Tow Bar or not to Tow Bar

[BREMBOV6]

Afternoon all

Myself and my brother have a small Fletcher boat. We keep it near the water/Loch which is probably about 400/500ft away, it’s on private land and is usually quiet. We once tried taking it down by hand with four of us, but I swore I'd never do it again, turned into nightmare taking it down and back up.

I am now looking at getting a tow bar fitted to a 2009 Diesel Megane but slightly surprised at the cost c.£350. I'm not sure how much longer we will have the car to justify its fitment, so I was wondering is there any other means to towing a boat this short distance? or how easy is it to install (DIY) a tow bar as to buy is about £120.

Any help appreciated.

[joshleb]

You can get trolley dolly type things, have a tow bar but also handles on to help shift them. Not sure what their max load is though or if the handle would be big enough to help.

Used to be one at the garage near mine for wheeling trailers round.

Edit: Just found this on google, but not sure how practical it would be.

Trailer Dolly

[MrBen1]

Usually quite easy to DIY fit them. Especially if you are not using it on the public road as do you even need to put in the wiring for lights?

[sunbeam alpine]

Surely if it's private land you just need the cheapest wreck you can find (maybe with 4x4 if it's rough ground) that can move. Doesn't need tax MOT insurance etc.

[thewarlock]

sunbeam alpine said:

Surely if it's private land you just need the cheapest wreck you can find (maybe with 4x4 if it's rough ground) that can move. Doesn't need tax MOT insurance etc.

Or a cheap old farm quad.

[boyse7en]

Fitting a towbar is usually quite simple. They are designed specific to the car so it should be a case of fitting four or six bolts to the chassis. You may need to remove the bumper to access the bolts though, and you may need to trim the bumper to fit around the towbar. Wiring it up can be tricky but you probably could get away without doing it.

Otherwise, a powered caravan mover? Something like this https://vevor.co.uk/products/motorised-trailer-joc...

[Ganglandboss]

I helped my cousin fit a towbar to his dad's Megane. It was one of the ones with the funny shaped arse-ends, so probably a bit different to yours. It wouldn't surprise me if the design is similar though.

We did have to take the bumper off. The outer plastic trim came off, and underneath it was a metal crash structure. That came out, and the tob bar replaced the whole thing. The plastic trim simply went back over the tow bar.

[BREMBOV6]

Thanks all for the feedback, we used to have an old Isuzi truck sitting about but it rusted away and looks unsightly so would rather avoid leaving even more cr@p lying about. Quad bike is a good shout but will cost more than £300 I guess but could be fun, only thing is potential theft as we don't go to the boat very often.

The hand trailer/dolly would be possibly if it had brakes, issue we have is we do go down an incline and the weight of the boat carries momentum which is difficult to control even when four of us done this.

Will give the above some thought. Somebody (not on here) mentioned rope is possible but I just cant figure how, without crashing the car crashing into the boat or the boat into something or someone.

[GliderRider]

If there is a removable towing eye on the car, how about modifying one to take a 50mm ball? If you're not going on public roads, it shouldn't matter that it is not on the car's centre line.

You would just need to watch the nose weight of the trailer, especially if you need to add an extension piece to the towing eye move the ball hitch away from the bumper.

You can buy towing balls with a thread and a nut on the bottom.

Towing ball with thread & nut



As others have said, if you don't need the electrics, you should be able to pick up a used towbar yourself and either fit it when needed or leave it on the car. You may need to declare it to your insurance company though.

An alternative to a quadbike would be a petrol golf buggy. Our club used them for towing gliders and they would tow a heavy two seat glider in its double axle trailer without problems. The buggies have DAF-style constantly variable transmission so will automatically adapt the gear ratio to the load. An old golf buggy may be less of a thief magnet than a quad bike.

Edited by GliderRider on Tuesday 30th March 16:52

[snowandrocks]

If it's light enough that you managed to get it there by hand then I'd be tempted to try lashing the towing hitch onto the towing eye with rope. Assuming private land and reasonably flat!

Alternatively get someone to weld a tow ball onto the screw in towing eye.

[paintman]

Most modern cars that are tow capable will have the necessary holes already in place.
Not usually difficult to fit as the towbars are made to fit the holes, although as already said some require cutting the bumper.
You'll only be using it on private land so no need to bother with any of the electrics

ETA snowandrocks idea of welding a towball onto a spare towing eye sounds like it may be your simplest option.

Edited by paintman on Tuesday 30th March 18:47

[BREMBOV6]

GliderRider said:

If there is a removable towing eye on the car, how about modifying one to take a 50mm ball? If you're not going on public roads, it shouldn't matter that it is not on the car's centre line.

You would just need to watch the nose weight of the trailer, especially if you need to add an extension piece to the towing eye move the ball hitch away from the bumper.

You can buy towing balls with a thread and a nut on the bottom.

Towing ball with thread & nut



As others have said, if you don't need the electrics, you should be able to pick up a used towbar yourself and either fit it when needed or leave it on the car. You may need to declare it to your insurance company though.

An alternative to a quadbike would be a petrol golf buggy. Our club used them for towing gliders and they would tow a heavy two seat glider in its double axle trailer without problems. The buggies have DAF-style constantly variable transmission so will automatically adapt the gear ratio to the load. An old golf buggy may be less of a thief magnet than a quad bike.

Edited by GliderRider on Tuesday 30th March 16:52

This looks a great shout, never knew these existed. Is this just a simple screw into the towing eye?

Does anyone know the thread on a Megane 2009 1.5 5dr, Mk3 ?

I did start looking at quads because it sounds fun but that will be more than £300.

Edited by BREMBOV6 on Wednesday 31st March 11:17

[snowandrocks]

I would be hugely surprised if you find something that screws straight in to the towing eye. Especially not the one pictured as the tow ball would obviously then stick out the way rather than pointing up!

As above, you'll need to get something welded onto an actual appropriate towing eye.

[MrBig]

MOT failure Suzuki Samurai or similar? Well anything with a towbar really. Or you could just buy any cheap car if you have no need for electrics. I had a mk4 golf a couple of years back, cost me peanuts and the towbar was £20 from the breakers and I bolted it on myself one evening. Electrics are probably more difficult on modern cars than phyiscally fitting the bar, but if its not a concern it makes life much easier.

[GliderRider]

BREMBOV6 said:

This looks a great shout, never knew these existed. Is this just a simple screw into the towing eye?

Does anyone know the thread on a Megane 2009 1.5 5dr, Mk3 ?

I did start looking at quads because it sounds fun but that will be more than £300.

Edited by BREMBOV6 on Wednesday 31st March 11:17

The thread on the towing eye is often a left hand thread. Whether this is to discourage it being used for other purposes or because a rope when being stretched may unscrew a right hand thread, I don't know.

Your best bet is to pick up a Renault towing eye from Ebay or a car breakers. They are typically between £12 & £20 for a secondhand (but probably unused) one.

Renault Megane Towing Eye

Bear in mind the towing eye is not intended to take 'push' loads, so if the trailer wheel is in a pothole, or you are trying to push it up a kerb with the car, you may cause damage to the attachment on the car.

While you are making it, a bumper protector in the form of a stainless plate bent to an angle, which clamps under the head of the towball, may prevent damage when getting the trailer hitched and unhitched.

Edited by GliderRider on Wednesday 31st March 13:30

[JWH]

BREMBOV6 said:

Afternoon all

Myself and my brother have a small Fletcher boat. We keep it near the water/Loch which is probably about 400/500ft away, it’s on private land and is usually quiet. We once tried taking it down by hand with four of us, but I swore I'd never do it again, turned into nightmare taking it down and back up.

I am now looking at getting a tow bar fitted to a 2009 Diesel Megane but slightly surprised at the cost c.£350. I'm not sure how much longer we will have the car to justify its fitment, so I was wondering is there any other means to towing a boat this short distance? or how easy is it to install (DIY) a tow bar as to buy is about £120.

Any help appreciated.

https://www.pfjones.co.uk/renault-megane-5-door-ha...

As has been suggested - order something like the above, if it's private land don't bother with any electrics. Fitting is really very simple, they'll be instructions with it but it'll just be bumper off and some whacking great bolts. It's the electrics that tend to be more involved but you don't need to worry about that.

I've fitted tow bars to our E91 3 series and our Touareg and wouldn't hesitate to do so again.

[BREMBOV6]

Thanks for the above, this price looks reasonable. Is it possible to add electrics at a later date if it is needed?

[JWH]

BREMBOV6 said:

Thanks for the above, this price looks reasonable. Is it possible to add electrics at a later date if it is needed?

Yes - worst case scenario will be it requires removal of tow bar to thread the cables through behind it. No great problem other than repeating your own work - however that may well not be the case, I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the Megane.

Link above includes a tab to click for the pdf fitting instructions - take a look to get an idea what's involved.

[bristolracer]

Tow bars are quite heavy to offer up beneath the car
Handy to have help, not essential but easier

[48k]

BREMBOV6 said:

Thanks for the above, this price looks reasonable. Is it possible to add electrics at a later date if it is needed?

You can add electrics later, but whilst you've got everything apart it's easier to do it at the same time. IME electrics can be fiddly because you have to start taking interior trim apart and splitting open cable-tidy tubes to get access to the feed wires.
Having the car up on axle stands is helpful for access when doing the towbar.