C5 Towbar

[bowllingg951]

hi all am looking to fit a towbar on my 2002 estate myself, are the holes already driile in chassis or do i have to do them myself if so are their any measurements i can obtain from somewhere

[Johndouglas]

You should find the threaded holes already there.   Which ever make of towbar you use, it will be designed to make use of  all the fixing points. 

[mhedwig]

The holes are all there when I did my 2002 estate all i had to remove was the undershield from the rear bumper I got my towbar from toys for cars very good quality and good price and delivery 

[bowllingg951]

thanks for the info guys,just had towbar off a scrapped c5estate and the guy that took it off told me that the exhaust tailpipe goes thru the frame is this correct cheers

[mhedwig]

It doesn't on mine 

[Johndouglas]

From what I remember it's only necessary to remove the rubber hanger on the rear box whilst you loosely fit the side arm.   I don't know what make of tow bar you have but they are all fairly similar.   See the Witter fitting instructions here.   If you are going to tow anything other than a light-weight trailer it might be a good idea to invest in a new set of bolts.

[paul.h]

As well as the new bolts, I would carefully inspect the towbar since you do not know how it has been used/abused. If in any doubt on any of the welds then you may be better getting a new one. Also remember to tell your insurance company you have a towbar since they will class it as a modification. It should not cost any more but if you were to make a claim and they had not been informed they may not pay out. Note that the bolts and nuts will be high tensile ones, possibly 8.8 or higher so may not be widely available.

[bowllingg951]

hi guys thanks for all the info.finally got round to fitting it today[ 25-06-15 ] no probs. with exhaust pipe only took 90 mins  great site keep up the good work

[Johndouglas]

Good to hear you've completed without any agro.    What electrics have you done?

[Chrisdjsax]

Hi, I own a 2008 C5 tourer, I bought it last year a I was looking at putting a Towbar on it and noticed that there is already a detachable attached to it! The only trouble is there isn't a detachable swan neck in the car and the previous owner doesn't know where it is either! So, my question is, can I get the swan neck attachment on its own or do I have to buy a whole new kit? I've had a quick look underneath and it has all the wiring kit there and it says it a Thule. Any help will be great.

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

A quick search suggests the complete towbar would be about £200 for a Thule detachable so I can understand just going for the towball. This Thule brochure has contact details so you can try Thule directly for the part  http://www.thuletowbars.com/downloads/catalogue/ENGELS_TOTAAL.pdf

 

if you can not get the towball then it would be cheaper to fit a towbar with a fixed towball and the electrics would not need changing. Our last few towbars I fit myself and were from Towbars Direct and you could also contact them for the missing towball, as well as the cost of a replacement towbar which seems to be about £114 for a fixed towball http://www.towbarsdirect.co.uk/towbars.htm

[Chrisdjsax]

Thank you for your reply, I'll have a word with Thule and see what they have to say first, but as you say it might just be easier to replace with a fixed one.