Has anyone got the approved electric tow bar fitted. I have one fitted and tow a caravan with Alko hitch lock which means the tow bar has to be kept perfectly clean. Has anyone come up with a way of stopping the ball getting rusty when stored away under the bumper. The problem is the tow bar when stowed is upside down and therefore if you put a cover on it water sits inside this cover and the ball is then sitting in water. I don't want to cover in grease as this needs to be cleaned off completely before i hitch up the caravan. Also does anyone know if there is a cover available to fit in the hole in the bumper when the tow bar is stowed as this would also help matters. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.

Edited 31 October, 20214 yr by blakey7

On my Touareg the ball also swivels away under the bumper so I put a plastic bag on the ball with a re-useable tywrap to seal it and so far it's been OK

Similar to what i do but i find the towbar can still go rusty over the winter months and i was wondering if there is a better solution out there.

plastic bag with some silica gel crystals inside to absorb any moisture??

Having to de-grease really takes no time with a rag and an aerosol can of Brake Disc Cleaner having removed the bad you have it covered with.

It is an easy solution to the problem that winter roads with salt on can cause to the towing device. 

On 31/10/2021 at 13:09, blakey7 said:

Has anyone got the approved electric tow bar fitted. I have one fitted and tow a caravan with Alko hitch lock which means the tow bar has to be kept perfectly clean. Has anyone come up with a way of stopping the ball getting rusty when stored away under the bumper. The problem is the tow bar when stowed is upside down and therefore if you put a cover on it water sits inside this cover and the ball is then sitting in water. I don't want to cover in grease as this needs to be cleaned off completely before i hitch up the caravan. Also does anyone know if there is a cover available to fit in the hole in the bumper when the tow bar is stowed as this would also help matters. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.

.

I'd wrestled with this too, on both an A3 with the same factory-fit tow bar as the one on the Karoq I've got now. Most of the drop-down hitches seem to be these Bosal units.

 

I'd tried various combinations of tow ball covers, plastic bags, reusable tie-wraps and rubber bands but none of them stopped the ball going rusty.  It wasn't a massive deal to clean it, but I was convinced there was a better solution somewhere. As you say, the main problem lies in the hitch being stowed upside down

 

Anyhoo, I bought two of these. The hole you'd use to fill it with water ( I can't really imagine having a ball of ice that size in a drink, but that's not what I got it for) needs to be made somewhat bigger so you can ease it over the tow ball but not so big that it isn't a reasonably tight fit on the neck of the hitch just below the ball.

 

I used a very sharp scalpel, and once I was reasonably happy that it'd fit, warmed the rubber up to stop it splitting and stretched it over the ball.

 

The result is shown below. Hopefully it's self-explanatory. The top is held on with Velcro cable ties. It clears the hole in the bumper - just - and thus far has stopped the ball going rusty. The photo shows the ball after several months of use. I haven't cleaned it, and there's no grease on it.

 

It isn't an unqualified success, but as far as I'm concerned it's pretty close.

Edited 19 August, 20232 yr by Phutters

I forgot to mention - though I probably don't need to - that you don't need to take it off when you use the hitch for its intended purpose.

 

You just turn it down out of the way like turning a cuff.

@Phuttersinteresting to see your towball has the same problem as my Treg in that there is nowhere to attach the breakaway cable so that it's legal in Holland, Switzerland & I think Austria ?  Some people with their Tregs have replaced one of the bolts that hold the electrical socket with a M6 eye bolt so you can clip the breakaway cable to that  

Thanks Phutters what are these rubber items and where did you get them from. Nige8021 there is an eye just below the ball which i use to attach the breakaway cable.

15 minutes ago, blakey7 said:

Thanks Phutters what are these rubber items and where did you get them from. Nige8021 there is an eye just below the ball which i use to attach the breakaway cable.

.

 

Amazon. There's a link in the post.

.

Found it thanks.

I use my towbar sometimes to tow an old trailer (greased ball) and sometimes to carry a clamp-on bike rack (no grease).

 

I find that a smudge of grease keeps the ball from rusting, but it’s easy and quick to remove the grease with a solvent-wetted rag when I need the dry ball.

 

On mine (and the one in Phutter’s post) there is a hole for the breakaway cable, marked here:

Edited 31 October, 20214 yr by DaveMiller

Another vote for a thin layer of grease. An aerosol of brake cleaner and a clean cloth removes it in seconds ready for receiving a friction / AL-KO hitch.

 

An idea posted elsewhere that I saw was to use a party balloon, easy and cheap but can't vouch for its effectiveness.

Condom.

1 hour ago, silver1011 said:

party balloon

 

1 hour ago, J.R. said:

Condom

 

Same thing, no? 🤣

I actually typed condom to start with, but thought better of it! 😂