I COULD NOT believe it. Your thoughts please

The Boss (Formerly Kroozer),

I am sorry, but I fail to see your point.

Cheers,

Cruiser

Drilled a hole in the rear step and shove a towball through it!

Jeez where's Darwin when you need the bloke.

We share the roads with these fools!

Is there a method of reporting defective motor vehicles in WA?

Geoff

Didn't pick up on it at first either, but the tow ball appears to be attached to the flat area of the flimsy, possibly plastic, bumper bar. have to wonder what they tow with it.
kenD
bris

There maybe be a method to his madness --- he may live on acreage and i have seen people 'tow" there wheelie bins out to the road via the towball on the back of the car --- if that's all this one is used for then there would be no need for additional support

if its actually used for a box trailer or other --- then its a serious accident waiting --- but given no safety area to chain to -- i am guessing its for the wheelie bin ..

I wouldn't go making any judgement until I'd had a look underneath the vehicle...

There just MAY be a substantial piece of steel /flat bar hiding under & behind that 'flimsy, plastic bumper bar'.....

I'll reserve my judgement until I know different ;-))

Have seen that before, bunging a 50mm towball in a pressed metal rear step/bumper.

What's just as horrifying or sad, is how many police have been behind that vehicle and not either observed the potential hazzard...or thought it too hard an issue to deal with. I guess it's not illegal to actually fit the towball there...but to use it to tow on a public road is the legality question.

There's plenty of vehicles here in QLD that have pretty obvious safety issues, and not many police doing much about it.

Maybe there is a lack of basic education to police about vehicle safety issues...even basic stuff.

Don't see much wrong with that. Did something pretty similar
on one of mine. It was used to take the wheelie bin up to the front gate. Did a great job.. Only problem just dont forget to stop and place the bin at the top of the drive. I can tell you now that you won't get more than 60kmh out of wheelie bin wheels LOL. What a mess to clean up.

Cheers Teza

Hi Kroozer er I mean Boss,

Cant believe that someone would do that. Oxygen thiefs like this one should be taken off the road.

Nice pick up, i don't think I would have picked it up if i had observed it.

Cheers Wilko

The Boss,

The rear step is part of the tow bar, admittedly a light duty tow bar, but that is how Ford had set up the rear step/ tow bar.

The vehicle would have been a Ford Explorer.


Wayne

That's actually totally fine-

I bet the vehicle was a Ford Courier, or a Mazda Bravo of the same generation?

It has the option of having a normal towbar installed, or the use of the mounting point as seen. The mounting point pictured is rated to 800kg.

Take your picture to your nearest police statiion and see what they say.

Motherhen

Yawn...

Jeez Kroozer,

That car has been on your doorstep for the last few years.
It was actually a Broome car until Xmas!!

It has even towed a 14ft dinghy around behind it?

He did it because his SWMBO said she wouldnt spend any more on the setup and so he did it out of spite.

And no it is not me, he works with me and it has been a joke for a while!!

I really don't see anything wrong with it,

It was obviously designed to fit a towball there.

I have an F-150 in the USA with the same set up I have used for several years to tow a small enclosed trailer,

Here is the quote from the Owner's Manual

"USING A STEP BUMPER

The rear bumber is equipped with an integral hitch and only requires a ball with a 1" (25.4mm) shank diameter. The bumper has a 2,270 kg (5000lb) trailer weight and 227 kg (500lb.) tounge weight capacity."

If the owner adhears to the recommended limits of the bumper hitch there is little danger to anyone.

Regards

Bruce
San Diego CA

My F-150 has a bumper tow ball hole pre-drilled too. Nothing wrong with it, you just can't pull a heavy load with it. But I do have the square heavy duty hitch and receiver.
Boss, I don't see why you should be policing people showing their number plates saying they are doing something wrong, when they are not. He is not even friggen towing anything! I think if you took that photo to a police station, they will tell you to get a life.

Well it seems there were a few of us who found this to be rather dangerous, and hadnt heard of it being standard equipment on these vehicles.

But yet, i am the only person being attacked.

Thats ok though, i can handle it.

Ciao

Oh my god... please dont show total ignorance........Standard issue in US with a limited rating.......remember everything is bigger n better in the grand old US of A. HA HA.

My 2008 BT-50 has the same hole, ready for a tow ball, with a rating of 500kg.

I had a 1990 Rodeo a few years ago, and fitted an after market step rear bar. It had a towball hole pre drilled, and it was rated to 1 tonne pull and 90 kg ball weight. Perfect for a box trailer or smallish boat.
It's amazing how many people are so quick to denigrate and even insult others without having the slightest knowledge.
Just because you have a towball and a 7 pin plug (or similar) doesn't mean you pull 5 tonne boats
I see a few apologies, but far more sledgers.
Cheers

Umm, regardless of the legalities of the towing capacity, I'd have a few questions on it's PRACTICALITY on THIS specfic vehicle.

Firstly, where it's located on this particular vehicle could possibly be considered to cause some restriction in visibility for the number plate. If it had a high rise ball on it, or a cover on it, wouldn't want to have some overly eager beaver copper considering that it breaks the law. In Queensland, the law is apparently that:

"The characters on the number plate are visible from 20m away at any point within an arc of 45 degrees from the surface of the number plate above or to either side of the vehicle"
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_reg/toumrr1999725/s24.html

Personally, I wouldn't want to push it.

Second, if you were backing up, how difficult would it be to run the hitch on the trailer into the back of the vehicle, and therefore the number plate? Not much room for errors there, and can't put on a couplemate without hiding the number plate. Ouchies!

Finally, nothing to do with the actual safety or legality, but it'd be a sod of a thing to reverse park with that ball on. What'd be the maximum angle you could get your trailer to make without taking a chunk out of your vehicle with the A frame? 50 to 60 degrees? Add that to someone who hadn't backed a trailer before, or frequently, and I'd love to have a vid camera handy. Funniest Video's material! Yerk!

May well be legal, but I'd have to question how practical. I'd prefer a nice heavy duty removable hitch at the back of my vehicle, thanks ;)

Then again, I have a Holden Frontera with a 2000kg towing capacity, and a totally useless 90kg ball mass, even with a Hayman Reece hitch! Now having to buy a new twing vehicle, just to tow a really small caravan (ie. 1100kg)! So, stupidity is in the eyes of the manufacturer at all times.

Rocko