Offroad-Express

Is it still legal to A-frame a vehicle which has no warrant/ rego these days?? ive been told its illegal

Been plenty of discussion re this on here. Upshot is that it is legal as it is considered towning (like a rope) but the same rules apply. It must be safe to be towed. If its going to fall apart then no go. Needs to have lights that can be seen to. If your vehice lights can be seen sweet but if not light board/hook up to lights is required. Be careful to as towed vehicle will push tow vehicle around especially in wet of gravel roads.

AA Towing tips:
http://www.aa.co.nz/motoring/tips/ask-j ... peeds.aspx
Towed vehicle doesn't need to be registered:
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulati ... 96879.html
I can't find the exact reference now, but there don't appear to be any specific rules around A-Frame towing. The registration exemption applies to WOF as well, and I think there's a rule somewhere which requires "a safe connection" or something similar. At night, the towed vehicle needs the usual red rear light, and is supposed to have a white light illuminating the towing connection (rope or A-Frame)

have seen a couple of people a frame race cars from the local track past the police so must be still legal

sweet as

Aframe is a grey area but no wof reg needed in fact you dont even have to have lights but suggest you do for safety im now using a dolly front wheels up and drag the rear so have to have reg wof trailer lights as well as lights on the truck being towed
just be aware Aframe will push the tow car into corners ALOT ive seen a zuk jack knife a 3 ton truck on tarseal at slow speed

do you think it would be better to have a trailer. im planing on towing a escudo swb with a safari

tried to move a mustang behind a escort van, called a tow truck after 3 kms scarey

nah you be fine just be aware of the pushing in corners is all.......

Escudo behind a Safari should tow pretty well so long as the wheel alignment on the Escudo is OK. Just make sure you brake early - you don't want to be on the brakes while turning.

"A" framing can be dodgy at the best of times

I know of three close calls, all of them while towing Scodo (including my own) all of then being towed by larger vehiclulars.

Car trailers tend to be braked and have much better road manners as well. Anyone thats done a bit of "A Framing" will tell you it's not much fun having a "A Frame" pushing you about on the road, much worse than a braked trailer.

The real advantage is the cost saving of a "A Frame"

If you are only going short distances and cost is a issue then "A
Frame", but use caution, otherwise trailer it

same things can happen while towing a trailer just comes back to good old common sense

bb402c wrote:same things can happen while towing a trailer just comes back to good old common sense

yeah but a trailer doesn't have front wheels that can turn, that makes a big difference when towing.

I've A-Framed my FJ40 behind a LWB Safari, 80 Series cruiser and a Territory plus use a tandem braked trailer for any distance.

I hate A-Framing and if I had the dollars would buy a tandem axle braked trailer - there is a MASSIVE difference in the ability to corner and stop with a braked trailer. Just my 2c.

just remember to flick the brake latch thingy over on the trailer before you take off with it loaded.

nothing worse than coming down a side street and skidding across state highway 1 with a trailer in tow

lucky it was a quiet weekend in taupo



have heard too many horror stories to even contemplate using an A - Frame

yeah.... i hear that skid-diddly-iddly..

used to tow ole rusty around behind goldmember (aka mazda 626 80's styles) and it got broken goodly.. turns out 40's have plenty of grunt...

The old man has a long wheel base safari and we use it to A-Frame our escudo on simexs behind it.

Ul be totally shocked at how badly it can throw the nissan round, it has put my bothers ford courier ute into the ditch.

We still A frame it short distances 20-30kms, but very slowly round the corners and only in the dry the rest of the time we trailer it. Its hard to describe how badly it handles, basically u feel like ur drifting round every corner as the suzuki pushes the rear of the nissan stright

We just typically hire a trailer, $25 for the weekend isnt to bad whenever we go far, It tows one hell of a lot better, more comfortable and safer

I was gona chuck on a photo on it of the courier in the ditch with it, but i cant find them,
This is an idea of the trucks we a using

you guys are pussys i was Aframing a Short Saffy round behind my long saffy no worries drive as per normal 120ks on the flat had a welded rear diff that made it interesting at slow speed in town ...now have a dolly so front end up on it still dont see any difference all you have to remember is it will push a bit but once you get used to it..... sweet as

a framing sweet as long as you use common sense, i used to tow my scudo all over the place behind a forester, did hundreds of ks and never had a problem on seal and gravel, even on the ngaroma road it was no problem,

sounds like a trailer is the go. no point being tight when it comes down to safety

I agree with Taz, have A framed the L/Rover everywhere without probs, up to Haynzys with Taz following. Key points...increase following distances, drive to conditions, use engine breaking and shift to lower gears when going down hill, have good rubber on towing vehicle, dont speed, pull over to let others past if need, You're only going to get pushed around if going too fast and braking heavy. Down side...cant tow if truck breaks steering, suspension etc, A frame mounts need to be good. I also have trailor plug wired up so all rear lights on L/Rover go as if towing a trailor Another good advantage is not having a WIDE trailor taking up the whole road on tight narrow twisty corners like Moonshine worrying whos going to meet you half way round the corner!

Ive had my share of fun while A-framing The zook that Badnuz now has is a single cab because of being flicked off the towball while A-framing on a gravel road You just have to get used to the fact that on a gravel road ya have to be careful, dont let the "trailer" get anywhere near the berm in the middle. I had no issue towing it on the seal at all, 120k no worries, didnt feel it at all. Good rubber on the tow wagon is essential, and definitely setup the lights. I found also that if I looped the recoil type seatbelt through the steering wheel, it helped handling heaps, kinda like a steering dampner Also helps to have no weight in the back of the "trailer" also

Just to add my 2c. I did all the Laurie Sansons last season towing my swb Mu with my Discovery. No problems at all. You do get a bit of "push" on tight corners and it was better with some weight in the back of the Disco. It only once actually unstuck the Disco and that was within 500m of collecting it and hitching up for the first time and that was me learning the limit!!

I think the length of the A in relation to the towed vehicle wheelbase is quite important. There is probably a very clever way to work it out....................... which I don't know

It will be interesting to pull the Mu with my new D3. That weighs 2.7 ton empty and I will be mighty surprised if the Mu moves it.

The old D1 sat at 100 - 110K no worries too.

I wired in the Mu taillights / indicators too as a it looks much better than a trailer board and you can see the Mu side repeaters flashing so you know it's not fallen off - lol

The only downside is you are putting K's on your competition rigs mud tyres / driveshafts / freewheel hubs etc..

Oh yeah and one more thing - I collected some Trade-me stuff from Auckland CBD on the way back from an event. Got some very funny looks and turning the whole rig round on city streets is interesting

Matt