The cable just happened to be hanging frome my bar when I took the pictures. It has nothing to do with towing, I use chains. The round tubing just provides added strength. The two small circular pieces are not used they just happened to be on the bar when before I got it and modified it. The overall length is approximately 51 inches and I've never had any issues with it being too close to allow for turning sharply. Like I said, I've towed thousands of miles with it for more than 10 years.