203 Tow bars OK?

[hawkeye]

I've got a swanneck style witter towbar fitted which I use for a bike carrier.

Unfortunately it wobbles on the vertical axis (e.g. left hand down, right hand up; not, left hand forward, right hand backward).

I'm getting the peeps to take it off. Given the amount I've spent so far I was thinking of upgrading to the proper Merc one. (The one I have at the moment hangs down when the swan neck is not on which would be nice to get rid of.)

So, had a nice chat with the grumpy sods at Mercedes ( you wouldn't have believed I was customer !!) And the fella couldn't tell me what the connection was like between the neck and the bar.

I'd really like to know that it's solid and isn't going to wobble like the one I'm getting rid of. I see that it looks like a vertical hole and the shaft of the swan neck goes straight up so that would appear to solve my current problem however, does that mean it's prone to rotating in it's hole - which would be just as bad a problem for me and my bikes !


many thanks for any help (particularly any actual diagrams of what the connections look like !)

Also, are there any non-MB bars that won't show?


many thanks !
John.

 

[Xtractorfan]

There should be no movement whatsoever in the ball hitch, and all towbars now have to conform to current regulations regarding safety and secure fitting, they must also have a stamped plate of conformity fitted to the towbar..so be assured that any towbar you buy will be up to standard..

 

[hawkeye]

Hmm

Well, as much as I agree -that's what they said about the Witter bar It's only a slight wabble but it gets accentuated by the bike holder width.
So, if the Merc one moves on its axis then it'll be quite noticable. The problem is that most tow bars are designed to pull rather than just let something sit on them.

cheers,
john.

 

[television]

What would happen if you fitted a bung strap to one side of the bikes only to keep it loaded in one direction.

 

[hawkeye]

That's an option

Yep , that would be an option ,if there were any problems with the merc one. But, it wouldn't work for the current one. The angles are wrong.

cheers,
John.