Towbar fitting

WillycoxC

Hi, does anyone know the cheapest towbar fitting service? The cheapest I've been able to find is £369 which seems excessive considering the towbars can be bought for about £100.

Iceweasel

WillycoxC wrote: »

Hi, does anyone know the cheapest towbar fitting service? The cheapest I've been able to find is £369 which seems excessive considering the towbars can be bought for about £100.

Are you including the the electrics in those prices?

Two 7-pin plugs or a 13-pin?

What car are you fitting the towbar on?

Robisere

EXAMPLE ONLY: Ford C-Max, factory fit complete with detachable hookup and electrics: £750. A Lincoln garage I know was half that 2 years ago, at £325.

A proper towbar fit to a modern car is not cheap anymore. A large slice of the cost is taken up by the electrics, which have to take into account all the electrical and electronic gadgets and gizmos fitted to cars nowadays. The wrong auto electrical fitting can blow something vital in the system. Supply the information requested by iceweasel please and we might be able to help you.

marlot

Mine was a bargain at £785.

It all depends on the vehicle its being fitted to, what type of towbar, what level of electrics. None of which you've told us.

knightstyle

I have just fitted one to our just purchased Cmax. It really is easy, no special skills required to do the mechanical bit, just remove some bits, bolt on the new towbar, replace a couple of bits.
The hard part is the electrics, especially now cars have bulb warning devices, garages know this and exploit customers.
BUT if you purchase a prewired socket and a 7 way bypass relay and follow the instructions you can save a fortune.
The towbar cost £105 including delivery, the relay £14 from local factors, it took me about 5 hours.
So have a go, no special tools needed apart from a good socket set to make sure the bolts are done up tight.

takman

Just like the poster above said I would do it yourself it really isn't very difficult. Plus as long as you use a 7 way bypass relay then all the lights will work even if you car has a bulb failure detection system.
If you are towing a caravan and you want the fridge to run and battery to charge as you are going along you will also need a spit charge relay which will involve running an extra heavy duty wire from the battery. But make sure you get a "smart" one otherwise you will need to run a wire from the alternator too!.

Iceweasel

I would be very, very, wary of a DIY job unless you really, really, know what you are doing.

I have a fairly large trailer which several of my friends and relatives occasionally borrow.

Their electrics often need to be sorted out - basic things like the left and right side-lights being wired together - no number-plate light or the indicators being the wrong way round are pretty easy to fix.

It's the rear parking sensors which can give a major headache - and it's the same for those with a rear view camera

Then we have the fun with needing adaptors to go from 7-pin to 13-pin - or vice-versa, as most new cars with a factory fitted tow-bar will come with a 13-pin socket.

One neighbour who really only has a tow-bar to carry bicycles went to a local auto-electrician to get the DIY wiring on his sorted out, the technician took one look and stripped it all out to start from scratch - £170 it cost.

As others have said it all depends on the vehicle and how you want the thing to work.

If you do go for a 13-pin set up which is the most convenient then be aware that that is now a MOT testable item.

Any 7-pin sockets are not tested for correct function as the there is no standard wiring convention.

Having two 7-pin connectors (the second to run caravan internal stuff) seems to be a British thing - elsewhere you find that for a simple trailer they will have a 13-pin socket with only 7 pins wired up on the matching 13-pin plug.

knightstyle

Just to say it was very simple to follow the instructions that came with the prewired 7 pin socket and the relay. "Connect the blue wire to terminal 3" etc.
If anyone needs help and is near NW Lincolnshire I will help but not till late September as we are in France till then.

AdrianC

Iceweasel wrote: »

Any 7-pin sockets are not tested for correct function as the there is no standard wiring convention.

There certainly is.
http://www.towingandtrailers.co.uk/shop/132/133/142/

Having two 7-pin connectors (the second to run caravan internal stuff) seems to be a British thing - elsewhere you find that for a simple trailer they will have a 13-pin socket with only 7 pins wired up on the matching 13-pin plug.

Not really. Both 12N and 12S sockets were ISO standards - 1724 (which goes back to 1980) and 3732 (from 1982) respectively. The 13-pin standard, ISO 11446, was defined in 2004 and has been pretty much a legal requirement for the last four years, since all new trailers were required to have reversing lights from 2012, and 12N doesn't include a reversing light pin.

Iceweasel

AdrianC wrote: »

There certainly is.
http://www.towingandtrailers.co.uk/shop/132/133/142/

I agree with you - up to a point.

Your link shows the 'usual' way to wire the 7-pin 12N which doesn't have a pin for reversing lights.

But there is no legal requirement to wire it like that.

However correct 13-pin wiring is now a legal requirement.

The DVSA actually says '7-pin sockets are not testable with an electrical tester as there is no standard wiring protocol.'

Here's the source of my information/understanding:

See section 1:9 Electrical Wiring

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/518634/mot-inspection-manual-for-class-3-4-5-and-7-vehicles.pdf

And here:

In the MOT Magazine it further explains why 7-pin sockets are not testable.

http://www.motester.co.uk/mot-checks/mot-test-of-tow-bar-towing-hook

So - right or wrong - that's what the DVSA think about the various trailer electric sockets.

knightstyle

I don't understand why the rear parking sensors are a problem. I have fitted towbars on an Auris, a Juke and now Cmax with parking sensors and never had any problems, OK if you select reverse whilst towing the bleeps go but this is a handy reminder that you have a trailer connected.
Without a trailer the bleeps act normally.
By the way it is worth paying a bit extra to get a towbar with a detachable ball hitch.