Tow Guardian promises big safety gains

You may not have heard of RED Automotive Technologies and you definitely won’t have heard of its Tow Guardian system, but the Adelaide-based firm says its innovative, patent-pending solution makes dreaded trailer sway a thing of the past, while also offering faster and easier hitching and unhitching.

RED Automotive Technologies was established in 2016 as a spin-off from engineering design consultancy Applidyne, which has a track record in the mining, defence, medical and automotive industries, among others, stretching back over three decades.

Managing Director Paul van de Loo says RED’s work in the automotive space had identified how caravan hitches haven’t really changed significantly in the last hundred years, and so the company applied its expertise to coming up with fresh, smarter alternative.

The fruit of that work, which commenced three years ago, is its Tow Guardian system, which Paul says isn’t so much a hitch as a complete trailer towing system, as it incorporates an integrated brake controller, a weight distribution system, and an automatic jockey wheel.

Although presently in prototype form, and an estimated 12 to 18 months away from production, the system utilises two pivoting links that place a ‘virtual pivot’ just over a metre forward of the hitching point, replacing a traditional tow ball or any other conventional hitch.

“Typically, when you hitch a caravan on a towbar that is around a metre or so behind the tow vehicle’s rear axle and you get a side load on the van, it actually rotates the vehicle around – that’s where the instability comes from,” says Paul.

“We came up with this ‘virtual pivot’ idea, where you put the trailer on the car not via a ball but via a couple of links, which in effect gives you the same stability as you would have with a fifth-wheel set-up.”

Paul says the technology, which has applications for four international patents in play with two more in the pipeline, offers numerous benefits.

“Firstly, it completely eliminates sway,” he says. “When you’re towing your caravan and say you go past a road train, with our system there’s no buffeting – you barely even notice it. You could be driving along with your hands off the steering wheel and you’d be fine – not that we’d recommend it!

“We’ve had our test rig up to some pretty high speeds, where ordinarily you’d be getting pretty nervous, and it just sits rock solid. Long downhills, big side winds – no problem.”

The brake controller, too, has its advantages.

“It’s a far superior brake controller we have built in that adjusts to reduce force at the hitch to zero. It feels like you don’t have a caravan on the back when you’re braking; it’s far more accurate than the accelerometer-based brake controllers everyone is using now.

“And we’ve got an integrated weight distribution system, so rather than having to put on your Hayman Reese bars, we’ve got a small hydraulic cylinder sitting on top that applies the weight distribution – flick a lever and it applies hydraulic force onto that cylinder, which has a gas spring behind it.

“It’s much more user-friendly. Big spoon drains or sharp corners, none of it is any concern – you don’t have to stop to unhitch your chains and so on. And there’s also a hydraulic jockey wheel and a system to help guide your tow vehicle back onto it, so hitching and unhitching is far simpler and faster.”

RED recently returned from another test run from Adelaide to Melbourne and back towing a van fitted with a Tow Guardian prototype. This is the second physical prototype while seven virtual prototypes were produced before it, with another physical version to come before the Tow Guardian enters production.

However, the system isn’t designed to be retrofitted to an existing caravan, but rather integrated at chassis construction stage, to give the best results.

“Now we’re looking to partner with a caravan manufacturer or chassis manufacturer so we can finalise our [Tow Guardian] design around their chassis,” says Paul. “We’ll produce the system here in Adelaide as a kit that can then be supplied to the manufacturer for welding to their chassis; we have component suppliers already lined up for most of it.”

As for pricing, Paul says that after subtracting all the gear the Tow Guardian replaces – the brake controller, weight distribution hitch, and jockey wheel – the system might end up around the $7000 mark at retail cost.

“So if you buy a $100,000 van it’s only going to account for say seven per cent, although obviously we’re a long way off finalising pricing,” he says.

So, if you see the Tow Guardian test rig out on the road, now you’ll have some insight into what it’s all about.

“There are other towing set-ups out there that feel pretty good, but generally that’s where you have a bigger vehicle and a smaller van,” says Paul. “With Tow Guardian, you don’t necessarily need that combination anymore. This is just the next level – it’s inherently stable.”

RED Automotive Technologies says it’s firmly focused on Australia’s caravan market for its Tow Guardian, with no plans at present for the trailer boat industry. However, it also says Tow Guardian is just the first of several innovative products it has in its pipeline, so watch this space.

You can follow the Tow Guardian's path to production via the RED Automotive Technologies website.