I've just bought a Hyundai santa fe 09 plate which has a fitted tow bar. On looking at it it seems a bit rusty and I'm wondering whether to get it replaced with a new one or just paint it with something like hammerite?
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I would just give it a clean up with some steel wool. I wouldn't paint it as the paint can contaminate the friction pads on anti-sway hitches stopping them from working.
Quote: Originally posted by martin734 on 05/5/2021
I would just give it a clean up with some steel wool. I wouldn't paint it as the paint can contaminate the friction pads on anti-sway hitches stopping them from working.
I think the O/P refers to the tow bar, not the tow ball.
If the towball has surface rust you will need to wire brush the metal surface down first in preparation to provide a key for the fresh paint to bond otherwise the new paint will just lift off in a short time.
However, if a towbar is fitted to a vehicle then it has to be checked at the annual MOT test so if the rust was severe then it would have been submitted with an advisory or failed the MOT test so there is no harm in making it look a bit neater by applying a lick of fresh paint. You can paint part of the towball as well providing that you don't paint the actual ball itself if your caravan has a stabiliser hitch. If it does then make sure you cover the ball with masking tape first but clean the ball afterwards with white spirit to remove any sticky adhesive left behind by the masking tape.
For the towbar metal (not the ball) wire brush, rust converter and then spay with stonechip. The do suffer from surface rust as most are not ECoated but I have never seen one that would be considered structurally unsound due to rust, they are made of very heavy gauge plate and tube.
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Topic: Tow bar
via mobile 05/5/2021 at 10:22pm
