Tow bar prep

[Azteccamper]

I have a 2012 SE. The original owner had a VWtow bar fitted but removed it to fit to his new T6 Beach. Does that mean all the prep for a tow bar will be in place for me?

 

[TripleBee]

Unless the towbar was originally installed from factory (which makes it virtually impossible to remove the electricity of the towbar), the electricity might have been removed too.

Try to find out where, and if there is still something left of the electricity. If it was originally fit, it will disappear somewhere underneath at the rear. If it was fitted afterwards, you will have to look behind the plastic under plates up to the front passenger seat (driver's seat when left steering wheel).

 

[OGII]

I have a 2012 SE. The original owner had a VWtow bar fitted but removed it to fit to his new T6 Beach. Does that mean all the prep for a tow bar will be in place for me?

Hard to tell but at a guess I'd say no.

I fitted tow bars to my T5 and subsequently my T6, neither had prep. The bars fit with two lateral brackets that slot into/alongside the van's chassis and are then bolted onto pre placed holes. To reuse it it would probably mean that it was all removed.

You may be lucky and have the electrics still fitted, the wiring for the T5 and T6 are subtly different ( T6 has a more complex canbus, T5 you could just plug tow electrics into rear lighting loom using a neat pass through adapter)

Its a PIA as the cost of the bars is relatively low compared with the amount of work to remove bumper etc. Its not impossible though, depending on how handy you are. I used westfalia kits from PF Jones both times. The T5 was far easier.

 

[TripleBee]

A fixed towbar costed about €250 at the time I installed mine. I have gone for the original as my rear parking sensors are the old type, meaning they stick a long way into the rear bumper. The original towbar has holes in it to let the sensors pass through. Other towbars may be without holes, making the sensors hit the towbar and eventually cause problems. The newer rear sensors are probably smaller, not causing that problem.
My T5 electrics is fitted through CAN-bus (T5.1), so not just plugging into rear lights. That way, my parking sensors at the rear shut down when attaching anything on the towbar, and showing a trailer on the original radio system.
The first T5's will even have CAN-bus, so I don't think it's just plug and play from the rear lights.
I use ECS-electronics system for my electrics. It is a Dutch company, and they deliver good systems, but they have to be coded on the vehicle, and then you can get a warning light if a light of the trailer (bike rack, ...) is broken. So it is near original, but lots cheaper.

 

[OGII]

The first T5's will even have CAN-bus, so I don't think it's just plug and play from the rear lights.

My 56 plate T5 definitely had plug and play into rear rights. Literally unplug rear light cluster, plug tow electrics into van loom, then cluster into the back of tow electrics. Obviously may have been different on T5.1 or even the later T5 model years.

 

[AlanC]

Hard to tell but at a guess I'd say no.

I fitted tow bars to my T5 and subsequently my T6, neither had prep. The bars fit with two lateral brackets that slot into/alongside the van's chassis and are then bolted onto pre placed holes. To reuse it it would probably mean that it was all removed.

You may be lucky and have the electrics still fitted, the wiring for the T5 and T6 are subtly different ( T6 has a more complex canbus, T5 you could just plug tow electrics into rear lighting loom using a neat pass through adapter)

Its a PIA as the cost of the bars is relatively low compared with the amount of work to remove bumper etc. Its not impossible though, depending on how handy you are. I used westfalia kits from PF Jones both times. The T5 was far easier.

The T5.1 from 2010 has a similar Canbus system to later models and wiring into the rear lights is not advised.

The van needs to know when a trailer is plugged in so that the rear parking sensors are disabled and the rear fogs turned off. I believe the rear braking system is also adjusted and the radio display changes too.
Also, if a permanent towbar is fitted the parking sensors will see this every time reverse is selected if the right system is not used.

So a loom wired into the Canbus system with the computer recoded appropriately is important. Older T5s were much simpler and wiring into the rear lights was feasible.

Alan

 

[TripleBee]

My 56 plate T5 definitely had plug and play into rear rights. Literally unplug rear light cluster, plug tow electrics into van loom, then cluster into the back of tow electrics. Obviously may have been different on T5.1 or even the later T5 model years.

Was that a factory fit towbar?
After market systems might have done it that way, and the T5 didn't have a BCM like mine has, so plugging from the rear lights might not be a problem, but on mine (although mine is still a mix between the T5 and T5.1) it would give errors because of the lamp check system in the BCM.

 

[TripleBee]

Also, if a permanent towbar is fitted the parking sensors will see this every time reverse is selected if the right system is not used.

I had to update the PDC because they detected the towbar. I had to place the protection cap on the towbar in a certain position so they wouldn't detect it. Now, after the update, I have not had any problems in 8 years so far.

 

[AlanC]

I had to update the PDC because they detected the towbar. I had to place the protection cap on the towbar in a certain position so they wouldn't detect it. Now, after the update, I have not had any problems in 8 years so far.

Our van had a ‘plug and play’ system wired directly to the rear lights. It was a real PITA.

I quickly replaced it with one wired into the BCU and had the recoding done. It has been perfect ever since.

Alan

 

[Azteccamper]

Our van had a ‘plug and play’ system wired directly to the rear lights. It was a real PITA.

I quickly replaced it with one wired into the BCU and had the recoding done. It has been perfect ever since.

Alan

Thank you all. I’ll go get some quotes and see what comes up. Cheers.