Toeing Dolly A Frame

[garethbowers]

Has anyone had any experiance with these by anychance? Would i be able to use one with my 2b do you think?

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RECOVERY-FRAME-TOWIN...#ht_1057wt_1165

 

Regards Gareth

[Guest marsbar]

Hi I borrowed a simaler thing to tow a kit car back to mine, workrd OK, but there are problems with them and the Old Bill'

The weight of the car should not exceed 750kg or else they have to have brakes , and they are only supposed to be for a car that has broken down.

Towing a Kit Car would alert the Boys in Blue and you know they do not have a sense of humour!

[Guest Colin]

 

 

 

You are wrong. They can be used to tow a vehicle at any time; the vehicle does not have to be broken down.

 

I used an A frame that I made myself to tow my stock car to and from race meetings. Never had any bother until one night on the way home a wheel came off the stock car whilst towing it along the motorway; I had to walk for over a mile to retrieve the wheel and walk the mile back.

 

It seems to be a bit of a grey area this , I was towing my sons drag car with an A frame similar to this one down the A19 when a motorway patrol car pulled me over and informed me that what I was doing was illegal, as the car I was pulling was really not road worthy ,it had a steel mesh grid for a window plus a few other things and had never been taxed or licenced we did though have a light board on the back, he told me that iff I had had the front wheels off the ground it would have been OK anyway I had 20 miles to go and he was kind enough to let me go, mayby the enforcer can put us all right. This was a few years ago and the laws might have changed since then.

 

Colin

[Guest mower man]

Hi just my 2p's worth the item in the ad is not a dolly it is an A frame ,if they are illegal how can the RAC ,AA still use them? .A dolly has its own axle ,so the car to be transported has to be jacked up and the dolly placed under the car whichis then lowered onto it and secured Ibelieve that it must have it's own braking system ,Next is the spec lift , the vehicle to be transported is driven or pushed on to it secured and then the frame is lifted hydraulicly taking either front or rear wheels off the ground,legally ask at your local HGV test centre it is a minefield bewarned!!¬!! HTH mower man

[Guest bob13]

The way i understand it is, if all 4 wheels of the car are on the ground it has to be road legal, tax and insurance etc. If with 2 wheels off the ground then it classed more of a trailer than a car so trailer rules apply, towing weight etc.

 

But in both cases i would imagine towing weight for a un braked trailer should apply. But i think that towing on the motorway with all 4 wheels on the ground except for removal after a breakdown is illegal.

[Guest dinger]

Hi just my 2p's worth the item in the ad is not a dolly it is an A frame ,if they are illegal how can the RAC ,AA still use them? .A dolly has its own axle ,so the car to be transported has to be jacked up and the dolly placed under the car whichis then lowered onto it and secured Ibelieve that it must have it's own braking system ,Next is the spec lift , the vehicle to be transported is driven or pushed on to it secured and then the frame is lifted hydraulicly taking either front or rear wheels off the ground,legally ask at your local HGV test centre it is a minefield bewarned!!¬!! HTH mower man

 

Just to confirm the law on this "A frame"

 

Only used your post mower man as it had most of the relevant infomation,

 

As an RAC patrol I can confirm that neither the RAC or the AA use A frames anymore, this stopped some years back as they are too dangerous and can damage the steering components, You could use this A frame for any vehicle upto the maximum unbraked towing capacity of the towing vehicle, I dont think you would get it under a 2b or even any kit car as it clamps on the bottom of the front wishbones, Also as the 2b doesnt self center that great this could be an issue as it needs to follow the towing vehicle and steer itself,

 

On a legal view, Any vehicle which is left with contact to the ground must be broken down otherwise an operators licence is required, The towed vehicle must also be fully road legal, Tax, insurance and mot,

 

As someone else said, it is a grey area but if a trafic policeman sees you and knows the law well, you could end up in court for no tax, insurance and mot because the towed vehicle is the sole resposibility of the person driving the towing vehicle,

 

Hence why breakdown companies will not recover vehicle without road fund licence,

 

I hope that clears a few things up?

 

Cheers

Dave

[garethbowers]

Just to confirm the law on this "A frame"

 

Only used your post mower man as it had most of the relevant infomation,

 

As an RAC patrol I can confirm that neither the RAC or the AA use A frames anymore, this stopped some years back as they are too dangerous and can damage the steering components, You could use this A frame for any vehicle upto the maximum unbraked towing capacity of the towing vehicle, I dont think you would get it under a 2b or even any kit car as it clamps on the bottom of the front wishbones, Also as the 2b doesnt self center that great this could be an issue as it needs to follow the towing vehicle and steer itself,

 

On a legal view, Any vehicle which is left with contact to the ground must be broken down otherwise an operators licence is required, The towed vehicle must also be fully road legal, Tax, insurance and mot,

 

As someone else said, it is a grey area but if a trafic policeman sees you and knows the law well, you could end up in court for no tax, insurance and mot because the towed vehicle is the sole resposibility of the person driving the towing vehicle,

 

Hence why breakdown companies will not recover vehicle without road fund licence,

 

I hope that clears a few things up?

 

Cheers

Dave

 

Cheers for all the replies guys. The problem is, i have to get my 2b 50 mile away. I havent got the 200notes hss want for a trailer at the mo. Would it be acceptable to tow a vehicle using a ridgid tow bar to an MOT test center then?

[Guest dinger]

Have a chat with a local recovery company, we offer a private recovery for unroadworthy vehicles upto 50 miles for £100. They may even be going that way to collect another vehicle,

 

I'n not familiar with liverpool so couldnt recommend anyone that way.

[Guest julien]

 

 

 

 

You got me wanting to know more about this dilemma. I found a government site with the gospel on trailers and towing.

 

From the horses mouth -

 

Note on A-Frames and Dollies

When an "A" frame is attached to a vehicle (e.g. a motor car) and towed by a motor vehicle (e.g. motorhome) we believe the "A" frame and car become a single unit and as such are classified in legislation as a trailer. As a consequence the car and A-frame are required to meet the technical requirements for trailers when used on the road in Great Britain. These requirements are contained within the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 (SI 1986/1078) as amended (C&U) and the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 (SI 1989/1796) as amended (RVLR).

Trailers having a combined axle mass not exceeding 750kg are not required to have brakes fitted. However, if the trailer (regardless of mass) is fitted with a braking system, then all brakes in that system must operate correctly. The regulations do not include design constraints on how this should be achieved but, for example, it could be met by direct linking of the trailer brakes to the brake system of the towing vehicle or by automatic inertia (overrun) operation via the towing hitch. Inertia systems can only be used for trailers with a maximum combined axle mass of 3500kg.

 

The full regulation data is here at Dept of Transport Fact Sheet October 2005

 

.......ive got an a frame used it for years and when my mate borrowed it he wanted to be sure of the rules and regs..and the local inspector from telford police station told him, the A frame and the car become a single unit as a trailer...

[speedtripledan]

Cheers for all the replies guys. The problem is, i have to get my 2b 50 mile away. I havent got the 200notes hss want for a trailer at the mo. Would it be acceptable to tow a vehicle using a ridgid tow bar to an MOT test center then?

I hired a car trailer from my local trailer place last year for barkstone £50 the weekend. 200 seems a bit steep?

[Guest MarkB]

if your going to use a tow rope or straight bar... do not go on the motorway, you cn tow off using them but not tow on... unless legislation has changed again.

 

btw, no disrespect to the majority of our police force... but... you have to remember a hell of a lot of bobbies know nothing about vehicle legislation and vehicle faults, most traffic bobbies should know there stuff as they go on a one week (i think) VOSA course. Youwant to see half the pink slips that get produced to us for faults that are nowt to do with safety or legallity and the amount of so called "bold" tyres... that are actually only worn on the outer or inner edges.

 

just to finish i had a rover come in with a pink slip for a split cvboot...apparantly the wooden top had seen the fault whilst driving behind the vehicle... how he did that i will never know.. because the fella missed 2 bold tyres, 2 front wings with sharp edges caused by major corrosion and windscreen that looked like it had been used for target practice.....

[garethbowers]

Hi there people, this has pretty much cleared things up for me. I have managed to find a car trailer for £40 a day so not bad me thinks.

 

Thanks for all the replies

 

Appreciated