Before you tow a caravan or trailer, there are several important processes that you will need to learn. As well as getting used to driving and adjusting to the extra length and width of the caravan, you also need to know how to safely attach, (or hitch-up) the caravan.

The more times that you do it, the easier it will get but one of the common issues with using a detachable towbar is that the locking mechanism can go back to the locked position, which means you cannot re-attach until the towbar has been reset. When you try to insert the neck, you will find that it is not attaching, because the mechanism is not in the correct position to attach.

We get numerous enquiries from people using towbars for the first time because they think that they have bought a faulty towbar when it is actually due to the release mechanism was not turned far enough round, causing it to spring back into the locked position.

When this happens, the solution is to reset the towbar and you will then be able to easily re-attach the towbar neck.

How to reset the towbar:

There is a large pin and a small pin, the large pin should not be protruding out from the end that will be inserted into the towbar receiver. The position that the small pin should be in is exposed, rather than still being inside the mechanism.

Another way you can tell if you need to reset your detachable towbar is if you can see a red band along the inside of the twist handle, where there is a little window to check the colour. If it is green, then the pins are in the right position, and you can insert the towbar.

If you have identified that the towbar is not in its standard position for attaching, the next step is to reset it. To do this, you need to:

1. Push in the blue twist handle and rotate it completely until the small pin pushes outwards and the large pin retracts out of sight. If the handle will only twist 90 degrees, then it is probably a bit stiff and you will need to make sure you have pushed the handle in before you try to turn it. 
2. With the small pin fully out and the big pin retracted into the mechanism, it is now in a charged state and ready to load. You are now able to insert the neck into the housing and it will securely click into place. 

Correctly releasing the mechanism

When you remove the towbar to put it into storage, you need to make sure that the mechanism turns far enough round and that you hear a click as it locks into an open position. However, sometimes even when you have done this, the mechanism might get knocked while it isn’t being used and this can cause the neck to spring into the locked position.

When this happens, you will need to reset the towbar so that the pins are in the right positions, by twisting the blue handle, as described above. The whole process is very quick to do and once you know what to look out for, in regards to the position that the pins should be in when you insert the towbar, the resetting process is simple.

PF Jones is the UK’s largest towbar supplier and we also offer a professional towbar fitting service, so you can let the experts take care of securely and safely fitting your towbar.

Get an instant quote for your towbar fitting here.