Great to see Trevor/Sue, That must have been one of the early frames, mine's similar to Bob/Jennies. My car is keyless, Mike (and the other options) cover this by putting in a steering lock bypass switch. Would be a slightly different process to yours, ignition on, disable steering lock, ignition off. Another good tip is to not have both vehicles on when you connect the electric cable.
Thanks for the tips. It’s definitely an older a-frame as we have had it for 6 years now. It’s interesting that there are slightly different processes for different vehicles so it’s important to know what’s correct for a particular van or car. That’s what we liked about TowAFrame as they were spot on with advice. Safe travels 😃👍🏻🚐💙 Trev
Thank you. 😃 All is well here but it’s suddenly become very cold in the east of England. We are not used to lower temperatures here 🥶 Take care 👍🏻😃🚐💙 Trev n Sue
@@grapesodatravels I could have gone into a lot more detail but it may have been overload. Only a few cars can be towed like this and of course there’s weights to consider, among other things. We are still glad we kept our little Ethel when we bought Smirf 😃👍🏻🚐💙 Trev
Thank you ☺️ we towed it three times this year but it’s our only car for now so it’s a little workhorse that is very economical and friendly to the planet of course 😉 We will hang on to Ethel for a little longer while she still offers good value 😃👍🏻💙 Trev
Hi Trev, really enjoyed your very informative video very good demonstration, hope you had a lovely time at Winchester Campsite, take care x Julie and Tony x
Another good video Trev, one small observation, you didnt show or explain the importance of checking the lights once all hooked up. I accept it should be obvious to those in the know.
@@williamchanning9055 Absolutely 👍🏻 That’s a really good point. It’s weird because we always, and I mean always check the lights before we start driving. I wish I had included it in the video. Thank you for pointing it out 👌😃🚐💙 Trev
Very informative vlog! Thank you! It's an option that we've considered but had little knowledge of how the setup worked. Stay safe guys. Sid and Nicola, Rugby
Well done Trev a great video and it must be great to have her with you as Smirf must be hard to drive around narrow roads (thinking of Cornwall and Devon here) and gives you that freedom I guess that you can leave smirf on site set up Does it affect his fuel consumption much towing? Hope you are both keeping well Daniel
@@danielrussell446 Very handy for going out with friends. We get 4 people and three dogs in the car so we can go out shopping or exploring as a group. Also not too much burden on fuel economy. We get 31 mpg when towing and up to 41 mpg solo on long trips. Never had such an economical van and it’s 8 speed automatic too 😃👍🏻🚐💙 Trev
I’ve always wondered how the steering worked when towing, I get that the lock is off but do the wheels naturally turn when towing? Obviously it’s quite difficult to steer without the power steering pump running and for example my car has electric power steering so is a lot stiffer. Seems odd that triangles are mandatory when the car is a “trailer” as the car has reflectors anyway, interesting video though, I wonder if towing a caravan will ever catch on 😂
@@RickandHeather Yes the car just follows the van and the wheels turn naturally. To be honest Smirf handles a trailer so well I have to keep reminding myself it’s there. We had caravans for years. At least now with the van we can go out and about and take everything with us and decide where to park for the night at will. And if the family are with us (or friends) we can take the car and all go out together and not have to wait for a bus or taxi. It’s the best of both worlds. Granted the car gave more value when we had the coach built van but it’s really handy to have with two elderly dogs. Down side is that I am stuck with a city car. I would quite like a comfortable drive but it’s ridiculous having two cars sitting on the drive guzzling my hard earned beer money 😉😃 Trev
Thank you so much for showing this process, would you mind me please asking the cost of the modifications to the car and are there options to get this done across the country and or who did you use? I can look up the costs of the frame, many many thanks once again for showing this and I also think you small car is really a nice run around, I have a SMART Car which I was planning to use when i get this far.
There are a number of A-Frame suppliers, we chose Tow-A-Frame due to its weight and it fits into a bag. The company has a number of agents around the country, we used a Suffolk engineer in Stradbroke as it was convenient for us. The cost of the a-frame conversion and all the work will be around £3,500 but we have benefited greatly from this investment over the last 6 years. The Smart car should be adaptable but not all cars are. Contact Mike at www.towaframeltd.co.uk for more detailed advice. 👍🏻😃 Trev
If you have an automatic or semi automatic gearbox on your Smart car double check with Mercedes about towing it with an A Frame. A number of years ago my late wife had a Smart car (great little car) and we were considering exactly this set up. Smart/Mercedes told us the gearbox was not designed to be towed on an A Frame for anything other than very short emergency use distance, either a trailer or a “dolly” should be used. It may be different now but worth checking out 👍
Love Sue's safety crocs 😂😂
@@draigcochstravels6074 Yes the best quality safety shoes 😂😂 Luckily there’s no jockey wheel on our a-frame 🥴 Thanks for watching 👍🏻😃🚐💙 Trev
@PoshcatsCamping thanks for showing how it's done 👍 also would love to know about the mods on the car and how they're done. It's all fascinating stuff
Nice demo. I’m sure this info will be appreciated by many if you viewers.
@@HappyPlaceCamping thank you, hope you are both well 👍🏻😃💙 Trev
Great to see Trevor/Sue, That must have been one of the early frames, mine's similar to Bob/Jennies. My car is keyless, Mike (and the other options) cover this by putting in a steering lock bypass switch. Would be a slightly different process to yours, ignition on, disable steering lock, ignition off. Another good tip is to not have both vehicles on when you connect the electric cable.
Thanks for the tips. It’s definitely an older a-frame as we have had it for 6 years now. It’s interesting that there are slightly different processes for different vehicles so it’s important to know what’s correct for a particular van or car. That’s what we liked about TowAFrame as they were spot on with advice. Safe travels 😃👍🏻🚐💙 Trev
Good information. Hope you’re having a wonderful week, my friends 😊💕👍
Thank you. 😃 All is well here but it’s suddenly become very cold in the east of England. We are not used to lower temperatures here 🥶 Take care 👍🏻😃🚐💙 Trev n Sue
Well that went without a hitch 👍🙂
@@ttxela 😂😂 that’s a great comment 👍🏻 thanks Alex 💙
A very thorough video. We even enjoyed the jazzy music! Thanks for sharing N&Nx
@@grapesodatravels I could have gone into a lot more detail but it may have been overload. Only a few cars can be towed like this and of course there’s weights to consider, among other things. We are still glad we kept our little Ethel when we bought Smirf 😃👍🏻🚐💙 Trev
I so miss our little toad but we were just not getting the use of it with going into Europe for the main holidays. Great video as ever! A&J
Thank you ☺️ we towed it three times this year but it’s our only car for now so it’s a little workhorse that is very economical and friendly to the planet of course 😉 We will hang on to Ethel for a little longer while she still offers good value 😃👍🏻💙 Trev
Hi Trev, really enjoyed your very informative video very good demonstration, hope you had a lovely time at Winchester Campsite, take care x Julie and Tony x
@@gallivantinggalantes thank you 😃 we had a lovely week and got home just before the weather changed on Sunday 😃👍🏻🚐💙 Trev
Very good explanation
❤👍
@@NatureAndOther thank you, it’s a technical subject that I wanted to keep fairly simple to understand 😃👍🏻💙 Trev
Another good video Trev, one small observation, you didnt show or explain the importance of checking the lights once all hooked up. I accept it should be obvious to those in the know.
@@williamchanning9055 Absolutely 👍🏻 That’s a really good point. It’s weird because we always, and I mean always check the lights before we start driving. I wish I had included it in the video. Thank you for pointing it out 👌😃🚐💙 Trev
Very helpful thank you.
@@SheilaPalmer-i2e thank you for watching and your comments 👍🏻😃🚐💙 Trev
Very informative vlog! Thank you! It's an option that we've considered but had little knowledge of how the setup worked. Stay safe guys. Sid and Nicola, Rugby
Thanks 🙂 It’s not difficult but there are a few key things to consider. I hope this threw some light onto the subject 👍🏻🚐💙 Trev
Good tip from Mike at Tow a Frame. Get a "dummy" ignition key cut but NOT coded, this will unlock steering but will not start car.
Yes great tip. It’s quite cheap to get them made too 👍🏻😃🚐💙 Trev
Well done Trev a great video and it must be great to have her with you as Smirf must be hard to drive around narrow roads (thinking of Cornwall and Devon here) and gives you that freedom I guess that you can leave smirf on site set up
Does it affect his fuel consumption much towing?
Hope you are both keeping well Daniel
@@danielrussell446 Very handy for going out with friends. We get 4 people and three dogs in the car so we can go out shopping or exploring as a group. Also not too much burden on fuel economy. We get 31 mpg when towing and up to 41 mpg solo on long trips. Never had such an economical van and it’s 8 speed automatic too 😃👍🏻🚐💙 Trev
I’ve always wondered how the steering worked when towing, I get that the lock is off but do the wheels naturally turn when towing? Obviously it’s quite difficult to steer without the power steering pump running and for example my car has electric power steering so is a lot stiffer. Seems odd that triangles are mandatory when the car is a “trailer” as the car has reflectors anyway, interesting video though, I wonder if towing a caravan will ever catch on 😂
@@RickandHeather Yes the car just follows the van and the wheels turn naturally. To be honest Smirf handles a trailer so well I have to keep reminding myself it’s there. We had caravans for years. At least now with the van we can go out and about and take everything with us and decide where to park for the night at will. And if the family are with us (or friends) we can take the car and all go out together and not have to wait for a bus or taxi. It’s the best of both worlds. Granted the car gave more value when we had the coach built van but it’s really handy to have with two elderly dogs. Down side is that I am stuck with a city car. I would quite like a comfortable drive but it’s ridiculous having two cars sitting on the drive guzzling my hard earned beer money 😉😃 Trev
Thank you so much for showing this process, would you mind me please asking the cost of the modifications to the car and are there options to get this done across the country and or who did you use? I can look up the costs of the frame, many many thanks once again for showing this and I also think you small car is really a nice run around, I have a SMART Car which I was planning to use when i get this far.
There are a number of A-Frame suppliers, we chose Tow-A-Frame due to its weight and it fits into a bag. The company has a number of agents around the country, we used a Suffolk engineer in Stradbroke as it was convenient for us. The cost of the a-frame conversion and all the work will be around £3,500 but we have benefited greatly from this investment over the last 6 years. The Smart car should be adaptable but not all cars are. Contact Mike at www.towaframeltd.co.uk for more detailed advice. 👍🏻😃 Trev
If you have an automatic or semi automatic gearbox on your Smart car double check with Mercedes about towing it with an A Frame. A number of years ago my late wife had a Smart car (great little car) and we were considering exactly this set up. Smart/Mercedes told us the gearbox was not designed to be towed on an A Frame for anything other than very short emergency use distance, either a trailer or a “dolly” should be used. It may be different now but worth checking out 👍