On a recent family camping trip, we decided to go "luxury". So instead of packing tents, we hired a caravan. Almost belatedly I realised I'd need to get a towbar fitted to the jeep. (This was actually an accessory I'd wanted for ages, I just needed a good enough reason to convince my wife it was necessary)
So I made my way down to All Vehicle Accessories (AVA) in Thomastown to get a cheap towbar installed. The cheaper it was the better it was as far as I was concerned. After all, we were about to go on holiday and I wanted to use my spending money there. Luckily for me, the guys at AVA were professional enough to talk me out of using price as a means of discriminating when choosing a towbar.
To begin with, they got me thinking about the types of things I wanted to tow. Obviously there was the caravan for the upcoming trip. Following on from that though, I'd probably buy some bike beaks too as my wife loves triathlons. We could take the bikes up to the Dandenongs for a ride.
Having compiled my list, we discussed the cost of the items we were going to tow. Our bikes (two of them) are worth about $6,000 all up. Mine isn't all that valuable, but my wife, boy she spent a mint on hers. Such is her love for the triathlon.
I had no idea how much caravans cost to buy so I had to look it up. Boy they are expensive. The cheapest I could find was $5000 and I have to say, it was pretty ordinary. I found many nice ones well in excess of $100,000. That's a crazy lot of money to trust to a cheap towbar.
I really valued the advice I was given on this day. It completely changed my perspective in what I was buying when shopping for a towbar. It changed my mind regarding what I was looking for. Instead of shopping for price, I was shopping for quality, reliability, robustness and efficiency. Yes, that's right, efficiency. Different towbars actually make you vehicle perform differently too.
Having decided that, I delved further into the different towbars on offer. I was surprised to find out that there was only 1 towbar in Australia that offers a lifetime guarantee. Only Hayman Reese has that much faith in their own product. I thought that was a really interesting fact. So looking further at the Hayman Reece products, I also found 2 excellent accessories that really help with safety and efficiency.
To start with, they have a Weight Distribution Hitch which will take the extra money you spent on the towbar and hitch, and put it right back into your pocket with fuel savings. That's right, it makes the trailer work better with your vehicle. It does this by reducing the ball weight on the towbar and therefore drag. Less drag means your vehicle drives easier, giving it better efficiency and a lower consumption of fuel. Sometimes you just need to spend a bit to save.
The second feature was their Sway Control accessory. Have you ever been driving behind a caravan which, when a truck drives past, swerves all over the road? The sway control accessory stops this. Given my family are going to be sitting in the car pulling my caravan, this is a safety feature I definitely wanted. They are just too precious to me.
Its good when you go to an auto store and the professionals there actually give you advice, help you get past your preconceived ideas and make a better decision. I'm certainly glad the guys at AVA helped me see sense when it came to my towbar.
So I made my way down to All Vehicle Accessories (AVA) in Thomastown to get a cheap towbar installed. The cheaper it was the better it was as far as I was concerned. After all, we were about to go on holiday and I wanted to use my spending money there. Luckily for me, the guys at AVA were professional enough to talk me out of using price as a means of discriminating when choosing a towbar.
To begin with, they got me thinking about the types of things I wanted to tow. Obviously there was the caravan for the upcoming trip. Following on from that though, I'd probably buy some bike beaks too as my wife loves triathlons. We could take the bikes up to the Dandenongs for a ride.
Having compiled my list, we discussed the cost of the items we were going to tow. Our bikes (two of them) are worth about $6,000 all up. Mine isn't all that valuable, but my wife, boy she spent a mint on hers. Such is her love for the triathlon.
I had no idea how much caravans cost to buy so I had to look it up. Boy they are expensive. The cheapest I could find was $5000 and I have to say, it was pretty ordinary. I found many nice ones well in excess of $100,000. That's a crazy lot of money to trust to a cheap towbar.
I really valued the advice I was given on this day. It completely changed my perspective in what I was buying when shopping for a towbar. It changed my mind regarding what I was looking for. Instead of shopping for price, I was shopping for quality, reliability, robustness and efficiency. Yes, that's right, efficiency. Different towbars actually make you vehicle perform differently too.
Having decided that, I delved further into the different towbars on offer. I was surprised to find out that there was only 1 towbar in Australia that offers a lifetime guarantee. Only Hayman Reese has that much faith in their own product. I thought that was a really interesting fact. So looking further at the Hayman Reece products, I also found 2 excellent accessories that really help with safety and efficiency.
To start with, they have a Weight Distribution Hitch which will take the extra money you spent on the towbar and hitch, and put it right back into your pocket with fuel savings. That's right, it makes the trailer work better with your vehicle. It does this by reducing the ball weight on the towbar and therefore drag. Less drag means your vehicle drives easier, giving it better efficiency and a lower consumption of fuel. Sometimes you just need to spend a bit to save.
The second feature was their Sway Control accessory. Have you ever been driving behind a caravan which, when a truck drives past, swerves all over the road? The sway control accessory stops this. Given my family are going to be sitting in the car pulling my caravan, this is a safety feature I definitely wanted. They are just too precious to me.
Its good when you go to an auto store and the professionals there actually give you advice, help you get past your preconceived ideas and make a better decision. I'm certainly glad the guys at AVA helped me see sense when it came to my towbar.
About the Author:
Damian Papworth understands the cost of quality towbars and bike racks are mimimal in comparison to the goods they are towing.
