Towbars and Towballs (1 Viewer)

[robinwickens]

We have an Auto-Trail that is fitted with one of those pretty white tow bars.
So, we needed a tow ball fitted in order to tow the Bentley!
It was found that the tow ball, when fitted, fouled the spare wheel carrier flap so the tow ball had to be dropped using a drop plate.
All fine and dandy except that the standard drop plate available would not allow access to the tow ball bolts due to the fact that said tow bar is about 3" top to bottom.
The fitter got around the problem by having a custom drop plate produced and also fitted a spacer so that the 7 pin socket cable didn't foul the tow bar.
I know this is boring but I just thought that I would let you all know what to look out for. Some fitters would not have bothered to check for fouling and you could well be cursing when your spare wheel is needed!
I will post some piccys when I can get out there and do so without freezing.
Hope that this helps somebody!

 

[mitzimad]

must be an autotrail trait as ny brothers is the same tow ball of to get to the spare wheel

 

[aba]

you could always let the air out of the spare to get it clear of the towbar but that kind of defeats the object oh:

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[mike mcglynn]

autotrail towbar

We have an Auto-Trail that is fitted with one of those pretty white tow bars.
So, we needed a tow ball fitted in order to tow the Bentley!
It was found that the tow ball, when fitted, fouled the spare wheel carrier flap so the tow ball had to be dropped using a drop plate.
All fine and dandy except that the standard drop plate available would not allow access to the tow ball bolts due to the fact that said tow bar is about 3" top to bottom.
The fitter got around the problem by having a custom drop plate produced and also fitted a spacer so that the 7 pin socket cable didn't foul the tow bar.
I know this is boring but I just thought that I would let you all know what to look out for. Some fitters would not have bothered to check for fouling and you could well be cursing when your spare wheel is needed!
I will post some piccys when I can get out there and do so without freezing.
Hope that this helps somebody!

Hi, I had the same problem but a slightly different solution my fitter cut the flap very neatly so it did not foul the tow ball and is not noticeable from the rear however he did not move the single fog lamp which was obscured by the towbar and would have lead to an mot fail so if you have a similar fit make sure your foglamp is visible :thumb: