Damon Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I have recently had my Smart car converted for towing behind my AUTOTRAIL COMANCHE. Having towed some 400 miles without mishap I drove from my home a matter of yards when the car began to snake when turning right out of my drive. Subsequent examination showed that the offside socket welded into the front tow bar had failed at the weld. Car was not in gear or handbrake on. The nearside socket was found undamaged. I would add the car is fitted with a state of the art vacuum braking system. The failure is currently under investigation by the supplier. My understanding is the tow bar is supplied buy Daimler Benz with two towing sockets. I am hoping that the failure is due to a poor weld and is just a one off. I have pictures of the damage if anyone is interested. Welding in this area does not appear to be top notch. I would advise other motorhomers with similar systems to check this weld on both sides and ensure there is no sign of imminent failure. Unfortunately the front body panel needs to be removed to gain access. I will update this thread as further information becomes available. : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I suppose the upside is that it didn't fail whist you were belting down some motorway.. :-S (..just a thought,as it's a failure on the Smart car crossmemer,would it be worth asking the mods to retitle the thread? something like "Smart car towing-eye weld failure"? ..it may grab peoples' attention more...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 Thanks and noted. I will rename the thread once the technical investigation is completed. I will update the report at this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Are you sure this crossmember is not made by the people that fitted your a frame?. Mine is on my picanto, also reputable fitters do not use the towing sockets fitted by the car builders, as they are not meant for frequent long distance towing (I'm informed). I would check before you go off accusing MB parts of failing because of unauthorised use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike B. Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Have Smart Cars been changed re towing? When I bought our toad about 3 yrs ago I was told you couldn't tow a Smart on an A frame due to the auto transmission etc. and had to be on a trailer Has this now changed and if so when? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Very important to check out what Peter has just informed you,,,,,have come across a few with very poor manufactured parts, not by MB,,,but supplier of towing frame,,,.Sorry to hear of same .Regards,Brendan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
takeaflight Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 A well known company at least for A frames had a similar failure on a part they had manufactured. From memory I think it was a towing eye that failed due to slide stress 's being put on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosbotham Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 It's been said before now...towing points installed by the car manufacturers aren't designed for sustained towing. I personally don't believe a-frame systems using them are fit for purpose...dedicated mounts onto the towed vehicle (e.g. Chris Cox) are far better. Mike, you've been misinformed. There isn't and has never been any issue with towing a Smart, so long as it's in neutral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 A smart car can be towed in neutral with the handbrake off. It is fitted with an automated manual gearbox and no steering lock. This has always been the case. For all intents and purposes it performs as a normal manual gear box car when towed on all four wheels. Hope this answers your query. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 There are a few companies that wrongly use the manufactufacturers towing spigots to mount the eyes for a frames. One such is Unibrake at nearly 2 grand. As quoted on their website:- CAN BE INSTALLED ON ALL VEHICLES FITTED WITH A FRONT TOWING EYE - Smart 450/451 - Toyota Aygo & iQ - Peugeot 107 & Citroen C1 - Fiat 500, Ford Ka etcs I know that Towtal don't, as that's where mine was fitted. You can always tell if it's correct, as the propper fixings are lower than the manufacturers eyebolt fixings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 How a photo if possible of failure?Regards Brendan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 onecal - 2012-01-18 11:31 PM How a photo if possible of failure?Regards Brendan Blimey Brendan!..have you taken to posting in apache' now..? (lol) It's certainly worth folks getting their mounting points looked at(..and preferably not by the bloke who fitted 'em.. ;-) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike B. Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Damon - 2012-01-18 9:45 PM A smart car can be towed in neutral with the handbrake off. It is fitted with an automated manual gearbox and no steering lock. This has always been the case. For all intents and purposes it performs as a normal manual gear box car when towed on all four wheels. Hope this answers your query. Thanks for that-clearly I was given wrong information at the time Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 If anybody drops me an email at Peter.vickers@sky.com I will send on the photographs of the damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJP Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 email sent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Hi,,,I think the photo's tells the story ,,,,,,hope PM is helpful,,,,glad no one was hurt,,Regards,Brendan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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