Grind back smooth/ paint/ fit ball = pass But also depends on the other side & other brackets overall condition
2sheddies,
Aug 8, 7:46am
Isn't that ridiculous? Yet another example of why the wof system in this country is a joke. Take the ball off a half rotten towbar, and they'll give you a wof, trusting that you won't go straight home, put the ball back on and hook up your tandem axle builders trailer lol.
smallwoods,
Aug 8, 8:08am
Correct, but the police can issue a ticket straight after the new WOF, if a tow ball is fitted.
sred69,
Aug 8, 9:25am
Still a tow bar if ball fitted or not. If significantly corroded fail but that looks like minor pitting to about a 12-15mm Thick tongue, would have to see it in real life to make a call but maybe give a warning
franc123,
Aug 8, 10:23am
I would want to see the rest of it before making a judgement on that. While the quality of chrome used on tongues does vary that's pretty severe corrosion for something less than 10yo.
franc123,
Aug 8, 10:28am
What's the chances of that happening ya reckon? Cops aren't up with the play on/don't want to deal with, in-your-face boyracer crap that they should be stickering let alone more obscure stuff that may or may not be warrantable on a fairly anonymous 10yo Subaru that someone is towing a trailer with.
intrade,
Aug 8, 6:06pm
i did not look but i know people have been failed for rust on steel rims that was only stain like surface rust. The local wof guy said yes its possible to fail it for that under the legislation laws or what ever you call it. makes no sense but then again the towing law we have also makes sense to make no sense.
intrade,
Aug 8, 6:09pm
just hit it with por 15 . realistically thats the 8mm or thicker tow lip should not fail but then again as my other post see what fails also.
martin11,
Aug 8, 6:32pm
If the tow bar is like that and easily seen ,what is the rest of the car like in harder to find areas ?
kazbanz,
Aug 8, 8:45pm
Not having a go at ya for a second dude but I reckon your thinking is wrong. Forget WOF all together. Right now the towbar based on your picture is fine and safe to tow up to the weight listed on it . But let it get worse and likely one day you are gonna have the trailer overtaking your car. Given it uses standard construction that pitting on the visible bit is nothing. BUT the rest of the bar (-ie thinner gauge metal.) if pitted to the same extent could be an issue. So if it were me id be getting stuck in and removing the pitting from all over the towbar. The chrome has gone anyways so grind it off everywhere then spray Brunox everywhere. Once done spray it with a few coats of black paint. then zero WOF issues and a safe towbar.
amasser,
Aug 9, 1:09am
Perhaps the w.o.f. should be issued with a notation that towing isn't allowed? Would owners comply?
Hmmm!
secca2,
Aug 9, 2:36am
I failed based on the potential to tow.
mrfxit,
Aug 9, 7:12am
I think . . . based on current regulations, the towbar can only be failed even with the ball removed, if the bar it's self, is loose/ falling off/ rotten/ loose - rotten mounts/ mounting bolts etc
skiff1,
Aug 11, 7:50am
Some very surprising things can happen with seemingly very minor surface rust. The oxidation on the surface can “draw out” some alloying elements and radically change the crystalline structure of the steel, making it brittle. That said, grind and paint, good as!
supernova2,
Aug 11, 10:38pm
My reading of 12.1 of the VIRM makes me think that it actually can't be failed for that surface rust as such as it is neither the towball or within 150mm of the mounting points.
franc123,
Dec 8, 6:04pm
All you would do is rip that chrome off with an appropriate stripper disc, see if there was any deep pits in the steel, if there was fill them with a bit of MIG, dress it flat with a flap disc and then coat it with Hammerite, POR15 or the Wattyl killrust paint and leave iit at that
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