Trustworthy towbar fitment
Towbars are a necessity for big families when embarking on longdistance road trips. This is how fitment experts derisk towbar issues.
M ore South African families and
urban vehicle owners than ever before own bakkies and body-onframe SUVs. Creating a growing market for expert towbar advice and fitment.
For operators in the towbar automotive aftermarket, there is a growing demand for quality fitment and advice across a wider array of attachments and customer needs.
Traditional towbar buyers, like farmers who need a robust towbar for towing heavy trailers behind single cab bakkies, are still there. Or construction entrepreneurs or waste removal specialists who use single-cab bakkies as work vehicles and need a towbar for hitching a skip.
Towbar fitment specialists need to position their businesses to meet the demand from customers who have purchased vehicles with significant towing capability, but little towing experience.
Advising novice towers
The challenge for towbar fitment centre owners and their technical staff is dealing with the new crossover SUV and double cab bakkie owners. Customers who are unfamiliar with towing but now own vehicles with strong towing capacity. These customers often misunderstand how ride height and sensor systems can cause their towing experience to go wrong.
Modern crossover SUVs and double cab bakkies feature extensive sensor fusion in their rear bumpers. These include rear cross traffic LiDAR sensors and the reversing cameras. Whether customers want a fixed, retractable or removable towbar, fitment technicians need to understand the complexity of modern installations. And what is possible with different vehicle platforms and sensorrich rear bumpers, without creating auto electrical issues.
For body-on-frame vehicles( like double cab bakkies), towbar fitment is easier than for most monocoque crossover SUVs. That is because body-on-frame vehicles have accessible chassis rails and prepared mounting points for heavy-duty towbars.
Derisking exhaust heat issues
Another issue that fitment technicians need to consider when advising vehicle owners unfamiliar with towing and towbars is the risk of incorrectly configured carrying racks.
Mountain biking is a popular outdoor activity in South Africa, and most riders prefer to carry their bikes on a towbar bike rack. These racks can stack up to three bikes, but there is a risk posed by the position of those mountain bike wheels relative to the vehicle exhaust.
On a long-distance drive, when exhaust gas temperatures are at their highest, exhaust flow can melt expensive carbon mountain bike wheels. It all depends on the angle of the exhaust relative to the towbar-mounted bike rack. This is one of those risk insights that only experienced fitment centre technicians know and can advise vehicle owners on when choosing a towbar for their vehicle, based on the exhaust porting.
WORDS IN ACTION 36 JULY | AUGUST 2026