Hello all

I'm about to attempt to fit a detachable westfalia towbar to my 2016 vRS hatch.

Has anyone fitted the genuine Skoda wiring kit? My car doesn't have towing prep, and I was just looking for any tips on how difficult/time consuming it is?

I have VCDS so coding shouldn't be an issue, but any pointers in terms of what needs coding would also be handy. I know the central electrics and front assist need changing, but I'm not sure what else?

Any help greatfully received

Phil.

I'm in same boat so will be watching this thread

I did the same on my O2. The only tricky part was connecting the Canbus wire under the dash.

Does the wiring kit contain a good guide to how it is fitted to fuse box etc?

I haven't managed to get a kit yet. So far, I've tried two dealers and neither have had any idea what 'towing prep' means (I don't have it), and have been unable tell me if the kit differs between cars which do/don't have it.

The third dealer I've tried has not called me back yet, like they said they would, so I'll call them again in the morning.

I have fitted one recently to the Superb II, the westfalia kit is good but the instructions were a bit ambiguous at times. Fitting the towbar and getting the wiring to the front was quite easy but very time consuming if you havn't had any of the boot trim off before as you have to work out where all the screws are.

 

Wiring the harness into the BCM was quite straight forward but the fuse box wiring was a little tricky due to limited access and the instructions not being clear enough. 

 

At this moment in time I have not yet wired up the switched live that powers the caravan fridge/split charging (came in a seperate box and appears to be an extra part of the kit that is optional for caravan towers) as that needed to be wired into the engine bay fuse box and I don't need it for now so that wiring was tucked away. It seems the permanent live comes from the internal fuse box.

Edited 27 September, 20169 yr by SuperbTWM

Thanks for the reply. Does he westfalia kit operate as per the original Skoda kit (showing trailer on the infotainment screen etc)

Also, I don't plan to buy the additional switched charging cable, but was wondering... if it's fitted at a later date, does the bumper need to come off again?

Thanks for the reply. Does he westfalia kit operate as per the original Skoda kit (showing trailer on the infotainment screen etc)

Also, I don't plan to buy the additional switched charging cable, but was wondering... if it's fitted at a later date, does the bumper need to come off again?

Westfalia make the OEM kit.

Thanks for the reply. Does he westfalia kit operate as per the original Skoda kit (showing trailer on the infotainment screen etc)

Also, I don't plan to buy the additional switched charging cable, but was wondering... if it's fitted at a later date, does the bumper need to come off again?

Thanks for the reply. Does he westfalia kit operate as per the original Skoda kit (showing trailer on the infotainment screen etc)

Also, I don't plan to buy the additional switched charging cable, but was wondering... if it's fitted at a later date, does the bumper need to come off again?

Yes it performs as if it were fitted from the factory but you will need to program it up with VCDS.

 

If you do buy the switched charging cable at a later date you don't have to remove the bumper but you will need access to the module and wiring in the boot to mount the relay, plug the connector in and fit the ground connection

 

I bought my kit from PF Jones and it did come with the optional bit without me paying extra or asking for it so I have a feeling you may get it anyway depending on where you buy it from.

Hello

I will be very interested in this thread,looking forward to the outcome .

Well, I went for the westfalia kit in the end. So far I've mounted the socket (when fitting the bar) and fed the wires through, into the boot.

The rest of the kit doesn't look much fun to fit, but I haven't studied the instructions in detail yet (such as they are).

Fingers crossed!

Well, I've just done mine.

I planned to take pictures along the way, but I was quite pushed for time before work so sadly, didn't.

It was a little fiddly, but the wiring itself was easy enough. I studied the instruction manual quite a bit before starting. It's not very clear, but once you understand their logic, it's ok.

The worst part for me was removing the trim down the side of the car.... taking care not to break clips etc.

Once that's off, you need to access the BCM which is quite fiddly. I managed to remove the relevant plugs with it in situ, by pulling the unit to one side with one hand, and removing the plug with the other. Not ideal, but I couldn't see a simple way of removing the unit.

The connections here are quite straight forward, as are those into the fuse box.

I had two pegs welded to the inside of the N/S/R wheel arch, which fitted the mounting holes on the Westfalia control module, so I'm guessing that's what they're for.

Coding was easy enough.... I followed the pinned VCDS thread which has the coding procedure.

All appears to work fine, I get a little caravan on the satnav screen when reversing, an extra green flashing light when I indicate, and the rear fogs/parking sensors switch off as expected.

On the whole, worth the effort I think.

Cheers.

As VRSPhil mentions, it is a fiddly process and the included instructions are not the clearest. Fitting the actual towbar and connecting the socket to the towbar prep in the boot is a doddle. If you don't have the towbar prep wiring already run in (as a option at build) then you have to remove the trim and run the wiring from the Westfalia tow control module in the boot through the car and connect to the BCM and car battery.

 

If i was ordering another car again that i was going to fit a towbar to i think with hindsight i would pay for the towbar prep.

Have a look at my project thread for my Yeti as I fitted a genuine Skoda kit for a 13-pin towbar to that (no split charging as far as I know). There's a few pictures to add to the generally very good Skoda instructions.

Only real issue I had was removing terminals from one block. Even with a genuine VAG terminal removal tool I still struggled as I couldn't 'unlock' the block fully. To this day I have no idea how to do that properly....

I'm no mechanic or electrician, but it took me about 9 hours in total working at a slow 'first timers' speed and researching any issues that arose before continuing.

Edited 11 October, 20169 yr by KBPhoto