Today a customer drove in with his 1996 Toyota Surf which we had fitted a towbar to back in 2007. He explained that he uses the towbar for towing his horse float and that the towball had worked loose at some stage. So we tightened it up for him free of charge under our lifetime towbar guarantee and he drove off happily; though I did suggest he check the towball’s security on a regular basis in future.
We always torque 3500 kg rated towbars up to 203 nm, but even that is no guarantee that a towball will not work loose over time if it is worked hard enough. We recommend that the security of all towballs is checked on a regular basis.
This Toyota Surf was towing a trailer with a regular New Zealand coupling but the issue of towballs working loose is exactly why English and European trailers and caravans with Alko couplings should NEVER be used with standard New Zealand towballs. It is essential they are used with a goose neck tongue or a high rise towball and a locking plate.
Megatyre stocks high rise towballs and locking plate kits for your towbar; they are available from our Browns Bay shop for $195.00 inc gst where we can fit it for you or we can post them nationally for no extra charge.
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