Tow Tower

Gjac wrote:
This just looks all wrong for most RV's. The higher you lift the front of the vehicle off the ground the more weight you can take of the hitch. So theoretically if the 4000 lb car is completely vertical the hitch would be unloaded. I can't see lifting the front wheels 12-18 in off the ground reducing the tongue by more than half. Secondly I can't imagine the stress put on the attach points on the car.The video does not show the attach points underneath the car or how this is load is spread out. Most unibody cars are are just stamped steel. When I installed my base plate on my tow car the steel was about 1/8 in thick. The dynamic loads from potholes etc are much more than the static loads. May be there is something we are not seeing or understanding from the video, if not maybe as Wolfe said it was designed just for large tag axle MH's.

In the video he said it attached to the underside of the car with 4 shear bolts - I hope it's in the frame. He goes on to say that in a crash they are designed to shear off. Thinking to myself, the forces imposed on this unit with potholes, starting, hard stops etc, could replicate the forces of a crash. Maybe I'm wrong - I am no engineer - but it doesn't seem very safe. And to re-state the obvious point - I think he is dramatically understating the amount of stress on the hitch. He claims his 4k# car only imposes 1600# on the hitch. I don't believe that but if it's true, that can't be max, that has to be on a flat surface resting. And when it's flat on the ground and you start the lifting process, aren't you lifting at least 50% of the vehicle weight - if not more due to the engine - to get it off the ground? Never mind the unit looks to be 100-200# itself. That's almost 2000#. He said it himself, there are really no regulations governing towing consumer cars. So there doesn't have to be any extensive testing. I think the risk, plus cost, plus the various other cheaper and safer alternatives makes this a no-go. But that's my opinion.