Why use a Nudge Bar?

Protect Your Vehicle With A Nudge Bar

Something many people forget is many times you are not even in your car when it gets damaged. Other people can damage the front of your car when parking or reversing theirs, either through lack of concentration or poor judgement. And lets face it, the person who leaves contact details after damaging your car is all too rare these days. This is why nudge bars are really handy, offering you frontal protection from other peoples poor driving.

Different Nudge Bars For Different Vehicles

63MM Series 2 Nudge Bar

The stylish 63mm series 2 nudge bar provides great sports styling together with the height advantage, offering grille protection. Formed from high tensile Alloy tubing, this 63mm series 2 nudge bar is styled to please. Spotlight mounting provisions are standard inclusions together with a choice of finishes.

How Safe are worn Tires?

Tires can lose their footing long before they're worn out. Tests show that tread can give up a significant amount of grip when it's still at the halfway point.

That's particularly worrisome when you realize how many worn tires are on the roads. A recent study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that nearly 50 percent of the 11,500 cars, pickup trucks, vans, and sport-utility vehicles the agency checked had at least one tire with half-worn tread. Another 10 percent had at least one bald tire.

Worn tires—especially bald ones—can be deadly on wet roads, where the grooves aren't deep enough to channel water out from beneath the tread. The result is hydroplaning, where the tread skims the water's surface and the vehicle no longer responds to the steering wheel. Wet-weather braking and snow traction also decrease as tires wear.

Tires are considered bald when one or more of their grooves reaches 2/32 of an inch deep, compared with about 10/32 of an inch for new tires (tread wear is usually measured in 1/32-inch increments). Manufacturers have made bald tires easier to spot by placing a series of molded horizontal bars at the base of the grooves. The bars become flush with surrounding tread when wear reduces a groove's depth to 2/32 of an inch. That's also the point where tires will flunk a state safety inspection—and where tread must be worn for you to collect on a tire's tread-wear warranty.

Unfortunately, 2/32 of an inch may be too late if you drive in rain .

The Humble Towbar

If you were having a towbar fitted around 1950 the chances are you would have visited your local blacksmith!

However, with the passing of the chassis in car construction and the rapidly increasing interest in caravanning and trailers, the towing bracket had to come of age. Tow bars are made from steel or stainless steel. The towbar is an important piece of safety equipment, and if you intend on fitting one make sure it complies with the standards set by SABS. 

Witter Towbar Systems
Witter is the best known towbar brand in the UK. For many years they were based in Chester. In the 1990's they moved to modern headquarters on the outskirts of Chester in Deeside, North Wales.
Witter are best known for the production of the flange style of towbar, however Witter produce swanneck towbars and a wide range of detachable towbars using both the ADS system in their Quantum detachable system and the GDW system which they market as a Stowbar.

  PCT Automotive
PCT Automotive is the second biggest UK towbar manufacture. Based in the steel city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire they list a very wide selection of flange towbars.
These new detachable towbars are called the "PCT Prestige", and the range is growing to include more vehicles.
PCT are the main importer of GDW towbars into the UK.
  Bosal
Bosal are perhaps best known for their exhaust systems which are original equipment on many vehicles, however they are also one of the worlds biggest towbar companies. They produce flange, swanneck and swanneck detachable towbars, which are original equipment in many cases.
They have factories all over the world including Plant 21; the headquarters of Bosal UK Ltd in Lancashire. In recent year Bosal has expanded by purchasing Oris and Autoflex. 
  Thule Towing Systems/Brink
Brink where until recently Europe's biggest towbar manufacturer with a wide range of flange, swanneck and detachable towbars including the Brinkmatic range.
Brink have now been purchased by Thule and the Brink name is being dropped, all new towbar designs will be branded just as Thule.

  SIARR
The Industrial Company of the Attachments Rene Renault or SIARR, is a well established towbar company in France producing both swanneck and flange towbars.
Many of there towbars where type approved by their then sister company Eurobars in the UK. Now that Westfalia has purchased SIARR a limited number are available through Westfalia as well as through Eurobars in the UK.
SIARR is the only company that produces a towbar for the Volkswagen Golf Hatch Mark 5 which does not require a bumper cut.
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  Eurobars are based in Peterborough and until recently where a sister company to SIARR. They contuine to sell a full range of SIARR flange and swanneck towbars including the VW Golf Hatch Mark 5 with no bumper cut.

  Monoflex are based in Sweden producing both swanneck and detachable swanneck towbars.
Monoflex is now owned by Westfalia and a selection of Monoflex bars are now available from Westfalia in Germany.
  EECO
EECO are one of the oldest UK based towbar manufacturers. They have been making for all types of car since the early 70's.

From West Yorkshire EECO were carrying out strength tests on towbars and advising car manufacturers about towing stresses on body shells over 30 years ago.
  York Towbars
York had a history of providing premium strength towbars, and were fitting all towbars to the manufacuters specified mounting points long before EC type approval made it the norm. We still have a few York brackets available for sale.
 

It's Special's Time at Towbars Cape

August see's Towbars Cape Presenting some of the best Towbars special offers this side of the equator.

These include
Rubber/Aluminium
Nudgebar
Normal Price R5130
Special Price R3500

Stainless Steel High Nudgebar, no sump guard
With spotlight bracklets
Normal R5130
Special Price R3500




Stocks are limited to get down to Towbars Cape quick to grab yours ...Towbars Cape CC

TEL: 021 595 4010 / 1 / 2 Fax: 021 595 1188 EMAIL: info.towbars@mweb.co.za

Physical Address: 2 Joe Hattingh street N1 City 7460

Opening Hours: Monday to Friday: 8am -5pm Saturday: 8am - 1pm

Monaco Grand Prix 27 May 2012

Today see's the  kick off of the FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2012 the current standings below show how hotly contested this year Grand Prix has been to date.

Race Date:

27 May 2012

Circuit Name:

Circuit de Monaco

Number of Laps:

78

Circuit Length:

3.340 km

Race Distance:

260.520 km

Lap Record:

1:14.439 - M Schumacher (2004)

In a sport such as Formula One, safety is paramount, but on the streets of Monte Carlo – closed for high-speed racing by day, open to the public by night – it is for ever questioned.
Michael Schumacher – fastest in Saturdays qualifying session – earlier this week spoke of the irony that his sport spends much energy promoting road safety yet races on a circuit widely accepted to be dangerously high-risk.
The fact Monaco has the slowest average speed of all circuits on the calendar is largely irrelevant courtesy of the unique and unforgiving set-up that, with minimal run-off areas, allows almost no margin for error.
Ross Brawn, Schumacher's team principal at Mercedes-GP, told The National the risk of racing in Monte Carlo is justifiable.

Formula One Standings brought to you by Towbars Cape

As of: Spanish Grand Prix		+/-	Points	Behind	Wins
1	Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull	–	61	‒	1
2	Fernando Alonso - Ferrari	+3	61	‒	1
3	Lewis Hamilton - McLaren	-1	53	8	0
4	Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus	+3	49	12	0
5	Mark Webber - Red Bull	-2	48	13	0

F1 Update

How ironic was it that in a race that depended on tyre wear and strategy, it should all come right for Mercedes and Nico Rosberg as the young German scored his maiden Grand Prix victory by 20.6s as a fantastic war raged a long way behind him?

Rosberg was in charge all the way, proving convincingly that Mercedes have solved their tyre degradation issues. It was their first ‘works’ victory since Juan Manuel Fangio won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza back in 1955, prior to their withdrawal from the sport.

Thus, after the race of the season, Hamilton leads the world championship with 45 points to Button’s 43, with Fernando Alonso third on 37 after a tough afternoon. In the constructors’ stakes, McLaren still lead with 88 points to Red Bull’s 64, Ferrari’s 37, Sauber’s 31, Mercedes’ 26 and Lotus’s 24.

Next Race

Sakhir

Race Date:	22 Apr 2012
Circuit Name:	Bahrain International Circuit
Number of Laps:	57
Circuit Length:	5.412 km
Race Distance:	308.238 km
Lap Record:	1:30.252 - M Schumacher (2004)

 F1 update brought to you by Towbars Cape

2012 Australian Grand Prix

The 27-year-old F1 motor racer from Hertfordshire claimed pole position around the Albert Park street circuit in Melbourne this morning (Saturday).
Hamilton’s Vodafone McLaren Mercedes colleague Jenson Button was second quickest in Q3 to complete the team’s first front row lock-out since Hungary 2008.
While there were celebrations in the McLaren garage, there were glum faces in the Red Bull paddock after double world champion Sebastian Vettel could only qualify sixth behind Mark Webber, who will start from the third row in fifth spot.
Things were even worse for Ferrari, with both their drivers, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, failing to reach the top 10 shootout in qualifying.

Will Lewis Hamilton win the 2012 world title in the McLaren MP4-27?

Following the capitulation of both the Red Bull and the Ferrari cars, William Hill make Stevenage-born Hamilton the 11/10 favourite to win the Australian Grand Prix, with his team-mate Button second in the betting at 11/4.
Vettel has gone from being the 11/8 favourite for the race to 8/1, while Michael Schumacher, fourth on the grid, could get his first podium finish since returning to F1.
The German Mercedes driver is 12/1 for first place and 2/1 for a spot in the top three.
Romain Grosjean qualified third for Lotus ahead of Schumacher.

Hamilton is 8/13 to beat his team-mate, while Button is 6/5 to finish ahead of Lewis.
If Vettel’s drift in the race odds has been alarming, then his drift in the Drivers’ Championship has been more so.
At one point 5/6 before the season had even started, Vettel is now 9/4 second favourite, with Hamilton 2/1 and Button, in from 8/1 to 3/1 third favourite.
“Sebastian Vettel has been so well fancied and that is highlighted by the fact that he was odds on before a wheel had been turned in anger.

 

Lewis Hamilton in Melbourne [Picture: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes]

 

“That the Red Bulls were so far off the pace indicates that this season could be the closest yet,” said Hill’s spokesman Joe Crilly.
The poor Australian GP qualifying for Red Bull has also seen them overtaken for the Constructors’ Championship, with McLaren 8/11 and Red Bull 2/1.
Mercedes GP are in third for the first time at 5/1 with Ferrari out to 20/1.
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