Towbars

[Steve Maskery]

Evenin' all

I had my last car for 13 of its 14 years, and although it did very few miles (<100K when it was stolen and wrecked) the interior in the back was not pretty, as I'd used it as a pickup truck for several house moves, a gazillion trips to the tip and so forth. It was a workhorse.
Now, however, I have a posh car. It has wipers wot work on their own. It tells me where to turn. Even the heater works (at two different temperatures, one for each side, if I wish, however that works).

So I would like to look after this one a bit better.

Ray (you remember Ray) has offered me the long-term loan of a 5'x3' trailer (i.e. he doesn't have a towbar on his car and this thing is in his way). So Mr. Google put me in touch with someone who is offering me these, all with 7pin Road Lights Universal Electrics, fitted at my home.

Towbar Type:

Fixed Flange Neck with Alko Compatible Towball
£ 225.00

Fixed Swan Neck ( Alko Compatible)
£ 225.00

Detachable Swan Neck (Alko Compatible)
£ 305.00

I have never had a towbar, I know the square root of zero about them and would very much appreciate some guidance.

 

[Waka]

The detachable;e is always a good one, you don't knock your shin on it when not in use. I have the Witter detachable and find it excellent.

 

[Mark A]

I paid £140 inc. vat for a local company to supply and fit a tow bar on my Vivaro. I know we're in different parts of the country, but it may be worth finding some more prices.

It took them about 40 minutes in all.

 

[profchris]

The swan neck sticks up higher, so your towball is higher. Used if your car sits low to the ground. But it can instruct the boot/tailgate.

You want the towball to attach your trailer in a roughly level position, so it's a compromise.

Detachable towbars mean you don't bark your shin on them and get grease on your trousers. This works if you can remember to detach it, assuming it hasn't jammed. And haven't mislaid it when you need to fit it again. Most detachable towballs get left fixed, eventually.

Twenty years of gliding experience speaking!

 

[Lons]

What car have you got Steve?

If it's a very recent all singing and dancing jobbie it might need dedicated electrics and the car to be coded and programmed or it can affect some of your car systems and cause fault messages to be displayed. That would have been the case on all of my last 4 cars.

I have a Westfalia detachable fitted so nothing to be seen as even the electrics socket folds up behind the bumper same as that on my last car and I certainly will never go back to a fixed ball even though they are cheaper. Too many bashed shins and greasy trouser marks in the past. I keep the towball next to the spare wheel and it takes me all of 2 minutes to fit or remove when I need to use it. After all it only accounts for a small percentage of the cars overall mileage.

My mate had a Towsure bar and std electriscs fitted to his Nissan a few months ago for about £140 so I'd shop around a bit more. Current cars are much easier to fit with a towbar as they just slot into pre-drilled locations and the hardest part is removing the bumper though electrics can be a bit trickier if no spare connectors already in the loom.
Gone are the days of drilling through the floor and using scotchlocks on the wires.

Bob

 

[slate1234]

Mark A where did you get a tow bar for that price for your vivaro I am being quoted £350,
Paul

 

[Steve Maskery]

What car have you got Steve?

It's a Kia Cee'd 14 plate.
I think that makes me a Woodworking Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car, to quote Top Gear.

 

[bourbon]

If you are only going to tow a trailer, I wouldn't bother with an Alco hitch, a normal one will be fine. Alco balls , if used with a caravan, should NEVER have grease on them as it will ruin the pads on the hitch

 

[deema]

Tot begin with I have to declare that I was at one point in my life the Managing Director of one of the companies listed below. I spent over a decade in the industry.

Not all Towbars are the same. They are all supposed to comply with type approval, however, I'm not aware of any form of effective policing of Towbars (after type approval has been given) that are being fitted in the Uk. That means that unless you purchase one of the major brands of Towbar you could have a product that was manufactured to a standard that does not make it compliant to the standards. There are now in my opinion four major brands within Europe who between them make the majority of The Towbars sold each year. Two of which are owned by the worlds largest Towbar manufacturer, Horizon Global. The brands are Witter, Westfalia both of which are companies that have been bought in recent years by Horizon Global (they also bought the Towbar division out of AL-KO), Bosal and Brink.

There should actually be no difference between a flange or Swan neck Towball position for a particular vehicle, both must comply with the same regulations / manufacturers specification. The only difference is aesthetic. All four of the major brands produce excellent quality detachable Towballs, with the Westfalia system probably being recognised within the industry as displaying the best qualities. It is a 'three ball system' and Al-KO and Bosal also produce this type of detachable.

All four brands between them produce the vast majority of the Towbars sold by the car/ van manufacturers under their own brand. Buying one of these brands provides you with an OE quality Towbar that has a paint finish that will last and welding systems that will be carried out under strickt control probably by robotic welders, with weld penetration, route size etc determined and verified for the stresses that it will endure.

After selecting a Towbar the next major decision is vehicle electrics. Not all electrical kits are the same and I'm aware of a number of instances where electric kits have caused car fires. For most modern cars you will need a 'Vehicle Specific Wiring kit. The complexities of the Can bus system on modern vehicles is such that there are only a very limited number of manufacturers that are capable IMO of producing the kits. The electrical kit must in all situations including fault modes interact correctly with the CanBus to ensure that other car systems are not adversely affected. Many after market kits that are very competitively priced either only 'listen' on the CanBus or have not been properly tested to ensure they meet the cars requirments. The main manufactures who provide I believe the majority of the electric kits fitted and sold by the OE's are ECS, Westfalia, Eric Jaeger and Conwys. Universal bypass kits can in most cases be used on vehicles without a CanBus.

A vehicle will recognise through the CanBus when a trailer is being towed and a number of the vehicles systems may be changed / parameters changed. Ride height that can change with vehicle speed can be disabled, oil cooling systems can be modified, gear change points, TCS, etc to name a few can all be affected.

A cars brain has in most cases to be told to listen for and talk to a Towbar electrical kit. Flags normally have to set within the vehicles software to enable the CanBus to interact properly. To the best of my knowledge only Westflia produce a programmer that can within the aftermarket carry out this function for the majority of vehicles.

The next decision is where to get the Towbar and electric kit fitted. There is no regulation covering this and ther is no required training to become a Towbar fitter! There are an awful lot of good Towbar fitters in the Uk but unfortunately there are also a lot of people who have setup and are having a go!

The only place I'm aware of at this time that you can get a Towbar, electrical kit and have it fitted with the assurance that you will have a good system fitted properly is provided by Witter. They have a WEB site that allows you to select, and book a fitting online at a number of locations by entering your vehicle registration number. You will certainly be able to get a cheaper solution. However, in the unlikely situation of anything going wrong you will be able to call on a company that is backed by a significant parent and like the others I've mentioned have a warranty that is honoured.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Lots

Most of that is over my head but Thank You Very Much anyway.
Really
S

 

[Mark A]

Mark A where did you get a tow bar for that price for your vivaro I am being quoted £350,
Paul

Britannia Towbars in Swansea.

You're making me doubt myself now, though I'm 93.82% sure it was £140.

While they were fitting the towbar they came across a lump of melted wiring and scorch marks behind the rear lights. A couple months after buying the van a car crashed into the back of it at a roundabout and it was repaired by the other party's insurance. As it turns out, badly. The dopey barstewards welded in and around the wiring and evidently set it on fire...

Britannia fixed it free of charge, which was good of them.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

[llangatwgnedd]

Detectable if it fouls the license plate.

Grease on the tow hitch is a no no these days, as all anti snaking device is on the tow ball.

When it comes to wiring, use the dedicated looms and not scotch blocks ( Insurance purposes).

 

[Dave1w]

With the special looms do you still have to go to the dealer to get the electronics set up in the onboard system?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Steve Maskery]

The only place I'm aware of at this time that you can get a Towbar, electrical kit and have it fitted with the assurance that you will have a good system fitted properly is provided by Witter. They have a WEB site that allows you to select, and book a fitting online at a number of locations by entering your vehicle registration number. You will certainly be able to get a cheaper solution. However, in the unlikely situation of anything going wrong you will be able to call on a company that is backed by a significant parent and like the others I've mentioned have a warranty that is honoured.

I have no doubt that you are right, deema, but their cheapest option is over £700, rising to small change out of a grand. That's me out, I'm afraid.

I have a local independent garage just round the corner. He was very good to me when I had my last car, so I'll ask him if it's his bag.

 

[banjerbill]

Two other points Steve.

Make sure you have trailers on your driving license as they are now a separate group.

Tell your insurance as many consider a tow bar a modification and you don't want to give them excuse to not pay out if you make a claim.

Bill

 

[bourbon]

Yes Insurance must be told as It's a modification to the car. It's usually a couple of quid more, sometimes free. Bonus is, It will cover the trailer third party if it does any damage, e.g you cut a corner and take a wall out. Not all anti snake systems are on the ball, I use a blade stabilizer. That way I can tow my caravan and my mates trailers without having to clean the ball. ( he has a love of grease on the trailer hitches)

 

[Phil Pascoe]

It might be worth checking theft insurance, especially if the trailer is borrowed - just because you're insured to tow one doesn't it's insured against theft. Where I live you can lose one in minutes.

 

[geoffshep]

Spookily, I am also looking for a towbar for a Cee'd. I have previously fitted a detachable one to a Vectra and Deema's points are all valid. In my case, I fitted the towbar myself which was fairly straightforward if you have any mechanical nouse and/or the confidence. It came with a wiring kit which could be spliced into the existing loom but as Deema says, probably not the best solution for modern computer controlled cars - and for those with bulb failure warning circuits. I bought the trailer module direct from Vauxhall which simply plugs into the rear circuit board and, for me, works fine. Some have said they have needed to get the module programmed into the car - which would probably activate the dash indicator warning, and other things like isolating the rear parking sensors when reversing with the trailer attached - to prevent them constantly warning about the proximity of the trailer.

Swan-necks are usually good as they 'loop' round the bumper so no bumper cut needed, and then look for ones which can be fitted easily, ideally without removing the bumper. I'm looking at this from Towequipe and then investigating a wiring module from Kia.

http://www.towequipe.co.uk/towbars/deta ... rs-2012-on

 

[deema]

The Towbar shown in the link is manufactured by an Italian company called Umbra Rimorchi. In my opinion, when I last tested their Towbars the paint finish was only suitable for a climate that did not encounter snow / road salt and allowed the Towbar to rust very quickly compared to others. The detachable system is not I believe semi automatic and is much simpler than those used by more prominent Towbar manufacturers. UR was a small family owned company when I last had contact with them.

Towequipe used to be a company based in Nuneaton that went into liquidation a few years ago and where a pure distributor of towing and load carrying systems. I'm not aware of any company called Towequipe that manufacture Towbars. It looks like someone has taken over the name. Interesting that I can't find on their WEB site any details of where they are located, a telephone number, company registered number, VAT number as they are displaying the British flag indicating that they are a British company offering British goods. Their WEB site states that they are backed by United Arab Emeritaes what ever that means.

If your Towbar fails and you cause an accident.......I think getting in touch with them might be a little difficult. Again, in my opinion it's probably cheap for a reason!

I would like to suggest PF Jones based in Manchester if your looking to buy parts and do it yourself. They are the largest Towbar distributor in the U.K.

 

[finneyb]

Towequipe Ltd details from Companies Hse website https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/09591888
Looks like Registered Office is just a forwarding address - which is not that unusual but makes contact difficult .
Sole Director Rosica PETROVA a Bulgarian national, resident in Bulgaria

Brian