locoboy
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| posted on 6/4/05 at 11:47 AM |
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tow bar
Bought myself a new car yesterday, 406 Estate 2.1TD.
I want to fit a tow bar but dont want to pay Peugeot to do it for me!
I have never fitted one before and i have never seen one fitted either.
Can someone confirm if all cars are built with the provision for a towbar already in the electrics? or do you need to actually wire it into the main
lighting loom yourself?
basically is there a multiplug in the car loom for add on towing electrics?
Peugeot want £275 fitted for it with single electrics - why would anyone want double electrics? you can only tow one trailer! or is it one set for
traler board and one for gadgets ie fridge etc etc?
Thanks
ATB
Locoboy
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mookaloid
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| posted on 6/4/05 at 11:58 AM |
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Double electrics are for caravanners - fridges extra charging circuits etc.
Have you had a look through the yellow pages for your local Witter towbar suppliers?
HTH
Mark
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mookaloid
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| posted on 6/4/05 at 12:01 PM |
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Don't know what these are like
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10406&item=4540904325&rd=1
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ned
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| posted on 6/4/05 at 12:07 PM |
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i've fitted a towbar to a 306 in the past and just done a 205. the 306 had holes to bolt into, the 205 you had to drill the boot floor to bolt
in the brackets. neither car had a plug in the loom for the lights, but wiring diagrams are available in the haynes manuals and all over the web for a
trailer single electric connector.
its not a hard job if i can manage it and i'm crap with electrics! just get some scotch piggy back/crimp connectors and a circuit tester multi
thingy if you'e really worried and you can test each circuit as you do it!
Ned.
beware, I've got yellow skin
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locoboy
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| posted on 6/4/05 at 12:10 PM |
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good link Mook,
Still not sure on the dificulty of splicing the wiring though.
ATB
Locoboy
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flak monkey
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| posted on 6/4/05 at 12:25 PM |
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We fitted one to our focus not so long ago. It had holes in the boot floor already, and a multi connector in the loom to connect the electrics to. (We
did buy a genuine ford tow bar so it had the right connectors though...). The rest is simply bolting stuff on.
If there is no provision in the loom for the towbar then you can just use those blue crimp connector things (think they are what ned suggested) to tap
into the corect wires in the existing loom.
Remember you will probably need to uprate the flasher relay (sometimes they come with the kit).
When we fitted one to our previous car (Rover 400) we had to drill the boot floor, but that wasnt a huge deal, just make sure you mark it out right!
There were connectors in the loom IIRC.
David 
Sera
http://www.motosera.com
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mangogrooveworkshop
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| posted on 6/4/05 at 03:20 PM |
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www.towsure.co.uk are great for tow related stuff We go into the shop a lot but we have used the mail order net service and its quick. Prices are
good in relation to some we got gear off before.
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Danozeman
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| posted on 6/4/05 at 06:44 PM |
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406's should have the holes already there with plugs in. So the hard bit is the wiring which is a piece of wee 2 ppl and a multimeter to find
out what wire does what on the rear lamps and just tap in to it..
Theres plenty of places that will fit one for less than 200 i would think.
Dan
Built the purple peril!! Let the modifications begin!!
http://www.eastangliankitcars.co.uk
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rayward
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| posted on 6/4/05 at 07:54 PM |
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be careful with your electrics, because if your car has a "multiplexed system" i.e any form of lamp fail warning device, you will need to
fit a bypass relay or you could damage your cars electrics.
On the bracket fitting side of things, it depends on what type of towbar you buy as to whether you need to drill the holes or if they are already
there, if you plan on towing anything bigger than a small trailer, i would personally go for a witter or brink(these mostly pick up on the
manufacturers mounting points to).A local company in hull refuses to fit towsure ones because of the quality.
One last thing is most towbars nowadays require the rear bumper removing to fit the bar and sometimes the bumper has to be cut to accomodate the new
towbar.
hope this helps
Ray
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Peter Cowley
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| posted on 6/4/05 at 09:46 PM |
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second that, towsure.co.uk are cheap as chips compared to everywhere else !!
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andyps
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| posted on 8/4/05 at 10:13 PM |
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I usually use Witter bars, but have had a couple of Towsure ones - the ease of fitting is really down to the car. Most new cars have either the holes
ready there, or marks to show where they should go due to type approval requirements. The Vauxhall Vectra I had had little dimples in the panels where
holes had to be drilled which was great as it saved the drill slipping.
Fitting manufacturer electrics is often gret as they just plug in by piggy-backing the plugs on the rear lights - they are a lot more expensive than
the straight forward wires which need splicing in though.
Andy
An expert is someone who knows more and more about less and less
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