How much does it cost to legalize a towbar on a car. Installing a towbar: is it possible to do everything yourself? Can it be installed on a car

Good afternoon, dear reader.

(or towing device) - a special element of the car, designed to secure the trailer. In simple terms, the towbar is the hook on which the trailer is put on. That is, if there is no towbar, then the trailer cannot be used.

Per last years The legislation has undergone many changes, including those related to the use of additional equipment, and readers of the site are increasingly sending questions about how legal it is to use a tow bar.

Let me remind you that for an unauthorized change in design in 2019, you can get not only, but also.

Do I need to register a towbar with the traffic police in 2020?

In this case, it all depends on the towbar itself and on the documents available for it:

• If a there are documents for the towbar, then the driver does not need to contact the traffic police to make changes to the registration certificate. You can simply install the towbar and safely operate the car with a trailer.
• If a no documents or they cannot be restored, then the installation of the towbar is a design change that should be registered with the traffic police.

Note. The required documents for the towbar will be discussed below.

For example, if the original towbar is installed on the car at the factory, then no additional actions need to be taken when contacting the traffic police to register the car. If the traffic police have any questions about the TSU in the future, it will be possible at any time to request documents from the automaker and defend your own innocence.

On the other hand, if the towbar is made independently and simply welded to the car body, then this is a design change. To register it, you need to contact the traffic police. Moreover, it is far from a fact that permission for the installation will eventually be obtained.

Let me remind you that the algorithm for making changes to the design of the vehicle is considered in a separate article:

It implies that the car owner must contact various organizations 7 times, i.e. quite laborious.

In this regard, in practice, such an option is also possible. If the towing device is already installed on the machine, but there are no documents for it and it is impossible to restore them, then it may turn out to be easier, faster and cheaper buy a new towbar with documents than trying to issue a change in the design of the car in the traffic police.

Documents for the towbar of a car

In 2019, it is valid in Russia. It is this document that vehicles and equipment installed on them must comply with.

Consider paragraph 77 of section 4 of chapter V of the technical regulation:

77. Vehicles are not subject to inspection in the following cases:

1) when installing components on a vehicle:

• designed for this vehicle and passed the conformity assessment as part of this vehicle, which is confirmed by the documentation of the component manufacturer;
• provided by the vehicle manufacturer in the operational documentation;

2) when serially introducing changes to the design on the basis of the design documentation developed and agreed in the prescribed manner, if on its basis an assessment of the conformity of the changes made was carried out.

So, there are 2 cases in which the towbar can not be registered with the traffic police:

• When serial changes are made to the design. In this case, we are talking about the installation of the TSU at the factory.
• When installing a tow bar as an accessory, if 2 conditions are met at the same time:
  • The manufacturer has provided for the installation of a towbar in the operational documentation. In this case, it is about instruction manual, which is issued with the purchase of any car. Open this document and find the section on using a trailer. If there is such a section, then everything is in order.
  • The towbar must have the manufacturer's documentation confirming that it is intended for use on your car model and has passed the conformity assessment.

In this way, list of required documents to use the towbar:

• Vehicle operation manual.
• Documents for the towbar, confirming that it is suitable for the car of the desired model.
• Certificate for the towbar, confirming that it meets the requirements technical regulation.

Note, carry these documents with you and present them to the traffic police officers not required. They can also be stored at home. Just if the traffic police officer has questions about the towbar, immediately tell him that everything Required documents you have and the towing device is installed legally. Usually this is enough. If the policeman nevertheless decides to issue, then you can challenge it on the basis of the available documents.

What to do if there are no documents for TSU?

If you do not have the documents listed above for the towbar, then contact the manufacturer of this equipment in order to obtain copies. Self-respecting organizations provide copies of documents without any problems.

You can contact:

• in electronic form - through the website of the organization;
• personally - through an official representative in your city;
• by mail - by registered mail.

If it is not possible to restore the documents, then either the option remains with the purchase of a new coupling device, or the official introduction of changes to the design through the traffic police.

Note. Some organizations offer buy a package of documents for a towbar. I recommend ignoring such proposals, because. Manufacturer's documents are available only from the manufacturer. If such documents are issued by another organization, they will be fake.

What to do if you plan to buy a towbar?

If you are just planning to install a trailer hitch on your machine, then you have come to this article just in time.

What to do if the towbar is already installed?

If at least one of the documents is missing, you should contact the towbar manufacturer and request them. As practice shows, manufacturers send missing documents without any problems.

Please note that if you buy a used car with a towbar, then the documents must be taken from the previous owner. Otherwise, the traffic police may require you to dismantle the equipment before registering the car.

Let's summarize this article:

1. Most of the towbars are accompanied by the necessary documents, i.e. they can be installed without registering with the traffic police.
2. If there are no documents for the coupling device, then they should be requested from the manufacturer.
3. If it is impossible to obtain documents, then it remains either to dismantle the towbar, or to issue it as a change in the design of the vehicle.

Good luck on the roads!

Alexander-208

Good afternoon. And how will the traffic police inspector react to a towbar with a removable hook? There is no hook, the socket sticks out, and everything else is a bumper amplifier.

Alexander, hello.

In this case, a part of the towbar (socket) must be considered in the same way as the whole towbar. That is, if there are documents (for the entire set, or only for the outlet), then there will be no problems with the traffic police. If there are no documents, then the socket is an unauthorized design change and may raise questions from the traffic police.

Good luck on the roads!

Dmitry-473

Another way to steal money from people. All my life everyone drove with towbars and no one cared, but then they figured it out. Everyone who lives in the regions has towbars on cars and trailers - it is necessary to take out the garbage from the yard and bring building materials. This is in big cities trailers are not needed. So the inhabitants of the hinterland "the richest" will fall under the blow of our authorities. We just figured out the "thorns" sign, and how much money they ripped off from people and everything is covered, now they took up the towbars !!!

I bought a Chevrolet Niva 2123-55 at a car dealership in 2014 with additional options, including a forkop (w / Niva) Stupino. They just issued an order for an installation order. In 2015, the car dealership was closed. And they won’t find documents there. They say they destroyed it after 3 years. How to be? There is a copy of OTTS (I copied it)..

Eugene-272

All my life everyone drove with towbars and no one cared, but then they figured it out.

"All my life" towbars have been produced by a "couple" of manufacturers, and now probably only the lazy one does not manufacture or install them (everything is figurative). This is necessary, first of all, in order to exclude unscrupulous manufacturers and installers. That's why they carry out this "registration" of towbars, while checking the relevant documents. You don’t want one trailer to drive into the oncoming lane, do you?

Anwar What problem do you want to solve at the moment?

If you want to get documents for the towbar, then contact the manufacturer of this towbar.

Owners Vehicle without a tow hitch will be relatively difficult in some situations. If the garage does not have its own truck and there is no way to order transportation services, you will need to install and connect a device such as a tow bar. You can do this both with the help of professionals, and on your own. Before highlighting the question of how to carry out the process of installing this device, it is worth understanding what a towbar is and for what purposes it is used.

Why is a towbar required?

Quite often, in ordinary life, you have to deal with the transportation of such cargo that does not fit in its parameters and size into the trunk or car interior. It can be a variety of building materials or large, oversized purchases.

To accommodate these things and purchases, you will need a mini-trailer, which will ideally include what needs to be transported from one place to another. Everything can be attributed to the transported cargo, from a bag of potatoes to a concrete mixer.

To connect such a trailer, you will need a place for a special traction device. Due to the fact that not all modern vehicles possess it, it is often necessary to independently purchase the necessary spare parts and carry out such a process as installing a towbar.

Do it yourself or buy ready-made?

Such a device can be purchased at a specialized store or made independently. Despite the fact that the latter option will save a lot of material resources, many prefer to buy already ready-made version from well-known manufacturers. This is based on certain benefits:

• Even in the process of designing the device, a special computer model is formed, through which it is possible to determine the probable load on the main fasteners.
• The towbar, which is produced at the factory, undergoes a large number of various technical inspections before the implementation stage, and throughout the entire manufacturing process. Checks are also carried out in a separate management department.
• The manufacturer, as a rule, bears full responsibility for their products and gives a guarantee, which is usually documented. In the event of an unforeseen situation, the customer can contact the company that manufactured and installed the device and receive some assistance.

It is recommended not only to purchase a clutch from a well-known manufacturer, but also to order its installation from the company's employees. If you install the towbar with your own hands, and then for some reason it fails, you will not have to rely on its warranty repair.

Self-installation of the towbar

To install a towbar without the help of a car service, it is worth allocating about two or three hours for this work and finding a place for installation. The ideal option would be a garage in which there is a special viewing hole that will allow you to carry out all the required work without any problems.

If you purchase a ready-made towbar, you can be sure that the package will include all the metal plates, bushings required for operation, as well as sockets and wires. If not, you will have to purchase such parts yourself.

For a quality installation of the device, the following elements and tools will be required:

• the hitch itself;
• necessary fasteners;
• wiring;
• drill of the required diameter;
• spanners;
• car bumper removal tool

There are some car models where bumper removal is not required, it all depends on the design features.

The preliminary work includes marking the places where you need to make holes for fastening; for this, a regular marker is used. To obtain quality holes, it is required to use a drill with a slightly larger diameter than the bolts used.

Important! To avoid destructive corrosion, the places where the holes are drilled are treated with a special anticorrosive agent. Only after that the towbar is screwed on.

Regarding the attachment of the towbar, everything is clear, the main thing there is to follow certain instructions. Of particular note is the connection of a special electrical circuit for a trailer of a passenger vehicle, in other words - connecting the contacts of the towbar.

Connecting a towbar

For the reason that the trailer that is connected to the car must necessarily transmit all signals similar to the vehicle, its electrical wiring must be connected to the car.

Usually, a special platform is attached to the towbar design, on which, after some time, a contact connector protected from various external influences is mounted. To connect a light trailer, very often only 6-7 of the 13 connectors present are used. For trailers that are produced in Russia, as a rule, special 7-pin sockets are installed.

Important! Before connecting, you must carefully understand all the types of plugs present. It is worth considering the question of which pins are responsible for which connector. It is necessary to determine all the targets for each of the contacts that are designed for different plugs.

As a rule, the purchased towbar has special instructions for connecting. If you maintain polarity and follow the basic connection rules, there will be no problems with this process. With proper connection, all trailer lamps will repeat the signals coming from the car.

The popularity of such an important device for transporting cargo as a tow bar is becoming higher. It is indispensable for the effective connection of the used coupling mechanism for towing another vehicle. Installing and connecting the towbar is not difficult. It is enough to follow certain instructions and tips outlined in this article.

An example of installing a towbar on a Renault Logan (video)

Towbars are a necessary element for installing trailers on cars. The part is a metal hook on which the towing device (TSU) is fixed. Since 2015, the Technical Regulation TR / TS 018/2011 has come into force, according to which the installation of a towbar is equated to a modification of a car and requires registration with the traffic police. At the same time, not all changes need to be registered. In special cases, the installation is not subject to mandatory registration.

The need for a towbar registration procedure depends entirely on the brand of car and the characteristics declared by the manufacturer:

• If, according to the documents, the towbar is already installed on the vehicle at the factory, no registration is needed. The traction device, if it is connected to the car, needs to be issued.
• If the manufacturer did not provide for a towbar on the body, drivers simply weld the hook. This case is indeed considered a vehicle modification and is subject to compulsory registration in the traffic police.

According to the current technical regulations of the customs union, vehicle modifications must comply with safety requirements. To avoid problems with a homemade towbar, some car owners buy a factory hook. Appropriate safety documents are attached to such products, which simplifies registration.

Registering modifications is quite difficult. It is best to contact the traffic police in advance, before installing the hook. If the car does not have a factory towbar, installation involves removing the bumper, changing the design of the rear of the body. Such improvements are quite serious. A driver who refuses to register a homemade product runs the risk of receiving an administrative penalty.

Documents for the towbar

The driver needs to contact the traffic police several times with different packages of documents before installing the towbar and after it. You will first need:

• Application on the prescribed form;
• A two-sided copy of the passport for the car (the original must also be provided);
• Documents confirming the compliance of the towbar with state safety requirements and characteristics;
• Certificate of registration of the vehicle in the traffic police.

After installing the towbar, you need to visit the traffic police department again to register the perfect modification. The task of the inspectors is to check that the towbar is installed correctly and does not pose a danger to other road users. Package of documents:

• Car diagnostic card;
• Trailer purchase agreement, if any;
• Quality certificate confirming the quality of the towbar;
• Declaration from the service workshop;
• Application for a request to register a modification from the driver;
• The conclusion of the examination.

A diagnostic card and an expert opinion are issued at official service centers and workshops. Additionally, the driver is issued an act of completion of expert work.

Where to get documents for TSU

You will have to obtain the necessary documents in several instances:

• Quality certificates are provided with towbars if the car owner buys a product manufactured at the factory;
• Home-made towbars need to be additionally checked for compliance with the brand of the car, characteristics, the conclusion can be obtained from the service or from the traffic police;
• A diagnostic card is also issued at service centers;
• Application forms are issued to the traffic police;
• Technical passports for the car and trailer must be in the hands of the driver;
• The contract for the purchase of the hitch and the fastener can be replaced by a receipt and a guarantee receipt.

It is recommended that you first call the nearest branch, request information on the necessary documents and addresses where they can be obtained. In some departments, the procedure for examination and examination is different.

In what cases can not be installed?

According to the traffic rules, the installation of a towbar is not allowed in the following cases:

• The part is fixed to the body by welding or self-made bolts. It is dangerous to use a towbar without special expertise.
• The product goes far beyond the bumper of the car. Cars following such a vehicle run the risk of colliding with a metal towbar.
• The car belongs to the category of trucks. It is not recommended to use trailers on them, this creates a danger to all road users.
• There are no documents for the hitch. Accordingly, there is no assurance that the product complies with government regulations.

Riding with homemade, non-certified hooks is illegal. If the driver is stopped by a traffic police officer and it turns out that the towbar is installed incorrectly or does not comply with the regulations, the car owner faces an administrative penalty.

What to look for when buying a towbar?

The main thing that needs to be closely monitored is the availability of documents. The hitch must be certified. A technical passport and a certificate of conformity are attached to it. Additionally, you should consider:

• Is the hitch suitable for the brand of car;
• How it will need to be fixed on the body;
• Dimensions, weight of the product;
• Compliance of characteristics with the requirements of the state;
• Is the hook suitable for connecting to a trailer.

On some brands, the installation of fasteners is prohibited. In addition, towbars of the wrong size and characteristics cannot be used. Fasteners should not interfere with the movement of the car, obstruct the license plates.

How to arrange an installed towbar?

If the hook is already installed, but there are no documents for it and the driver has not started registering, several actions should be taken. For towbars purchased from official manufacturers, papers can be restored. To do this, you need to contact the company that supplies them to the market:

• Through the official website;
• At the regional office, if any;
• By registered mail to the legal address of the manufacturer.

Large companies go to meet the owners of products, send duplicate papers. If the device is homemade or it did not work out to get duplicate documents, you should use the second method:

1. If the car was bought secondary market, you can contact the previous owner, ask to look for a certificate for TSU fasteners;
2. Contact the traffic police with a statement that the car owner plans to register a modification of the vehicle;
3. It is not worth driving a car before the hitch is registered, this will entail a fine;
4. Pass all checks, draw up documents for compliance of the characteristics of the hook with safety and quality requirements;
5. It is not necessary to carry documents with you, you can store them at home.

If it is not possible to issue a modification, it is better to remove the product. Especially for such cases, removable towbars are produced. Homemade will have to be cut down.

Responsibility for unformed TSU

Car owners operating vehicles with an unregistered TSU installed are subject to an administrative fine of 500 rubles. (part 1 of article 12.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). It has already been said above that it is not necessary to carry documents to the towbar with you. This is true. Penalties are assigned in the following cases:

• The product does not correspond to the established samples, homemade, there is no information that the hitch is registered;
• The device is installed incorrectly or on a vehicle where its installation is prohibited (category B);
• The product closes the view to the driver or the car number.

Sometimes drivers manage to avoid administrative punishment, get off only with a warning.

How to avoid a fine?

According to Art. 12.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, punishment in the form of a warning is appropriate if:

• The driver undertakes to register or remove the hitch from the vehicle as soon as possible;
• A removable model is installed on the body, which is easy to remove if necessary;
• The device is installed at the factory or there are factory fasteners on the body for installing the hook.

It is also impossible to impose a fine in cases where the towbar has already been registered and has passed the necessary examinations.

03.08.2018

Registration of the towbar (TSU) in the traffic police. Need or not?

Recently, we are often asked the question: "Do I need to register the towbar in the traffic police?".

Specifically, to clarify this issue, we turned to the UGIBDD of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Chuvash Republic. The official answer was not long in coming. So, only changes made to the design of the vehicle need to be registered in the traffic police, and the installation of a tow bar on 99% of car models is allowed by the manufacturers of these cars (see the car's operating manual) and this is not a change in the design of the vehicle. We received similar responses from other departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, two responses were sent to us by our clients.

Therefore, the towbar is not subject to registration in the traffic police if:

1. The installation of the towbar on the car is provided by the car manufacturer (see the Car Operation Manual)
2. The hitch has a certificate of conformity and a passport
3. The towbar is installed according to the instructions indicated in the passport, i.e. without making changes to the design of the car

When buying and installing a towbar, you must have:

1. Passport for the towbar with a mark on the sale and installation
2. A copy of the certificate for the towbar, certified by the selling organization
3. Receipt of payment and sales receipt (waybill)

If the car is under warranty official dealer, then the tow bar can be installed not only at an authorized dealer. It can be installed in any other organization that has a certificate of conformity of the services provided for installing the towbar to the technical regulations and GOST, while the car will remain under warranty from an authorized dealer.

A hitch is a device that is attached between a car and a trailer (van) for connection. A large number of drivers use towbars to attach trailers, but are not aware of the obligation to have the appropriate documents and permits. In the latest changes and additions to the legislation of the Russian Federation, new conditions and requirements for this type of device were added.

The procedure for installing a towbar according to the law

According to the legislation of Russia, in order to install a towbar on a machine, a number of certain actions must be carried out.

The procedure in the law is as follows:

• A citizen attaching a towbar determines whether this procedure is possible with his car. Some car models are not designed to pull trailers, so a person needs to determine if the car model is suitable for him. A special place is reserved for the trailer of the traction device;
• The unit is selected from the seller, preferably the manufacturer of the brands corresponding to the car. The hitch is selected according to the make and model of the owner's car;
• Then the paperwork takes place at the car service, where the master will carry out the installation by attaching the device to the car;
• Documents are handed over to the owner, and he registers the towbar in the traffic police.

But registration is not required. To avoid paperwork, the owner must comply with certain conditions and requirements:

• The installation of the trailer is provided by the company that manufactures the cars of the brand and model of the owner;
• The installation and connection procedure were carried out according to the instructions, the work was carried out by a master in a car dealership, without making their own adjustments and actions from the owner. For example, it is forbidden to drill or use welding;
• The owner has documents about the towbar model, a passport, a certificate. In these papers, evidence of the lawful actions of the owner of the car.

Registration of the towbar in the traffic police takes place only if any changes or adjustments are made during the installation of the device. The cost of registration in different situations is different. The price depends on the type of car, trailer model and the complexity of installation. Also, read the basics of Federal Law No. 324. Details

Documents for installing a towbar:

• Application for registration. The form or application form is issued on the spot, upon arrival at the traffic police;
• The original certificate and its copy of the registration of a car owned by a person and to which a trailer has joined;
• A complete package of documents for the possession and use of a towbar, with its passport, certificate and data;
• Double-sided copy of the PTS.

After registration, the driver is issued a confirmation paper. It proves the legitimacy of using a towbar.

Amendments to the law on the installation of a towbar on a passenger car

Citizens often search on the Internet new law about trailers. However, to date, there is no law on the towbar.

There are only two acts that traffic police officers refer to during checks or registrations:

• Code of Administrative Offenses of Russia;
• "On the safety of wheeled vehicles" 018/2011.

Article 12.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation a detailed list and description of all the devices for the car that are subject to penalties are given, but there is no towbar in this list. According to the latest changes made to this article, the towbar refers to devices, illegal installation, installation and use of which is punishable by a fine and liability.

In case of reference to TR CU 018/2011 , the provisions of the law regulate the introduction of changes in the type and structure passenger car. Traffic police officers check whether changes in the device of the car were provided for when the car was created. If the installation of this type of device is provided, then its use is considered legal.

Can a towbar be installed under the new law? It is possible, but only if the relevant documentation is available. The owner is obliged to have a passport with detailed information about the trailer, its serial number, filled in the field about the process and results of installation. Also, the driver needs to have with him an act of installation work performed and at least one copy of the certificate of the mounted towbar.

Is there a penalty for a hitch without a trailer?

According to the acts described above, the fine for the illegal use of a towbar is calculated in 500 rubles . However, Tech. the regulations and article 12.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Russia also describe an alternative punishment in cases where there is no obvious fault of the driver in the violation. Such a punishment may be a verbal warning from a traffic police officer. Of course, every driver wonders how to avoid paying a fine.

If the owner of the car did not have any offenses for a long time, he drove according to the rules traffic, then he can ask the service workers to dispense with only a verbal warning. Often, inspectors do not pay attention to driving with a towbar without a trailer. Also, the driver can use a removable towbar, which, if necessary, can be attached back to the car on its own. If there is a removable towbar, the inspector will not be able to interpret this device as the cause of emergency situations on the roads. And if the owner of the car has all the necessary documents in his hands, he will definitely be released without a fine.

Another way to avoid monetary punishment is the use of Chapter 5 of the Technical Regulations, paragraph 77. If the driver points out this paragraph to the traffic police officer, and at the same time does not have problems with the documentation, he will be released.

Paragraph 77 says that additional devices for the car are not checked if:

• The towbar has a purpose conceived during the creation and construction of the car;
• The owner of the machine has a complete package of documents with information about the brand, model of the machine and additional device, as well as information about the installation;
• There is a paper certificate of suitability of this type of device with this brand of machine.

Owners should be aware that it will not be possible to avoid a fine if the towbar was not installed on the car according to the rules, there are no relevant papers, the device is homemade, etc.