Need to know - fitting a tow bar and electrics!!
Hello
I am about to buy a car with no tow bar- what do I need to know when I am looking at what to have fitted ?
There seems to be a plethora of choices - swan neck /removable/ 1 or 2 sockets/ 13 pins!!!
Oh.... And cut outs??
I have an old (but lovely) Avondale Pearle and the car is a mazda 6 estate.
Heather
Comments
-
If you have an older caravan, then it probably has two plugs on it ie 12N (road lighting) and a 12S (supplimentary - for fridge & leisure battery charging). As to tow bar, it depends on your wallet & what steel work you're prepared to have on show. 2 bolt
flange are usually the cheapest but IMHO are the ugliest of the lot but have the option of bolting cycle carriers etc to them, swan neck are a little better looking and detachable the best of the lot .... ie you can't see them when not in use, but are usually
the most expensive. As for cut outs, that purely depends on the car & towbar, some bars require a cut out of the lower part of he bumper, others don't, or it's that small you can't easily see it. there's a cut on my bumper, but unless you kneel/lie down to
look, you can't see it.0 -
Thank you for replying- and so fast!!
Yes- it has 2 plugs, What is an IMHO?
Heather
0 -
....
Yes- it has 2 plugs, What is an IMHO? ...
So you need 2 sockets on your car to match the caravan. 13 pin plug/socket is better, but I'd keep what's already on the caravan.
IMHO = In My Humble Opinion
ie 2 bolt flange are not my favourite 
0 -
I think I'd still go for for 13 pin, and either use an adaptor or get the caravan converted if I planned to keep it for a good while. 13 pin is far better than 12N & 12S. My experience of 12N on trailers has been that wiggling, cleaning or pin spreading
has been necessary to get all the lights working nearly every time out.13 pin has also been standard in the UK for 8 years, so why put anything else on a new car?
0 -
It takes an expert a few minutes to change the caravan to modern 13 pin - I faffed around with adaptors and it was a waste of time and money. The person who fits your towball would probably fit the caravan electrics for you too. (the reason I tried adaptors was because of a trailer and a cycle board with the old electrics but they are now swapped too!) There is one downside - if anyone asks you to tow a trailer for them that has 7 pin lights there is a problem - I had to rescue a friend with a broken down car towing a horse trailer. Hand signal sufficed for the short journey! The AA rescued her car but she wasn't on the right plan for the trailer!
0 -
If its a new car are you intending to get the dealer to fit? They may sub the work out but use Mazda parts so its possible that the choice of towbar might be Hobson's Choice depending on what choice Mazda offer. One thing I would seiously think about is
getting them to fit an eye for the breakaway cable if its not included.David
0 -
.....There is one downside - if anyone asks you to tow a trailer for them that has 7 pin lights there is a problem ....
that's easily sorted with one of
these You can getthem the other way round too ie 13 pin plug on the caravan to plug into a 12N socket on the car ..... they just power the lights0 -
As MollysMummys post describes, I have both adaptors. I have a trailer with a 12N plug and use the first type for that.I also have the reverse adaptor 12N female to 13 pin male adaptor that the dealer gave me when they (against my instructions of course) fitted a 12N and 12S to my new car in 2011! Fortunately I had handwritten "must be 13 pin as agreed" on the order form before signing it. I keep it in the caravan in case it is ever necessary to tow it with a car that has a 12N.
The 13pin with its twist action and sealing O ring is incomparably better than the 12N/S, not to mention being half as many cables, plugs and sockets.
0 -
Just check that a Mazda 6 car is really suitable for a towbar to be fitted. Many cars are produced with holes already in place on suitable structural parts to have a bar added, but there are some about where the fitter has to drill holes, and I do wonder
how much consideration was given by the designers of the vehicle to the loads and stresses of towing. Weigth and engine size are not all that is involved in a good match.0 -
I don't know how many places there will be that fit tow bars in the Highlands but it may be worth your while phoning around and getting prices - it does vary by quite a lot.
Also - with my Ford I was asked for the electrics if I wanted Ford dedicated wiring kit or a generic kit - go for the dedicated wiring if it's available - does cost a few pounds more but worth it in the long run. Happy caravanning.
0 -
Just check that a Mazda 6 car is really suitable for a towbar to be fitted.
A fair point, there are still some cars that are not type approved for towing but the Mazda 6 is not one of them. Brochure lists a towbar as an accessory and towing limits are given. The tow bar must also be type approved.
Brochure:
The brocure doesn't give the train weight, so if you want to be super certain find one and check the plate
The fact that no train weight is listed suggests to me that it is not train weight limited.You might not be surprised to learn that that matching tool will tell you that no caravan matches, at least for the Mazda 6 I just looked up, because the kerbweight is listed as "unknown"; but the other data, if correct, indicate that train weight will not be an issue if the towing weight limited and loading limits are complied with.
0 -
.....There is one downside - if anyone asks you to tow a trailer for them that has 7 pin lights there is a problem ....
that's easily sorted with one of
these You can getthem the other way round too ie 13 pin plug on the caravan to plug into a 12N socket on the car ..... they just power the lightsWrite your comments here...Yes I knew you could get one - but on a Saturday afternoon when someone is stranded.......in the depths of the Devon Countryside - hand signals did it but I may get one for emergencies. However the first one I tried didn't fit
my socket which was too close to the bumper.0 -
.......Yes I knew you could get one - but on a Saturday afternoon when someone is stranded.......in the depths of the Devon Countryside - hand signals did it but I may get one for emergencies. However the
first one I tried didn't fit my socket which was too close to the bumper.like Polyp I now carry both adapters as a few years back when I got recovered by a local firm, the driver had never heard of or seen a 13 pin plug/socket, so the caravan was recovered with no road lights.
0 -
We tow with a Mazda 6 and this is our second one both different versions. Mazda publish kerb weight, gross vehicle weights, towing limits and gross train weights. Not knowing what model the OP has I cannot give a firm figure for the car invol ed. The kerb
weight is generally 1500 kg to 1750 kg the older ones being heavier. The towing limit should be 1400 kg for petrol engines and 1600 kg for diesels but the registration document should give the information needed.0 -
A new tow bar fitted in the UK has to be type approved, with an approval sticker and has to incorporate a breakaway attachment point, so there's no need to add one as an earlier post suggests. Type approval accounts for appropriate fixing points to the car,
so that's another concern that has been raised, solved. We're not fans of adaptor cables because they introduce additional connections/ unreliability. Instead, because we tow both a 13 pin caravan and a 7 pin trailer, we have both the 13pin and a 7 pin socket
installed. The extra cost was no more than that for an adaptor.0 -
if your car is under warrentee, it MUST be done by a N.T.A. towbar fitter, dont let a dealer tell you they have to do it, they will charge you the earth and still send it to them
0 -
My fixed towbar offers some security should some mumpty carelessly bump into my rear end! Type is a matter of choice. Ensure you get the electrics vehicle specific and yes, if you can find one, an independent Fitter should be much less than going through a franchised dealer who would probably sub contract the work anyway and add his markup! I have a 13 pinn connector and also tow a trailer with a 7 pin connector, a simple adaptor solves that problem
0
