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HAYMAN REESE: 70 YEARS STRONG The brand says, “We know towing”
The humble tow bar is an everyday item which many Australians fit onto their cars and behind that shiny tow ball, is a multimillion-dollar industry. One market-leading brand which stands out is Hayman Reese, which in 2021 is celebrating its 70th anniversary. Harking back to the late 1940s when post-war Australia was headed by Prime Minister Robert Menzies and the Snowy Mountain Scheme was getting underway, Australians were starting to explore the country in increasing numbers. A friend asked Eric Hayman to build him a tow bar to tow his newly acquired caravan. He built two, one for his friend and another which he quickly sold at a country agricultural show. He could not have dreamed that it would be the first step towards building an Australian icon. Eric Hayman was not new to manufacturing; he had been making bicycle spokes in a small South Melbourne factory for some time. The tow bar business quickly became the focus of his attention and he set about making them in earnest. In 1972 a major milestone was reached: a large American towing products company, by the name of Reese, was on the lookout for global partners and started working closely with Eric Hayman’s business. Seven years later a new entity was formed, and Eric Hayman was appointed as the first Managing Director of Hayman Reese. As part of this partnership Hayman Reese introduced several key pieces of technology to the Australian market: weight distribution systems for safer towing and the Hayman Reese signature 50mm ‘square-hole’ Hitch Receiver tow bar. Until that time most tow bars had been a fabricated product with fixed mounting points and were not easily detachable. Hayman Reese says the 50mm square tow bar hitch was a game changer and states that it remains the Australian industry standard today. 1972 also saw the company leave South Melbourne and move to a larger facility in Dandenong. The Hayman Reese business is now located in a stateof-art engineering, manufacturing and warehouse facility in Keysborough. With over two hundred staff on site, Hayman Reese designs, tests and manufactures a wide range of products all under one roof, in what it says is the largest facility of its type in Australia. Now part of the locally owned AutoPacific Group, the Hayman Reese DNA remains at the core of the organisation. “Hayman Reese has been a keen participant in the Australian automotive aftermarket since the 70
FX Holden went on sale,” AutoPacific Group Chief Executive Officer, Jason Kieseker, said. “Our products have been helping Australians on worksites and on weekends since the 1950s it’s a great achievement and something we are extremely proud of.” With the loss of the local automotive manufacturing industry Hayman Reese remains one of a few local manufacturers of automotive components. “It’s a challenge we have successfully overcome through a culture of consistent improvement, having a local manufacturing capability is central to our business. It’s important both to our customers and us,” Jason said. With such a long history it’s still possible for Hayman Reese to build towbars which have not been offered for decades. The company’s Keysborough manufacturing facility still houses the original drawings and tooling to produce towbars for every current towing vehicle as well as cars now seen as irreplaceable classics. Since the very first towbar, Hayman Reese says it has strived to provide customers with everything required to equip a consumer with the safest towing solution. Each solution is sold as a complete kit, including comprehensive fitting instructions that enhance the ease of installation. The Hayman Reese journey simply started with a towbar but has expanded to include SmartClick Wiring Solutions, Brake Controllers, Weight Distribution Systems as well as application specific products such as X-Bar, a tailored design 4WD solution.
Hayman Reese Towbars Since introducing its innovative 50mm x 50mm hitch receiver style to the market, Hayman Reese says it has continued to be at the forefront of towbar innovation. The 2000s saw Hayman Reese change the way
Australian Automotive Aftermarket Magazine September 2021
that towbars were painted. Previously, towbars were merely dipped in paint, which could allow foreign objects to destroy the paint integrity. It says its introduction of the MetalShield three stage corrosion protection system has significantly increased the longevity and quality of the painted towbar. Firstly, towbars are shot blasted, preparing a clean uniform surface free from imperfections or foreign objects. This is followed by a preprotection surface using electricity to create an adhesive bond between the raw metal and the e-coat. Finally, the towbar is powder coated to ensure maximum durability against rust and corrosion. Hayman Reese says the finished result gives its towbars a quality finish that surpasses the performance of many others in the market. Another Hayman Reese innovation in towbars is its SmartPin anti-rattle technology, engineered to combat any annoying rattle that motorists might experience. Unique to the market, the SmartPin utilises two small ‘keyways’ in the hitch receiver that the SmartPin slots into. Once the accompanying nut is tightened, the SmartPin is held in place, providing sufficient pressure against the hitch receiver and tow ball mount to prevent rattle. Hayman Reese says it pushed the boundaries again with the release of the X-Bar towbar in 2018.
