Post Tagged with: "towing vehicle"

In the last two posts on the topic of traffic signs for towing a trailer, we have already introduced you to a few very important road signs and traffic signs that you should definitely pay attention to when towing a trailer. There are a handful of other traffic signs that we don’t want to leave out.

Traffic signs for vehicle combinations

Although the following traffic signs are relevant for towing a trailer, they only apply if the combination weighs more than 3.5 tons and the towing vehicle is neither a bus nor a car. So let’s assume that you mostly travel with a car and trailer, then these traffic signs are only important for you if your vehicle combination is particularly heavy. Again and again, drivers are unclear as to whether the following signs are relevant to them or not. In the following we summarize the most important information about the traffic signs for vehicle combinations.

The prohibition sign for trucks

The round prohibition sign shows a truck and states that a general driving ban applies to all motor vehicles with a permissible total weight of more than 3.5 tons. The sign also applies to trailers and their towing vehicles. The only exceptions are cars and buses. So if your motor vehicle is heavier, you will not be allowed to drive through after this sign.

Prohibition sign for heavy vehicles

Based on the actual mass of a motor vehicle, this round prohibition sign indicates how heavy a
vehicle may be in order to continue driving on the affected road. However, the plate refers to the actual mass (what the vehicle actually weighs), not the gross vehicle weight rating (what the vehicle is allowed to weigh). If you are traveling with a vehicle combination, for example with a trailer, then the weight of the individual vehicles is relevant, not the weight of  the combination.

The length of your vehicle on traffic signs

The last traffic sign with a red frame is about the length of your vehicle. Pictured is a truck as well
an indication of its length. The sign states that you would need to consider the actual length of the entire vehicle combination. If your team is longer than indicated on the sign, then you are not allowed to drive into the street. If you continue to drive, it may for example be the case that you will not be able to turn around in an emergency or that curves are too narrow for you. As with the other signs, a fine will be imposed for disregarding the sign.

Not only are pick-ups visually different, they are also not exactly ordinary in terms of their pulling power and their use. Pick-ups are mainly used in agriculture, the construction industry and forestry and are characterized by their large loading platform and their high towing power.

By retrofitting a trailer hitch, every pick-up simply becomes a towing vehicle, but unlike other vehicles, there are small special features. We present the different options for retrofitting a trailer hitch on your pick-up in the following passages. This much can be said: Your choice is between a detachable trailer hitch and a rigid trailer hitch.

Practical and versatile: The rigid hitch with removable plate

The fixed hitch for the pick-ups is much more versatile than normal, rigid trailer hitches. You can optionally order an interchangeable plate system and expand the trailer hitch for your pick-up like this: With the interchangeable plate system, you not only have a rigid ball hitch as you know it, but also a plate for a jaw coupling. This is of particular interest in the area of ​​agriculture and forestry, as many trailers can only be towed there with a jaw coupling, such as that installed on tractors. With the interchangeable plate system, you work with a lever system that allows you to exchange the individual plates in just two movements.

A major advantage of the interchangeable plate system, in addition to the two different towbars, is the option of not having either plate on the pick-up. When not in use, the lever system is simply covered with a cover plate so that you don’t have a visible towbar on the pick-up. You are also very flexible with the fixed towbar including the plate system and can always spontaneously decide to use the pick-up as the towing vehicle for transport.

The detachable trailer hitch for pick-ups

As with all other vehicles, you can also install a detachable towbar on your pick-up. The towbar in the MVG system 2040, for example, is operated using a rotary knob. You can easily mount the ball rod at any time and just as easily remove it again when your trailer ride ends. Due to a product innovation, the system is characterized above all by the fact that you do not need a protective plug to hold your ball rod, even when used in forestry and agriculture as well as in the construction industry. Our towbars are designed in such a way that they can be easily cleaned even if they are heavily soiled in the above-mentioned trades and do not lose their functionality despite the lack of a protective plug. Would you like to learn more about the protective plug and the product innovation? Then read our blog post.

You can find out more about our towbars for pick-ups in our shop or on our information page (in German).

If you get a new trailer, then you should definitely plan the trip to the registration office. A trailer for a car is not registration-free and you have to get official license plates in addition to the registration. In order to get this and to be able to use your new trailer for the first trip, you have to register your trailer. You can only use it in road traffic with a valid license.

These documents are needed for the registration of your trailer

So that your trailer is approved and your new license plates can be issued, you can’t avoid driving to the responsible registration office. When you are on site, you need the following documents so that your approval can be issued: You need the manufacturer’s certificate or confirmation of a valid general inspection by a testing organization such as the German DEKRA or TÜV, which confirms that your trailer is roadworthy. If the “TÜV” has expired, there will be a fine depending on the duration of the overdraft, so make sure that the general inspection is still valid. You should also be able to identify yourself, for example with an identity card. Also have the registration certificate part I and II with you in any case. Finally, you need an insurance code from your insurance company, alternatively you can also bring a double insurance card with you.

No papers?

Even if you don’t have any papers, you can register the trailer, but this is much more difficult. Such an exception is only made if the vehicle registration or registration document has been lost, not if you have forgotten it at home. In the case of lost documents, the responsible authorities first check who the actual owner of your trailer is. Of course, a sales contract between you and the seller is helpful here and can accelerate the process. In addition, of course, it must also be checked whether the trailer has been reported as stolen. A replacement for the lost documents can usually be requested promptly, the old license plate should be known and the vehicle registration document should ideally still be available.

Of course, before you retrofit a trailer hitch, you first have to determine whether your car has ever been designed to travel with the trailer and is approved as a towing vehicle. You can find all the information you need on the nameplate of the vehicle. The data are both in the service booklet and usually on a sticker that is housed in the spare wheel module. If it can not be found there, you will find information in the owner’s manual of the vehicle on where to findyour nameplate. In addition to the vehicle manufacturer and the approval number, the chassis number can also be found there. The second line also specifies technically permissible weights. Underneath you will also find the permissible trailer weight.

This indicates the permissible trailer weight

As the name implies, the trailer weight indicates how heavy the combination of vehicle and trailer may be. Thus, it is clear that a combination may exist, so theoretically a trailer could be drawn. It then depends on the value. The weight of the vehicle must be deducted from the weight of the trailer in order to clarify whether and, if so, with what weight a trailer can be towed.

In addition, you can also consult the vehicle registration, which is the easier way. The vehicle registration indicates with the values ​​O1 and O2, which braked and unbraked towing load is technically permissible for the vehicle. If you can not find any values ​​there, the vehicle is not allowed to drive with a trailer.

What happens if your vehicle is not allowed as a towing vehicle and still pulls a trailer?

In order for a vehicle to be approved for trailer use, some points have to be met already in the development of the vehicle. Thus, for example, the motorization of the car is adapted to the possible use as towing vehicle, or special attachment points for the trailer hitch are defined by the vehicle manufacturer. Also, the cooling of the engine and other system must be defined separately for the optional trailer drive. If your car is not suitable and approved for the load and service as a towing vehicle, it will cause a variety of damage to the vehicle if it is still used to tow a trailer.

For some years now the PDC (Park Distance Control) system has been a standard feature of a car. When reversing sensors recognize obstacles behind the car, the board computer gives the driver an optical and/or acoustic signal.
In reality, a trailer should always be recognised as an obstacle, because it is directly at the tail end of the car. The PDC should really go haywire and permanently give warning signals. But it doesn’t – and why not? The reason is that the PDC shuts down, which is realised in various ways.
Heinz Hueber, Technical Manager of our Electrical Kit Department, explains how the Park Distance Control can be switched off with retro-fit trailer hitches and how the PDC shutdown functions.

1. Complete integration into the onboard electronics of the towing vehicle
If a towbar is installed by a car manufacturer in the factory, the electronics will be completely integrated with the onboard electronics of the towing car. Trailer operation is then activated in the board computer so that the board computer automatically knows when the trailer plug is inserted into the socket, e.g. that the car’s PDC and the rear fog light have to be switched off and possibly the trailer combination stabilisation switched on.
If a trailer hitch is retro-fitted the coupling electronics into the onboard electronics of the towing vehicle could also be integrated by a specialist workshop. For this, the control units in the vehicle must be manually activated with a tester (Caution! Not every tester can activate control units). There will be additional costs.
Unfortunately, not all car manufacturers authorise the access to the intelligent board electronics. Sometimes after a service at an authorized workshop the activation is reset. Therefore, the manufacturers of retro-fit trailer hitches solve the PDC shutdown by means of an electronic or mechanical trailer identification.

2. Control module in the electrical kit is used for recognition
A control module is built into the electrical kit delivered along with the towbar. This module detects the electrical load of the trailer lighting and passes on the information to the board electronics accordingly. Here we can latch into the board electronics of the towing vehicle, but without activation. The PDC shutdown is either switched on or off manually via a P-OFF switch, which many cars have, or automatically via an intelligent control module of the electrical kit, which also switches the trailer rear fog light on and off. Disadvantage: further driver assistance systems will not be adapted.

3. Micro-switch interrupts the power supply
The easiest solution is a mechanical micro-switch in the towbar socket. If the connector of the trailer is plugged in the micro-switch bumps off and interrupts the power supply to the PDC. At the same time the rear fog light will be switched off on the towing vehicle – only the rear fog light on the trailer will shine, not on the towing vehicle.

4. Digital communication via databus (CAN)
Nowadays many vehicles communicate via a databus. Here all information is digitally transported via a two-wire cable. The control modules are, connected with one another via the data bus, CAN (Controller Area Network) and communicate the necessary signals via the two cables, CAN-High and CAN-Low.
Technically the latest control modules of the trailer hitches could hook up into the CAN-Bus and communicate digitally with the onboard control units, but this is seldom the case.