If anyone interested have a second hand towbar for sale for mk1 mx5 NA model. This is the detachable one and will accept £120 or near offer. I towed a Dandy (Delta) trailer tent with no problems in fact used to forget it was on behind It is for collection only and in the Blackburn area Lancashire. Removed last year from my mk1 when changing the car after loss of my husband. All enquiries welcome email or phone 07772437333. Chris.
There are no published / approved towing limits for the MK1. All other models cannot tow because they were launched after the Type Approval regulations were introduced. So, limits for towing with a MK1 are a combination of law and common sense.
An unbraked trailer must not exceed half of the towing vehicles kerbweight. That means approx 500kg fully loaded. Common sense tells me to keep to below 350kg. My trailer tent is about that and tows without any issues.
A braked trailer could legally be heavier but I wouldn’t fancy it.
Correct me if wrong please, but do UK Mk1 handbooks not advise the permissioned tow-ball weight limits?
Prepared to be corrected.
I think its 80% of towing vehicles weight
The Camping and Caravan Club, and The Caravan (now and Motorhome)Club both have details on their web site.
The comment of a local MOT tester is ‘If it looks right, it probably is right, and you are unlikely to get a pull from the boys in blue’.
The only time I have been stopped was on the A64 outside the Highwayman one Bank Holiday, by the ministry (probably on double time and a day off in loo!!)
When I started towing a caravan in the early 70s the Caravan Club recommendation was loaded weight of the braked van/trailer should not exceed 75% of the unloaded weight of the tow car. Time has passed and vehicle brakes are more efficient and this has now risen to 85%, but they are and were only ever recommendations as far as I am aware.
You were never supposed to tow more than the weight of the towing vehicle or the manufacturer stated towing limit as in a Land Rover. Again time has passed and now manufacturers state a towing limit sometimes in excess of the vehicle weight but it is now all bound together into a gross train weight, the type of licence you have, what class of road you are driving on, in which country and in some places the weather is thrown in for good measure.
Life has got very complicated.
Has anyone got a towbar for sale for the NA? I can collect within 100 miles of Wolverhampton. Thanks.
Hi ,I think friend of mine here in Dublin might have one if your stuck
Recently found one by searching on Facebook but they are rare as hens teeth. Fitted to my mk1 to carry a bike rack although I used to two an 8 foot trailer for my bike business before I got a van!
Would like more information on the bumper chrome trim and corner wrap around protectors with reflectors. Anyone know
still got it pal? struggling to find one ■■■■ thought i’d ask
Where are you, I do have 3, but not really a posting item.
M-m
i’m in suffolk
but if we’re talking about a mk1 compatible tow bar? like that can tow a trailer? just confirming. i will find a way to collect it
What other type is there?
M-m
Some towbars are only really safe for the use of cycle carriers, so I presume that’s what they were checking.
I remember when I last looked into all of this, the official response from Mazda was they didn’t permit towing with the MX-5, while the DVLA rules stated that if Mazda hadn’t given a towing capacity, then legally it was 0kg, so towing may have invalidated the insurance (that and the towbar has to be declared as a modification).
This was for the UK Mk1’s, apparently the rules for the Eunos due to being imported were different.
So, I wondered if yours were the Watling made ones and had a towing capacity listed, and if you were now with the Club insurance and if they had no issues with towbars?
not sure. just wanna be cautious really
how much do you want for it? and where are you at and i’ll try head there at some point
I replied to this and its been removed, why?
M-m
Talk to me by pm bud , I am sure admin don’t want this turning into a spin off of the Bay of E
M-m
yea sorry
i have no idea how to do that ive been looking for the last 10 minutes lol
are you able to dm me and hopefully i get a pop up or something?
@IanH - any ideas about this, I know I never saw the response.
@Mazda_mender - if I click Hidden replies it redirects to this thread from 2010:
Was that your response to me?