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[582LTR]

This item will be for sale at some point as I have been asked to help clear someone’s spares. I haven’t found any details about it or an idea of a price. I am happy to offer it here first after I know exactly what it is and how much is a fair price. I won’t gain from the sale.

Regards

Martin

[diffwhine]

That's a work of art, not a tow hitch. What a great piece of over engineering!

Somebody will undoubtedly correct me, but  would that be a ye olde tow hitch for imperial tow fittings?

[Herald1360]

Would the ball end go on the trailer, then?

[Alan Drover]

Presumably it's 2 inch not 50mm.

[582LTR]

I am thinking that might go on the trailer and yes to 2”.

Martin

[diffwhine]

I might be interested in it purely as a discussion piece.

[Clifford Pope]

Would the ball end go on the trailer, then?

Yes - here's a diagram of it:

https://vintagecaravans.proboards.com/thread/1603/old-tow-couplings?page=1

about half way down page 1.

[Davidss]

Thanks for the link, just for 'handiness' I've extracted the image.
The associated text said:
"The illustration shows, amongst other things, a bracket (e) that would automatically apply the van brakes as soon as the bracket hit the ground. ".

Regards.

[Alan Drover]

Is this form of tow hitch legal nowadays?

[gvo416j R.I.P.]

Don't see why it would not be legal as long as it was in good nick and on a bona-fide vintage 'van/trailer.

Probably would have to be an older towing vehicle as well

The 50mm towball/hitch has been the standard for new stuff since the early 1970's [ unsure] but there was nothing to prevent you fitting a 2" ball to a new vehicle to pull an old trailer. A neighbour ran his early '60's Rice trailer with 2" ball hitch until well into the 1980's before it was scrapped.

I think it was sometime in the 2000's when there was a large change in the regulations for vehicle/vehicle towballs. Prior to that there was nothing to stop you putting an old fashioned 2" ball on a vehicle to tow an old trailer -- or even manufacture your own personal drawbar to mount the towball.

Overall there is actually very little regulation in the non-HGV [or LGV as its known today] transport sector which is back dated to apply to earlier vehicles.

[Ph0en1x_Uk]

That is cool!!! 

[diffwhine]

Does raise the question - if I have a 1965 88" Station Wagon and had wanted to fit a tow bar when new, what would I have had fitted as standard by my friendly local LR dealer? Would it have just been a standard 2" ball a bit like our current 50mm balls, or something more elaborate like the Dixon Bate offering above?

[Davidss]

... if I have a 1965 88" Station Wagon and had wanted to fit a tow bar when new, what would I have had fitted as standard by my friendly local LR dealer? Would it have just been a standard 2" ball a bit like our current 50mm balls, or something more elaborate like the Dixon Bate offering above?

I'm sure my Father was having tow bars fitted to his cars in 1965; my view is that the 'standard' fitment would have been a 'standard' ball, although I'm less certain of it being 2" or 50mm. I do recall being aware of the difference, and dangers with making the wrong pairing, so it must have been a topic of conversation.
(Pausing to do some online research, I didn't find a clear statement about an introduction date of the 50mm ball, but I saw several comments like 'introduced in the early '60s').
This leads me to think that in 1965 the standard ball would have been 50mm.

I suspect the influencer would have been more about if you had an existing trailer or caravan you strongly wanted to continue using.
I feel sure that Dixon Bate unit would only have been fitted if the relevant hitch was already in use on a trailer or caravan.

Regards.

[Wittsend]

For a full research/analysis of the tow ball size change maybe a search through the Caravan Club magazines of the era would provide useful information and advice. This is something that would have generated a lot of column inches back in the day

Presumably the Caravan Club have archives of their magazine ....

Or maybe they have a forum where the question could be asked ?


 

[Clifford Pope]

I remember from the 60s awareness of the two sizes - 2" and 50 mm. The school sailing club had a number of trailers, with two different sizes, so it was important to bolt the right size on the back of the mini-bus before hitching up to go to the reservoir where we sailed. It was either a few minutes work swapping the tow ball, or two teams of boys to lift the boats and shift them over. One was very heavy, and the boats needed the trailer chocks adjusting to suit the keel profiles, so it was much easier to unbolt the tow balls.

We had strict warnings to get the right sizes - one was slightly bigger, so the wrong pairing was either too loose or jammed.