A- frame towbar design

[Gys Vermeulen]

Anybody done this before? Some pictures/Sketches and material requirements available?
Thanks
Groetnis
Gys



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Gys Vermeulen
Phambili Africa Safaris
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1984 One-Ten V8 Hardtop
2002 LandRover 130 doublecab

[Henk Smit]

Gys

Is this what you are looking for?   The steel ruler is 1 meter for some indication of size.

This is an a-frame that of a friend that I am currently using for a project.   As far as I know he got it from his dad, it is quite old.   I have not seen one in any store before.

If you or one of the more engineering members want to re-design the frame, I am quite happy to take more detailed pics and measurements.  I would like to get some detailed design to make one for myself.   

Especially the gear thing in the middle have me a bit worried.   I suppose it is required to keep the towed vehicle stable and cannot be left out?

Some quick mention of how it works:

1.   First if folds open (obviously), but where the two side arms hinges, there are two gears that interlock.   For stability i suppose?

2.   Then it has one length of chain of which the two ends feed through the last bit of thee two sidearms.

3.   The two ends of the chain gets wrapped or tied somewhere onto the vehicle to be towed.

4.   Just above the openings where the chains come out of the side arms, there are two steel pins that can be pulled out.   These pins are use to secure the end of the chain AFTER it has been tied to the vehicle.   The prevent the chain from getting undone.

5.  Then comes the cargo strap.   The chain should be tied in such a way that the loop does NOT REACH the hook of the cargo strap when the vehicle is tied on.

6.   The cargo strap is then hooked onto the loop of the chain and tighten.   This pull the chain tight through the arms and will keep the towed vehicle stable.

I hope you get the idea.

ONE POINT OF CONCERN.

It is as if the gears on the pivot is not centered properly.   This causes the arms to open slightly off-centre, which places the towed vehicle off-centre to the vehicle pulling it.   I don't like it, but it works.   I don't know if it would be better to just centre the gears properly.

Let me know if there is anything more you want to know.

Cheers

Henk

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[Gys Vermeulen]

Thanks Henk
I think I have got the idea. The cargo strap is a new addition to the setup. Can you maybe get the thickness of the square tubing. What I like about this one is that it can fold away so that it could be possible to take it with on a overland trip . (Its such a schlepp to push a Toyota home with a tow strap! :-)) Other designs that I saw swiveled just behind the tow hitch coupling.

Thank you for the trouble
Groetnis
Gys

[Henk Smit]

Gys
The two side arms seem to be 40x40x3mm. The arm with the tow hitch
seems to be 50x50x4 (ish)mm, it is thicker than the 40mm ones.

I am busy restoring an old Courier with a Toyota motor. In doing so
I have to move it from the gearbox people to the Propshaft people
etc. It definitely works well to tow that combination...

Let me know how it goes.

Cheers

On 07 Aug 2011, at 3:51 PM, Gys Vermeulen wrote:

> Thanks Henk

[MBArchitects]

I have one.  It's called a Y-bar (Australian if I'm not mistaken).

They were popular with garages who occasionally had to tow in a client's car - in that the a-frame is adjustable and that you can therefore tow any passenger car.  It does have a weight limit for the towed vehicle - can't remember how much - but not that much so I would not use it for a heavy expedition vehicle - especially one that's loaded.

The gears in the middle are to ensure that the a-frame is centred and that, therefore (as you correctly noted) the towed vehicle follows exactly behind the 1st vehicle.

The use of the chain and the cargo strap facilitates the adjustability.  Once you've hooked up, you need to drive for about 30m and then stop and take up the slack.  Do that as often as you need to until you can  feel that the towed vehicle is stable.

For 4x4 use, I would suggest a purpose made unit that is very strong.

I once used my y-bar to tow my S1 SWB from Cape Town to (near) Sutherland - but then, she weighs in at less than 1.5T.

Regards

Mike B

[Gys Vermeulen]

Hi Mike
I had also towed a friend of mine's Series 2 from home (here in the easterncape) to Jhb with the 130. and it went extremely well. The design was like a aframe and it never had a problem to follow the Landy. In sharp turns one could here the front tyres squealing a bit, but on the normal road it was really no problem.

Thanks for all the advice
Groetnis
Gys

[crebelo(mighty)]

Hi there,
I also use one from a friend to towing a bakkie from Maputo to JHB and works very well.
Very nice tool.
Not suit if towing a car with automatic gearboxes. Must use a lower bed truck.
C. Rebelo