Towballs for towbars come in a variety of load capacities, sizes, shank widths and shank lengths; there are 20 different products in total! Add in material/finish options like chrome finish, zinc coating, stainless steel, 2 sizes of converter balls, high rise towball kits for European caravans and trailer, some unusual North American and super heavy duty towballs and the total escalates past 30!!
The towball size must match the size of the coupling on the trailer being towed; this is very important, a 50 ml coupling will fit on a 1 7/8 ths towball but is liable to pop off and is an illegal combination. Lighter trailers can be towed with a 2000 kg ball but heavier applications need a 3500 capacity. Towbars with a regular 16 or 20 mm thick tongue are suited to a regular length shank of 45 mm but a long shank towball of 50 mm or 65 mm should be used when a towbar has a backing guide, load leveler or an extra thick tongue is involved. It is also important that the shank size, 3/4″, 7/8″, or 1″” suit the size of the hole drilled in the tongue as the towball may work loose if the hole drilled for it is too big. High rise towballs, also called long neck towballs, are need to prevent damage to Alko trailer couplings on European trailers.
Quite often WOF failures arise from inspections revealing mis matched towballs and trailer couplings and shanks found to be too short; the towball shank must be long enough to stick out beyond the bottom of the nut.
The good news is that Megatyre Towbars Auckland stocks most of these towball options and can usually get other options within 24 hours.
Does the chrome on the towball last or does it get scraped off when you are towing?
Yes, both chrome and zinc coatings on towballs will aways get rubbed off during towing. There is no way of stopping that, it is just a consequence of bare steel pivoting on bare steel. Your towball will not look rusty If you tow fairly regularly.
If this bothers you, you can buy a stainless steel towball, but expect them to be over $25.00.
I have got a trailer backing guide but the screw on my towball is not long enough for both the guide and towbar tongue. Have you got a towball big enough?
Hi Springer
no problem, you need a “long shank towball” which will have a shaft long enough to safely bolt up the backing guide and tongue. Have a look at our range in “towbar accessories” above.
What a mess, why not just have one standard towbar?
I’m speechless. This can be a excellent weblog and very enticing too. Great work! That’s not in point of fact so much coming from an beginner writer like me, but it’s all I may say after diving into your posts. Great grammar and vocabulary. Not like different blogs. You in reality realize what you?re talking approximately too. Such a lot that you just made me need to discover more. Your blog has turn out to be a stepping stone for me, my friend.
Nice blog!! keep up the nice style, it’s nice to see writer’s like you these days. Most people can’t write for crap loL! anyways take care cya around
WOW! Keep it up man! you rock
excellent write up here, I couldnt have said it any better myself and I’m pretty good at writing lol
Appreciate it for this tremendous post, It has helped me decide which coupling size to specify for my new trailer.
Normally I don’t read article on blogs, however I would like to say that this write-up very forced me to take a look at and do it! Your writing style has been amazed me. Thanks, quite great article.
This internet site is just great, the best ever, thanks!
hi buddy, I found your site from wikipedia and read a few of your other blog posts.They are cool. Pls continue this great work.
I do trust all the concepts you’ve introduced in your post. They are really convincing and will certainly work. Nonetheless, the posts are too short for novices. May just you please prolong them a little from next time? Thanks for the post.
rezeptfrei kaufen
Wow! This can be one of the most beneficial blogs we’ve ever come across on thesubject. Basically magnificent article! I’m also an expert in this topic so I can understand your effort.
Hi! I just want to tell you that I found this blog really useful to me. I will visit this blog regularly to read more. Thanks.
I have a 1 7/8 ths towball on my car and need to swap it for a 50 ml towball for my new boat trailer. Problem is the current towball is on so tight I can not get it off. Also, it is a bit rusty around the thread (salt water damage) so I guess that is helping make removing it even harder.
Have you got any ideas how I can get this thing off my towbar?
This is a common problem for people wanting to change towballs. Towbar manufacturers and fitters tend to gun the towballs on very, very tightly, for obvious reasons. And rust from salt water etc make the towballs even hard to remove.. Basically you need a good quality socket and power bar and maybe even a length of pipe to extend the power bar to do the job.
Or you can simply come down to Megatyre in Browns Bay and we will remove the old towball with a powerfull air powered rattle gun. There is no charge for this service and we will do this for you even if you are not one of our customers.
Hope this helps!
good choice of colors on your blog. I enjoyed reading it! kudos 2 you
thanks for that
I’ve been exploring for a little bit for any high quality articles or blog posts on this sort of area . Exploring in Yahoo I at last stumbled upon this website. Reading this information So i am happy to convey that I have a very good uncanny feeling I discovered just what I needed. I most certainly will make sure to don’t forget this site and give it a look on a constant basis.
thank you!
behind a desk and cannot take long breaks that would allow me to go to shops like yours so this blog is really helpfull and easy thanks. I am going to place a mail order for a long shank 50 mm ball with the 7/ths shank.
Have you got one in stock?
Yes, we have them in stock and thanks for the order just received. Your towball will be sent to you on Monday.
http://www.megatyre.co.nz
hi, can have a price please including frieght to tauranga for a 50mm towball,long shank n 1” shank thankyou
Hello Damien
pleased to advise we can send you a 50 mm 65 mm long 1 ” shank towball for $29.50 inc towball, gst and freight.
hope this is of interest to you
Brian
Hi Guys,
A number of English caravans use a 50mm towball, but they need an extra high neck on the towball because they have “clamps” that fit to the side of the ball that would foul a standard height neck when going over uneven ground (eg caravan tilted left while car tilted right). Do you have any and at what price?
Woah this weblog is excellent i really like reading your posts. You understand, lots of people are searching around for this info, you can help them greatly.
i completely agree with you.
Woah this weblog is great i really like studying your posts. Keep up the great work! You already know, many people are looking round for this info, you can aid them greatly.
Really interesting thank you.
Glad you found this helpfull.
Magnificent web site. Plenty of helpful information here. And naturally, thanks for your effort!
It seems I need an unusual American size towball which you do nor list here
So many towball choices, they need to be standardised.
I bought a stainless steel towball last year, it is great. Finally I am free of rusty towballs.
This post has solved a mystery for me, our trailer is always loose when it is on the towbar, now i realise i have the smaller 1 7/8ths towball on my car and a 50 mm coupling on the towbar. Can you guys change my towball size?
No problem Marina. Bring your car down to Megatyre and we will take the old ball off the towbar and fit a new 50 mm ball.
I bought a car with detachable tow bar, the towball is 50mm, this is one piece part of the tongue i.e. not separate ball, so i couldn’t not replace.
My question is shall Ii keep it to this size or the car dealer offered to grind it down to 17/8 size and certify it if this the most common for trailer couplings?
I will be only towing hired trailers from pertol stations. can anyone please advise.
Thanks, such a great website.
Ali
Hi Ali
really the choice is yours; there is no problem retaining the existing 50 mm towball size, provided you can find trailer to use with it. The problem is most trailers have I 7/8ths couplings which will not fit on 50 mm towballs. Most hire trailers appear to be in 1 7/8ths.
Yes, your 50 mm towball can be machined down to 1 7/8ths. We charge $299.00 inc for this service.
Thank you very much for your advice, much appreciated.
What’s the solution if you want to use a convert-a-ball but the hole in the towbar is 7/8″? They seem to only come in 3/4″ or 7/8″ shank size?
Thanks
Bruce
Hello Bruce
thanks for your inquiry. Converta balls are only available with 3/4″ or 1″ shanks. If your towbar tongue has a 7/8ths hole, you would need to get it drilled out to 1″. If you live in Auckland, we can do that for you at Megatyre.
Hope this helps
Brian
Thanks Brian. I meant to say convert-a-ball are available in 3/4″ and 1″, as you say. I did wonder about getting the hole drilled out. I’m in Thames, so will try and get it sorted, but if I need to I might drop past Megatyre!
Thanks again
Bruce
Glad I could help Bruce. Please make an appointment if you end up needing our help.
Brian
We bought a car with an existing towbar which is too large to fit a trailer. Think it must be for towing large boats. Is it possible to have it ground down in size? And if so is this something you can help with?
Many thanks
Ann
Hello Ann
my guess is that you have got a towbar with a 50 mm gooseneck tongue, I regret we can not machine these tongues down to the 1 7/8ths size. If your towbar was made by Westfalia, we may be able to supply a 1 7/8ths gooseneck tongue for it. Failing that, you could change the coupling on your trailer to 50 mm. But if you have got a standard New Zealand towbar, we can change the towball for no more than $26.00. QED!
Hope this helps
Brian
Hi,
i have the standard 1 7/8th towball for 2008 suzuki grand vitara, but my bike rack will not screw in tightly enough. Maximum tightness and u can still move the rack fairly easily. it is usable but has to checked regularly on long trips. The bike rack was fine on my previous truck.
Is there an accessory or different ball size i can use to sort this?
thanks
Adrian
Hi Adrian
has your Suzuki got a shin protector on the towbar? Sometimes they interfere with the anchorage of bike racks. Another possibility is that your bike rack is damaged or suffering from wear and tear. If neither of the above are applicable, and you currently have an 1 7/8ths towball, then fitting a bigger 50mm towball may solve the problem for you.
From my own experience, I have always found that conventional kiwi bike racks tend to work loose, especially on long trips. I have always rechecked my bike racks security a few times on long trips.
Brian
Yeah i think it has a shin protector – rubber sleeve around the end of the towbar. After tightening the rack to ball, there is left/right/up/down movement. However it doesnt move laterally when driving, bike sort of bounces up and down a bit.
Tried to remove the ball but was on too tightly! Will have to come in one day and get someone to check or remove. Thanks for the advice.
Hi we recently purchased a new work vehicle with a tow bar/ball. I realised that the tow ball was 1 7/8 and therefore went to purchase a 50mm which is what we need. The problem was I need 3500kg breaking strain and couldn’t find this breaking strain in 3/4 shaft size. I’m guessing the larger breaking strain tow balls don’t come with the smaller 3/4 shafts? What would be the best option? Can we get the tow bar drilled to fit 1 inch? If so what would be the cost?
Thanks
Scott
Hello Scott
as you suspected, 3500 kg towballs are not available in a 3/4 shank; they only come in 7/8ths and 1 inch shank sizes. But I recommend the 1 inch shank for extra strength. We can drill the hole out for $35.00 inc gst. The job takes up to half an hour.
Hope this helps
Brian
I’m looking for an interchangable 1-7/8″ and 50mm ball with a high rise neck and 25mm shaft, to suit my English caravan stabiliser coupling. I do have a trojan one at present but the neck is only marginally long enough and does bind on sharp turns up and down kerbs for example.
the trojan one has also got quite slack and knocks when braking. it is also difficult to remove the ball after towing requiring a slight tap with a hammer.
Our caravan weighs 1300kg when fully loaded. I do not want to fit a different type of tow bar as the one I have is factory fitted and certified.
Hello Gavin
thanks for your inquiry. Sorry, an interchangeable high rise towball with both 50 mm and 1 7/8ths balls does not exist. Your only course of action available is to have both a conventional 1 7/8ths towball and a high rise 50 mm towball with a locking plate and change them over as required. Your current situation is potentially dangerous and should be rectified urgently. Also, there is a strong possibility that your caravan’s alko coupling will be damaged.
Brian
Hello Gavin
sorry, there no such thing as an interchangeable high rise towball. The only course of action available to you is to have a conventional 1 7/8ths towball and a high rise 50 mm ball with an adaptor plate and interchange them as required. Your current set up is potentially dangerous, you need to fit a high rise 50 mm kit as soon as possible for towing trailers with an Alko coupling. Also you Alkp head may become damaged. We have high rise towballs in 3/4, 7/8ths and 1 inch sizes.
Brian
Could I get a special spacer washer machined up to raise the ball height, it would need to be 8mm thick and the same diameter as the flange on my converter ball this would then effectively raise the centre of the ball to 65mm which is the recommended minimum for alko 2004 stabiliser I believe. Note the towball spindle can not rotate as I have a 10mm
locking pin drilled through the flange and also a castellated nut on the 1″ thread.
Hello Gavin
I do not think this will work. Trailer with an Alko coupling need to be towed by either a goose neck tongue or a long neck/high rise towball. Your plan would not provide the required clearance between the ball and the base.
Brian
Hi, I have a Mazda genuine Westfalia goose neck tow bar with a 1 7/8 inch tow ball. I need a 50mm tow ball to tow an English caravan, but it appears I cannot change just the tow ball. How much would it cost to get a whole new Westfalia goose neck tongue with a 50mm tow ball to fit into the existing housing?
Hello John
unfortunately Westfalia Australasia was liquidated early this year and there is no stock left at retail or anywhere. I regret you will probably need to have a new towbar fitted with a high rise towball and locking plate.
Brian