Hi there

Just bought a towbar from Anker towbars for my Shogun Pinin. Just read their safety sticker on the towbar and it states that there is a vertical load limit of 60kg. Does this mean I can't legally use my bike rack on it. My Rev 4 is 75kg and my rack is probably another 5kg making it 80kg in total. I've got a similar mounted towbar on my VW Transporter but never even noticed any load limit when fitting it. Any ideas ? Are there towbars with greater limits available for my car or is 60kg the normal vertical load limit and people just ignore this warning ? The fixings certainly look substantial enough to take the weight.

Gareth

pick the sticker off ,get the bike loaded up and in the unlikely event you get pulled just act daft

pick the sticker off ,get the bike loaded up and in the unlikely event you get pulled just act daft

I told Mr Plod that my bike weighed 65 Kg and he didn't bat an eyelid , Well he was hardly gonna take it off and weigh it was he ?

Hi there

Just bought a towbar from Anker towbars for my Shogun Pinin. Just read their safety sticker on the towbar and it states that there is a vertical load limit of 60kg. Does this mean I can't legally use my bike rack on it. My Rev 4 is 75kg and my rack is probably another 5kg making it 80kg in total. I've got a similar mounted towbar on my VW Transporter but never even noticed any load limit when fitting it. Any ideas ? Are there towbars with greater limits available for my car or is 60kg the normal vertical load limit and people just ignore this warning ? The fixings certainly look substantial enough to take the weight.

Gareth

Don't worry about, it really doesn't matter, UNTIL YOU HAVE AN ACCIDENT.

Given that most M8 bolts take well over 60kg in double shear...I'd say the 2-off M20's fitted to your towbar should be ok!!

Dom

Hi, Have a really close look at you car owner's manual.

My Honda CRV towbar came with a sticker on the towbar that says maximum vertical load is just 50kg. Yet if you go into the manual, the figure quoted by the car manufacturer is 100KG. Why the discrepancy I asked? The Dealer couldn't (be bothered to) help me.

Because the car manufacturer states that up to 100KG is acceptable we can rule out too much weight on the back of the vehicle making the nose of the car light as a valid reason.

That leaves the structural integrity of the mounting system and the tow bar and whether the fixings are substantial enough to take the weight. If you stand on the bar, I doubt that the weight of an adult male over stresses it. If it did you wouldn't feel safe towing anything with it! When I stand on the bar with my 90KG weight (40KG over the limit) it makes no impression on the structure. There's no cracking, bending or sign of impending catastrophic failure!!! Therefor, I can only assume that the 50Kg limit is an overly safe, cover-your-a***, arbitrarily low limit set by the local distributor and tow bar manufacturer.

The bad news is, as raised by other posters, is that in the case of an accident Mr Plod and Mr No Claims may choose to use view your 'abuse' of the tow bar loading as being reason enough and not pay out on insurance. Should this ever happen, you could argue- depending upon the weight specified in the car owner's manual - that you were in fact within Manufacturer's specs. Ross

Edited March 29, 201115 yr by Ross Brown

If you stand on the bar, I doubt that the weight of an adult male over stresses it. If it did you wouldn't feel safe towing anything with it! When I stand on the bar with my 90KG weight (40KG over the limit) it makes no impression on the structure.

Try jumping on it, that may be a more accurate representation of the loads transferred during a typical journey.

The force transferred when pulling a trailer are completely different to those described above.

Edited March 29, 201115 yr by B40RT

Don't worry about, it really doesn't matter, UNTIL YOU HAVE AN ACCIDENT.

I love all of your cavalier attitudes but I think Im going to return it. I really don't fancy sharing a cell with some idiot after Im taken down on a manslaughter charge after my beta ploughs into a school bus when the towbar snaps. Just found a towbar for the car with a 90kg limit so that will do. I thought all towbars would have the same limits. I hope I get a refund on the old one as the limit wasn't advertised.

I love all of your cavalier attitudes but I think Im going to return it. I really don't fancy sharing a cell with some idiot after Im taken down on a manslaughter charge after my beta ploughs into a school bus when the towbar snaps. Just found a towbar for the car with a 90kg limit so that will do. I thought all towbars would have the same limits. I hope I get a refund on the old one as the limit wasn't advertised.

Ok - finally some considered advice from someone who used to manufacture racks. The nose weight on the bar is that which is dictated by the manufacturer of that bar (and they will vary - its their choice to state what they calculate / guesstimate the max load to be imparted onto their product )

The figure quoted by the vehicle manufacturer is the MAXIMUM they allow the vehicle to be loaded upto in this specific area. The fact that this will have a safety margin of possibly x3 is irrelevant - but its this x3 margin that we eat into to physically allow bikes to be carried on vehicles on racks.

The issues here are legality - (who actually knows ?) Who wants to be the laws test case ? No me neither ! The loading that a rear mounted bike imparts in a static manner or "if you jump up and down on the tow bar" - type of idiotic comment / test IN NO WAY represents the real life loadings a moving vehicle hitting whoops and bumps out on the PUBLIC ROADS ! These dynamic loads are higher than you can imagine and over time will translate to flex / twist and other stresses of the towbar neck - and this is where you could get problems.

Additionally the rear end dynamic loadings encountered can act as leverage and cause 'lift' to the front of the vehicle - making steering light - with the dangers this can cause. Its this aspect a traffic cop worth his salt will be most concerned about.

My opinion ? Use a trailer and be totally safe!

Edited March 29, 201115 yr by Scoobydo

I would check the motor manufacturers spec here. As stated above the M8 bolts will certainly do the job but make sure you're not exceeding the maximum load for the car. All very well buying a rack that's rated to 100kgs but the car manufacturer specs a maximum of 50kgs.

Edited March 30, 201115 yr by TooFastTim

Ah modern living ..wonderfull

20 years ago, I used a bike rack on my 1.6GL Mk 3 Escort in conjunction with a TY250R Mono (about 85kg) - made for interesting driving............soon bought a Klinn 2 bike trailer

I love all of your cavalier attitudes but I think Im going to return it.

The loading that a rear mounted bike imparts in a static manner or "if you jump up and down on the tow bar" - type of idiotic comment / test IN NO WAY represents the real life loadings a moving vehicle hitting whoops and bumps out on the PUBLIC ROADS !

I'm actually sorry I bothered to reply, it was a warning about the outcome in the event of an accident.

Jumping up and down on either end of the rack would almost certainly damage it, or the car, thus proving

beyond doubt its unsuitability.

Sometimes if you put things in simple terms, people understand.

I'm actually sorry I bothered to reply, it was a warning about the outcome in the event of an accident.

Jumping up and down on either end of the rack would almost certainly damage it, or the car, thus proving

beyond doubt its unsuitability.

Sometimes if you put things in simple terms, people understand.

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