Tow bar advice (bicycle carrier)

[pinkpanther]

I'm struggling to make the forum search work and wonder if anyone can advise.

 

I'm considering fitting a towbar to my 2014 4x4 FL Yeti TdF (based on outdoor SE). It would be used to carry several bicycles.

 

I recall reading several do's and dont's over the years, but cannot find the relevant threads (I'm struggling to make the forum search work).

 

I'm highly unlikely to fit anything to the Towbar, beyond a bicycle carrier, and have found the range on offer a little bewildering. I plan to start ringing round shortly, but would like to be forearmed with a little prior knowledge.

 

My local main dealer (Rainworth) has recently begun fitting towbars and I'll probably ask them for a quote. 

 

I did consider a roof mounted option, but this looks to be impractical given the (relative) height of the Yeti's roof and my partners lack of stature

 

Up to now I've found this: Witter

 

Any help/ guidance gratefully received.

[gumdrop]

It may be quicker to use google, which will bring up the posts from Briskoda,

funny but its true.

[kenfowler3966]

I just use a step I bought in ikea so that I can put bikes on and off the roof rack

Roof rack and 4 bike carriers new cost me around £160 off ebay, although a fiddle to put together. Large step from Ikea around £5 and usefull as a box for all the bits when upside down in the boot.

 

Towbar and electrics likely to be around £800ish if done properly as connecting the electrics is the problem and it has to be done correctly otherwise it affects the cars systems. You have to have an electrical connection for the lighting board to make the carrier legal.

 

If on the roof you can open the rear hatch, on a towbar you can't

[CWARD]

Don't go your dealer for a tow bar fitting. They will normally bring in a third party to do the fitting and charge you healthy markup for doing so. Go to P F Jones or local fitter. P F Jones will charge you £650 for Westfalia detachable tow bar, dedicated electrics using a mobile fitter. Westfalia are the OEM manufacturer for most German and VAG cars. Witter are also very good. 

 

You can have either a fixed or detachable tow bar. If you won't be using the tow bar that often and don't like the look of them when not in use or value your shins then get the detachable, if not fixed is fine.

Dedicated electrics are worthwhile in my opinion and do not require any scotch locks into your existing wiring. This will extend your alarm, deactivate the reverse sensor and alter the stability control.

You'll have the choice of 7 or 13 pin electrics. Most European bikes racks i.e. Thule and Atera are 13 pin as are a lot of modern caravans. Fit the electrics you will use most, you can get adaptors to convert from 7 to 13 pin and visa versa.

 

With a tow bar bike rack you're limited to the nose weight which is usually around 75kg. This nose weight will include the bike rack and the bikes attached to it. Not normally a problem unless you have some downhill bikes or electric bikes which on top of the rack weight you can easily exceed the limit. The Thule and Atera tow bar bikes rack tilt back to allow access to the boot, although with a Yeti it might be restricted.

 

Tow bar bike racks have much less drag and easier to load and unload the bikes from compared to rood mounted. Downside is you can a bit more road spray at the back of the car compared to on top. 

 

 

[Merlinman]

Atera Strada here - not cheap but now on 3rd vehicle! (http://www.roofbox.co.uk are helpful and quick, but not necessarily the cheapest)

 

Well made, light and the slide function is an absolute boon - especially with a dog in the boot!

 

Stable at all speeds and no real fuel penalty!

 

Whoever you get to fit, make sure its properly and fully coded - don't leave the premises until you're happy!

 

I have a detachable Westfalia - it takes< 2 mins to fit/remove and stores in the boot!

 

HTH 

[RickT]

I have a Witter fixed with 2 bolt flange single electrics for £325 (3 years ago) it was all fitted and programed by a towbar company.

[g6zru]

Ideal choice for tow bar is factory fit but in your case it's too late for that. I second those who say DO NOT got to your dealer for it, they will sub it to a local specialist and put a charge on top.

I had Westphalia removable on my previous 2 but as I don't have a caravan anymore I didn't have one this time. Others on here have fitted themselves then got a local fitter or their dealer to recode the electronics, but, dedicated electrics are ESSENTIAL!

You need to use the Google search facility as others have mentioned as the built in version is carp!

 

Fred 

Edited 3 April, 2017 by g6zru

[CWARD]

Just to add to Fred's comments.

 

Fitting the mechanical aspect of the tow bar is pretty straight forward. The electrics in the boot down to the fuse box is also fairly simple. The connections to the fuse box and the can bus is were the fun starts just because you're working in a confined space under the drivers footwell and the can bus wires are very slim. You could do all the donkey work your self of fitting the tow bar and running the electrics to the drivers footwell then get an auto electrician to connect the wires to the car which would save you money.

If you go on the P F Jones website they have the fitting instructions to view in PDF format so you can see what's involved and if you feel confident enough to tackle the job.

[Llanigraham]

Fitting the hardware is relatively easy, as has been said, however following my experience I'm not sure I would recommend PFJ any more, but that might have been (was!) a problem with the "fitter" in my area.

OP doesn't state where they are but North West Towbars have received good reports on here.

 

(Why don't people fill in their location, even roughly, when they register on this site? It makes giving advice much easier!)

[logiclee]

19 hours ago, pinkpanther said:

I'm struggling to make the forum search work and wonder if anyone can advise.

 

I'm considering fitting a towbar to my 2014 4x4 FL Yeti TdF (based on outdoor SE). It would be used to carry several bicycles.

 

I recall reading several do's and dont's over the years, but cannot find the relevant threads (I'm struggling to make the forum search work).

 

I'm highly unlikely to fit anything to the Towbar, beyond a bicycle carrier, and have found the range on offer a little bewildering. I plan to start ringing round shortly, but would like to be forearmed with a little prior knowledge.

 

My local main dealer (Rainworth) has recently begun fitting towbars and I'll probably ask them for a quote. 

 

I did consider a roof mounted option, but this looks to be impractical given the (relative) height of the Yeti's roof and my partners lack of stature

 

Up to now I've found this: Witter

 

Any help/ guidance gratefully received.

 

If you are in the Rainworth area then try http://www.petewilsonautoelectrics.co.uk/Towbars.html

 

Authorised witter fitters and much cheaper than main dealers. I've used them several times.

 

Lee

[pinkpanther]

Many thanks for all the helpful replies - food for thought!

 

I'm in North Notts and my local main dealer is indeed Rainworth's.

 

I've definitely ruled out roof mounting (we have a full length / width roof box) and am leaning towards a detachable solution.

 

Not exactly money "no object", but have decided against a new car and plan to keep current Yeti for the foreseeable - hence happy to make reasonable investment to boost practicality (and save on bike hire fee's at Clumber park!).

 

I'll post back with the outcome.

[GeoffH]

My dealer quoted "£900 ish" for a swan neck towbar with 9pin socket! I went to an independent who I'd used twice before and he fitted a Witter swan neck for £350. I was going to get one with a removable ball hitch but he explained it meant cutting out a larger piece of trim.

The result was superb...it even shows, on the dashboard if a trailer bulb has blown.... He gave me the piece of metal which the towbar replaced, in case I removed the towbar when I sold the car.

[muddyboots]

21 hours ago, Merlinman said:

Atera Strada here - not cheap but now on 3rd vehicle! (http://www.roofbox.co.uk are helpful and quick, but not necessarily the cheapest)

 

Well made, light and the slide function is an absolute boon - especially with a dog in the boot!

 

Stable at all speeds and no real fuel penalty!

 

Whoever you get to fit, make sure its properly and fully coded - don't leave the premises until you're happy!

 

I have a detachable Westfalia - it takes< 2 mins to fit/remove and stores in the boot!

 

HTH 

Another vote for the Atera - we have the Atera Strada DL3.

 

Prior to buying the Atera, I tried the Thule equivalent; I found the Atera to be lighter, easier to put on (it takes its own weight as soon as it's hooked over the towbar) and the slide mechanism (so you can slide the bikes away to get access to the boot) is very good.

 

Worth keeping an eye out on roofbox.co.uk - they sometimes have customer returns that they sell on a bit cheaper.

I've found their customer service excellent; have bought bars, a roofbox and the bike carrier from them, and on one occasion when I found an issue with a part, a replacement was couriered to me the next day with no fuss.

[CWARD]

I've got the Thule Euroclassic 3 bike tow bar rack. It's over 10 years old now and still going strong, having travelled all over Europe with it attached. At the time there were no others of this design that allowed the rack to tilt to gain access to the boot. I've seen my mates Atera Strada and it is a slightly better design.

Mine has not been used a for a while as I've changed car and not fitted a tow bar to the current car yet as I'm not doing as much cycling and have a set of roof bars and some old bike racks to use if needed. Which comes to the downside of the tow bar racks in that they take up a bit of storage space even when hung from wall brackets. Both Atera and Thule now do a more compact versions if this may be an issue for the OP    

[TruckbusUK]

I also have the Thule 903 EuroClassic + the 4th bike adapters .... a cracking carrier, had it since 2005, and as said one of the first of the "tilting" type. It gets my vote

[Coops]

I can recommend RD Auto Electrics in Derby (http://www.rdtowbars.co.uk/) - they are actually a PF Jones subcontractor but is likely to be cheaper by going direct and you get the same service.

 

He did my aftermarket Westfalia detachable towbar, plus electrics and coding, on my new Superb.

 

 

[Frenchtone]

 ^ +1 but mine done by him via pfj, although he did indicate he would fit 'privately,!

[Coops]

@Frenchtone Yes, he did mine via PFJ too. A damn good job he did as well.

[dcl5ad]

Another very happy atera user here. A beautiful piece of design and engineering. 

 

Back to tow bars: witter are good mechanically but don't have their own electrics so you end up with some cheap Chinese generic canbus compaitble junk. There's a saga thread on tow bars here and I'm one of the victims. Stick with Westfalia if at all possible.