Tow Bars for Stageas

[Sydneykid]

I mentioned this in another post some time ago, but I need some feedback from guys with tow bars fitted to their Stageas. I am juts about to take ours along to the tow bar fabricator and I was hoping to pick up some ideas from those with one already as to mounting points etc. A picture or 2 would be great.

Also if there is enough interest I may be able to organise a group buy, so let me know on that as well.

[PHaT MR30]

please organise some pics! my dad will buy one if he can have a trailer hooked up to it!!

perfect for towing the silvia to the race track!

[Sydneykid]

please organise some pics! my dad will buy one if he can have a trailer hooked up to it!!

perfect for towing the silvia to the race track!

No problems, that's why I bought the Stagea, to tow the R32 GTST to the track. I have found a guy in NZ who had a tow bar made there for his. I have asked for some pictures of it to compare with what my local tow bar fabricator suggests. I'll let you know what happens.

[abflug]

I dont think it would be a good idea to be using a Sagea as a tow car. The weight of a R32 and a trailer would be way to much for it to handle.

[Sydneykid]

The R32 GTST weighs 1245 kgs and the trailer 410 kgs. Previously we have used a number of Foulcans and Commondoors. The closest thing to the Stagea was our Foulcan Waggon, it weighed 1610 kgs had 170 kw and was an auto. Having tried several manuals we found the auto to be much better, the lack of an LSD was a problem occasionally and ABS would have been nice. The Foucan was rated to tow 2,200 kgs with electric trailer brakes. The Stagea weighs 1,658 kgs, it's an auto, 4wd, it has ABS and LSD. The standard Power is 173 kw. The torque is a bit less than the 4 litre Foulcan, but nothing a few mods won't fix easily.

If we tie off the tow bar mounts to the rear subframe mounts it should have higher integrity than the Foulcan with it's live rear axle and leaf springs. So unless there is some inherent lack of rear chassis strength in the Stagea, I can't see a problem.

[PHaT MR30]

Yeh he was gonna buy a Ford Territory, but after the bad reviews at late regarding suspension links, bushes, and control arms breaking along with the horrid fuel consumption, he was very against owning one!

are manuals hard to come by? ive heard that the auto leaves alot to be desired

[Sydneykid]

are manuals hard to come by? ive heard that the auto leaves alot to be desired

Manuals are hard to get and so cost heaps more at auction, like double. So far I have found the auto to be very nice. Smooth but precise shifts, holds good rpm in Power mode. Torque converter stall rpm allows boost for take off, I absolutely detroyed a Commondoor SS Ute yesterday in the rain. :elaugh:

[mcnamg]

hewy guys dot know if you have got your towbars yet but heres a site with some pics of jap towbars for stageas.

was trolling the net again lookin for stagea info and found this and thought hey sydney kid might wanna see this.

have a look at this site might need to translate to read the words tho

http://www.sea-marine.com/hitchmember/niss...an2/stagea.html

Glenn

[Sydneykid]

hewy guys dot know if you have got your towbars yet but heres a site with some pics of jap towbars for stageas.

was trolling the net again lookin for stagea info and found this and thought hey sydney kid might wanna see this.

have a look at this site might need to translate to read the words tho

http://www.sea-marine.com/hitchmember/niss...an2/stagea.html

Glenn

It's only a lightweight one, 750 kgs. :Paranoid:

[mcnamg]

ahh well not worry then

I am sure someone can fabricate one anyway

[Sydneykid]

I popped into Karasel yesterday with the Stagea (got the usual" Volvo" comment) for a look over for them to make up a tow bar. Remembering that I need a large capacity to tow the R32GTST. After a good loook around, the consensus was the rear muffler (still standard) was too close to the chassis rail and the rear skirt to allow fitment of a decent size bar. I will have to shorten the rear muffler by 50 mm or so, this means a longer tail pipe.

So next week is cat back exhaust time, but before I do that, I will do a quick power run on the 4wd dyno and log the 4wkw, torque, boost, A/F ratios etc. Then I will know how much exactly just the exhaust gives.

The tow bar cost is $450 fitted plus $50 for wiring. That's for designing and making just one, I will get a group buy price if anyone else is interested, just let me know. :jester:

[Duncan]

Sounds good Gary, you said for the r32gtst, what rating are you looking for?

I'll need to tow the r32 GTR so probably 2000kg to be safe

Will be good to hear how this goes

[Sydneykid]

Sounds good Gary, you said for the r32gtst, what rating are you looking for?

I'll need to tow the r32 GTR so probably 2000kg to be safe

Will be good to hear how this goes

Hi Duncan, even the GTST will be marginal. The problem is access to the chassis rails is blocked by the fuel tank and the exhaust system. The tow bar needs to have rear links plus some triangulation to stop it from rotating under the twisting load from the goose neck (and ball). Also we need to spread the drag load around. There doesn't appear to be any way to get a forward link, under the fuel tank would be too low. Removing the tank and fabricating/fitting a forward link/s then replacing the tank may be the only way.

After thinking about it overnight, I think I will need to push them a bit more or maybe find another supplier. Further updates as they occur.

[Ben D]

Hey guys,

Does anyone know the colour codes for the wires you need to splice into to run the 7 pin socket which complements the towbar ? Theres a whole heap of wires down there under the rear wagon bit, and I don't feel particularly fond of cutting them all up to find out which ones are the indicators, brakes, tail lights, reverse etc.

If anyone has a 7 pin plug professionally wired and working properly, could they just have a quick look see to see where they've hooked the wires to and let us know ?

Thanks

Ben

[Sydneykid]

Hey guys,

Does anyone know the colour codes for the wires you need to splice into to run the 7 pin socket which complements the towbar ?  Theres a whole heap of wires down there under the rear wagon bit, and I don't feel particularly fond of cutting them all up to find out which ones are the indicators, brakes, tail lights, reverse etc.

If anyone has a 7 pin plug professionally wired and working properly, could they just have a quick look see to see where they've hooked the wires to and let us know ?

Thanks

Ben

Hi Ben does this mean you have a tow bar fitted? How much? Where did you get it? What is its capacity?

Sorry I can't remember the wiring codes from the R33 GTST (I think they are the same), I simply pulled the tail lights and checked the colours at the bulbs.

[Ben D]

My towbar was done by Alan Huish at Huish Fabrications, George St Southport (07 5532 2922) on the Gold Coast. Apparently they can do most one-off import applications and I must say they did a very good job - used all the pick up points available on the right hand side of the car and fabricated two very strong pick ups under the muffler on the left hand side, and made the tow bar tongue bolt on/off so you can remove it and can't even see the car has a tow bar from behind. Total cost $350 , done in 6 hours. A very strong towbar, designed so I can pull my 1100 kg gazelle with a braked car trailer (approx 1500 kg all up).

Now if someone could give me the colour codes for those lights - can I get them from the fusebox at the front of the car or is there a chance that the wires change colour by the time they get to the back ?

[Sydneykid]

My towbar was done by Alan Huish at Huish Fabrications, George St Southport (07 5532 2922) on the Gold Coast.  Apparently they can do most one-off import applications and I must say they did a very good job - used all the pick up points available on the right hand side of the car and fabricated two very strong pick ups under the muffler on the left hand side, and made the tow bar tongue bolt on/off so you can remove it and can't even see the car has a tow bar from behind.  Total cost $350 , done in 6 hours.  A very strong towbar, designed so I can pull my 1100 kg gazelle with a braked car trailer (approx 1500 kg all up).  

Now if someone could give me the colour codes for those lights - can I get them from the fusebox at the front of the car or is there a chance that the wires change colour by the time they get to the back ?

Hi Ben, I have to do some work on the Stagea today, put stabiliser bars on, I will pull the tail lights and let you know the wiring colour codes.

I have a few questions on your tow bar ;

1. Does the tow bar have a 1,500 kg plate on it?

2. Did it fit around the standard muffler or did you have to modify it?

3. The tongue, is it square box section with a side bolt or flat plate with a pair of under bolts?

4. Do you think they could make one up and send it down to Sydney? ie; did they make a drawing of yours.

5. Any chance of some pictures?

[Sydneykid]

Ok wiring codes at the lights themselves;

RHS Blinker = Green (no trace)

Stop = Green/Yellow trace

Tail = Green/White trace

LHS Blinker = Green (no trace)

Reverse = Black/Red trace

Don't know how you tell the LHS Blinker from the RHS Blinker, trial and error I guess.

[BensDR30]

Standard Nissan colours....

[Ben D]

Sydneykid,

Thanks for the wiring info - much appreciated - I was in NZ today and just happened to see a stagea with a towbar on it, slid under and lo and behold, they had just wired the plug from the right hand side tail light assembly. The kiwi tow bar was labelled 750 kg unbraked , 1500 kg braked, but they had welded the RHS of it to the OEM tow point - not very neat. In contrast, Huish fabricated an entirely new bracket for the RHS of the car, and the bracket on the LHS was fabricated such that the OEM muffler stays in the OEM position, or perhaps 10 mm lower because it now bolts through a 10 mm plate. If the kiwi bar was rated at 1500 kg, the huish one will be easily as strong if not stronger, but because it was a custom job he did not bother to stamp a rating on it, preferring to simply state it will be strong enough for my application. I tend to agree. Tongue was a shaped flat plate with a pair of underbolts threaded into tapped holes in the square box section which runs between the chassis pick up points. will try to take pics but have never had much success posting them in these threads...

BenDR30, very cool set of cars, for myself it is datsun 1600/FJ20ET, S12 Gazelle RSX, and now the stagea RS4 - uncanny,

PS, S12 RSX = 465+RWKW@28psi, FJ20s rule