mid range, costing around $50,000 new. Its quite a "load" on the towbar when you think about it in those terms.
I really valued the advice I was given on this day. It completely changed my perspective in what I was buying when shopping for a towbar. It changed my mind regarding what I was looking for. Instead of shopping for price, I was shopping for quality, reliability, robustness and efficiency. Yes, that's right, efficiency. Different towbars actually make you vehicle perform differently too.
Having decided that, I delved further into the different towbars on offer. I was surprised to find out that there was only 1 towbar in Australia that offers a lifetime guarantee. Only Hayman Reese has that much faith in their own product. I thought that was a really interesting fact. So looking further at the Hayman Reece products, I also found 2 excellent accessories that really help with safety and efficiency.
Firstly, they have an accessory called a Weight Distribution Hitch. This important piece of equipment, when fitted properly, reduces the ball weight and therefore, the drag on the vehicle. If you are looking to save money on your towbar, think about this. Paying the extra dollars for this towbar and accessory will actually pay you back many times over down the track. Reducing the drag improves your fuel efficiency. That means that when you are towing, you use less fuel and save money at the bowser. This is an on-going saving, not the once off I was considering by going cheap with the towbar.
They also sell this cool gadget called Sway Control. It basically keeps whatever you are pulling on the straight and narrow, despite high winds, trucks coming the other way etc. Have you ever seen those retired people who are pulling a caravan behind them when a truck drives past the other way. Have you ever seen how much their caravan swerves all over the road when this happens due to the blast of air. The sway control stops this happening to you, making for a safer and once again, more efficient trip. This is very important to me given my family will be sitting next to me in the Jeep.
Its good when you go to an auto store and the professionals there actually give you advice, help you get past your preconceived ideas and make a better decision. I'm certainly glad the guys at AVA helped me see sense when it came to my towbar.
So I made my way down to All Vehicle Accessories (AVA) in South Melbourne with the intention of getting a cheap towbar installed. On arrival I was thinking the less money I spent on the towbar, the more I'd have for the holiday. In discussing these ideas with the AVA professionals though, I quickly learned just how silly this attitude was.
To begin with, they got me thinking about the types of things I wanted to tow. Obviously there was the caravan for the upcoming trip. Following on from that though, I'd probably buy some bike beaks too as my wife loves triathlons. We could take the bikes up to the Dandenongs for a ride.
They then showed me the value of the objects I was going to be towing. To start with, my bike is a bit of a cheapie. I only spent about $800 on it. My wife's though, well given her passion for triathlon training, she spent over $3000 for hers.
I ended up Googling caravan sales to get a feel for how much they are to buy. I didn't realise they were so expensive. I couldn't find anything for less than $5000 and I found quite a few which cost more than $100,000. You can buy property for that much... The one we rented was mid range, costing around $50,000 new. Its quite a "load" on the towbar when you think about it in those terms.
I really valued the advice I was given on this day. It completely changed my perspective in what I was buying when shopping for a towbar. It changed my mind regarding what I was looking for. Instead of shopping for price, I was shopping for quality, reliability, robustness and efficiency. Yes, that's right, efficiency. Different towbars actually make you vehicle perform differently too.
Having decided that, I delved further into the different towbars on offer. I was surprised to find out that there was only 1 towbar in Australia that offers a lifetime guarantee. Only Hayman Reese has that much faith in their own product. I thought that was a really interesting fact. So looking further at the Hayman Reece products, I also found 2 excellent accessories that really help with safety and efficiency.
Firstly, they have an accessory called a Weight Distribution Hitch. This important piece of equipment, when fitted properly, reduces the ball weight and therefore, the drag on the vehicle. If you are looking to save money on your towbar, think about this. Paying the extra dollars for this towbar and accessory will actually pay you back many times over down the track. Reducing the drag improves your fuel efficiency. That means that when you are towing, you use less fuel and save money at the bowser. This is an on-going saving, not the once off I was considering by going cheap with the towbar.
They also sell this cool gadget called Sway Control. It basically keeps whatever you are pulling on the straight and narrow, despite high winds, trucks coming the other way etc. Have you ever seen those retired people who are pulling a caravan behind them when a truck drives past the other way. Have you ever seen how much their caravan swerves all over the road when this happens due to the blast of air. The sway control stops this happening to you, making for a safer and once again, more efficient trip. This is very important to me given my family will be sitting next to me in the Jeep.
Its good when you go to an auto store and the professionals there actually give you advice, help you get past your preconceived ideas and make a better decision. I'm certainly glad the guys at AVA helped me see sense when it came to my towbar.
About the Author:
Damian Papworth understands the cost of quality towbars and bike racks are mimimal in comparison to the vehicles they are carrying.
