Detachable towbar

[Shaysdad99]

Any ideas of how to make a detachable towbar actually detach when driving . Say after an event your towing something machinery vehicle etc and end up getting unwelcome company and need to make a quicker exit then you can abandon it without even stopping ?

[Mortblanc]

If you have the hitch set properly and you have the towed article properly and legally attached to the tow vehicle with proper hitch and safety chains what you propose is an impossibility.

If you are not worried about legal or safety concerns it would be a small job to attach a cable to the holding pin of a slide in hitch. Do not attach the safety chains. Pull the cable and dump the load.

Most folks great concern is keeping the load attached!

If you can do without it why are you attached to it?

And if you are doing it right you could just add whatever the "unwelcome company" brought with them to your load and leave the standing there barefoot.

[Devonian]

(3 October 2016, 21:52)Shaysdad99 Wrote: Any ideas of how to make a detachable towbar actually detach when driving . Say after an event your towing something machinery vehicle etc and end up getting unwelcome company and need to make a quicker exit then you can abandon it without even stopping ?

Sounds like the stuff of Hollywood movies, maybe try explosive bolts?

[Shaysdad99]

Mb legality wouldn't be a concern as would be after a event when no law or order . I have attached it because I have scavenged it from a water bowser to a quad or trailer . I do not necessarily need it but it may be a good item to trade hence why I took it and hence why I am not parsed if I let loose a 1 Ton trailer directly into the path of any pursuers who may be armed more then me or outnumber me

[Shaysdad99]

(3 October 2016, 23:00)Devonian Wrote:

(3 October 2016, 21:52)Shaysdad99 Wrote: Any ideas of how to make a detachable towbar actually detach when driving . Say after an event your towing something machinery vehicle etc and end up getting unwelcome company and need to make a quicker exit then you can abandon it without even stopping ?

Sounds like the stuff of Hollywood movies, maybe try explosive bolts?

Was thinking along the lines of quick release bolts rather then anything exploding near a fuel tank

[Mortblanc]

Use a thru-pin like this to hold the slide in hitch.

http://www.harborfreight.com/58-in-easy-...60439.html

Just rig a cable with one loop pulling the cotter pin, then the other loop pulling the hitch pin. Run the cable to the drivers side for a quick release.

[Devonian]

(3 October 2016, 23:56)Mortblanc Wrote: Use a thru-pin like this to hold the slide in hitch.

http://www.harborfreight.com/58-in-easy-...60439.html

Just rig a cable with one loop pulling the cotter pin, then the other loop pulling the hitch pin. Run the cable to the drivers side for a quick release.

There is no way such pins can be pulled out "whilst driving", using a cable or other means, as the loads involved would be massive.

Even in a stationary situation, you'd need to manually remove the trailer from the tow ball before being able to pull out the pin to detach the tow ball from the structural towing frame.

Furthermore for this type of pin, the OP would most likely need to have a Dixon Bate type of tow bar fitted and these are not compatible with all vehicle types.

The explosive bolts comment may have been a little tongue in check, but its the only way this is realistically going to be achieved.

[Mortblanc]

Suit yourself.

I have seen several of them come out accidentally over the years so I will try to look those folks up and tell them what happened to them did not really happen and that caravan dangling by the safety chain with slide in bar attached was their imagination at work.

[Devonian]

Hi MB, a pin vibrating and working its way put over the course of a journey is one thing, but deliberating pulling out the pin with a cable whilst travelling at speed is completely different.

The forces/loads being transmitted through the tow bar and pins even for a lightly loaded trailer with be considerable.

Furthermore, the direction of any pulling on the cable by the driver is going to be perpendicular to the line of the pin, meaning any movement is going to be further hampered, even if you did set up some complex pulley arrangements to help change the direction of the pull....

I don't dispute trailers can become detached, I am just saying that the forces invloved and needed are going to be far in excess of what someone can manage pulling a cable whilst driving a car at the same time.

[Shaysdad99]

What about having a way where the whole towing frame can be ditched ?