Everyone likes to save a few quid wherever they can, and savings can be quite substantial if you fit your own tow bar and wiring. However, saving a few pennies can often lead to costing a fortune. Read on…
With towbar supply and fitting prices being so expensive it’s no wonder people are buying their tow bar off eBay with the hope of making vast savings. But before you go down this slippery slope it’s probably best to get some advice.
Towbars are not the easiest of things to fit. In most cases, they require the removal of the vehicle’s rear bumper, the crash beam, the rear lights, the ad-blue tank… If you’re now starting to wonder if self-fitting sounds like hard work, then STOP!
For the tow bar fitting to be legal, you will need to fit exactly to the manufacturer’s instructions, including tightening all fixings to the exact required torque.
Then there’s the electrics to sort out. Get this bit wrong and you’re going to find out why towbar fitting isn’t cheap.
To fit tow bar electrics you need a thorough understanding of vehicle electronics. Including knowing how to de-pin connectors and how to connect to the vehicle’s fuse box. The whole, ‘it’s a plug-and-play thing’ is absolute fiction in most cases. The exception is JLR vehicles.
If you are thinking of fitting UNIVERSAL towing electrics then think again. Designed and made for older vehicles the so-called ‘Universal’ electrics should not be fitted to modern vehicles. Firstly, because fitting universal electrics will invalidate any manufacturer warranty on the vehicle. Secondly, fitting universal bypass wiring will bypass all of the vehicle’s towing safety features. You might think that you don’t require towing safety features to be active. Your insurance company may beg to differ.
We have had calls from people who tried to fit their own electrics and it’s resulted in the vehicle being flatbed trailered to the local main dealers to be fixed. A lot more expensive than getting the tow bar fitted professionally in the first place.
You may think that fitting the tow bar yourself and getting a tow bar company to fit the electrics is a great idea….
We get weekly calls from people who’ve fitted their own tow bar and then want the electrics fitting. Unfortunately, this is a service we (Ultimate Towbar Systems) cannot offer. Due to the tow bar being fitted elsewhere, we are unable to validate that the tow bar is fitted correctly and this could lead to legal issues for the company if the towbar should fail.
Our advice is, and always will be, to always get your tow bar and electrics fitted by a professional.
