Outlook Towbar

[peterholden]

Hi Ant

We are thinking of economising and selling our Berlingo car (which we have had for almost 10 yrs and has been brilliant) but we have a small trailer for taking rubbish to the tip etc. I have on occasion seen C15 Hytops with towbars.

Is it possible to fit a towbar to an Outlook. If so who makes/fits them have you any idea?

Thanks
Peter

[ant]

Hi Peter.
Try PWS Nudgebars 01202746851, some others may make them but PWS certainly do a fairly heavy duty job.
Ant

[peterholden]

Thanks for the very quick reply

Peter

[peterholden]

Have contacted PWR today:
Towbar £250
fitting £150
electrics £41


Towtal at Stoke
supply and fit £465

[RRH]

Peter,

£465, are you really gona give someone that much money just for a towbar?

[peterholden]

I have made towbars in the past but as I understand it there is a whole raft of rules and regs now including MOT rules.

The corner steadies on an outlook are bolted through the fibreglass onto some kind of reinforcement that I cannot see.

[barry5]

Just be careful about fitting a towbar to a Romahome, especially with regard to ground clearance.

We wanted one for our Berlingo HyLo (to mount our bike rack on), but as the van only just cleared the pavement slope when leaving the driveway, we concluded that ANY extra struts or stays below the rear overhang (necessary to attach a towbar to the original chassis) would cause embarassing difficulties. Cue ferry ramps

The other problem comes with the temptation to load things (like bikes) onto the towbar, causing weight to be applied at the end of a looooong lever arm (with the back wheels being the falcrum). The possible result is that load on the front wheels is reduced (basic principles of levers) with a reduction in steering precision, not to mention an overloading of the rear axle.

You may be aware of the risk, but would a subsequent owner?

Barry

[peterholden]

Thanks Barry

We have considered things like ground clearance and we will need to discuss things with those who make the bars.

We only intend to tow a small trailer and having had a caravan we are careful about loading and nose weights etc.

By the way our Outlook is an 07 but we have replaced the MAD helper springs with "heavy duty" ones ad that has raised the back slightly.

Peter

[shirleyanne]

mad spring replacement

hello,peterholden
browsing around i have landed here in my search for helper springs for my mezan. i do note that you are with citreon and not peugeot. i wonder if you could point me to where i can find the beefier springs as i am facing a similar issue to you. i have the mad springs fitted but they are just not enough, thanks in advance for any input

[peterholden]

Do you have the standard springs or the heavy duty one. The peugeot partner base of your Mezan is the same as the Citroen Berlingo of my Romahome

[karenw]

Does anyone here regularly tow using a Romahome?

This is something I've been looking into so am interested in this thread. I have to drive across a field with a trailer carrying a 300kg load and this is sadly casting a very dark shadow over my Romahome-owning dream. It is certainly not something I would want to do by choice but the alternative seems to be retaining a second vehicle, ie my Kangoo van, purely for doing this trip every 2 weeks and, due to the cost, this is no longer an option and I can now run only one vehicle.

Does anyone tow?

Is it practical in a Romahome?

[Ian.C.S]

Does anyone here regularly tow using a Romahome?

This is something I've been looking into so am interested in this thread. I have to drive across a field with a trailer carrying a 300kg load and this is sadly casting a very dark shadow over my Romahome-owning dream. It is certainly not something I would want to do by choice but the alternative seems to be retaining a second vehicle, ie my Kangoo van, purely for doing this trip every 2 weeks and, due to the cost, this is no longer an option and I can now run only one vehicle.

Does anyone tow?

Is it practical in a Romahome?

yes Karen there are people who tow,this has come up before and it can be done. If your second vehicle is "off road" you dont need to tax or insure it. How about selling it and buying a 2nd hand quad bike for towing?
or get a mazda van instead of a roma and tow with that,they are 4 wheel drive and not expensive,look at bongos.

[karenw]

yes Karen there are people who tow,this has come up before and it can be done. If your second vehicle is "off road" you dont need to tax or insure it. How about selling it and buying a 2nd hand quad bike for towing? or get a mazda van instead of a roma and tow with that,they are 4 wheel drive and not expensive,look at bongos.

I should explain about the 'off-road' reference: this is actually the fortnightly 'poo-run' which involves a 5 mile drive to the local allotments, a very sharp left-turn (small vehicle needed) up a grassy bank then crossing an often muddy/soft/slippery field to dump the 300kg fragrant and steaming load. At the moment I do it in my old Kangoo partially-adapted-for-basic-camping van but I can no longer afford to run two vehicles, ie this and the Roo, or keeping the van purely for this along with collecting hay bales, shaving bales and feed sacks.

So... both this van and the Roo have to be sold I have to find one vehicle which will be an all-rounder and multi-purpose. It must be capable of being insulated for year-round (wild) camping, diesel so I can fit a heater, economical (ie 50mpg'ish or more), small enough to fit on our driveway, fit beneath height barriers, any internal modifications must be acceptable for insurance purposes - and it must be resaleable. I considered doing a DIY self-build from a panel van and having it reclassified as a motorhome, but this would be too individual (and unconventional) to be resaleable so that's a route I can't take.

I looked at Bongos a few years ago but the fuel economy was dire - I was quoted about 34mpg but the owners I've spoken to have said this was rather optimistic - they were getting closer to 25mpg.

Until just last week, my dream was a Romahome but then my husband, who was going to take over the poo-runs with his car, realised he wouldn't be able to - so my replacement vehicle has to be suited to this too. It's a heavy load on an often muddy, sloping field and I'm not sure a Roma would handle this particularly with its low rear ground clearance, not that I'd want to treat a RH this way....

So, once again, it's back to that well-worn drawing board..... <sigh...> It's been quite a dilemma working out which way to go with so many criteria to fulfil and it seems to be never-ending....!!

[Derek-nb]

Towing

I previously owned a Outlook Duo 2002 model, and I ordered a towbar from PWS and had it fitted locally. I have now just purchased a 2008 Outlook and I am having another PWS towbar fitted, this time fitted by PWS in Poole. With my 2002 Outlook I towed a racing dinghy at it towed very well. The main problem was having to get the mast support extended so that it was held above roof level. Certainlly the towbar reduced the ground clearance at the rear and you had to drive very slowly over any steep ramps enetering car parks etc. However, if the towbar did ground, it was not really a problem, as the towbar could take occassional scraping. Originally the wiring was run below the towbar which meant that it soon wore through after a few groundings. I'm sure PWS will not make the same mistake when they fit on my new Outlook. PWS have said that the diesel heater will make it more difficult to fit, and that is why I have decided to get PWS to fit it this time, despite the journey length to Poole.

As with my 2002 Outlook, I am getting a towbar step fitted brhind the ball hitch, which makes getting in and out of the van much easier, and avoids a removeable step which is always a nuisance.

The only thing i would say is be careful about nose weight when towing a trailer on the outlook.

[peterholden]

Could you possibly post some photos when you have had the job done