Fitting Universal Eletrics for Towbar on 2011 Combi

[Superbaholic]

Dear fellow skoda owners,

I finally decided to get a towbar on my skoda combi, however as I live in France, the idea of getting it fitted was out of the question...

Being quite "good" at DIY and having done my fair share of mechanics, I thought I would try and fit the towbar myself!

Towbar fitted easily (westfalia detachable) after removing bumper assembly, and refitted bumper (with a bit of it missing... you have to make a couple of cuts to allow for the electrics & towbar neck) and so am quite happy!

Now on to the tricky part... I have bought a universal 7 pin 12N kit (I'm only going to use it for a trailer) with bypass (obviously!) however I'm starting to realize that it may be harder than I thought...

My current understanding is that I need to pull through a 12v power supply from my battery (or fuse box?) to the back of my car and then I have to carry out the various connections on the wires (see diagram here: http://uk-trailer-parts.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/smart-relay-wiring-diagram2.jpg)

Is this true? How hard is this? Has anybody on the forum done this? Should I stop here are pay for help before messing up my car electrics ?

Sorry for the load of questions, but I need some advice before "cutting in" to my car's electrical system and "pulling" through new cables if this is not necessary!

Thanks in advance,

John.

PS: If I get some help and carry through with the wiring, I will put together a step by step photo diary to help any future diy towbar fitters!

[Superbaholic]

Quick question to add... Can I use the 12v power supply in the boot for my power to avoid pulling through a new wire from the front?

Thanks

[RADIOTWO]

Quick question to add... Can I use the 12v power supply in the boot for my power to avoid pulling through a new wire from the front?

Thanks

Hi John

To answer your last question, that depends on if your 12volt supply in the boot is constantly live or on a ign feed.

If it constant then I cannot see why not but running a supply from the battery is not such a problem, for ease I would run it down from

the battery, down along the chassis leg to the back and up into the rear area where you put the smart relay,but make sure you fuse it near the battery tap into your existing wiring for the input to the unit, then the output to the 7N socket

radiotwo

[Caulkheader]

Hi John -

I am no expert but have recently been looking at fitting a tow bar to my superb. I have been comparing the Skoda fitted system to an after market system and possible DIY. My understanding so far is the Skoda system is wired from the fuse box and by passes the car electrics altogether i.e. its a separate loom. The aftermarket systems involve a separate relay, again by passing the car electrics. All fitters including Skoda stated the car required a software upgrade to avoid issues with the can bus electrics irrespective of how it wired in.

It doesn't answer your question but be very careful about chopping directly into the electrics.

[Joakim]

Hello John!

I fitted a towbar and the required electrics to my Superb Combi (2011) last year. As you say, the towbar was the quick part and the electrics took a bit longer. I used a model specific kit from ECS electronics, and this works very well. The kit is based on a separate trailer CAN-bus node that is supplied with the kit together with the necessary connectors. You run +12V, brake light and the two CAN-bus cables from the dashboard to the CAN-module in the rear and the CAN-module outputs all the wires for the trailer socket. Removing and replacing the plastic trim to hide the cables is the trickiest part really. No cutting of any cables required.

After installation and updating the car software everything works fine. If I attach a trailer the rear PDC is switched off and a trailer is shown behind the car on the park assist screen and I get warnings in the car instrument if there is a faulty bulb on the trailer. I also activated the "Trailer stabilization" in the car ESP software.

If you don't want to cut any cables I think the electrics kit was a bit over £100...

Good luck!

[Superbaholic]

Hi guys,

First of all thank you for your responses!

Radiotwo - I love the fact you make it sound so easy! Sorry but I'm not sure I understand what the "chassis leg" is... as I thought that the chassis leg was only at the front of the car! If it is as easy as you say, then it is probably worth pulling a wire straight from the battery! any chance you could give me a few headers as to how to do it?

Caulkheader - Thanks for your feedback, however my understanding is slightly different to yours (maybe i'm wrong?!) as I thought that if you didn't care about the change of picture on satnav+reversing sensors turned off+fog lights only being used on tow+alarm+blabla then you didn't need to reprogram the car? I thought the whole point of using the bypass system was to take the signal for the indicators/brake lights/fog lights and by using the 12v power, transform that signal (which won't increase the resistance on the wiring) so as to power the lights from the tow...

Joakim - Did you have to dismantle your car dashboard? I have asked ECS for a quote as I can't find any info on their site for the skoda superb... How do you get the software updated? Is there a cost for that?

Thanks,

John

[Caulkheader]

Hi John -

I am only going by what the independent fitters told me, and it may be wrong, that even if it was bypassed with a relay it needed a software update. I have now booked mine in to Skoda as I wasn't inspired with confidence from even the major after market suppliers.

One major supplier who has local agents who do the fitting even said they could fit the towbar but the car would still have to go to Skoda for the software update this brought the fitting charge to more than just going to Skoda in the first place.

As I said in the first post I am no expert, the other posts have more experience around this than me. Good Luck!

[RADIOTWO]

Hi guys,

First of all thank you for your responses!

Radiotwo - I love the fact you make it sound so easy! Sorry but I'm not sure I understand what the "chassis leg" is... as I thought that the chassis leg was only at the front of the car! If it is as easy as you say, then it is probably worth pulling a wire straight from the battery! any chance you could give me a few headers as to how to do it?

John

Hi again John

Sorry it is easy (when you have done loads) but the chassis leg as I call it is the box section of metal that goes from the front of the car to the rear, where you will find brake pipes and fuel lines, where you can cable tie the wire to, but make sure the cable is well insulated and not tight round corners.

there has been talk about having to take the car to the dealers for coding etc, but with that unit you linked to you don't need any coding but you won't get any thing like parking sensors etc disabled when plugged in but as you are only towing a trailer !

I have wired up tow bars for many years including the cars with can-bus and never had any problems, admitting if you need all the goodies then you need the coded systems .

Radiotwo

[gianthotdog]

Just had a westfalia detachable fitted to mine. Got it second hand with all the wiring and relays. I had it fitted by Peter bowman trailers in Bury. Fully coded with a number plate and a 13to7 pin adaptor for £195!!

I am handy when it comes to electrics and cars but I just wouldn't fit it myself. £195 is more than worth it.

[Superbaholic]

Hi again John

Sorry it is easy (when you have done loads) but the chassis leg as I call it is the box section of metal that goes from the front of the car to the rear, where you will find brake pipes and fuel lines, where you can cable tie the wire to, but make sure the cable is well insulated and not tight round corners.

there has been talk about having to take the car to the dealers for coding etc, but with that unit you linked to you don't need any coding but you won't get any thing like parking sensors etc disabled when plugged in but as you are only towing a trailer !

I have wired up tow bars for many years including the cars with can-bus and never had any problems, admitting if you need all the goodies then you need the coded systems .

Radiotwo

Hi Radiotwo,

Thanks again for your help in this!

As for the chassis leg, I have a few questions:

- is this accessible without removing any of the plastic panels under the car?

- is this on either side of the car or central? (sorry haven't had the opportunity to look... weather has been terrible for the last week and am putting off lying under the car outside until the sun is back out!)

As for the wire... what spec wire should I get? Have looked online and have got it down to this...

- wire (http://www.autoelectricsupplies.fr/product/66/category/11)

- wire protection (http://www.autoelectricsupplies.fr/product/340/category/66)

(sorry for the french website... if you have any links of your own, please do put them up!)

As for the wiring, how do I get the wire back into the car? Are there 'rubber bungs' available at the end of the chassis leg allowing me to get into to the car easily & safely?

Thanks again for your help.... as a thanks, I will try and put together a photo guide for any fellow diy people! Also, if you're in France near Lyon, I'll buy you a beer

John.