I have a Sunliner Switch motorhome and want to tow a small car behind. I was thinking of an A frame either Ready Brute or Hitch n' Go. Has anyone had experience with either of these. If so can you advise pros and cons. No technical talk though as I am a solo 68yr old female and new to this wonderful life style. Safety is my main concern. Thanks
Aus-Kiwi said
12:26 AM Mar 20, 2016
Seen many on road .. MANY driven by woman .. Talk to the manufacturer of these tow products .. I hear they are VERY good .. The front of towed vehicle needs a slight mod to fit A frame ..
Joe50 said
02:11 AM Mar 20, 2016
Hi Cassie, and a belated welcome to the playground. I tow my Daihatsu Terios (see my avatar) with a Hitch n' Go A-frame. Works fine but it's a bit unwieldly if you want to store the A-frame separately from the motorhome and car, at a guess it weighs about 25-30 kgs. Mine came with a sort of tray which is bolted to the bus's towbar and, with the arms folded together, supports the A-frame when detached from the car but still hitched to the towball.
The reason I went with Hitch n' Go was that there was an agent located in Yeppoon, Queensland, close to where I was living a few months ago. I was initially looking at a system from Saftowing that a former Forum member (Shekon) fitted to her motorhome (see http://thegreynomads.activeboard.com/t58873392/flat-tow-recommendations/?page=1). Unfortunately they are no longer located on the Gold Coast, which would have been handy for me at the time, and they failed to reply to two email enquiries I sent them. The link also includes advice from another much-missed Forum member Billeeeeeee who went for a Gypsy dolly (I'm sure jules47, who graces the dolly in the pics, will help out if you want more info on this solution), and wendyv who went with Ready Brute to tow their Terios.
You need to carefully choose the car you want to tow if you haven't already got one. I went with the Terios mainly for its weight (around 1,100 kgs) but the Suzuki Vitara or Grand Vitara are also popular (a bit larger and weigh around the 1,500 kgs mark). So it will depend on the towing capacity of your motorhome and A-frame (my Hitch n' Go is rated at 1,900 kgs). Another thing to look at is the transmission of the car you want to tow - they generally need to be manuals but some of the Suzukis can be either manual or auto depending on their configuration - any reputable installer of the A-frame should be able to advise which models are suitable.
As Aus-Kiwi said, the towed vehicle needs to have a mounting plate fitted to the front subframe which has the attaching points for the A-frame - they are custom made for the popular models and should be part of the overall installation.
Good luck with whatever you choose, and keep asking questions if you need to.
Joe
woolman said
11:17 AM Mar 20, 2016
My advice is to check with your state licencing dept. In WA they interpret the Australian rules to mean that the untit ( motor home and car) must be inspected and passed as it is deemed to be a vehicle modification. One import issue the motor home must be 3.5 times the weight of car, regardless of towing capacity.
I believe not all states are enforcing this rule change (yet). In WA it was made retrospective so being legal foe 8 years meant nothing.
Neil
dragonfly1 said
02:00 PM Mar 20, 2016
Hi
we have a sunliner eclipse and tow a Suzuki swift with a hitch and go easy to hook up and no problems towing just don't try reversing it though the Gold Coast dealer made us a tow bar to suit and fitted it all up I think it cost about $3000 at the time
if you have a fiat you will need a special wiring loom that cost about $500 fitted by fiat dealer
Dragonfly1
PeterD said
12:11 AM Mar 21, 2016
Cassie9 wrote:
No technical talk though as I am a solo 68yr old female and new to this wonderful life style. Safety is my main concern. Thanks
I'm afraid you will have to get into the technical side of things. I see you are a NSW resident. You will have to be aware of VSI-41-guidelines-for-a-frame-towing.pdf
Cassie9 said
09:33 PM Mar 22, 2016
Thanks all for your advice. My Sunliner is on a renault. Obviously I will have to do more research. I was thinking of a manual suzuki swift or little getz. Thanks again and hope to meet lots of grey nomads.
ShortNorth said
11:15 PM Mar 22, 2016
A couple of trips back I saw a medium size motorhome at Boyds Bay (Tweed Heads) - they had a SmartForTwo attached. I asked why the Smart - her reply was "it is under 750kg, so it does not have to have the complication of remote braking from the motorhome" - sounds like a good option to me !
I have a Sunliner Switch motorhome and want to tow a small car behind. I was thinking of an A frame either Ready Brute or Hitch n' Go. Has anyone had experience with either of these. If so can you advise pros and cons. No technical talk though as I am a solo 68yr old female and new to this wonderful life style. Safety is my main concern. Thanks
Hi Cassie, and a belated welcome to the playground. I tow my Daihatsu Terios (see my avatar) with a Hitch n' Go A-frame. Works fine but it's a bit unwieldly if you want to store the A-frame separately from the motorhome and car, at a guess it weighs about 25-30 kgs. Mine came with a sort of tray which is bolted to the bus's towbar and, with the arms folded together, supports the A-frame when detached from the car but still hitched to the towball.
The reason I went with Hitch n' Go was that there was an agent located in Yeppoon, Queensland, close to where I was living a few months ago. I was initially looking at a system from Saftowing that a former Forum member (Shekon) fitted to her motorhome (see http://thegreynomads.activeboard.com/t58873392/flat-tow-recommendations/?page=1). Unfortunately they are no longer located on the Gold Coast, which would have been handy for me at the time, and they failed to reply to two email enquiries I sent them. The link also includes advice from another much-missed Forum member Billeeeeeee who went for a Gypsy dolly (I'm sure jules47, who graces the dolly in the pics, will help out if you want more info on this solution), and wendyv who went with Ready Brute to tow their Terios.
You need to carefully choose the car you want to tow if you haven't already got one. I went with the Terios mainly for its weight (around 1,100 kgs) but the Suzuki Vitara or Grand Vitara are also popular (a bit larger and weigh around the 1,500 kgs mark). So it will depend on the towing capacity of your motorhome and A-frame (my Hitch n' Go is rated at 1,900 kgs). Another thing to look at is the transmission of the car you want to tow - they generally need to be manuals but some of the Suzukis can be either manual or auto depending on their configuration - any reputable installer of the A-frame should be able to advise which models are suitable.
As Aus-Kiwi said, the towed vehicle needs to have a mounting plate fitted to the front subframe which has the attaching points for the A-frame - they are custom made for the popular models and should be part of the overall installation.
Good luck with whatever you choose, and keep asking questions if you need to.
Joe
My advice is to check with your state licencing dept. In WA they interpret the Australian rules to mean that the untit ( motor home and car) must be inspected and passed as it is deemed to be a vehicle modification. One import issue the motor home must be 3.5 times the weight of car, regardless of towing capacity.
I believe not all states are enforcing this rule change (yet). In WA it was made retrospective so being legal foe 8 years meant nothing.
Neil
Hi
we have a sunliner eclipse and tow a Suzuki swift with a hitch and go easy to hook up and no problems towing just don't try reversing it though the Gold Coast dealer made us a tow bar to suit and fitted it all up I think it cost about $3000 at the time
if you have a fiat you will need a special wiring loom that cost about $500 fitted by fiat dealer
Dragonfly1
I'm afraid you will have to get into the technical side of things. I see you are a NSW resident. You will have to be aware of VSI-41-guidelines-for-a-frame-towing.pdf
A couple of trips back I saw a medium size motorhome at Boyds Bay (Tweed Heads) - they had a SmartForTwo attached. I asked why the Smart - her reply was "it is under 750kg, so it does not have to have the complication of remote braking from the motorhome" - sounds like a good option to me !