Towing with a california

[peterbrown]

Hi All
Just in the throughs of purchasing my California to which I want to add a removable Tow-Bar, the Main Dealer I am purchasing from has quoted around £1200 to supply & fit this ! does this sound about right ? by the way the van is a 2012 180 DSG.
any help would be appreciated
peterbrown

 

[BMVS-Camper-Hire]

I can get them fitted for approx £420+VAT, including OE electrics, Westfalia remoavble bar and full coding. £1200 is a rip off!

 

[Calincolnshire]

The towbar itself from PF Jones is £155 so half the price vw charge and this I believe is the exact same towbar (westafalia)
http://www.pfjones.co.uk/vw-t5-transporter-oct-2009-on-detachable-towbar.html

Then there is the factory/Westafalia electrics kit , fitting and coding but £1200 is steep as parts should not cost more than £400ish. I do know the electrics are not the easiest to fit but be instructions on the westafalia website look o.k. to follow if your handy with tools.

John

 

[T5WOB]

team black on tow

 

[peterbrown]

Hi All,
Many thanks for the input so far on this Tow-Bar thing, thanks Oli, will give you a call when I know delivery date
peterbrown

 

[Sandpit]

The quote that i got from Phil Taylor Towbars was even less than that and they have fitted several for me . www.philtaylortowbars.co.uk try them.

 

[Andrew Southall]

...just in case it isn't clear from the above: You need to have the right tow bar and electrics to avoid possible warranty issues and malfunction. They need to be original Westfalia spec for the T5.
I went through all this earlier in the year. In the end I negotiated £600.00 inc VAT fitted from Brittania in Bristol who actually do the job for the local VW dealer on a regular basis. The dealer charges quite a lot more (double).

(I'm sure the other offers you had make sense too but the special day trip + fuel, negated the advantage.

Andrew

 

[bjw970s]

Follow on question re dealer fitted towbar.

I am using the Atera STRADA DL 3 which is a really nice item but, there is not tell tale on the dash indicating a trailer is fitted ie flashing dash light with small trailer symbol - should there be? I haven't tried a trailer yet to determine if that shows a tell-tale.

Also,

Related point, what version of the parking sensors should you have to have them show on the radio?

thanks

Brian

 

[Dibz]

My parking sensors show a graphic on the stereo (rcd310 dab). When I connect my atera strada dl3 the graphic shows a trailer and the rear sounder doesn't play. There is nothing on the dash I don't think.

 

[bjw970s]

My parking sensors show a graphic on the stereo (rcd310 dab). When I connect my atera strada dl3 the graphic shows a trailer and the rear sounder doesn't play. There is nothing on the dash I don't think.

Thanks - I think I have the 'cheaper' parking sensors with no display, but don't know how I tell the difference.

I therefore should have a trailer symbol on the dash somewhere (i think) to give confidence that the trailer lights are working (on indicator use) - glad I found out via the bike rack before hooking up my car transporter trailer.

 

[Cali1]

Hi All
Just in the throughs of purchasing my California to which I want to add a removable Tow-Bar, the Main Dealer I am purchasing from has quoted around £1200 to supply & fit this ! does this sound about right ? by the way the van is a 2012 180 DSG.
any help would be appreciated
peterbrown

I had one fitted to my 2012 model for 430 thats from the main dealer all in.Thats a ridiculous price 1200.
In all honesty since fitting it I have never removed it,not sure it was worth paying the extra for a removable one.

 

[Cali1]

Hi All
Just in the throughs of purchasing my California to which I want to add a removable Tow-Bar, the Main Dealer I am purchasing from has quoted around £1200 to supply & fit this ! does this sound about right ? by the way the van is a 2012 180 DSG.
any help would be appreciated
peterbrown

I had one fitted to my 2012 model for 430 thats from the main dealer all in.Thats a ridiculous price 1200.
In all honesty since fitting it I have never removed it,not sure it was worth paying the extra for a removable one.

Forgot to add.
As it came from VW its covered under the warranty.It shows on the screen when towing and when in reverse it turns the volume down......I guess we can at least here when we hit something with the trailer!

 

[Stu]

I fitted my own using only genuine parts which are available from PFJones as above. I have posted the part numbers a few times here so the details should turn up. There is a specific wiring loom kit that is for the T5 which fits under the van rather than inside and behind the furniture. Many dealers are charging silly rates to cover the removal of the furniture which is no longer required.

The electrics kits wasn't on the PFJones website last time I looked but they can get it next day via Westfalia UK.

If anyone is interested the contoller used in the T5 is a 1K0 xxx xxx part number as fitted to VW Golf and similar :laugh2

 

[Sandpit]

Just had my 2012 Cali tow bared up with single electrics and westfalia fixed bar , no probs with reversing sensors for £330 by Phill Taylor tow bard at Horndean Hants took one hour to do, excellent job. :goodone

 

[symcro]

If you intend to do a lot of heavy towing with your Cali,(in particular vehicles on trailers etc) I would recommend you fit a rear suspension upgrade kit to your vehicle.

The Busfest T5 California 4Motion has just had its suspension upgraded by fitting Pedders Springs & Dampers to its rear end.

The 4motion T5 (especially the California) has always had a saggy arse end mainly due to the extra weight of the 4motion system and all the other stuff which has been/is put into the vehicle, I believe It should have been given upgraded springs/suspension from the very beginning as part of its Cali build up in the factory.

Even unloaded the 4motion Cali's were near their unladen weight limit (that is why they cannot have the 5th seat option (unless you pull a few strings ) & why there are no spare wheels when you have the nice big alloys - like on this one - it would never fit underneath without having to jack up the back of the van!).

Loaded up it sits even lower & towing it just does not look (or feel!) right. We do a lot of towing with this van & there was not a lot of clearance & it was also a bit "lively" when using a vehicle trailer & transporting one of our "real" Syncro's :smile

SO, it was time for a suspension upgrade. We have already had a PEDDERS kit fitted to our T5 Promo van & that gave instant improvement so it was time to give the Cali the same treatment & the end result is very pleasing. The ride is vastly improved when heavily loaded or towing. In fact while it was up on the lift having the conversion done (which takes just over 1 hour to do) there was evidence that the suspension has been right on its limit and hitting its bump stops. Now the Suspension sits nicely in mid range & the ride height + rear is now 4.5cm higher

BUT, I might just now have to use leveling chocs now to get my bed & kettle level! - now I wonder if that was the reason the Cali boffins + VW decided to leave the suspension alone in the first place

The Cali has just completed a 2500 mile road trip around Europe to the BERLIN BUS VW FESTIVAL & back all in 8 days!. The trip was absolutely brilliant with the new springs (The Cali has done the trip twice previously).

The van is now a joy to drive in all conditions. It does not roll or feel spongy & rear passenger comfort has not been comprimised. AND amazingly I can say that since fitting the kit there is one less dead bunny on the road. Went right over one stood up in middle of road, that extra 4.5cm lift at the back meant that his head stayed on. (not sure if it made it past the car behind though! )

Anybody interested can get more info here; info@pedders.co.uk http://www.pedders.co.uk

or (as it happens) there is going to be a complete report on the Pedders Suspension upgrade to the Cali in the next (September?) issue of VW Bus T4 T5

 

[Confuserated]

Now the Suspension sits nicely in mid range & the ride height + rear is now 4.5cm higher

BUT, I might just now have to use leveling chocs now to get my bed & kettle level! - now I wonder if that was the reason the Cali boffins + VW decided to leave the suspension alone in the first place

Do you think that if you put similarly stiffer coils on the front with the same additional height your Cali would be level? Do you thnk you would still see the handlng advantages?

 

[BMVS-Camper-Hire]

This is how I looked on my recent Lake Annecy trip, 5 up with my 5.2M rib on the back, which incidentally was fully laden!



On the French autoroutes with cruise set at 77 leptons, it returned 23mpg, which I was pleased with :mrgreen:

 

[bjw970s]

If you intend to do a lot of heavy towing with your Cali,(in particular vehicles on trailers etc) I would recommend you fit a rear suspension upgrade kit to your vehicle.

The Busfest T5 California 4Motion has just had its suspension upgraded by fitting Pedders Springs & Dampers to its rear end.

The 4motion T5 (especially the California) has always had a saggy arse end mainly due to the extra weight of the 4motion system and all the other stuff which has been/is put into the vehicle, I believe It should have been given upgraded springs/suspension from the very beginning as part of its Cali build up in the factory.

Even unloaded the 4motion Cali's were near their unladen weight limit (that is why they cannot have the 5th seat option (unless you pull a few strings ) & why there are no spare wheels when you have the nice big alloys - like on this one - it would never fit underneath without having to jack up the back of the van!).

Loaded up it sits even lower & towing it just does not look (or feel!) right. We do a lot of towing with this van & there was not a lot of clearance & it was also a bit "lively" when using a vehicle trailer & transporting one of our "real" Syncro's :smile

SO, it was time for a suspension upgrade. We have already had a PEDDERS kit fitted to our T5 Promo van & that gave instant improvement so it was time to give the Cali the same treatment & the end result is very pleasing. The ride is vastly improved when heavily loaded or towing. In fact while it was up on the lift having the conversion done (which takes just over 1 hour to do) there was evidence that the suspension has been right on its limit and hitting its bump stops. Now the Suspension sits nicely in mid range & the ride height + rear is now 4.5cm higher

BUT, I might just now have to use leveling chocs now to get my bed & kettle level! - now I wonder if that was the reason the Cali boffins + VW decided to leave the suspension alone in the first place

The Cali has just completed a 2500 mile road trip around Europe to the BERLIN BUS VW FESTIVAL & back all in 8 days!. The trip was absolutely brilliant with the new springs (The Cali has done the trip twice previously).

The van is now a joy to drive in all conditions. It does not roll or feel spongy & rear passenger comfort has not been comprimised. AND amazingly I can say that since fitting the kit there is one less dead bunny on the road. Went right over one stood up in middle of road, that extra 4.5cm lift at the back meant that his head stayed on. (not sure if it made it past the car behind though! )

Anybody interested can get more info here; info@pedders.co.uk http://www.pedders.co.uk

or (as it happens) there is going to be a complete report on the Pedders Suspension upgrade to the Cali in the next (September?) issue of VW Bus T4 T5

Its early days but towing 1800Kg (Car plus trailer) no issues, no rear end sag and drove very well with MPG around 32mpg.

Is the suspension mod only really required if you have 4 motion?