[VIC] Towbars

[Jimmy_EC5W]

Starting a new Towbar thread for victoria since the general towbar thread doesnt seem to get questions answered and the majority of them are South Australia and NSW.

So I'm buying a boat soon (hopefully anyway), and need a towbar asap.
I have no idea how much the boat weighs, its a 16ft Half Cabin Power boat, Single Hull, Single axle trailer.

Here is a short list of places that Don't do towbars for the VR-4

-Sunshine Trailers
-Pedders

If we could get a list of places that do a towbar with removable lip without cutting into the rear bar.

 

[JiMi]

hayman reese said no when i rang them but could make one specially, but at a pretty hefty price, lots of other places wanted to see the car and see if there was any chance of adapting a magna design when i explained what the car was

 

[Jimmy_EC5W]

whats a hefty price?

I know we can get them from NZ, but thats too much stuffing around.

 

[JiMi]

800+ for that price i'l drive to syd and get one for 400 odd

 

[dimmy227]

I've had one fitted in tas, i figure thats not much good to you but to give you an idea,

it was a custom made hitch box

quoted $550, but then stated he under quoted as there was a bit more stuffing around involved than he thought in getting the body panels off and back on

"James and Stacey pty ltd" was where i had it done, fabricated the whole lot for me.

had no worries with it at all tho, been pulling a 6m RIB with 60hp on it no worries, also pulled a SB3 yacht with it, clutch didnt like it much but any way...

 

[Jimmy_EC5W]

Hmm 800... I would want a proper towbar since it's going to be a permanent fixture on my car.

I wonder how much extra weight a towbar would add?

 

[bails]

I'm looking at getting one for my legnum when i get it. mainly to tow my race car(s13) so trailer and car would be around the 1400-1600kg.
the SA group buy one was around the $700 mark for a heavy duty tow bar rated upto 1800kg which sounded good to me although it was a permanent mounted one

 

[JiMi]

even with the "permanent" ones you can usually undo the tongue with 2 bolts (not always tho) if you are willing to get dirty and lay down to undo them

 

[Jimmy_EC5W]

Still need to find somewhere that does them though.

 

[Guest]

Look in the Yellow Pages, drive around to a few places and ask them for a quote. That's the only way anyone unfamiliar with the car is going to comment on whether or not they can make one up.

 

[jet150]

Sunshine Trailers was the best place to go but the dude the custom made mine there retired last year. Your best bet would be to go sus out places that do alot of custom trailer work.

 

[Jimmy_EC5W]

Driving to sydney to get a towbar...

fml...

 

[king_panther]

Driving to sydney to get a towbar..

You cannot be serious? Surely there is someone in Melbourne that can fit a towbar to these cars?

Exactly how many places have you enquired?

 

[jet150]

Driving to sydney to get a towbar...

fml...

Are you serious? I bet you've hardly looked around Melbourne.

 

[Jimmy_EC5W]

I've called just about every custom towbar place asking for a straight answer, no "we need to see the car" time wasting bullshit.

I'd rather go somewhere with experience on the car and have a flat rate quote, so I'm going where everyone in nsw got theirs.

Here's a quote from sunshine trailers hoping if I left the car and they could make one - "the fabricator that was doing the towbars for the Legnum even said they were iffy and the design was hanging by a thread". He was more than happy to fit one if I could find one.

 

[jet150]

Who is gona give a straight answer without seeing the car? Not everyone knows what a legnum is.

Of course if you want something custom made the fabricators need to see the car. So your willing to drive to NSW for a tow bar but you won't drive around Melbourne to get some quotes.

The towbar Sunshine trailers put in my car was not a full custom, it was a towbar for ute that got slightly modded to fit my car.

 

[Pants]

Hey,

I tried chasing this up late last year and got as far as this email and then stopped:

Rob,

I know it’s a way to go but there is one guy I know that can do the job and stamp it for Australian standards, he is Ron young but he is in Wodonga, he will make a booking for you some time in advance and need the car for a day to design and fabricate. He is one of only a few people certified by DOTARS to rate and stamp new towbars.
He can be called on 02 6024 5566,
He has just moved from where I last saw him but its only around the corner.
*
Greensborough Towbars & Engineering

 

[Jimmy_EC5W]

Hmm, might give it a crack. Sounds a little bit promising.