Tow Bar

[Guest tomrostron]

i have a witter tow bar and electrics, on my 2.1 td . i have no need for this and plan to get it removed and sold. is it a big job, what happens with the electric cable, thats left behind. thanks tom.

[Johndouglas]

Having fitted tow bars to my vehicles over a lot of years, I've noticed that while the bars have become much easier to fit, the electrics have increased in difficulty. I fitted a towbar to a 2.1 Xantia in 1998 and that was a fairly easy fitment. The tapped holes were already there in the chassis. You shouldn't have much of a problem removing it. I would suggest giving all the nuts and bolts a good quirt of Plusgas. You won't need to remove the rear bumper. As the electrics are pre-multiplex, the seven core cables will be simply Scotchlok'd on to the rear lights. Care will be needed in disconnecting so as to avoid shorts. If your bar is fitted with 12S as well, that also will need isolating.

[Guest tomrostron]

Having fitted tow bars to my vehicles over a lot of years, I've noticed that while the bars have become much easier to fit, the electrics have increased in difficulty. I fitted a towbar to a 2.1 Xantia in 1998 and that was a fairly easy fitment. The tapped holes were already there in the chassis. You shouldn't have much of a problem removing it. I would suggest giving all the nuts and bolts a good quirt of Plusgas. You won't need to remove the rear bumper. As the electrics are pre-multiplex, the seven core cables will be simply Scotchlok'd on to the rear lights. Care will be needed in disconnecting so as to avoid shorts. If your bar is fitted with 12S as well, that also will need isolating.

thank you. what does scotchlocked mean. and what is a 12s.my towbar has 2 places were a trailer could plug in. i have never gone intothe tech side before. thanks again. tom

[Johndouglas]

Scotchloks are usually blue and they are a means of connecting an additional wire into a curcuit without cutting the original wire. They will have a folded over tab on them. Prise open the tab and the Scotchlok will open. You can then use a small screwdriver to pull out the blade. With the blade out, the Scotchlok can be removed. The insulation on the original wires will be cut so it's maybe best to wrap tape round. The two sockets are called 12N - that's the one that looks after the road lights. The other is 12S. It carries power for a second battery and a fridge.

[Guest tomrostron]

thank you john, have you any idea how much i could get for ot. it is in excellent cond. tom

[Johndouglas]

I would try ebay - and just hope that a few guys might want it. Trouble is a serious caravanner wouldn't buy it because they might suspect that it had been changed because of a rear end shunt. One driver I know that had been shunted has had a bar replaced because of welding stress. No doubt the old bar will have been sold on.

[Guest tomrostron]

thanks again john. tom