towbar?

[jamcoly]

i've noticed the aftermarket t/bars require the bumper to be cut!

dose the factory t/bar?

what do people have?

[StuartBell]

i've noticed the aftermarket t/bars require the bumper to be cut!

dose the factory t/bar?

what do people have?

Yes, it does. I bought the Westfalia swan-neck tow bar and the Wesfalia vehicle-specific 13-way electrics (for the so called 'Euro' connector, which is being fitted to all British caravans from this year), from Towequipe, who advertise on eBay.

There's some details on another old thread, if you search, but in summary:

Cutting the bumper, once you've removed it, is pretty easy with a drill and fine hand-saw.

Removing the bumper is time consuming if you are slightly nervous! But not technically difficult.

Bolting the towbar on the chassis is very simple.

Adding the vehicle-specific wiring kit is technically very simple - 'unplug x from y, plug z into y and x into z' - but it's quite time-consuming to remove the trim to get the wiring in place.

I reckon it was about 4-5 hours in total; a more confident craftsman/woman would do it in 3 max.

Stuart

[Paul]

I have to agree with Stuart, the Westfalia towbar & electrics are quite easy to fit.

There are markings on the bumper for when Skoda fit the detachable bumper where they fit a panel back into the bumper (which you just remove when the towbar is required) So marking the cutout is quite simple & just requires double checking you measurements etc. Getting to the holes for the bumper down the near side was a bit of a pain.

I would also say make sure you have someone else with you who is quite DIY minded.

The electrics all work fine apart from if you want the trailer reminder on the dash to work (when you indicate) you will need a VAG Com or take the car to a Skoda garage & for a small fee they will sort it for you.

On a seperate point if you want to fit Parking sensors to the Roomster (whilst the bumpers off) the hole centres are marked on the inside of it & drilling the holes is very easy.

It took 2 of us from 9.30am until 3pm to fit both the Towbar & Parking sensors with 1/2hr for lunch.

Hope this helps, also the Westfalia towbar is the same one that Skoda supply so your best buying from Towequipe (Check the prices though as they put the same towbars up for different prices)

Ta Paul J

[Stephen McVicar]

There is a small cut out when fitting fixed tow-bars. It is not really noticeable with the tow bar in place. Look for an older thread on this, I have photos of my Brink tow bar fitted.

[g6zru]

Be aware that the Scout is slightly different in that it has a removable panel where the factory or Westphalia removable bars fit. If however you have a fixed bar then it will still have to be cut.

Fred

[jonnycatbiscuit]

so is the swan neck part interchangeable between the Skoda part and the Towequipe part? (cos someone's nicked my swan neck...)

[martziniuk]

so is the swan neck part interchangeable between the Skoda part and the Towequipe part? (cos someone's nicked my swan neck...)

If its original skoda then you should be able to order one from Skoda.

[jonnycatbiscuit]

If its original skoda then you should be able to order one from Skoda.

Nope. Already tried that and they said "no longer available!"

B*ll*cks.

[martziniuk]

When i got mine it was secondhand and the handle had broken off, i had to weld an arm onto it. Looks like a new towbar for you unless you can make something .

[TwoHat]

I've bought a towbar and ordinary (not vehicle-specific) wiring kits (7n and 7s) including a bypass relay kit from Towequipe for my Roomster Sprout.

Fitting will not cause me any problems, but I'm not confident about removing interior trim and finding a way to get wire(s) from the battery through the engine compartment bulkhead. (I remember a friend had a car where some cowboy had run the wires underneath the car - it eventually caught fire where the insulation had rubbed through against the petrol tank:thumbdwn:)

Does anyone have any advice for me on the best route to run the wires, tips on removing trim without breaking it, and where to sit the relays in the boot?

Many thanks in advance,

Simon

[TwoHat]

Finally got round to wiring up my 12S socket for the caravan fridge and battery!

Got a NP107 relay from Towsure some time ago - it senses the car's voltage and doesn't close until it is up around 14 volts, so you don't need a trigger feed from the alternator, just a fat wire from the car, either the battery (preferred) or the fusebox (easier). Rather than use one fat wire, I opted for two thinner ones (the relay has two input terminals for this purpose) - although my notion of "thinner" (3sq. mm.) is probably adequate for one wire on its own.

I couldn't see an easy way to get wires through the engine compartment bulkhead so I opted to connect to the fusebox. Ran the wires behind the trim over the rear wheel arch, underneath the trim at the bottom of the doors, and up behind the trim in front of the door to emerge behind the dash. Mostly without having to remove trim, just poking the wires up under the trim. Bought a couple of piggy-back fuse connectors off Ebay (like this) but wasn't happy that the tails were heavy enough for what I wanted, so I broke them open and soldered a fatter wire in, then sealed them up again by gently melting the edges with the soldering iron. Crimped the tails onto the end of the wires I had fed through (suppose I should have soldered these direct to the piggy-back connectors ideally, but fiddly to do in the car so I went for the easy option).

Found two unused ways in the fusebox which are only live when the ignition is on (probably not strictly necessary, but it makes me feel happier) - one is way 25 which is for heated seats which I don't have, and the other is way 27 which is spare.

Picture here:-

Hope this helps someone

[TwoHat]

Found two unused ways in the fusebox which are only live when the ignition is on (probably not strictly necessary, but it makes me feel happier) - one is way 25 which is for heated seats which I don't have, and the other is way 27 which is spare.

I am officially an idiot! Test-towed the caravan today with the white plug (12S) connected. Everything works perfectly, until I turn the ignition off! Quite surprised me for a moment when the engine just kept on running. The only way to stop the engine is to pull the white plug (12S) out! It seems that once the relay is closed, the caravan battery will continue to supply the car's fusebox, thus preventing the engine stop relay from operating.

Ideally I should have run a feed direct from the car battery to the relay, or else have the NP107 relay trigger another relay with a direct battery feed. So I'm still going to have to get a wire through the bulkhead somehow. Short term solution is to disconnect the battery charge feed inside the caravan, since I only really need the supply to run the fridge whilst towing - I have a small solar panel to keep the caravan battery charged when there is no mains hookup.

[Calomax]

I am officially an idiot! Test-towed the caravan today with the white plug (12S) connected. Everything works perfectly, until I turn the ignition off! Quite surprised me for a moment when the engine just kept on running. The only way to stop the engine is to pull the white plug (12S) out! It seems that once the relay is closed, the caravan battery will continue to supply the car's fusebox, thus preventing the engine stop relay from operating.

Ideally I should have run a feed direct from the car battery to the relay, or else have the NP107 relay trigger another relay with a direct battery feed. So I'm still going to have to get a wire through the bulkhead somehow. Short term solution is to disconnect the battery charge feed inside the caravan, since I only really need the supply to run the fridge whilst towing - I have a small solar panel to keep the caravan battery charged when there is no mains hookup.

If parking for more than a short time, I just go into the caravan and turn off the fridge, turning it on again before we continue our journey.