Fixed Flange Towbar for a Small Car in Hot Dip Galvanised

A flange towbar: a light bar for a small car, which will still pull a small trailer and will not pull a caravan, and we would rather say so.

Towing is the one thing you can buy for a car where the wrong part is not merely disappointing. Every towbar listing here states the type approval number, the D value, the maximum noseweight and whether the bumper has to be cut, because those four facts decide whether a bar is legal on your vehicle and whether it will pull what you want to pull. Every electrical listing says plainly whether it is a dedicated loom or a universal one with a bypass relay, and what each will and will not do. We would rather lose a sale to a cheaper part than sell you one that does not fit.

Specification

• Fits: vehicle specific. Send us the registration before you order and we will confirm the exact part number, the approval and whether your car needs the bumper cutting
• Approval: UNECE R55, approved for your make, model, body shape and year. The plate is riveted to the bar. Every car first registered in the UK after 1 August 1998 must be fitted with a type approved towbar, approved for that specific make, model and body shape. The approval number is printed on a plate riveted to the bar and it is stated on every towbar listing on this site. A bar without one is not a cheaper towbar, it is an uninsured one.
• Rating: up to 1675kg gross trailer mass on this bar, and the vehicle handbook figure is usually lower and is the one that binds you
• D value: 6.7 kN. The D value is the measure of how hard a towbar can be pulled. It is worked out from the towing vehicle's maximum mass and the trailer's maximum mass together, in kilonewtons, and the bar's D value has to be equal to or greater than the figure your combination produces. We publish it on every bar and there is a calculator linked from every towbar page.
• Noseweight: 75kg on the bar. Noseweight is the downward load the trailer puts on the ball, and the figure you may use is the lowest of four numbers: the towbar's S value, the vehicle handbook's noseweight limit, the towball's rating and the caravan coupling's rating. Most people know the first and none of the other three, and a combination that is legal on paper is often over the limit on the one that matters.
• Ball height: 350 to 420mm laden on a standard vehicle. A lifted or heavily loaded vehicle wants checking, and a drop plate is the fix
• Electrics: chosen above, and not included if you choose towbar only. A 7 pin 12N plug carries lighting only. A 13 pin plug to ISO 11446 carries the lighting plus a permanent feed, a switched feed and a fridge feed for a caravan, in one connector. If you are towing a caravan or anything with a battery in it, 13 pin is the answer. If you are towing a trailer with nothing but lamps on it, 7 pin is genuinely enough and we will not upsell you.
• Fitting time: one and a half to three hours for a competent fitter with the car on axle stands, and the instructions are vehicle specific
• Bumper: we state it per vehicle before you order. On roughly a third of cars a flange bar needs a slot in the lower bumper, and on some of those it is visible. Ask us and we will tell you before you buy, not after
• Materials: dipped after welding, so the zinc is inside the box sections as well as outside. This is the finish to buy if the car sees winter roads or lives near the sea
• Weight: approximately 16.1 kilograms
• Guarantee: a lifetime guarantee on the towbar weldment and two years on the electrics
• Flange or swan neck: a flange takes bolt on accessories, which is the whole reason to choose it. A swan neck is neater and interferes less with parking sensors. If you want a bolt on cycle carrier or a stabiliser bracket, buy the flange
• Bolt spacing: 83mm, which is the common spacing
• Towball: not included as standard, because plenty of people already have one. Add one from the towball page or tell us and we will include it
• Number plate: a permanently fitted ball that obscures the number plate is an offence. On most cars a flange ball does not, but check on yours

What arrives

• the towbar weldment
• every mounting bolt, nut and washer
• the electrical loom chosen above
• printed vehicle specific fitting instructions with torque figures
• the type approval plate, riveted in place

Fitting

One and a half to three hours. The bumper usually comes off, the crossmember bolts to captive nuts already in the chassis on most modern cars, and every bolt has a torque figure in the instructions that is worth using a torque wrench for. Fitting is available at our centres and mobile, and includes the coding on a dedicated loom.

Before you order

Flange against swan neck is the first decision and it comes down to one question: do you want to bolt anything else to it. A flange takes a drop plate, a bolt on cycle carrier and the bracket for some stabilisers. A swan neck takes none of those and looks better doing it. The second decision is noseweight, and it is the one people get wrong. Noseweight is the downward load the trailer puts on the ball, and the figure you may use is the lowest of four numbers: the towbar's S value, the vehicle handbook's noseweight limit, the towball's rating and the caravan coupling's rating. Most people know the first and none of the other three, and a combination that is legal on paper is often over the limit on the one that matters.