I just had my Towing kit fitted. The yeti came with towing preparation, I was still charged £600 to have the rest of the kit fitted, ie. trailer electrics and the Skoda/Wesfalia tow kit. It all worked fine but be warned-- to tow an unbraked trailer under 750 kgs. you need by law a secondary means of attachment in case the main attachment breaks or becomes detached. The SKODA/WESFALIA set up does not include a secondary attachment point. Westfalia stated to me that Skoda did not want one one the towing kit so I have to go back to Skoda for resolution. No reply so far so legally I can't use the trailer. Note, It is not acceptable to loop the secondary chain/wire over the towing ball when towing an unbraked trailer. So I and a lot of other Skoda/Wsfalia customers have been sold a dud.

Any comments.

IAMGEOB,

by the way I like the Yeti it does what it says on the tin.

You dont hook it over the ball it has to go around the neck holder where is attached to the car

Check this vid out it shows you its the same principle for an unbraked trailer

http://www.youtube.com/user/caravanchannel#p/u/139/rAZMqOzdJA4

A simple solution a strong padlock snapped round the towbar below the ball, or bolt sommat round it all it requires is that the safety link cannot unhook at the same time as the ball.

Ps

I understood such a safety link/ wire / chain was mandatory on all trailers, on the overrun braked stuff up to 3500kg it is linked to the spring loaded parking brake, so as to pull it on in the event of a trailer disconnect.

jat

M

PPs

There uses to be a curly bit of steel rod beside the towbar for this purpose, or a seperate eye? yes?

Edited 9 July, 201015 yr by dieseldogg

Thanks for the reply to the breakaway cable. It will not work on a Wesfalia detachable towing kit as there are no mounting bolts for the hitch. The socket for the detachable ball is welded directly onto the bar.

IAMGEOB

You dont hook it over the ball it has to go around the neck holder where is attached to the car

Check this vid out it shows you its the same principle for an unbraked trailer

http://www.youtube.com/user/caravanchannel#p/u/139/rAZMqOzdJA4

A quick description of the requirements: http://www.ttas.co.uk/towsafe.legal.html (search the page for "Secondary Couplings and Break-away cables")

Interesting point:

The preferred method is by direct attachment. The sprung hook or clip on the end of the BC (breakaway cable) or SC (secondary coupling) should be attached directly to, or through, an attachment point on the towing vehicle.

When the towing device fitted to the towing vehicle is removable without the use of special tools, then the SC or BC should be attached directly to an attachment point which should not be on, or part of, the detachable componant(s). (sic)

So, if this is correct, then attaching to the swan neck/bracket is acceptable if [a] there's a suitable point and you need special tools to detach the ball. Otherwise, you're running a cable to a towing eye, I guess!

The DFT/VOSA is less direct about "requirements", merely stating that you should ensure that SC/BC is in place before you set off:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repository/Quick%20Guide%20to%20Towing%20Small%20Trailers%20Feb%2008.pdf

Thanks Lurker,

The legal requirement and description of acceptable method of a secondary attachment of an unbraked trailer is exactly what I needed. Wesfalia washed their hands of the problem so I wonder how many innocent trailer towers are incorrecly using a breakaway cable and wrapping it around the tow ball neck because a proper fixing point is not provided on the Wesfalia detachable towing kit. You might be pleased, or not, to know that the "SKODA Contact me" help email site have not responded after 3 attempts. I hope this is not a sign of the famous Skoda after sales service which was one of the attractions of buying Skoda. Why spoil a really good vehicle(my Yeti) by engineering such a very expensive and badly thought out towing system.

Sorry about the rant,

Regards,

IAMGEOB.

A quick description of the requirements: http://www.ttas.co.uk/towsafe.legal.html (search the page for "Secondary Couplings and Break-away cables")

Interesting point:

The preferred method is by direct attachment. The sprung hook or clip on the end of the BC (breakaway cable) or SC (secondary coupling) should be attached directly to, or through, an attachment point on the towing vehicle.

When the towing device fitted to the towing vehicle is removable without the use of special tools, then the SC or BC should be attached directly to an attachment point which should not be on, or part of, the detachable componant(s). (sic)

So, if this is correct, then attaching to the swan neck/bracket is acceptable if [a] there's a suitable point and you need special tools to detach the ball. Otherwise, you're running a cable to a towing eye, I guess!

The DFT/VOSA is less direct about "requirements", merely stating that you should ensure that SC/BC is in place before you set off:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repository/Quick%20Guide%20to%20Towing%20Small%20Trailers%20Feb%2008.pdf

Thanks Lurker,

The legal requirement and description of acceptable method of a secondary attachment of an unbraked trailer is exactly what I needed. Wesfalia washed their hands of the problem so I wonder how many innocent trailer towers are incorrecly using a breakaway cable and wrapping it around the tow ball neck because a proper fixing point is not provided on the Wesfalia detachable towing kit. You might be pleased, or not, to know that the "SKODA Contact me" help email site have not responded after 3 attempts. I hope this is not a sign of the famous Skoda after sales service which was one of the attractions of buying Skoda. Why spoil a really good vehicle(my Yeti) by engineering such a very expensive and badly thought out towing system.

Sorry about the rant,

Regards,

IAMGEOB.

I've just found the same problem to my newly dealer fitted detachable tow bar. Looks really neat but.....

Are breakaway cables meant to snap once they have pulled the brakes on? It occurs to me that it might be possible to loop a short length of wire around the tow bar which would hang just clear of the plastic bumper. Just enough to connect the cable to. In the event of a breakaway it would probably damage the plastic a bit but that might be the least of your worries at the time.

Surely your complaint should be directed to the place that sold you a towbar which was not of merchantable quality?

Failing that, the Office of Fair Trading or similar?

This had me a bit worried now.

I've always been told (and do) loop the breakaway cable round the tow ball so it's under the hitch. My two vans have had different chassis, my tow cars have been different makes (Subaru and Skoda) and fitted with different tow bars - all operated the same.

The point is to pull the van brake on if care and van go different ways which this system will - unless the hitch comes completely off the ball, then there may be a little doubt. Todays couplers are very robust!

We were back yesterday - twice - trying to get the coding for rear parking sensors working so they are disabled when the caravan is connected and whilst we were there I took the opportunity to ask about the breakaway cable.

The Witter detachable we've had fitted does has a fixing point for a breakaway cable and our caravan manufacturer recommend that we put a carabiner (screw gate type) through the fixing point and then put the breakaway cable through the carabiner and looped back on itself (and then hooked onto the cable) to form a loop.

I just had my Towing kit fitted. The yeti came with towing preparation, I was still charged £600 to have the rest of the kit fitted, ie. trailer electrics and the Skoda/Wesfalia tow kit. It all worked fine but be warned-- to tow an unbraked trailer under 750 kgs. you need by law a secondary means of attachment in case the main attachment breaks or becomes detached. The SKODA/WESFALIA set up does not include a secondary attachment point. Westfalia stated to me that Skoda did not want one one the towing kit so I have to go back to Skoda for resolution. No reply so far so legally I can't use the trailer. Note, It is not acceptable to loop the secondary chain/wire over the towing ball when towing an unbraked trailer. So I and a lot of other Skoda/Wsfalia customers have been sold a dud.

Any comments.

IAMGEOB,

by the way I like the Yeti it does what it says on the tin.

My Fixed twin plug tow bar for on my yeti no prep,all electrics for caravan cost fully fitted inc vat £ 287 at indespension excellent service , jobs a good un

All of my queries are regarding ordinary UNBRAKED trailers which should have a SECONDARY attachment so that if the tow ball or hitch separates the secondary means will keep the trailer attached to the vehicle, a nice mess to the back of the Yeti but you will not wipe out an innocent passer by or another vehicle with your now unattached trailer. The rules for a BRAKED trailer ie. a caravan are different, all that has to happen is that the breakaway cable needs to apply the Caravan brakes before it snaps so the caravan doesn't wander off on it,s own after a towball/hitch failure. The caravan club describes it exactly but excludes trailers as they are obviously not caravans. I too had thought of wrapping a chain around the tow bar but you need to be Houdini to do it and if you leave it wrapped round for further use it will just sit clanking around removing paint. I have never seen a towing kit that does not have some sort of anchor point for for a breakaway cable or secondary fixing point, except the SKODA/WESFALIA setup.

I love the Yeti but loath the towbar,

Regards,

IAMGEOB.

I've just found the same problem to my newly dealer fitted detachable tow bar. Looks really neat but.....

Are breakaway cables meant to snap once they have pulled the brakes on? It occurs to me that it might be possible to loop a short length of wire around the tow bar which would hang just clear of the plastic bumper. Just enough to connect the cable to. In the event of a breakaway it would probably damage the plastic a bit but that might be the least of your worries at the time.