As a family, we love to drive off and go camping for weekends, or weeks at a time. We mostly keep it really simple, a tent, sleeping bags and a car full of provisions. Last year though, for a change, we decided to rent a caravan and do it that way. Not having a towbar on the jeep, I clearly needed to get one installed.
With this in mind, I took the jeep down to the professionals at All Vehicle Accessories (AVA) to get a towbar installed. Initially I wanted the cheapest model I could find, the less I spent here, the more I could spend on the caravan. I am glad I talked to the guys though, in their experience they showed me the folly of my ways.
They were actually pretty good about it. What they did was show me the nominal cost increments between cheap and expensive towbars. They pointed out that this piece of equipment was all that was protecting whatever it was I was towing. In my case, obviously I wanted to tow the caravan on the trip we were taking. But I also intended buying some bike racks as my wife loves triathlon. Bike racks would be really helpful on those early morning trips into the hills for a training session.
Having compiled my list, we discussed the cost of the items we were going to tow. Our bikes (two of them) are worth about $6,000 all up. Mine isn't all that valuable, but my wife, boy she spent a mint on hers. Such is her love for the triathlon.
I had no idea how much caravans cost to buy so I had to look it up. Boy they are expensive. The cheapest I could find was $5000 and I have to say, it was pretty ordinary. I found many nice ones well in excess of $100,000. That's a crazy lot of money to trust to a cheap towbar.
I was convinced. I had to change my attitude toward this towbar. If I was going to pay the money regardless, I may as well have it done properly. Instead of finding a cheap towbar, I realised I needed to find a quality towbar. Paying the few extra dollars didn't matter anymore, when taken in perspective with the items being towed.
Having a better idea of what I was looking for made the product choice a little bit easier. For example, did you know that Hayman Reece are the only towbar that comes with a lifetime warranty anywhere in Australia. Personally I think this speaks volumes for the quality of their products. They are clearly the only brand which fully trusts their own product. The great thing about Hayman Reece towbars too ,are the accessories you can get with them. They have accessories which make their towbars safer and work better with your vehicle.
To start with, they have a Weight Distribution Hitch which will take the extra money you spent on the towbar and hitch, and put it right back into your pocket with fuel savings. That's right, it makes the trailer work better with your vehicle. It does this by reducing the ball weight on the towbar and therefore drag. Less drag means your vehicle drives easier, giving it better efficiency and a lower consumption of fuel. Sometimes you just need to spend a bit to save.
The second feature was their Sway Control accessory. Have you ever been driving behind a caravan which, when a truck drives past, swerves all over the road? The sway control accessory stops this. Given my family are going to be sitting in the car pulling my caravan, this is a safety feature I definitely wanted. They are just too precious to me.
Its good when you go to an auto store and the professionals there actually give you advice, help you get past your preconceived ideas and make a better decision. I'm certainly glad the guys at AVA helped me see sense when it came to my towbar.
With this in mind, I took the jeep down to the professionals at All Vehicle Accessories (AVA) to get a towbar installed. Initially I wanted the cheapest model I could find, the less I spent here, the more I could spend on the caravan. I am glad I talked to the guys though, in their experience they showed me the folly of my ways.
They were actually pretty good about it. What they did was show me the nominal cost increments between cheap and expensive towbars. They pointed out that this piece of equipment was all that was protecting whatever it was I was towing. In my case, obviously I wanted to tow the caravan on the trip we were taking. But I also intended buying some bike racks as my wife loves triathlon. Bike racks would be really helpful on those early morning trips into the hills for a training session.
Having compiled my list, we discussed the cost of the items we were going to tow. Our bikes (two of them) are worth about $6,000 all up. Mine isn't all that valuable, but my wife, boy she spent a mint on hers. Such is her love for the triathlon.
I had no idea how much caravans cost to buy so I had to look it up. Boy they are expensive. The cheapest I could find was $5000 and I have to say, it was pretty ordinary. I found many nice ones well in excess of $100,000. That's a crazy lot of money to trust to a cheap towbar.
I was convinced. I had to change my attitude toward this towbar. If I was going to pay the money regardless, I may as well have it done properly. Instead of finding a cheap towbar, I realised I needed to find a quality towbar. Paying the few extra dollars didn't matter anymore, when taken in perspective with the items being towed.
Having a better idea of what I was looking for made the product choice a little bit easier. For example, did you know that Hayman Reece are the only towbar that comes with a lifetime warranty anywhere in Australia. Personally I think this speaks volumes for the quality of their products. They are clearly the only brand which fully trusts their own product. The great thing about Hayman Reece towbars too ,are the accessories you can get with them. They have accessories which make their towbars safer and work better with your vehicle.
To start with, they have a Weight Distribution Hitch which will take the extra money you spent on the towbar and hitch, and put it right back into your pocket with fuel savings. That's right, it makes the trailer work better with your vehicle. It does this by reducing the ball weight on the towbar and therefore drag. Less drag means your vehicle drives easier, giving it better efficiency and a lower consumption of fuel. Sometimes you just need to spend a bit to save.
The second feature was their Sway Control accessory. Have you ever been driving behind a caravan which, when a truck drives past, swerves all over the road? The sway control accessory stops this. Given my family are going to be sitting in the car pulling my caravan, this is a safety feature I definitely wanted. They are just too precious to me.
Its good when you go to an auto store and the professionals there actually give you advice, help you get past your preconceived ideas and make a better decision. I'm certainly glad the guys at AVA helped me see sense when it came to my towbar.
About the Author:
Damian Papworth leaned not to scrimp and save when purchasing tow bars. Go with robustness and quality every time.
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