s'up. Has anyone ever used a towing pole for long distances? In theory I guess it's no different to towing with a trailer except there's no trailer. what would people recomend though, one with a towing hitch, or one that links the towing eyes together? I'm guessing I need someone to steer the car too right? I mean it wont steer itself.

Edited 18 June, 201313 yr by prankstar2003

Who ever is in the towed car I feel for them, it's horrible, you will need someone to steer though, and brake at the right times ect

If it's a rigid pole surely braking isn't required? I'm not sure I can safely tow the car such a long distance with someone in it.

A-frame?

If it's a rigid pole surely braking isn't required?

Of course braking is required, the pole won't stop it the safest method for long distance towing would be an A frame or a dolly which lifts both front wheels off the ground or of course a proper trailer

You can do a lot of braking from the front car....

I've towed a 6n from warrington to chesterfield in my volvo c30 on a solid bar, it wasn't the nicest experience but it wouldn't put me off doing it again.

If it's a rigid pole surely braking isn't required?

Of course braking is required, the pole won't stop it the safest method for long distance towing would be an A frame or a dolly which lifts both front wheels off the ground or of course a proper trailer

Well if they are solidly attached then essentially they act as one vehicle, or am I being mega dense

Anyway, i'll be about a 150 mile round trip mostly on the motorway. How do the A frames 'work' then. Do they still need a driver?

The person in the towed vehicle only needs to steer they don't brake as like said above once there connect then they become one. As for towing on motorways I'm not sure you can would be worth looking in to that I think u can be towed off but thats it. And the bar should have a shock absorber in it aswell so makes the experience better for bother tower and the guy steering

Most of the rigid bars just clip onto the tow hook/eye on both cars so they are not rigidly connected, A frames normally connect to the front crossmember or tca's some connect to the bumper mounts on older cars but you don't need a driver with them, they are often used with large motorhomes to tow a run around car

I use a Clarke tow bar with a damper in the middle, I've only towed cars to scrap but they never have any brakes what so ever, its only a few miles but it didn't matter. The pain is when the tow eyes are opposite sides, makes all kinds of weird noises & the steering is a little more difficult for the man behind.

Straight bars are meant for local recovery of a breakdown only, yeah, I've done distance with them, but it's not a good idea.

You do need someone in the car behind, they do need to steer (so they do need their steering lock off). Braking depends a bit really, It's easier if the lead car does all the braking, but it goes down to the balance of weight and braking power (eg if I'm pulling a Polo with a Polo, I'm going to need help stopping.

Realistically, if it's going a long way, don't take the chance, get it on a flatbed.

I found if you don't brake it just pushes the front car alot, same with pulling away if there's any slack in it

I towed my red saloon back from clitheroe on a clake damped towing bar using the audi cab with nick steering the saloon. It made bad noises and it didn't do the towing eyes any good (if you're bothered about damaging the paint on them)

If you keep the bar perfectly straight, theoretically the front car can stop the rear unaided, but the bar is rarely perfectly straight. I tried to avoid braking at all. Had to go through a just gone red light at one point, it wasn't worth trying to stop.

the plod will go west if your driving a car on a towpole for any thing other than an emergency, on the motorway.

the car as it has all wheels on the road, will need tax, mot and insurance, as would the driver in the towed car, need to be insured for said car.

go on shiply and get a quote off there, probably not looking at more than 60-70 quid

Iv been had by police for towing and managed to rack up 3 points so ill say this... if the car is on a bsr its no difrent to a rope.. so aslog as all 4 whees on the ground the car has to be road legal as tax mot and the person behinf the wheel needs to be insured for the vehicle. As for a dolly or a a frame that lifts the wheels up of thegrounf thecar no longer has to be road legal as the wheels arnt touching the floor the vwhicle is classed as a trailer so you HAVE to make sure your licence entitles you to tow what the laoden weight of the vehicle is... if youndont follow these rules police can and most lickly slap u with 3 points and impound both of your vehicles. As for braking on a bar your toaght that you should allways use thecar from behind to brake so theres no risk of the bar folding or twisti its way into tha back of your wehicle. I had to go to court on this and take a advance trailor course... so itsnwprth checking up if not it will workmout cheaper to hire some one to fetch thecar on a truck... orrrrrr if you have brake down cover go to the vehicle do somethig so it litterly wont start et the recpver people to come and fetch your car while you follow in your own... :)

you can't tow a mk2/f polo with an a frame properly as they are designed for cars with a wishbone set up you can but its likley to bend somthing as i've experienced LMAO :lol: :lol:

Only got so far down so If someone has already answered this then I apologise for the repetitiveness. While both cars essentially become one when you use a rigid bar surely someone breaking in the car being towed wouldn't be a bad thing as surely the increased weight would greatly increase your stopping distances?

Also out of curiosity what car are you using to tow. Has anyone ever towed a car with their polo? Was looking at another car the same size as my 6n2 polo and was thinking of towing it with my 6n2. Ordinarily I wouldn't attempt it with a petrol variant, but thought seeing as I have the derv, what with the torque etc I thought hmmmmmm I wonder. Could anyone possibly shed any towing experiences with loads as big as the car that is doing the towing :p

I've towed Mk 2's and 3's with a Mk2 a few times. I most definitely appreciated the help when it came to stopping!

Mk2 Polo behind a 3 tonne Transit, frankly, you don't know, notice, or care if the car behind is braking or not.

3 tonne transit behind a Mk2 Polo is a story for a whole other time.

Who ever is in the transported car I experience for them, it's awful, you will need someone to guide though, and braking mechanism at the right time of the ect .

Get a car rental services for vacations

Edited 13 June, 201313 yr by Jackobjason

As I said before^ it is awful.

It happened, Karl will vouch for me on that.

There's no proper wa to A-frame a mk1-3 due to the lack of proper wishbones. The best I can find is to run the chains over the bottom arms then wrap them once round the arb, but you have to be really careful that the chains are tigh between the bottom arm and the arb as you won't be able to wind them up tight on the straps so you will be pulling over every two minutes.. Its by no means 'proper', but its the only way I have ever found that works.

will there be a video if you do it? or can we come watch?

I should have access to a trailer now and it won't be going as far (only across town).

its a bit of an odd question but i was just wondering if the person in the towed car has to have a liscence? and does the car have to be insured, taxed and tested? :)

So i have access to a car trailer now and was wondering if anyone knew the towing weight limit of a 9n? The trailer weighs around 500Kg and the car being moved is totally stripped. No engine, glass, interior, lights etc. Just metal and suspension. By my rekoning its no more than a ton gross. I'm not sure the trailer is braked, so lets assume its not. I'm not going far and there's no major hills en route. Thoughts?