Towbar registration - required or not?

Why do you need a towbar?

A towbar is a special towing device that allows you to operate a vehicle with a trailer. For passenger cars, it is a hook with a ball at the end, mounted under the rear bumper. It is on this that the trailer tongue clings.

Installing a towing device allows you to significantly increase the volume of cargo transported by a trailer or trailer. This device is very popular among summer residents, outdoor enthusiasts and rural residents.

How to install a tow bar on your car

Installing a towbar is a responsible process that requires compliance with several mandatory conditions:

1. The vehicle must be suitable for towing a trailer.
2. The design of the vehicle provides special places for mounting towing equipment.
3. It is possible to install towing equipment on the rear of the car without making changes to the design of both the device itself and the vehicle body. This requirement can be met if the towbar is suitable for installation on your model of car.
4. The manufacturer provided a certificate and passport for the product.

Installation can be carried out independently or at specialized service stations.

How to determine whether a towbar can be installed on a car

On many car models, the installation of towing equipment is permitted, but some cars are unsuitable as a “tractor”, and a towbar is not provided for them. To determine whether your vehicle can be equipped with a hitch, simply look at the VIN code under the hood or on the right B-pillar.

There are numbers indicated in four rows (kg):

• first row - the weight of the car in running order (with passengers and cargo);
• the second is the permissible weight with a trailer;
• the third and fourth are the permissible loads on the front and rear axles.

If there is no second row in your car’s VIN code, the use of a trailer and the installation of a tow bar are prohibited by safety regulations.

What to do if the installation is not provided by the factory

Expertise is required to make a modification legal. The driver must:

• restore or obtain documents for installing a tow bar at a service station;
• submit documents for the vehicle and tow bar to the MREO and undergo an examination;
• register changes in the design (corresponding additions are entered into the PTS).

The State Traffic Inspectorate does not examine changes in the design of the car - it only provides forms and sends the vehicle owner to certain MREO laboratories.

Is it possible to do without registration?

Whether a towbar needs to be registered depends on whether changes were made to the vehicle design when installing the equipment. According to paragraph 77, cars are not subject to inspection in the following cases:

• When installing devices and components intended for a given type of vehicle, tested as part of it and having supporting documents.
• The installation of certain devices and components is provided by the vehicle manufacturer in accordance with the operational documentation.

According to this technical regulation, when installing a towbar on a passenger car, the device may not be registered if the following conditions are met:

1. The possibility of installing a towbar on a vehicle and its use with a trailer is indicated in the operating manual. Most vehicles are designed to operate in such conditions.
2. For the towbar, the manufacturer provided a certificate confirming its compliance with technical regulations and a product passport, which indicates the possibility of its installation on certain vehicle models.
3. The device was installed on the vehicle according to the instructions and without changing the design of the vehicle.

Any failure to comply with these conditions is considered a change in the design of the vehicle, therefore further operation of the vehicle is possible only after registration with the traffic police.

What is meant by making changes to the design of the machine?

Each automobile manufacturing plant must indicate in its operational documentation a list of devices and components that can be installed on a particular vehicle model. This is a mandatory procedure; without it, the car will not be able to obtain a certificate of conformity.

By law, the installation of devices and components permitted by the vehicle manufacturer does not constitute changes to the design of the vehicle and is not subject to mandatory registration with the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate.

Installation of any other equipment not provided by the manufacturer must be agreed upon with the State Traffic Inspectorate.

Procedure and rules for obtaining documents from the traffic police

Legalization of a tow bar, if registration is required, occurs in stages:

• An application to make this change to the design is submitted to the traffic police along with copies of the title, vehicle registration certificate, and a certificate for the device;
• the car is sent for preliminary technical examination to a specialized institution, which will issue a permit for installation;
• the device is mounted to the vehicle in a service center that has the right to re-equip it;

Installed towbar

• he also issues a declaration for the work performed;
• the car undergoes another technical check, which confirms the safety of using the vehicle with the changes made and the issuance of a diagnostic card;
• all documents are submitted to the technical department of the traffic police, from where the owner, after inspecting the vehicle, receives a certificate of compliance of the updated car with all requirements;
• in the registration department of the service, a new document for the car is issued, which indicates the availability of an update, and changes are made to the registration certificate.

Necessary documents for registration of design changes

Registration of a towing device in the traffic police, during the installation of which changes in the design of the machine were made, is carried out upon provision of:

• statements from the car owner;
• applicant's passport;
• PTS (if it is not electronic) and STS of the car;
• receipts for payment of the state fee for making an entry in the PTS (350 rubles).

Application for registration

To design a tow bar, use a standard application form for vehicle registration, which can be obtained from any MREO of the traffic police or downloaded independently from the section on the official website of the department. When filling out, you must indicate the name of the inspection to which you intend to apply, your full name. and underline the item “Make changes due to design changes.”

Then you should provide information about the car and your data - full name. in full, passport information and registration address.

The column “Changes to be made to the design” is filled out by a traffic police officer.

What to do if the towbar is installed, but there are no documents for it?

You can try to get documents from the car manufacturer. But this is only possible if the manufacturer has included a towbar in the car’s design. If it is impossible to obtain documents (the most common option is that the manufacturer did not initially provide for it in the design of the machine), then there are two options:

• register the towbar as a change in the design of the car according to the new rules;
• dismantle the towbar (accordingly, either do not use such a vehicle for transporting goods on a trailer, or change the car to another model with a towbar).

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The vehicle owner will have to contact the traffic police several times with documents for installing a tow bar. Initially you need to submit:

• application in the prescribed form;
• original and two-sided copy of PTS;
• documentary evidence of the quality and safety of the device;
• certificate of registration of the vehicle with the traffic police.

After the modification (installation of a towbar), the owner must once again come to the traffic police to register the towbar for a passenger car. The traffic police officer will check whether the device is installed properly and whether there is a risk to road users. In this case, you must submit:

• application for registration of modification;
• trailer purchase agreement (if available);
• towbar certificate;
• car service certificate of installation;
• vehicle diagnostic card (issued by the service station);
• expert opinion (issued by service station).

The cost of installing equipment at a service station includes the time and effort expended by the technician, so the driver will have to pay an average of 1,500 rubles for installation, and 3,500 rubles with the electrical connection. Some drivers, wanting to save money, do the installation themselves or ask for help from “garage” specialists.

If you purchased a car with a towbar, but there are no documents for it, you must contact the supplier for copies. You can send a registered letter or e-mail, or come to the office if the manufacturing company is located in the same city.

Usually there are no problems with issuing copies of documents to the tow bar. But if the manufacturer has not responded to your request, there are two options left:

• purchase of a new hitch with documents;
• registration of the modification with the traffic police.

The first option is simpler and, naturally, cheaper.

There are dealers offering to buy fake documents. If a counterfeit is discovered, administrative and sometimes criminal penalties may follow. These documents are issued only by the manufacturing company, and you only need to request them from them.

Registration procedure

The question of how to register a towbar with the traffic police arises under the following circumstances:

• you do not have the certificate and passport of the device, and it is not possible to obtain duplicates of them from the manufacturer;
• the manufacturer did not indicate in the operational documentation the possibility of using the vehicle with a trailer;
• During installation, changes were made to the design of the machine.

To register a towbar with the traffic police, you need to contact the nearest department of the department with documents for the car and submit an application for registration. After submitting the necessary papers, the registration procedure will be carried out in the following order:

1. Preliminary inspection of the tow bar and the vehicle by a traffic police officer.
2. The car owner is sent to a specialized organization to certify the device and receive a diagnostic card.
3. Together with the received documents, you must return to the traffic police, where you must make an entry in the PTS and STS about the changes made to the design of the car.

Obtaining a certificate

To register a towbar with the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, you must obtain a TR CU certificate, which is an official confirmation that the product meets all the requirements and standards in force in the territory of the Customs Union. You can obtain the document from specialized certification centers, which are located in almost every region in large cities. They advertise their services well, so you won’t have any difficulties finding the center closest to you.

Certification centers can have different names, but usually the word “standard” appears in the name of the organization. For example, or. The cost of the service depends on the chosen institution.

Do I need to register a tow hitch with the traffic police?

Any car is a complex system consisting of mutually influencing components and parts. When developing the design of a machine, the manufacturer initially tries to take into account all the nuances that the use of each individual device entails.

As a rule, unauthorized changes made to the design of a car only lead to it becoming more dangerous in operation - both for the driver and for other road users. That is why the installation of additional components requires special procedures, coordination with the traffic police, and often an automotive technical examination.

Here you should be guided by the Technical Regulations of the Customs Union TR CU 018/2011, which determines that changes in the design will be considered such dismantling of components or installation of components not provided for by the design of the vehicle, which will affect the safety of traffic on the road.

Important: Among the components, the incorrect installation and operation of which is dangerous, is the towbar (or, as it is officially called in the documents, a towbar for a passenger car).

This unit is designed to attach trailers to the car - and therefore, if it is destroyed or suddenly slips, there may be an uncontrollably moving trailer on the road, into which other cars may crash, or the trailer itself may collide with them.

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However, regarding towbars, the registration situation is twofold:

1. Some of them require mandatory registration and approval from the traffic police.
2. But for many, the immediate installation of this unit is sufficient.

If a towbar is installed on a passenger car, it can be legalized as follows.

It will be necessary to register the towbar with the traffic police only if there is no information that a specific trailer hitch model is approved. In this case, you need to be guided by traffic rules and the Federal Law “On Road Traffic Safety” No. 196-FZ of 1995.

Attention: If there is no data on the approval of the tow bar design by the car manufacturer, you will first need to submit an application to the traffic police for a preliminary examination.

In this case, auto experts must evaluate how safe the resulting design will be and whether it can ultimately be released on public roads.

In this case, the following is submitted to the traffic police:

1. Application for registration.
2. A copy of the PTS.
3. Technical documents for trailer hitch.
4. STS for a car.

Administrative responsibility for a towbar without documents

If you are still in doubt about whether it is necessary to register a towbar, keep in mind that each of your meetings with the inspector may end with the drawing up of an administrative protocol. If a towing device is identified that is installed on a vehicle without a certificate, traffic police officers have the right to impose a fine of 500 rubles, guided by Article 12.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

How to avoid a fine

To avoid claims from the traffic police inspector and drawing up an administrative protocol, you should always carry a certificate and passport for the towbar with you. And if you forgot your documents at home and received a penalty for this, within 10 days from the date of the decision on an administrative offense you can challenge it by providing the necessary papers to the State Traffic Inspectorate. It is enough to submit an official complaint to the traffic police department, whose officer drew up the report. It can be personally presented to the secretary of the inspection, sent by registered mail, or using the feedback form on the official website of the department.

Fines for careless drivers

Using a vehicle with an unregistered tow bar will result in you being stopped by a traffic police officer and required to pay a fine. The punishment is chosen according to Article 12.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses:

Driving a vehicle in the presence of malfunctions or conditions under which ... operation of the vehicle is prohibited, with the exception of malfunctions and conditions specified in parts 2 - 7 of this article, shall entail a warning or the imposition of an administrative fine in the amount of five hundred rubles.

Indeed, in this case, the “Basic Provisions...” regulating the safe use of a car were violated. In particular, paragraph 7.18 of the “List of faults...” was ignored, which does not allow driving such a car.

This fine can be reduced by 2 times if paid within 20 days after receiving the decision.

Selling a car with a towbar

If the towbar is installed on the vehicle in compliance with all applicable rules, when it is sold, the buyer will not have problems re-registering the vehicle with the traffic police. Along with the PTS, he must be given the certificate and passport for the tow bar, otherwise the State Traffic Inspectorate inspector will have questions during the inspection of the car before re-registration.

If you are purchasing a used car with a towbar, ask the seller for the appropriate documents. If they are missing, find out the equipment model and the name of the manufacturer, who you can contact in the future and ask to send copies of the certificate and product passport, explaining the reason for your request. If this idea fails, you will have to remove the towbar before re-registering the vehicle with the traffic police, since this procedure must be completed within 10 days from the date of purchase. Then you can purchase a new towbar with all the necessary documents.

How to avoid a fine for an unregistered tow bar?

As in any situation, you can try to ensure that the fine is not issued. To do this you need:

1. Explain to the traffic police inspector that everything will soon be corrected (at the same time, ask for a warning).
2. Use a removable towbar (refer to the fact that these changes made to the design of the car cannot in any way affect the likelihood of occurrence and consequences of an accident).
3. The coupling device was installed by the factory, and therefore everything is legal and no changes were made to the design.
4. Referring to paragraph 77 of the Technical Regulations of the Customs Union on the certification of the coupling device and informing that it has been assessed and is suitable for use.

Before you think about purchasing a trailer, and, as a result, a towing device for it, it is worth finding out whether the manufacturer provides for the operation of the car as a tractor. If yes, then you should clarify information about what devices can be installed. At the same time, a visit to the traffic police to register the tow bar is not required.

If the manufacturer did not provide for the vehicle to be used as a tractor, then contacting the traffic police is pointless. However, as the law states, in some cases, registration is still necessary.

This procedure is not overly difficult or lengthy and is carried out by traffic police officers. At the same time, the essence of the entire procedure is to collect documentary evidence that the device is safe to use.

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Trailer registration

The trailer is not part of the vehicle, even if it cannot be used separately from it. This is a separate vehicle, the use of which on public roads requires registration with the traffic police and the issuance of a license plate. Moreover, the operation of a car with a trailer must be indicated in the MTPL policy.

Read more about how to register a trailer.

Basic documents for legalizing the installation

To install a towbar, you should purchase the device and go to the traffic police. There you will be asked for the following documents:

• application - filled out and submitted directly on site;
• a copy of the technical passport - it must be double-sided;
• passport and certificate of conformity for the trailer hitch.

Also, do not forget about your identification papers. All this is required for the preliminary inspection. Based on it, you can find out whether the installation of the selected device on your vehicle is permissible. The next stage of legalization will be preliminary examination. It requires a diagnostic card after a technical inspection, a certificate of conformity, and a declaration from the service center. You should then be given a determination that the installation was completed correctly and safely.

Still have questions about towbars? Ask them to us!

What to do if the towbar is already installed

Drivers often neglect numerous checks and immediately go to the mechanic, and only then think about the documents. In this case, you avoid the preliminary inspection stage and immediately go to the traffic police for examination. To make the process go smoothly, you need to be prepared. First, contact the technical center where the installation was carried out to obtain a declaration statement. If the installation was carried out by a familiar technician, yourself or the previous owner of the car, then you should contact a trusted service, where they will offer you:

• checking the actual condition of the tow bar;
• testing the correct installation;
• providing a declaration of completed installation.

After this, you can undergo a technical inspection and, after receiving all the documents, contact the traffic police. If the papers are in order, after the examination you will receive the necessary permits. It is recommended that you always carry the issued certificate with you, otherwise you risk getting a fine.

What to do if there is no certificate?

A very important document for legalization is the certificate of conformity of the towbar. It confirms that the device was manufactured taking into account existing quality standards and the requirements of the Customs Union. This is the main proof of the safety of the product and the passing of all necessary tests. If the certificate is lost, it is not necessary to buy a new trailer hitch; it is enough to contact the manufacturer directly. To do this, write a letter to the legal address, contact the representative through a special form on the company’s website. In addition, you can personally go to the company’s office in your city. Some brands prefer to make life easier for their customers, so they post certificates on the official resource for free download. Therefore, be sure to check the site so as not to waste time. If you do not know the manufacturer of the trailer hitch, we recommend contacting specialists. They will inspect the vehicle and try to determine the model and brand of the device. In some situations this is not possible, so it is recommended that you purchase a new certified towbar to avoid registration issues.

Still have questions about towbars? Ask them to us!

Possible legalization problems

To legalize a towbar, you need to contact the traffic police. During the process, you may encounter the following problems:

• incorrectly prepared documents - for example, insufficient number of copies, lack of some paper;
• lack of a certificate of conformity - you will have to restore it, which takes time;
• incorrect installation - for example, the ball covers the license plate, so you need to install the device again.

To avoid difficulties, contact a technical technician to install or check the trailer hitch. We offer professional installation, consultations on documentation and operational issues. We also provide a guarantee for all work performed.

In order not to make a mistake with your choice, seek professional advice from the specialists of the Ziesta shopping center. Our technical center will help you with choosing a towbar, perform installation work and provide a guarantee for the result.

In our Technical Center you can buy a towbar or bring and install your own towbar. We are located at Moscow, st. Dubninskaya, 83 building 6. The largest selection of towbars for all brands of cars. We will install the tow bar and issue all the necessary documents and certificates. Rest assured, the price of our assistance will always remain relevant. Contacting ZIESTA is profitable and convenient in all respects.