Fitting a towbar.

[olley]

Got a towbar being delivered tomorrow morning for the Ducato, got to be fitted by Friday so I can tow her car up to Manchester for the weekend. Should be fun.
I might put some pics on.

 

[olley]

Mark (https://www.mbtowbars.co.uk/) turned up with the towbar at 9.30 yesterday, and talked me through fitting it along with giving me some scotch locks and a inline fuse holder, get any problems ring me he said, nice guy.
My thoughts are that this is a well made Towbar, but its over engineered, never happy am I. Theirs nothing flimsy about any of the parts, its definitely a "Mans towbar"
The price was £420 not cheap I know, instructions are on 3 A4 bits of paper and cover it fairly well.

Electrics are straightforward, just one wire from the offside to run across to the nearside, on the Autocruise the main fuse box is at the back on the nearside so easy to pick up the 12v feed you need for the electronic unit to work, this needed if you have Canbus.
Hardest job was removing the sticky wrapping from the existing vehicle wires to be able to fit the locks. I used a meter with a sharp point on one of the probes to find the wires I needed.
I started at 12.00 and finished at about 20.00, with a couple of short breaks.

Its a heavy bit of gear, the weight on the box is 31.5Kg

The bumper cover is held on by 4 torx above and 4 underneath.

Loose fit.

These arms bolt underneath, you need to drill the existing hole in the chassis out to 20mm on one side, then a steel tube spacer slides in and you bolt through the chassis.

Another bracket which bolts into the chassis with a tabbed bolt, you insert the nut which is welded to a plate, once inserted you twist it 90 degrees with the tab and the you can bolt to it. The offside is the same except it has a spacer to miss the tow hook.

Not a fan of scotchlocks but they do make connecting easy.

All fitted and tested.

 

[Landy Andy]

Looks good, but personally I wouldn’t recommend the scotch locks, they are quick and easy, but often cause problems later.

 

[olley]

Looks good, but personally I wouldn’t recommend the scotch locks, they are quick and easy, but often cause problems later.

What's the alternative, chop blocks or solder?

 

[Cheshirecat57]

Tow Trust are a good bar but I mirror Landy Andy approach regarding scotch-locks

Having said that , there are thousands of tow- bars out there using them, so best of luck with it

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[Googlebot]

I use scotch locks and so has every tow bar fitter I have ever used. No issues so far.

That said, I wouldn’t be so sure if they weren’t accessible.

 

[Popty]

Hi, nice job, as a retired motor engineer of 55 years I hate scotch locks as susceptible to corrosion and if you have canbus wiring, a little corrosion can cause havoc. I used Tow Trust when I needed to fit one to a Fiat ducato moho, best tow bar on the market, IMHO, solder wirea if you can

 

[cmcardle75]

I always buy the vehicle specific kit that plugs into the manufacturer's towbar socket. Saves time and increases reliability. No issues with Canbus or bulb failure detection. Operates the fog light/rear parking sensor cutoff. Activates the trailer stability control. No need for scotchlocks or cutting original cables. Can be removed afterwards with no evidence it was ever fitted. The only issue is that a few vehicles need activating on the ECU, which takes 10 minutes and a main dealer will charge £5,000 for and make you wait 8 months. (I think Fiat Ducato are OK for this, but coachbuilt might not have the socket).

 

[Landy Andy]

What's the alternative, chop blocks or solder?

Cut wires and use crimps, or solder and protect. If you keep the scotch locks protect them from the environment. When fitting them they often cut some of the strands of the original wires so be careful.

But many on here know loads more than I do about these things and will give better advice.

 

[cmcardle75]

What's the alternative, chop blocks or solder?

I tend to prefer crimps, if the cable is thick enough.

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[Richard n Ann]

Scotch locks always fail. I didn't know they'd used them on the van scooter rack electrics until I removed the doorstep liner for something else. I cut them all out one by one soldered them together and heat shrank them.

 

[olley]

Scotch locks always fail. I didn't know they'd used them on the van scooter rack electrics until I removed the doorstep liner for something else. I cut them all out one by one soldered them together and heat shrank them.

If they always fail it seems odd that so many are used. These ones are inside the vehicle so unlikely to be affected by corrosion, if they do give trouble I will have to bit the bullet and fit crimps.

 

[Popty]

They use them as they are cheap and quick, it takes more time & costs to cut the wiring and use waterproof crimps, which would be a proper job

 

[Richard n Ann]

If they always fail it seems odd that so many are used. These ones are inside the vehicle so unlikely to be affected by corrosion, if they do give trouble I will have to bit the bullet and fit crimps.

Mine always have, takes a year or two so the original fitter probably couldn't care less. They're quick and easy to fit, everything works at the end of the installation and installer gets paid... Happy days

 

[tonyidle]

That's a piffling little towbar. Mine extends from a foot forward of the chassis ends in 4" x 3" box section with a diagonal cross-brace. Then on the Rear it has the equivalent of your towbar. In all around 5' extension under the garage. Custom made & a two person lift to move it.

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