Tow Bar For Ls400 Wanted, Also Front O/s Wing

[mikeyv]

One last try, I need a towbar and a drivers side front wing, for a 99 T MK4 LS400.

If the wing was in blue, that would be great, but any colour considered.

Thanks, Mike.

[runsgrateasanut]

Mike,

I tried to source an American bar for my 93 but they just wouldn't sell it to me. Then by luck I came across a brand new Watling on eBay with start price £39. I was the only bidder for this bar which costs hundreds and I got it for under £50. delivered.

A few years back I had a Renault Safrane (briefly - limp home mode killed) and had bought a brand new Tow Bar for it which is stuck in the garage. Never occurred to me how similar it is to the Lexus bar on a 93. I reckon if the car you have in mind is similar under the rear skirt, then with a bit of repositioning the two holes it probably would be fittable. You are very welcome to come and take a look if you think you /or someone you know could make the adjustments. This does have a bar that screws into the Boot well. You on LPG ? might be a problem.? Unless you are going to tow something really heavy the Yanks Tow bar dispenses with this. Also you'll see on the ad for it that it has additional cross bars which the Watling doesn't bother with on the Lexus Bar. Let me know if you want dimensions.

http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/107441271/car-tow-bar-electrics-renault.html

[mikeyv]

Thanks for your interest Stuart, much appreciated.

Unfortunately, the bar for later cars is very different, not entirely sure why to be honest, but presumably there is a good reason.

Also, you may well be right about lpg, as I was knocked back by a local mobile fitting company, because of it.

Asked him why and he "wasn't sure", that was the end of that conversation!

I will be pulling a heavy caravan if I get one fitted, though probably only a one off trip from Sussex to Devon, where I'll be storing it.

Not sure how keen they are going to be at mot time either, as post 98 cars fall under stricter rules I think, but I'll worry about that if/when I get there.

[runsgrateasanut]

No probs.

Have you tried for the wing via 1st choice spares? - a website that sends data to breakeryards?

[mikeyv]

No probs.

Have you tried for the wing via 1st choice spares? - a website that sends data to breakeryards?

Not yet, no.

To be honest, I saw plenty of wings on eBay, but that was before I actually needed one, so I expected to drop on one in the right colour within a reasonable time.

Fifteen months on, not a sniff, but I've had other priorities, such as moving house to occupy me.

You're right though, I need to apply myself to getting it sorted.

[Bluesman]

I tried 1st Choice recently for some bits, got one breakers who had what I wanted, emailed yjem and asked to see a picture and got a very terse reply, "picture on web site" when I looked it was the right colour so rang them and got told it was a different colour and it wouldnt be in for a couple of days. I just hung up. Mike

[mikeyv]

I tried 1st Choice recently for some bits, got one breakers who had what I wanted, emailed yjem and asked to see a picture and got a very terse reply, "picture on web site" when I looked it was the right colour so rang them and got told it was a different colour and it wouldnt be in for a couple of days. I just hung up. Mike

Aye, your average scrap man does terse very well.

[Colin M]

Michael

Cars registered on or after 1st August 1998 do fall under stricter rules when it comes to fitting towbars.

If your car is registered on or after 1st August 1998 and you fit a towbar, it MUST by law be approved to EC94/20 and installed correctly according to the manufacturers' instructions. It is an offence under the vehicle Construction & Use Regulations to fit, use or permit to be used, a non-approved towbar on the vehicle - see https://www.towsure.com/static/towbars_ec_type_approval

I am not aware of any EC type approved towbars for the LS400. The Watling towbar for the LS400 does not have type approval. That is why it states that for UF20 cars it is for those registered between Jan 1995 and Jul 1998. It is not that it will not fit Aug 1998 onwards cars, because it will, but it cannot lawfully be fitted as it is not a type approved towbar.

I am sure there are Aug 1998 onwards LS400s fitted with a non-type approved towbar. If one was fitted, I do not think you will have any problem at MOT time but you might have in the event of an accident if your insurance company became aware of this fact.

It might be worth looking into whether there are any EC type approved towbars for the LS400 as it would certainly be better to fit one if you could. I am not aware of any but that is not to say that there are none. There may be one out there somewhere.

[mikeyv]

Hi Colin, yes that confirms what I thought.

The firm that said they wouldn't fit to a lpg car, did actually quote me for fitting to my 99 T reg, and it was a brand that was unfamiliar to me, before changing their mind over the lpg.

Whether that was type approved, who knows.

Crazy that you could have two identical cars, built and registered a month apart, with identical bars fitted, one is legal, the other not,

[runsgrateasanut]

Wonder weather it would be no more expensive to have the Caravan trailered to Devon. I had a Static 28ft Caravan trailered up from Frejus in the south of france to the Charente region of France, about 500 miles by a Dutch haulier, cost me about £1200 as I recall. With diesel now lower price? Save the poor old Car, especially as you would also need install an oil cooler, some say.

[mikeyv]

Wonder weather it would be no more expensive to have the Caravan trailered to Devon. I had a Static 28ft Caravan trailered up from Frejus in the south of france to the Charente region of France, about 500 miles by a Dutch haulier, cost me about £1200 as I recall. With diesel now lower price? Save the poor old Car, especially as you would also need install an oil cooler, some say.

It's a relatively easy tow Stuart, nearly all dual carriageway or motorway, and in coolish weather, with a couple of stops along the way to visit relatives, so, as the only other towing I would do is a small trailer to the local tip, no need for a cooler imo.

I do have alternatives, but would prefer a bar for Lexus if possible.

[Colin M]

Yes, Michael, it does seem odd that the same vehicle with the same towbar can be legal or illegal depending on when the car was registered.

It would probably have been better if the EU legislation had required type approval for new towbars made after Aug 1998 and permitted existing towbars for existing vehicles to continue to be fitted until the end of the vehicle production run.

[runsgrateasanut]

Can you believe it, after having the Tow bar up for sale for probably well over a year, someones just come along and offered to buy it for their Safrane!

Didn't imagine any existed anymore. Spooky!

[mikeyv]

Can you believe it, after having the Tow bar up for sale for probably well over a year, someones just come along and offered to buy it for their Safrane!

Didn't imagine any existed anymore. Spooky!

300 licensed, about 150 sorned, so VERY well done.