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Trevor PM not working. Email address invalid so my reply is below
THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE AN OPEN TOPIC. IT IS A REPLY TO A QUESTION RECEIVED AND CANNOT BE REPLIED TO IN OTHER WAYS.
Hi Trevor
I did a lot of research on Smart before I went down that route. I posted questions on various forums including Smart. Lot's of people including Merc said NO, you should not do it. Nobody could tell me why, other than that's what it says in the handbook. I asked the question "Does anyone know of any problem that has actually happened"? No one did.
I then contacted Getrag, the makers of the gearbox. They said "No problem, the gearbox is bullet proof!"
I then contacted Bill at Towtal (suppliers of A frames and tow bars) He said he had been fitting A frames since the Smart 1st came out (as Swatch brand) and had fitted 100's. He had only heard of 2 people who had had problems. (if he had fitted A frames and any problems had arisen he would know) The 2 people who had problems had towed the Smart whilst the gear selector was in reverse! Rather than neutral. So their own doing.
As long as the Smart has a neutral position as ours does. (we have a Pulse) and the car is in neutral with hand brake off it will be NO problem based on our experience.
We have towed, last year 2500 miles to Spain, This year 2400 miles to Italy (some 400 mile stints in one day) Mostly along Auto route/motorway with some mountain roads also. We go away most weekends in the MH with the Smart. Our 1st motor home we covered 5000 miles with the Smart on tow about 90% of the time. Our second has covered about 5000 miles also with Smart on about 90% of the time
I tend to tow at 60mph where traffic permits and a little higher for overtaking, where legal )
The only problem is reversing with the Smart on, you cannot do it. The front wheels go in any direction. It is only a few seconds to disconnect electrics and un hitch to move it and then re connect.
We do not use a trailer board. We do have a sign in the front of the motor home saying TOWING as some people at roundabouts/junctions may not be aware the Smart is on the back.
We have never had any trouble or question from officials and we have visited/passed through
UK, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, GERMANY, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland. We have had lots of looks, laughs, questions from Europeans, but never any bad comments.
If you want any more info let me know. Look at Towtal web site, downloads for more info/ documents.
Regards
Dennis
______________________________________________________________ Be seeing you! No. 6
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UK
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