Tow bar

[Stalefish540g]

Hi All, I have a 2016 Beach and I want to fit a tow bar. I have been quoted £700 to supply and fit. I have been looking at fitting myself as the steel frame is pretty easy to fit, the electrics is another matter!
Anyone fitted the 13pin electrics to there van?

I found the tow bar removable type for £285 and the fixed for £175 not sure which is better?
The electrics are £224.
Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated

 

[AlanC]

Self-installing a tow bar is not difficult once you have found all of the fixings to remove the bumper.
There is a reinforcing bar behind it which is replaced by the tow bar.

The difficult part is the wiring. This must be fed from connections at the front of the van and include recoding the Body Control Module. You must not tack into the existing rear lights.

The cables run under the van above the splash guards on the nearside and pick up a direct feed from the engine battery and from various connections under the passenger seat. A connection is also made to the Canbus system.

Once recoding the BCM is done (probably by your friendly local garage) then you will get a display on the radio when hooked up. The van's rear fog light will be disabled when towing as will the reversing sensors and the rear suspension/brakes adjusted for the extra load.

If you have the 13pin socket fitted then in addition to all the lights working on the trailer, power will be fed from the battery to one pin and another power feed will be switched by the ignition. This is needed if you are towing a caravan for the fridge, but not for a box trailer.

Adaptors can be bought to connect 7pin plugs to 13pin sockets and vice versa.

Hope that helps.

Alan

 

[Ting Tong]

I’d fit a Westfalia detachable as it’s identical to the VW oem.

 

[soulstyledevon]

I have a detachable bar.
I’ve never taken it off. Next time I would get a fixed bar.

 

[AlanC]

On the SE and Ocean the tool kit mounted on the rear of the rear seat has a cutout designed specifically for the storage of the Westfalia detachable tow bar and another for the plastic ball cap. Two slots accommodate the lock keys.

Alan

 

[Tim T]

I had a look at doing it myself as well, it was COVID and UK travel only so the world and his wife seemed to be getting tow bars fitted. I eventually managed to order one and get a fitting date.

The extra model specific wiring looms and software updates required made it a garage only job for me even though I'm quite adept at twirling a spanner. I took mine to Buchans tow bars and it took them a good 5 or 6 hours on a 2017 Ocean. It's more involved than you think and dashboard warning lights can be an MOT failure, it needs to be correct and reliable.

We use it to tow a caravan so 13 pin was always a must as all modern caravans are 13 pin. This is a bit of a guess, but I don't remember there being a big price difference, the van supports the functionality of the 13 pin and I think there is only the one choice of "model specific wiring kit" so there doesn't seem any point in fitting a 7 pin. It's a simple plug-in adaptor to convert it to a 7 pin which we've done a few times when using other trailers, simple and easy.

We have a fixed towbar, because there wasn't a choice without a 6 week wait or more, and it's not a function that I'd ever use anyway.

Just under £700 was what I paid 2 years ago, sounds very reasonable...

 

[Jay586]

Had a very neat Tow Trust detachable Swan neck on my last van. £650 or £700, I can't quite remember. Vw loom. Took the guy a while to fit. Invisible fittings, more or less, when ball not attached. Very pleased with it.

 

[altvic]

A little off topic (?). I have a 2017 ocean with a factory fitted part installed loom, the end of which is taped somewhere behind the rear cupboard. I have two questions:
Is it recommended to have a Westfalia extension loom and tow bar and not another make?
I was told by VW Preston that the cupboard only requires slight loosening to access the factory fit loom end. Is this correct?

I am going to purchase a bike rack that folds for storage such as a altera pro or Thule similar and want to be able to Open rear door when rack tilts backwards.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Snowball1935]

Hi All, I have a 2016 Beach and I want to fit a tow bar. I have been quoted £700 to supply and fit. I have been looking at fitting myself as the steel frame is pretty easy to fit, the electrics is another matter!
Anyone fitted the 13pin electrics to there van?

I found the tow bar removable type for £285 and the fixed for £175 not sure which is better?
The electrics are £224.
Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated

I had a tow bar fitted to my Caravelle when I first bought it. After two detachable tow bars on my previous VW Tourans, I opted this time for a fixed one. The Caravelle lends itself better to a fixed tow bar than a car, as it does not look out of place.
Also, any need to replace the towing ball is much less costly, and there is no cause to worry about security of the tow ball over time, when the risks of detachment due to wear and/or corrosion cannot be safely ignored.

My Tourans and my Caravelle were all fitted with 13-pin connecting socket. These are fine EXCEPT, if you forget to disconnect before pulling the vehicle away from the trailer, because the plug is turned and locked the wiring will be ripped away with extensive repairs being necessary.

I have regularly found many ‘tuggers’ to hardly speak, then engage in chatting whilst I am hooking up to depart. So I use the rule: no chatting whilst setting up camp or preparing to depart.
As for the 13-pin plug - this should be disconnected FIRST when setting up, and LAST when preparing to leave.

 

[Snoopy23]

I had a removable one fitted electrics are the Achilles heal as needs coding, mine needed to go back as wiring interfered with radio reception, ended up after searching forums fitting some magnets to loom under seat and to power on harness, worked a treat. Think the work involved was worth the pro fit cost. Only used for Bike rack.

 

[slipper]

Westfalia detachable every time. Ours was £650 fitted. Personally I wouldn’t even think about doing it myself.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Hi All, I have a 2016 Beach and I want to fit a tow bar. I have been quoted £700 to supply and fit. I have been looking at fitting myself as the steel frame is pretty easy to fit, the electrics is another matter!
Anyone fitted the 13pin electrics to there van?

I found the tow bar removable type for £285 and the fixed for £175 not sure which is better?
The electrics are £224.
Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated

Go for the fitted option; Detachable Westfalia.

Towbar is easy to fit, but electrics needs a new wire running & coding; I have DIY fitted to Land Rover Freelander + VW T4 which were both very straightfoward, but would happily pay someone else to do it on our Cali.

Can recommend PF Jones.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

A little off topic (?). I have a 2017 ocean with a factory fitted part installed loom, the end of which is taped somewhere behind the rear cupboard. I have two questions:
Is it recommended to have a Westfalia extension loom and tow bar and not another make?
I was told by VW Preston that the cupboard only requires slight loosening to access the factory fit loom end. Is this correct?

I am going to purchase a bike rack that folds for storage such as a altera pro or Thule similar and want to be able to Open rear door when rack tilts backwards.

Thanks for any help.

If you want to use the VW loom then VW will need to fit the towbar, so could work out expensive.

Third party supplier will normally install new electrics running under the van in order for their own warranty to be valid. Avoids a dispute between third party fitter & VW should there be any issues with the exisiting VW loom.

 

[Stalefish540g]

Well after your good replies and the price of the bits compared and the hassle i think i will pay to have it done!
Thanks all for your replies.

 

[Tim T]

These are fine EXCEPT, if you forget to disconnect before pulling the vehicle away from the trailer, because the plug is turned and locked the wiring will be ripped away with extensive repairs being necessary...
...then engage in chatting whilst I am hooking up to depart. So I use the rule: no chatting whilst setting up camp or preparing to depart.

Funnily enough I did that very thing today, under the watchful eye of maybe even the same "chatter".

However the plug actually came apart quite easily, the threads giving way before the wiring almost as though it was designed to do so, or perhaps it was an old weakened plug and I was just lucky...

Still I think I'll reseat and tighten the wires when I get home, if I don't replace the whole plug. New rule...

 

[PeteS]

I had a Westfalia detachable fitted at the VW dealers when buying my secondhand Caravelle. It was about £900 in 2017. With modern cars the wiring is very complex and you can easy damage components if you get it wrong. I have a friend who is a master technician at Volkswagen and he told me to get it done at the dealers to save any warranty issues. That said most dealers sub the work out.
I fitted the detachable tow bar in place and left it there. It also acts to protect the back of the van but it is painful if you walk into it. I would go for a fixed next time just because it is a bit cheaper and I don’t think I would use the detachable function.
I used a Westfalia tipping bike rack but the rear tailgate will not open when it is tipped. It worked fine on my Audi A6 Estate and it not a big problem as you can access the boot from inside. I think some of the other makes do allow the tailgate to open fully but it is worth checking.