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[Markie]

Folks

I am looking for a 2.5 or perhaps a 3.0 omega with the following criteria.

MUST be estate.
MUST BE 2.5V6 upwards
MUST have towbar
MUST BE Very North England or Further North.
GOT to be running (even badly) and MOT'd so i can get it home.

Oh and its GOT to be stupidly cheap.

If anyone knows of one or has one please let me know. There may be a finders fee  

Doesnt matter colour / spec / body condition / if toys are working or diesel/petrol/ auto/ manual.

Ive decided - it wasnt a hard decision - that the omega is best all rounder for towing. It will be our third car not 1st or 2nd so not fussed on condition.

I cant wait any longer for a tow car. My projects/ breakers/repair to sell cars are suffering as i cant get a reliable source to uplift and i dont like scrappies coming to my house to pick up the shells - id rather be self sufficient. In the long run if i break a decent amount of cars the money i save paying for transportation and the money i make weighing them in for scrap will pay for the trailer and car.

My wife is paying a third party to get weekly supplies of hay and needs to hire a trailer and van when transporting horses and my track car will also need a trailer and towcar.

So first things i need a cheap Omega.

Then i wil buy a trailer for cars and probably horse box.

Now wheres the biscuit tin with the used £20 quid notes....

[Kevin Wood]

Had my first taste of Omega towing yesterday. What a breeze! Load in question was my glider in its' trailer. Got to be the best part of 30 feet long with a single axle. God knows what it weighs but the bloke who built the trailer didn't intend it to fall apart in a hurry!

Took it from Challock in Kent down M20/M26/M25/A3 to Lasham in Hampshire. I'd previously towed it behind a Mk 1 Laguna and it used to give me the odd "moment" when it didn't feel too stable when lorries were passing and the like, and with only 100 BHP the hills and pulling away were not fun!

With the Omega just set the cruise control to 60 and it purred along at a shade over 2000 RPM in fourth, slipping into third for the hills. Absolutely stable. When pulling away from lights it was easy to forget you were towing. Probably accelerated as well as my Laguna did without a trailer!

Fuel consumption for the run was 25 MPG versus 33 unloaded on the outward journey.

I kept wondering how it would like the hill around Guildford on the A3 - until I realised I was half way up it and hadn't noticed!

You're right. These cars do seem to make mincemeat of towing!

Kevin

[Andy B]

......
You're right. These cars do seem to make mincemeat of towing!

Kevin

I went to collect some paving stones this evening with my trailer. Why is it that as soon as the car behind sees your trailer they just have to try to overtake? Pulled up at the lights with empty trailer and a facelift diesel pulled along side. He didn't stand a chance & I didn't really try hard. The next set he really really tried to get in front ( .... why?) but even though he had clouds of thick black sh1te eminating from the back he still had to be content with a view of the back of my trailer. I know ...... childish but still rewarding      

[Markie]

Had my first taste of Omega towing yesterday. What a breeze! Load in question was my glider in its' trailer. Got to be the best part of 30 feet long with a single axle. God knows what it weighs but the bloke who built the trailer didn't intend it to fall apart in a hurry!

Took it from Challock in Kent down M20/M26/M25/A3 to Lasham in Hampshire. I'd previously towed it behind a Mk 1 Laguna and it used to give me the odd "moment" when it didn't feel too stable when lorries were passing and the like, and with only 100 BHP the hills and pulling away were not fun!

With the Omega just set the cruise control to 60 and it purred along at a shade over 2000 RPM in fourth, slipping into third for the hills. Absolutely stable. When pulling away from lights it was easy to forget you were towing. Probably accelerated as well as my Laguna did without a trailer!

Fuel consumption for the run was 25 MPG versus 33 unloaded on the outward journey.

I kept wondering how it would like the hill around Guildford on the A3 - until I realised I was half way up it and hadn't noticed!

You're right. These cars do seem to make mincemeat of towing!

Kevin

I'm getting serious grief about the third car from swmbo.

An alternative may be to ...... fit a towbar to my MV6.

Is the tow car your MV6 Kevin and is the tow bar detachable? I presume its still nice looking  

[hotel21]

Markie - check the Jockular Omegas II thread for a piccy of the rear of mine.  I have a detachable, VX original towbar.  When the swan neck is off, you wouldn't know it was fitted with a bar....

B

[Kevin Wood]

Is the tow car your MV6 Kevin and is the tow bar detachable? I presume its still nice looking  Wink

Mine is Elite Pete's old one. It's a Westfalia removable bar and you wouldn't know it was there unless you really got underneath and had a look.

It does require a little of the return edge of the rear bumper to be cut away but only right at the back edge so it's not visible from the road. I followed EPs recommendation and just cut what was required to access the towbar rather than chopping out the huge section they indicate in the instructions. The only part that's even slightly visible is the connector for the electrics and TBH that could be relocated with little effort. The rest of the towbar that remains on the car is above the level of the bottom of the bumper so not visible.

You also have to put up with the bracing panel on the boot floor which makes the boot floor a little uneven but not really a big issue.

I fitted the tow bar myself and did it easily in an afternoon. That was really taking my time, hammeriting all the holes, cleaning up the muck behind the bumper, applying Waxoyl, connecting up the electrics, etc.

Cheers,

Kevin

[Markie]

Markie - check the Jockular Omegas II thread for a piccy of the rear of mine.  I have a detachable, VX original towbar.  When the swan neck is off, you wouldn't know it was fitted with a bar....

B

I see what you mean Brucie.....easy enough to detach and fit...?

[hotel21]

Markie - check the Jockular Omegas II thread for a piccy of the rear of mine.  I have a detachable, VX original towbar.  When the swan neck is off, you wouldn't know it was fitted with a bar....

B

I see what you mean Brucie.....easy enough to detach and fit...?

10 second job.  And locked by key into place to ensure that Mr Tarry Fingers is rubber ducked.....  

Would certainly recommend this, instead of the standard ankle breaker.  it was one of the reasons I bought the car in the fiirst place, to be honest.

Will sort out some better pics on return from Drax.  

B

[Markie]

Markie - check the Jockular Omegas II thread for a piccy of the rear of mine.  I have a detachable, VX original towbar.  When the swan neck is off, you wouldn't know it was fitted with a bar....

B

I see what you mean Brucie.....easy enough to detach and fit...?

10 second job.  And locked by key into place to ensure that Mr Tarry Fingers is rubber ducked.....  

Would certainly recommend this, instead of the standard ankle breaker.  it was one of the reasons I bought the car in the fiirst place, to be honest.

Will sort out some better pics on return from Drax.  

B

Hmmmmm may have to go down this road then ....just scared that someone attaches a caravan one night  

wife wants me to do this......we constantly have 5 vehicles in the garage/back yard - its a verrrry big garden partitioned off into garden and errrrr forecourt   and she is seriously kicking up about the prospect of a tow car being number 6. Despite being okay some 4 hours ago!!

[hotel21]

I would search out and fit the removable bar to the MV6.

Until recently, was VERY active in Scouting and, as a result, regularly towed a twin axle Ifor Williams trailer which was absolutely full to the brim with kit.  Didn't really want to work out the train weight....  

Car towed it with absolutely no probs.  If you were intent on a car trailer with a stripped out 'Meega race car on it though, then their could be a problem as regards weights.....  Check the plate on the bonet slam panel.  It will show permmissable front/rear/train weights in Kgs.  Then get the calculator out!  

B

[Markie]

 If you were intent on a car trailer with a stripped out 'Meega race car on it though, then their could be a problem as regards weights.

B

its not an omega so im fine there....its a rover 200 weighing .......850kilos   or it will do shortly  

[Ken T]

One thing about the visible towbar is it is visible, so if anyone bumps into you, they are going to dent their nice new bumper more than you. Yes I agree it is an ankle breaker if you forget about it, but it does give some protection. Remember when Towbars were 4.5mm thick steel angle iron and would definately make a mess of anything hitting it . What are the towing regs?.This bit about max towing weight, is that not beccause the towing vehicle brakes can only handle so much extra load. But if you use a braked trailer, which independantly brakes the trailer from a a push rod in the towing hitch, doesn't this mean you can tow a larger weight. I tried to look this up, I believe it is the 'vehicle construction and use' regulations, but couldn't find them anywhere. Lots of references but no actual regulatins. I have occasionally seen very small cars towing large caravans, so there must be something going on

[MaxV6]

define "stupidly cheap"  ?


I know where there's an S reg Elite 3.0 Mini facelift estate


MOT as of today , all good except slight coolant leak.....   owner running out of patience and wallet.

 


(only half joking)

[Markie]

define "stupidly cheap"  ?


I know where there's an S reg Elite 3.0 Mini facelift estate


MOT as of today , all good except slight coolant leak.....   owner running out of patience and wallet.

 

(only half joking)

aaaah but im thinking its in oxford.... :-/ and im in Glagow

[Kevin Wood]

Maximum weight of an unbraked trailer is 750Kg by law, or as specified by vehicle manufacturer if less IIRC. Above that the trailer needs to be braked.

The max weight of a braked trailer depends on the towing vehicle. Hadn't thought of looking to see if it's placarded on the vehicle itself. It's not mentioned in the manual but around 1600 - 1700 Kg for a V6 Omega from what I've gleaned. The max weights seem to track engine power, suggesting the requirement to pull away safely on a gradient is the limiting factor.

My tow bar is here: http://stores.channeladvisor.com/towbar/Items/314266?

Not desperately cheap but a good bit of kit. Very easy to attach and detach the swan neck and it's little more than it would cost to tax an additional tow car for a year let alone MOT, insure, service, etc.

Fitting was straightforward. Rear bumper has to come off (8 screws) then you need to drill 9 holes for the mounting bolts and 1 for the electrical connection. These were already marked out on the boot floor. Remove sound deadening tar like material from part of the boot floor (hot air paint stripper softens this up nicely) and fit bracing member to boot floor, offer up tow bar to rear of car and bolt the two together then there are 2 bolts between front of bracing member and rear crossmember by the diff. I hammerited all the holes before final fitting to stop rust and gave it all a good spray with waxoyl.

Electrics are easy. There's a connector with all required signals behind the panelling at the rear of the boot and I had to install a jumper to bypass the trailer brake light failure sensor socket, which was a pain to find on my facelift.

Fitting instructions can be downloaded above.

Cheers,

Kevin

[Chopsdad]

 If you were intent on a car trailer with a stripped out 'Meega race car on it though, then their could be a problem as regards weights.

B

its not an omega so im fine there....its a rover 200 weighing .......850kilos   or it will do shortly  

850 kg is the weight of my caravan - I had to get a lightweight one to match my engine  .  

Caravan or braked trailer in effect limited (suggested) to 85% of your car's curb weight.

I actually bought the van to tow behind a 306d - that was hard work though so MV6 well within tollerances