Warning about A-Frame towing

Cant see anything wrong towing a car if it is on a braked trailer. Note this is a 2015 thread
 
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Unfortunately this is a Ford car issue on mots a frame or not they still have a issue with front surface mount areas corrosion we weld loads of them but the majority of them are tow cars because the rest are not worth the price if welding
 
Towing a car on a braked trailer is definitely the safe way to do it, legally at least!

regarding being a 2015 thread though, is there a cut off date for replying? Surely if the thread is still open, it’s fair game! The topic is still relevant!
I would say very relevant (although any regulations quoted either permitting or denying something could well have been changed since of course :) )
 
Fords were never in any way strong. In the 1970s I went to a scrap yard looking for a part, and saw a Ford with rear end damage and the driver's seat was flattened horizontally. I asked the scrap yard owner what was going on there and he said it had been in a fairly moderate rear end shunt and with all the small Fords, the driver's seat collapses. The driver of that car was now in a wheelchair. Also I now have a friend who had a small one, I don't know if it was a Ka or Fiesta but she had a similar event resulting in her getting £3000 compensation but it has ruined the rest of her life, she can hardly walk and is in constant pain. Small Fords are not worth the ink their brochures are printed with. I used to run a little garage, and I will never own a Ford car. I do however have a Transit based motorhome because Transits are built to a higher quality than the cars.
 
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In any case, why on earth tow a car behind a motorhome in the first place, even if the mechanics were viable? If you want a car once you are on a camp site then why not save many bucketfulls of pounds, and just go somewhere local and hire one?
 

Apologies to those who think old threads shouldn’t be resurrected but this is important information.​

Warning!!​

Updated: Nov 28, 2021


Product Safety information for a-frame users.

.

Following recent events, including threats to personal safety, I have redacted the company’s information from the above post. any comments mentioning them have also been deleted. No campaign is worth putting the world of myself and my family at risk. In the event anything untoward does occur, there are people out there who know the perpetrator including Lincolnshire Police.



Following a recent catastrophic failure of an a-frame towed car I have, this week, (17.11.21) formally called upon Trading Standards and the Vehicle Safety Branch (VSB) of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to implement a PRODUCT RECALL on specific a-frame installations.

The towed car suffered a sudden and unpredictable failure of the a-frame to car interface. Regardless of the cause of the initial failure,

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CRUCIALLY, it should have had an emergency breakaway system installed in accordance with the Road Vehicles (construction & use) regulations 1986 [and amendments] and COMMISSION DIRECTIVE 98/12/EC.

The object of the emergency breakaway system is to stop the ‘trailer’ in it’s tracks and prevent the ‘trailer’ literally breaking away and going wherever, in this case mounting a pavement and scattering pedestrians.

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As the company have ignored my request for more information, The number of vehicles affected is currently unknown but if your vehicle is one, a simple visual inspection will identify it.

Do NOT rely on any written statements like “Automatically sets itself up” or “Break-away safety features built in”. Without the ring highlighted, it has no emergency braking in place!

The product is from a company known as [redacted]. Their standard practice would be to install the emergency breakaway facility, identifiable by a ring ‘mini-cable-tied’ to the vehicles front grill, adjacent to the 13 pin electrical socket.

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The ring is for the attachment of a supplied, breakaway cable. SEE PHOTO.

if your vehicle was converted by this company and is lacking the ring, it is ESSENTIAL that your car is drawn to their attention with a view to being modified. The company can be contacted at [redacted].



Failure to act is putting LIVES AT RISK!

 

Apologies to those who think old threads shouldn’t be resurrected but this is important information.​

Warning!!​

Updated: Nov 28, 2021


Product Safety information for a-frame users.

.

Following recent events, including threats to personal safety, I have redacted the company’s information from the above post. any comments mentioning them have also been deleted. No campaign is worth putting the world of myself and my family at risk. In the event anything untoward does occur, there are people out there who know the perpetrator including Lincolnshire Police.



Following a recent catastrophic failure of an a-frame towed car I have, this week, (17.11.21) formally called upon Trading Standards and the Vehicle Safety Branch (VSB) of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to implement a PRODUCT RECALL on specific a-frame installations.

The towed car suffered a sudden and unpredictable failure of the a-frame to car interface. Regardless of the cause of the initial failure,

file.jpg
3b42f0_4edba26793a44988b35f96f16e31b4d6~mv2.webp




CRUCIALLY, it should have had an emergency breakaway system installed in accordance with the Road Vehicles (construction & use) regulations 1986 [and amendments] and COMMISSION DIRECTIVE 98/12/EC.

The object of the emergency breakaway system is to stop the ‘trailer’ in it’s tracks and prevent the ‘trailer’ literally breaking away and going wherever, in this case mounting a pavement and scattering pedestrians.

file.jpg
3b42f0_2d2ae730677647629a359b7bb1033fe9~mv2.webp






file.jpg
3b42f0_1500ba57e71343e3b4a9cf1c03d97f07~mv2.webp






As the company have ignored my request for more information, The number of vehicles affected is currently unknown but if your vehicle is one, a simple visual inspection will identify it.

Do NOT rely on any written statements like “Automatically sets itself up” or “Break-away safety features built in”. Without the ring highlighted, it has no emergency braking in place!

The product is from a company known as [redacted]. Their standard practice would be to install the emergency breakaway facility, identifiable by a ring ‘mini-cable-tied’ to the vehicles front grill, adjacent to the 13 pin electrical socket.

file.jpg
3b42f0_f12bf1ed485d455da77572a7a93d3d94~mv2.webp






file.jpg
3b42f0_1d0e96627a6f43b5bedc614b18eb1478~mv2.webp




The ring is for the attachment of a supplied, breakaway cable. SEE PHOTO.

if your vehicle was converted by this company and is lacking the ring, it is ESSENTIAL that your car is drawn to their attention with a view to being modified. The company can be contacted at [redacted].



Failure to act is putting LIVES AT RISK!

That looks like a perfect demonstration of what happens when you fix a towing device to a vehicle that the manufacturer of the vehicle didn't design to be attached to....
Manufacturers spend years and massive amounts of money designing vehicles and parts thereof to do specific jobs...
In the case of front end structures to protect occupants and pedestrians from damage.
It's not in the least bit surprising if something goes wrong after a 3rd party comes along and boshes a towing device to, structures that weren't designed for it....
Let alone in the case above that structure also appears to be corroded where to towing device has been attached.
 
That looks like a perfect demonstration of what happens when you fix a towing device to a vehicle that the manufacturer of the vehicle didn't design to be attached to....
Manufacturers spend years and massive amounts of money designing vehicles and parts thereof to do specific jobs...
In the case of front end structures to protect occupants and pedestrians from damage.
It's not in the least bit surprising if something goes wrong after a 3rd party comes along and boshes a towing device to, structures that weren't designed for it....
Let alone in the case above that structure also appears to be corroded where to towing device has been attached.
Sadly, the installer hasn’t learned. He is still, in 2022, offering Suzuki Alto’s, already converted! 😡
#TowLegal #TowSafe #TowSafe4Freddie
 
Sadly, the installer hasn’t learned. He is still, in 2022, offering Suzuki Alto’s, already converted! 😡
#TowLegal #TowSafe #TowSafe4Freddie
To be honest I wouldn't be happy towing ANYTHING on a A frame that the Original vehicle manufacturer hadn't specifically approved...

Anything else is frankly little more than lucky dip (or more correctly unlucky dip)
Luckily this time no one was hurt or worse.
 
In any case, why on earth tow a car behind a motorhome in the first place, even if the mechanics were viable? If you want a car once you are on a camp site then why not save many bucketfulls of pounds, and just go somewhere local and hire one?
Exactly what I did for a week’s holiday early last year. Parked up the MH at my cousin’s farm and got a car to whizz around in.
 
Not the first car to have the front ripped out by a A frame, and unlikely to be the last. You need to inform DVSA who replaced VOSA, they used to keep a database for incidents like this. Also maybe the VCA who are supposed to police the certification of vehicles but seem to have buried their head in the sand over A frames.
 
Obviously time to bann a frames in uk
I’ve been campaigning for towing safety for over 30 years, including a-frames! I don’t believe an outright ban is the way forward but I have been urging the DfT and DVSA to introduce controls and inspections.
The DfT have a lot to answer for with their view that an a-frame towed car will be acceptable as legal, provided it meets with existing towing legislation. None do (or can) 100% and, my view is that TOAD’s should have their own vehicle classification and relevant rules, controls and inspections.

Of course, that still wouldn’t make them legal in Europe! A number of EU countries (including France, Germany and Spain) have their own National laws that ban the towing of one motorised vehicle with another. 😏

 
Not the first car to have the front ripped out by a A frame, and unlikely to be the last. You need to inform DVSA who replaced VOSA, they used to keep a database for incidents like this. Also maybe the VCA who are supposed to police the certification of vehicles but seem to have buried their head in the sand over A frames.
DVSA were informed within days of this incident as were Trading Standards!
I’m not aware of any database that DVSA currently keep regarding a-frame issues, and I’m in contact with a few different departments….
 
In any case, why on earth tow a car behind a motorhome in the first place, even if the mechanics were viable? If you want a car once you are on a camp site then why not save many bucketfulls of pounds, and just go somewhere local and hire one?

Or buy a caravan and tow it with a car.
 
DVSA were informed within days of this incident as were Trading Standards!
I’m not aware of any database that DVSA currently keep regarding a-frame issues, and I’m in contact with a few different departments….
From (very poor) memory, it was about 10 years ago that incidents where being logged, I suppose people have moved on/retired and it's all been forgotten about.
 
I have no problem with the concept of A framing, but modern cars designed to crumple on impact, and long overhangs on large motorhomes are IMO a recipe for disaster.
 

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