Towing Aid Used by Many A'van Owners

Do I have a fantastic thing for you! It is called a Towmaster and the firm is in Brisbane. It is a level ride, but more importantly it has discs of brake shoe material incorporated in the design to slow a jack knife. Ah hah you say, as the ball weight should be about 80kgs then there is no need for a level ride and if you are properly loaded then you wont jack knife. Well yes, true up to a point. The Towmaster is fitted only on one side of the A frame, so it does not interfere with the jockey wheel.  The Towmaster goes on the right side of the A frame. Its level ride value is about 70 kgs so it levels the car to where it was before hitching the van.  Good it virtually eliminates nose bob of the van under hard acceleration or braking. The discs are tightened to between a range of values specified, so if you are driving along in the rain wet roads and although you have allowed plenty of room ahead to the next vehicle an emergency happens up, front all cars hard braking skidding crashing into each other, and you have to slam on the anchors, then you will stop in a straight line unit.  You will not jack knife (if the van tried to jack knife the friction of the discs increases stopping any tendency to jack knife) but it does not stop you turning or going round corners or backing up.  You can nearly get the van and the car at right angles without interference.

All in all, do you need it?  Well no, you can do without it, but hey look at it this way, can you do without the airbags and ABS brakes on your car?  Well sure you can, but it's nice to know its there.  In an emergency it keeps your front wheels on maximum contact with the road steering braking and grip and its easy to fit. 30 seconds max. It may very well save your life or your van. Cost 150 dollars. No I don't work for the firm! No I don't get any commission. I just think it is such a fantastic safety item. It was designed for small vans or campers.

Neil Louer

Note: The Australian agents are at Brendale in Queensland - freecall 1 800 777 218 (no name given in their ad?). There is just about zilch on the Internet on this important product! The A'van outlet, Oasis in Victoria have them and Mitch is an expert on hitches ($158 May 2001), Camec in Queensland, Beachside Caravans in Adelaide, Caravan Parts in Perth, Austin's Caravans Somerset in Tassie, and in Sydney try Caravan Accessories - also have an excellent on-site fitting service NOT available Saturday mornings. Lots of info on this subject in the club newsletter, mostly very positive. Page 101 in the May edition of Caravan World has a quarter page add with slightly more info. Sorry we couldn't find a real life picture! Appreciate any member sending in a good photo so we can update this story - Neil is not into photography.
 

I notice you also write about the Towmaster hitch. Although we did not have this brand on our A'liner, we have a Towmaster on our V6 Camry, towing a 1200kg pop-top. We've been all over Tasmania, Victoria and NSW with it - no other word but outstanding. No sway, even at occasional highway speeds, no 'pumping' on the tow bar and it really does transfer weight onto the front wheels in a way that the H-R mini-hitch did not do with the A'liner. After 20k kms with the Towmaster, I thoroughly recommend it.

Tony Andrews