beefing up the tow bar on a vx commodore

[NZ DIY MACHANIC]

Hi all I am wondering if any one has had trouble with their tow bar on a VX commodore ? I towed a small trailer with mine and found the tow bar had bent down a lot. It seems that there is a tab that is welded to the tube running across the car which the tow ball plate bolts to and another tab that bolts to the spare wheel tub and it is bending there, my question is can I make up 2 brackets coming from the tube that goes across the back of the car and weld them to the tube and then to the bracket where the tab is bolted the the spare wheel tub. Is this a feasible solution to my problem. Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

[whitels1ss]

Should not happen with a correct approved tow bar fitted unless it was severely & badly overloaded.

Any modifications to the bar should be fully engineered, it is not something that should be done at home by a do it yourself mechanic.

If it is bending, it could break & cause major safety issues to yourself & others.

Under normal legal loads the bar will not bend, I would not mess around with it, I would just replace it.

[QIKMIK]

Pretty sure there were at least two separate towbar options for VT-VZ. The basic kit with the flat tongue was only good for 1200kg/120kg ball weight. The HD kit was a Hayman Reese product with a beefy box steel tongue good for 2100kg.

Rather than engineering your own solution, it might be worthwhile looking for a factory kit, be it new or from a wrecked car that speared in the front.

Mick

[whitels1ss]

I would expect to see the car's rear end bottomed out or the tow bar ripped off well before I would expect the neck to bend.

What was the total & also ball weights with this "small" trailer on there?


If the neck is bending there is something very wrong.

[Toddler78]

I would expect to see the car's rear end bottomed out or the tow bar ripped off well before I would expect the neck to bend.

What was the total & also ball weights with this "small" trailer on there?


If the neck is bending there is something very wrong.

took the words right out of my mouth