Forester MY13 Tow bar upside down?

mikeyk

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Joined
Mar 29, 2009
Messages
14
Location
Sydney
G'day,
I got my replacement Forester last week, this time a Diesel (MY13 2.0D-L)

Awesome car!!
But I have a question about the tow-bar, I thought I'd ask on here before organising the trip to the dealer.

I'm sure the tow-bar tongue is in upside down, and the tow ball should be on the other side of the tongue...

The reason I think this is I went to tow a trailer on the weekend, and it looked too close to the ground.

I've towed the same trailer with my MY09 XT, and it sat level. In the photos below the (unloaded) trailer points down at the front. And the coupling looks very close to the tow bar tongue.

I'd swap it around myself but I don't have socket large enough for the nut on the tow ball. Plus I'm not sure if there is a correct torque it should be tightened to.

What does everyone else think?

Cheers

towbar1.jpg


towbar2.jpg


towbar3.jpg


towbar4.jpg
 
Just checked both of ours.

Either yours is the wrong way up, or both of ours are ... :iconwink: :lol:

I always carry a huge M-F shifting spanner with me. 15".

Glad you are liking your new wheels ... :)
 
Gidday again Mike

Forgot to mention that I tighten the tow ball up as tight as I can using said 15" M-F, with both feet on the side parts of the tow bar ... Probably around 100+ foot pounds. It is a large diameter thread, with a very fine pitch, after all.

One of the very best things I have ever fitted is a couple of bucks worth of stainless steel shim with a whole lot of little rubber fingers on it. Stops me bruising the **** out of my legs all the time ...

Melbourne-20120401-00031_Ew.jpg


BTW, you can see the upside-down tow hitch and ball on one of mine in the piccy ... :lol:
 
Gidday DG

d_generate said:
From your description of tightening the ball I'd say more like two footpersons torque ;)
Click to expand...

Are you calling me short ... ? ... :rotfl:

Whatever the actual torque is, I'd say bloody tight ...

As you and most others would be well aware, you can only put a certain amount of torque on a shifting spanner before it breaks, or f**** up the nut; even one as big, tough and ugly as my 15" old one (actually, now that I think about it, it's probably an 18", not a 15". I have two smaller "big" ones, and they are 12" and 15" IIRC - it's late, and I'm rooted ... ).
[EDIT] Next morning, so somewhat less rooted ... ;). The big M-F is 15", the two smaller ones are 12"/300 mm. [end edit]

Anyway, my best guess would be somewhere between 80 and 110 foot pounds. Not as much as the rear hub nuts on a VW beetle or kombi (and I'm not talking about the factory torque spec - bloody ridiculous at around 250 ft. lbs. ... but the actual torque we used to tighten them to after removal, around 150 ft. lbs.), probably somewhat less than the head studs on my 1968 LC; bit more than the head studs on my Austin Kimberley (85 ft. lbs, or thereabouts, IIRC).

Am I blathering? I suspect I am. Time to go to bed ... :iconwink: :poke:
 
Last edited:
Nope - too late for an AF trick.

mikeyk said:
I'm sure the tow-bar tongue is in upside down, and the tow ball should be on the other side of the tongue...
Click to expand...

yes, you're right
 
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