Towing a-frame?

i got one off the bay, its the t1ts! very handy.

I paid £100 BIN for mine, its a proper Solomatic one, bit old and scruffy-looking though.

Used before on two cars..... worked fine.

Not sure about mr Plod and co ......

I can also vouch for plums's one! It's bloody super! And got me out of a very sticky situation! Something I am STILL very grateful for

A mate's A-frame has saved my ar$e a few times

Can be a bit dodgy legally as has been said.

I lifted this from the National Trailer and Towing Association site :

An A-frame or dolly can only be used to recover a broken down vehicle to a place of safety. Transporting a car is, therefore, illegal. A-frames may be offered with a braking system that applies the car's brakes. These do not conform to the law as the car then becomes a "braked trailer" and has to conform to European Directives contained within the Construction and Use Regulations. It does not conform to the European Directive 71/320/EEC and amendments regarding braking requirements in any way. The use of this A-frame for transportation is illegal. It is still OK for use to recover a vehicle to a place of safety.

i think, if you follow a few simple rules you'll get no hassle of the DFR's;

1) the towed car must not look like a total deathtrap/like its been in a swamp for 40 years
2) you're not trying to tow something bigger or heavier than your towing car
3) you've got a decent fully operational trailer board with the proper reg plate on

if you do that lot i reckon you'll be fine.

curse word.

As said, techically they're illegal. Some people recon the towed car has to be motd taxed and insured, others ive asked say not. The towed car definately needs to have legal tyres.

Like Mr B said, aslong as the car being towed isnt falling to bits then the Vosa and police will probably turn a blind eye. If they do pull you for something like defective tyres then they may "remember" everything thats illegal about them and bust you. Another problem is that if youre involved in an accident the insurance may not pay up and you could be prosecuted for using a vehicle on the highway otherwise than in accodrance of blah blah blah or similar plus being uninsured due to invalidating it towing with an A frame.

That said, id definately use one!

Thats a scary story Alistair! Every time ive towed ive been overweight. Remember they go off the maximum gross weight of the trailer, not the actual weight. If its a 2 ton trailer you get done for it weighing 2 tons even if it only weighs 500kgs empty. My old volvo estate had a maximum tow weight of 1800kgs. In reality my trailer weighed 1 ton, if I put a car on that weighed 1.5 tons I'm already overloading the trailer by 500kgs and exceeding the cars maximum towing weight by 700kgs. The volvo pulled the trailer no problems but If I ever got pulled...... Even if they didnt send me over the weighbridge to check the total weight of the trailer they can still check the manufactueres plates on the car and the trailer to see I'm atleast 200kgs overweight.

The amount of times ive towed with a bulging tyre or faulty tail light. Brakes would almost certainly need to be adjusted to work properly too. Saying that every time the police have sailed past me car and trailer with just a curious glance. Maybe it wasnt worth their paperwork. The only time ive been pulled the trailer was being towed by my mates lorry and the police pulled us over on the m6 and told us we had a blowlout. We hadnt spotted it and the police protected me with his car as I changed the wheel. He pointed out another tyre was bulged, gave my mate a producer and let us go after telling us to get a numberplate made for the trailer!

Saying about farm trailers, arnt they exempt from just about everythng? don't need lights or brakes e.t.c?