Can your car be towed?

[otherclive]

A thought occurred to me regarding detachable tow balls. My last three cars have each l had detachable tow balls and the towbar cross member has replaced the car's own structural cross member, which then gets stored on the loft. But what some may not be aware is that towbar cross members may not have any fixing points in them to allow the car's own towing ring bolt to be screwed in once the plastic cover has been removed. This means that if the tow car were to need a tow from behind then it becomes more difficult to find a suitable attachment point, if the owner doesn't carry the detachable tow ball in the car. This wouldn't affect recovery services too much, but it could make driver to driver assistance more difficult. Those new to caravanning should check their detachable tow bar arrangements to see if the fitting of the tow bar has removed the rear towing point. My car has a towball stowage adjacent to its full size spare wheel, so other than carting the extra weight around I have always got a rear towing point available.

 

[Raywood]

An interesting point as our last car came with the cross member replaced. I never thought to check if the towing eye could be used and as the new car still has the original cross member I am clear of the potential problem. It would be useful though if someone in the know could answer this. I wonder if it actually depends on which tow bar you buy with different makes having different set ups.

 

[MichaelE]

I cant think why you wouldnt carry the towball in the car all the time? Save weight ? we are talking about about a couple of kilos?

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

My previous car was an Astra and it had a factory-fitted towbar with a detachable ball (which was quite heavy as it included the swan neck). The towbar was designed to go around the slot for the towing eye, so I only needed to carry the bolt-in towing eye and not the towball assembly.

 

[otherclive]

My detachable tow ball weighs quite a bit more than a couple of kilos and I certainly wouldn't bother carrying it around if it wasn't required as a rear tow point. Why would you want to lug excess weight around?
I raised the thread really just to inform forum users that not all detachable towball assemblies leave the cars inbuilt towing point intact.

 

[VicMallows]

I wonder how many owners have actually checked that they do have a screw-in eye! .... whether a new car or second-hand.
I have only needed mine once, and went into a panic when I couldn't find the eye with the spare wheel..........eventually I remembered I had put it in the glove box so that it would be readily available if needed hmy: hmy:

 

[MichaelE]

My detachable toe all weighs quite a bit more than a couple of kilos and I certainly wouldn't bother carrying it around if it wasn't required as a rear tow point. Why would you want to lug excess weight around?
I raised the thread really just to inform forum users that not all detachable towball assemblies leave the cars inbuilt towing point intact.

I understand your concern but i have never ever known anyone not to have their detachable with them. Just seemed strange why you wouldn't carry your towbar around because you are worried about lugging excess weight around? Do you fill the tank up and top up the washer bottle to the brim as with 1 litre of fluid weighing a kilo could be seen as excess weight? The saving would be untraceable i really cant see why you would?

 

[otherclive]

My detachable toe all weighs quite a bit more than a couple of kilos and I certainly wouldn't bother carrying it around if it wasn't required as a rear tow point. Why would you want to lug excess weight around?
I raised the thread really just to inform forum users that not all detachable towball assemblies leave the cars inbuilt towing point intact.

I understand your concern but i have never ever known anyone not to have their detachable with them. Just seemed strange why you wouldn't carry your towbar around because you are worried about lugging excess weight around? Do you fill the tank up and top up the washer bottle to the brim as with 1 litre of fluid weighing a kilo could be seen as excess weight? The saving would be untraceable i really cant see why you would?

Strangely enough I don't top up the fuel tank for exactly that reason unless I'm going on a long journey or planning a tow. With a car that will do 50+ solo around where I live there's not much point in lugging excess weight around. After all the designers are staying awake at night trying to find ways to make cars lighter.

 

[panther1]

You make a good point about the towing eye
But I can't tell if your serious or not about the fuel consumption?

 

[VicMallows]

I can't tell if your serious or not?

Well, I'm another who deliberately only half fills the tank for weight saving reasons......unless a very long journey, or fuel is available at a particularly good price.

 

[panther1]

I can't tell if your serious or not?

Well, I'm another who deliberately only half fills the tank for weight saving reasons......unless a very long journey, or fuel is available at a particularly good price.

Genuinely interested, half a tank of fuel or detachable tow bar, what sort of fuel savings are we taking here?

 

[Hutch]

IMO. You would loose all mpg saved by one quick acceleration or being caught at a level crossing for 5 minutes.

 

[MichaelE]

My detachable toe all weighs quite a bit more than a couple of kilos and I certainly wouldn't bother carrying it around if it wasn't required as a rear tow point. Why would you want to lug excess weight around?
I raised the thread really just to inform forum users that not all detachable towball assemblies leave the cars inbuilt towing point intact.

I understand your concern but i have never ever known anyone not to have their detachable with them. Just seemed strange why you wouldn't carry your towbar around because you are worried about lugging excess weight around? Do you fill the tank up and top up the washer bottle to the brim as with 1 litre of fluid weighing a kilo could be seen as excess weight? The saving would be untraceable i really cant see why you would?

Strangely enough I don't top up the fuel tank for exactly that reason unless I'm going on a long journey or planning a tow. With a car that will do 50+ solo around where I live there's not much point in lugging excess weight around. After all the designers are staying awake at night trying to find ways to make cars lighter.

But surely you have to stop more if you don't fill your tank completely, the time queuing and stop starting the car to fill up more times negates any saving?

 

[Mogwyth]

50kg weight reduction will give a 1% improvement in mpg which will give you a 0.5 more miles per gallon @ 50mpg. 50kg is about the weight of around 12 gallons of diesel and given that is the sort of amount of fuel most tänks hold then the saving is more like 0.25mpg. Life's too short.

 

[panther1]

50kg weight reduction will give a 1% improvement in mpg which will give you a 0.5 more miles per gallon @ 50mpg. 50kg is about the weight of around 12 gallons of diesel and given that is the sort of amount of fuel most tänks hold then the saving is more like 0.25mpg. Life's too short.

Couple that with twice as many trips to the fuel station!

 

[MichaelE]

50kg weight reduction will give a 1% improvement in mpg which will give you a 0.5 more miles per gallon @ 50mpg. 50kg is about the weight of around 12 gallons of diesel and given that is the sort of amount of fuel most tänks hold then the saving is more like 0.25mpg. Life's too short.

Couple that with twice as many trips to the fuel station!

You could end up actually using more fuel with the extra miles you have to do finding the fuel station on a journey because you have to fill up more. As said life is too short.

 

[Craigyoung]

Just a thought , not that we have a detachable towbar, ours is fixed , but when you are finished towing and unhitch the caravan wherever it may stay , i.e ours stops at a storage yard , why not leave the detachable towbar in the caravan Locker so it is always with the caravan , like when I unhook ours I leave the mirrors in the caravan in case I was ever to leave home and pick the van up and forget the mirrors!
And I to only fill up when going on a long trip otherwise it's just £20 now and again , filling a big car up is a lot of weight to be tugging about just running around the town like a few have said.

Craig

 

[MichaelE]

50kg weight reduction will give a 1% improvement in mpg which will give you a 0.5 more miles per gallon @ 50mpg. 50kg is about the weight of around 12 gallons of diesel and given that is the sort of amount of fuel most tänks hold then the saving is more like 0.25mpg. Life's too short.

This depends on the weight of your vehicle? If you have a city car or a heavy 2500kgs car like your Disco 50kgs wont make any difference with your car?

 

[ProfJohnL]

In the grand scheme of things the difference between topping a fuel tank or only part filling it in terms of better mpg is minimal, and for many of the reasons already given will so small that the improvement will be swamped and not measurable for most drivers. The daily differences in traffic densities and weather conditions will have a greater effect on fuel economy!

I would be surprised if any normal driver could prove there is a real fuel saving to be made over a years driving.

You will save much more by slowing down and not speeding. By not using the car and walking to the local shop, by choosing to not drive in the rush hour, turning the engine off when waiting for passengers to get in.

And you will save money, if you only use fuel stations on your route and not searching for those off route who might be 1 or 2 pence per litre cheaper. Even the most frugal ic cars still cost 10p or more in fuel per mile.

I do applaud those who do seek to be ecologically sound, but taken to an impractical extreme seems to be rather a waste of time and as is frequently pointed out effort.

 

[Raywood]

I fill up when I need fuel. I know where it is usually cheapest so do this when passing. I do not see the weight saving by half filling the tank can do more than balance out the cost of the extra trip to refill even if you are passing the petrol station.

 

[panther1]

I fill up when I need fuel. I know where it is usually cheapest so do this when passing. I do not see the weight saving by half filling the tank can do more than balance out the cost of the extra trip to refill even if you are passing the petrol station.

My Dad used to own a filling station when i was a kid in the 70's
someone once asked him how he set his fuel prices, the replied "if I get two taxis filling up on the same day I put a penny on the price as we are obviously too cheap"

which gives me another thought, if fuel goes up a couple of pence the day after you've half filled the tank it must wipe out your savings for the year?

 

[otherclive]

I fill up when I need fuel. I know where it is usually cheapest so do this when passing. I do not see the weight saving by half filling the tank can do more than balance out the cost of the extra trip to refill even if you are passing the petrol station.

What about if the price goes down the day after you've filled the tank. Swings and roundabouts methinks. Please don't say it never goes down on price.

My Dad used to own a filling station when i was a kid in the 70's
someone once asked him how he set his fuel prices, the replied "if I get two taxis filling up on the same day I put a penny on the price as we are obviously too cheap"

which gives me another thought, if fuel goes up a couple of pence the day after you've half filled the tank it must wipe out your savings for the year?

 

[otherclive]

IMO. You would loose all mpg saved by one quick acceleration or being caught at a level crossing for 5 minutes.

Think I'd turn the engine off at the level crossing.

 

[VicMallows]

Having recently spent a good few hours refurbishing my starter motor, I am very conscious of the need to strike a sensible balance between excessive start-stopping and potential fuel saving. My starter is 16 years old ...... but I really wonder how long they (and the batteries) are likely to last on these current cars with 'stop-start' technology. Of course it is not something likely to bother the new-car buyer who only keeps his car for 5 years, or often less.

As for carrying a full tank of fuel .... OK you may not save any significant cash......but an extra 50kg certainly makes my 1.8TD Mondeo significantly more sluggish.

 

[otherclive]

You make a good point about the towing eye
But I can't tell if your serious or not about the fuel consumption?

I've never said that I expect better fuel consumption by not carrying my tow ball around, although as I said above I do carry the tow ball as the car has no rear recovery point once the tow bar is fitted. My comment was a statement of fact that carrying excess weight reduces mpg. Other Posters comments about a quick burst of acceleration are irrelevant as an individuals driving style is their style and that won't be affected by how much weight is in the car.