tow bar snapped on bmw e53 53reg fixed from P F JONES

[X5Sport]

I agree.  It should not be an issue as you are well under the limit both for the bar assembly and car.

Witter's Warranty is a 'lifetime' one so they ought to replace the parts free gratis as long as all the conditions of use are met.

Good luck with getting a +ve result from both PF Jones and Witter.  I have always found PF Jones folks to be very helpful when I have dealt with them.

Richard

[mikejcb]

[quote="X5Sport"]
I agree.  It should not be an issue as you are well under the limit both for the bar assembly and car.

Witter's Warranty is a 'lifetime' one so they ought to replace the parts free gratis as long as all the conditions of use are met.

Good luck with getting a +ve result from both PF Jones and Witter.  I have always found PF Jones folks to be very helpful when I have dealt with them.

Richard
[/quote]


Hi Richard thanks and I hope so as well, ill let you know what the out come is, but I am not  letting this one go, also Richard it's damaged bits at the back of the bumper but don't know if its damaged any think else so they may have a bit more of a prob on there hands.

[chelsea]

Just a note :

If you are pulling something with a tow bar then make sure that you are insured to do so, pulling a trailer with industrial equipment on would deem it for work use (commercial)and if you only have private full comp etc then you would not be covered at all....the insurer would walk away.

Stating the obvious I know but it does happen and some don't know about this.

[kjb1]

[quote="mikejcb"]
[quote="X5Sport"]
I agree.  It should not be an issue as you are well under the limit both for the bar assembly and car.

Witter's Warranty is a 'lifetime' one so they ought to replace the parts free gratis as long as all the conditions of use are met.

Good luck with getting a +ve result from both PF Jones and Witter.  I have always found PF Jones folks to be very helpful when I have dealt with them.

Richard
[/quote]


Hi Richard thanks and I hope so as well, ill let you know what the out come is, but I am not  letting this one go, also Richard it's damaged bits at the back of the bumper but don't know if its damaged any think else so they may have a bit more of a prob on there hands.
[/quote]

I cant really see how this is specific to PF jones if you had the same issues with previous Tow Bar on the car.  Its a weird one, but sounds as if your setup isn't compatible for whatever reason if two tow bars have failed.


Sent from my iPhone

[mikejcb]

Hi its not specific to P.F.JONES ATALL. I just said I bought it from them ??? so don't know what your on about mate,  also the old bar was on it when I purchased it so I don't know it's History, but ill tell you I do know the history of the new witter one, and in no way at all has it been neglected, after all the typing about it basically its the bars that bolt to the chassis that's the problem, but it needs sorting whether its BMW stupid vehicle design or witters not tough enough, as to Chelsea yes of course im insured and im asking for advice on a bar not insurance so stop advising on some think that isn't relevant mate. Thanks to all the sensible advice guys

[TimX5]

Does the towbar look like mine made of bloody thick steel,  the brackets which went inside were made of heavy gauge steel as well.

[mikejcb]

Yes it's the same as your bloody thick bar, and they are all the same inserts which have flanges welded to them and its them that's snapped, tow bars thick and positioned well BUT The inserts are not as they should not be horizontley they should be vertical for extra strength.

[X5Sport]

Is an OEM Westphalia just not an option at all?

Richard

[TimX5]

[quote="mikejcb"]
Yes it's the same as your bloody thick bar, and they are all the same inserts which have flanges welded to them and its them that's snapped, tow bars thick and positioned well BUT The inserts are not as they should not be horizontley they should be vertical for extra strength.
[/quote]

Any pictures

[mikejcb]

Hi Richard they don't do a fixed flange, they only do the detachable and there even weaker, Tim ive been tryin to upload pictures as I took some in P F JONES, ILL KEEP TRYING[img]http://[img]http://i59.tinypic.com/33lgocy.jpg[/img]

[mikejcb]

Richard how do I upload pics  looks like ive done it but it dosent come on

[mikejcb]

[/img]

[mikejcb]

[X5Sport]

Thanks for confirming, but I'm puzzled by your comments about detachables being 'weaker' because the Westphalia (supplied from the factory) is still rated to 3.5T out of the box (even if the car I have has not been upgraded cooling wise to tow at that limit) and tested to that limit (plus an overload margin) so how can it be 'weaker'? 

Surely neither BMW nor Westphalia (nor any other manufacturer) would offer it at their stated rating limit unless they were certain that the bracket and removable components actually met the standards required and the manufacturer could prove it as a result of independant testing?

More and more detachable tow bracket/ball assemblies are now offered as standard so what evidence is there that they are 'weaker' if correctly loaded etc? The new BMW versions on the F15 are electrically folding - so are they even weaker still?

Or is this from an urban myth perpetuated from use of cheaper non-OEM tow systems that may or may not have been installed and/or used correctly and from years past that modern designed systems have long since dealt with?  Going cheap or non-OEM is not always the way to go.

It may have no bearing on the situation you currently have as the cause is as yet unknown, so when the manufacturer comes back with an answer I expect some of us, and certainly those with any kind of tow system may be interested in their answers.

Richard

[X5Sport]

Looking at those pics they look like fatigue cracks/fractures which is definitely worrying!  Any sign of a rear end shunt in the car's past - might have put the floor and rear panels out of square?  That might cause wrong stress points?

Richard