Front tow bar

cruisaderhilton · Senior Member

Front tow bar

Fringe Dweller · Senior Member

I reckon you would have to "do it yourself". A bolt on type , on , off , for the occasion.
I have seen em , but they are not on , on road vehicles , hence , bolt on , off.
scenario . Get home , bolt on front tow bar , switcheroo on th ends , nose down the drive . Unbolt front towbar.
Yes . Bolt it on reasonably Sturdy , with at least 2 1/2" bolts , tight enough to stop from slipping.
BUT . What I would do . Keep backing in . USE Low range . I Use low range ALL the time for reversing .
If necessary , take a couple of bites to get around , it looks like you have the room . Use it for practice ,
of when you have to back into tight places.
I have been backing road trains for over forty yrs . And yes I still practice reversing box trailers & my van.
Yes , I'm good at it , but I have not graduated yet.

Inland_Sailor · Veteran Member

Yep, seen plenty, often used for launching and retrieving boats at ramps. Usually they're offset to the left hand side so the driver can look down the side of the trailer. Probably easier if you vehicle has a bull bar as a HR type receiver can be incorporated into the bar, then the hitch can be easily attached and removed with the locking pin. The bull bar option probably get around any air bag issues as well.

Ole Grizzly · Senior Member

G'day....am not 100% sure of this, but do believe that any protrusion from front of vehicle is frowned upon. Only know of this one incident, and possibly made worse because of the arguement with policeman..lol

In SA for intance, a friend with Bull Bar and fishing pole tubes attached front his vehicle ended up with a 'defect notice' by inspector as they were a danger to pedestrians..so tow ball in a permanent fit may also be same defect....probably ok to attach and remove once finished parking up van/trailer.

Cheers.

Inland_Sailor · Veteran Member

Ole Grizzly wrote:
G'day....am not 100% sure of this, but do believe that any protrusion from front of vehicle is frowned upon. Only know of this one incident, and possibly made worse because of the arguement with policeman..lol
In SA for intance, a friend with Bull Bar and fishing pole tubes attached front his vehicle ended up with a 'defect notice' by inspector as they were a danger to pedestrians..so tow ball in a permanent fit may also be same defect....probably ok to attach and remove once finished parking up van/trailer.
Cheers.

Hence, the recommendation that a HR style receiver be incorporated into the bull bar. To that end, the receiver does not protrude forward of the bar itself, with just a 50mm square seen in the front of the bumper section of bull bar itself. The pin is located from the top/rear of the bar. It's probably a "special option" available from the usual manufacturers of bull bars, but any decent fabrication business could do the mod to any standard bull bar!!

BTW Cruisader, it a top part of Aus up there on the Atherton@

-- Edited by Inland_Sailor on Tuesday 7th of February 2017 04:10:59 PM

Ron-D · Guru

Yeah probably ileagal in most cases home made, and from what I have seen very solid,but there not for towing just manovering the van into a slot...

Diane1 · Veteran Member

Hi. Years ago we used to bolt a ballm on front nearside of bumper on the LandRovers so we could see down the drivers side of van as we backed it anywhere. If people were to bolt an extention box sect to chassis rail that would act as a socket for hitch and ball. They could do same thing. THEY ARE A LOT EASIER THAT WAY and steering from front a quicker reaction to the wheels turning..

Inland_Sailor · Veteran Member

Here's a link to an off the shelf product, click on "further info" for a video.

www.unsealed4x4.com.au/powerful-4x4-front-tow-bull-bar/

Otherwise Google

- Hitch receiver incorporated into the bull bar

and

- front tow bars australia

-- Edited by Inland_Sailor on Tuesday 7th of February 2017 06:24:40 PM

RobandFlip · Senior Member

Hi, we have one on our dodge Ram but it came with the vehicle. Maybe a dealer who sells them can suggest how to mount/attach one to your vehicle. Yes, it does come in handy occasionally but find one needs a guide at the rear of the van with a UHF radio to instruct the driver as the rear camera on the van only works with normal towing mode.
cheers,
Robyn