CCC • View topic - Towbar electrics

I'll be changing my car shortly and will need a new towbar and electrics fitting. I've decided to go for a single 13 pin socket instead of the usual twin sockets.

In speaking to various towbar fitters, it seems that the norm is to take the 12v power from a supply at the rear of the car. Chester Towbars, who fitted the towbar to my current vehicle, ran a cable with in-line fuse direct to the battery.

Are there any potential problems in tapping into a power supply at the rear of the car rather than direct to the battery?

Yes Martin, the main problem being that it will not be able to deliver enough power for the fridge & battery charging so causing the wiring loom to overheat with potentially catestrophic consequences.

I have an '02' plate ford focus estate and none of the power feeds that were premanantly live (12 volts of course) at the rear of my car were thick enough, so I had a wire fitted from the fusebox that was capable of giving this power. This is slightly easier than having to run a cable directly to the battery.

Thanks for the reply Rubix.

Sorry Martin if I go slightly off topic with this reply.

I recently had my cars wiring converted to 13 pin. I happened to mention that my new caravan had ATC stability control.

He then said he would upgrade "the" fuse to 25amp as it was possible it might blow a smaller capacity fuse.

Sorry I don't know which fuse he refered to, or can give any technical answer as to why he uped the fuse in the first place, but thought it might be of interest. Perhaps a kind forum member could enlighten me. Smile

No Problem LL. Just for interest as I live in Staffordshire, where did you have your socket changed?

All-Fit in Lichfield.

Sorry I don't know about the wiring but I have a 13 pin socket on my car.
It is so much easier making the connection and you get rid of the problem of the center pin on the S socket overheating and arcing

Don't know if your sorted yet but towbar fitter connected our separate sockets to the power point at back of Galaxy.When we changed van to S6 Indiana with ATC the ATC locked on when the connection burnt out imobilizing the van til I unscrewed the solenoid bit and drove on without it.Rewired to battery with fuse and never had another problem.Believe fridge,battery charging and ATC overloaded the thin wire,did it in 2.5cable from halfords with 15A fuse and old connection wired separately to fridge and charger

There have been a few problems with the old 7 pin S socket that really needed a seperate earth for the fridge and one for the battery charging. The previous single earth cable was the cause of pin burn out on many S sockets, wonder if the 13 pin version has taken this into account

Tommy

In the end, I went for a Witter detachable towbar and 13 pin socket which retracts up out of sight behind the bumper. It's a neat job and the only part of the towbar visible are the 2 brake cable attachment points. The whole lot cost £340 which I thought was a bit of a bargain.

[quote="Coolcamper55"]There have been a few problems with the old 7 pin S socket that really needed a seperate earth for the fridge and one for the battery charging. The previous single earth cable was the cause of pin burn out on many S sockets, wonder if the 13 pin version has taken this into account

Tommy[/quote

I have been using a 13 pin connection for the last 18 months with no problems

It is a far better connection than the 12n & 12s system Very Happy

Martin wrote

In the end, I went for a Witter detachable towbar and 13 pin socket which retracts up out of sight behind the bumper. It's a neat job and the only part of the towbar visible are the 2 brake cable attachment points. The whole lot cost £340 which I thought was a bit of a bargain.

What car do you drive Martin ?

That souds good value, did that include fitting or did you fit it yourself ? Very Happy

I've recently changed car to a Ford S-MAX 2.0 TDCi. The price was fully fitted and about £100 cheaper than other local fitters. If anyone is interested, the fitter was Potteries Diesels, King Street, Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent. I believe they are connected to PF Jones towbar suppliers. Very Happy

Thanks for that, it just seems very low considering some prices are £1000+ (or are they high ! ?)

I think that it is a good price.
I have a PCT towbar & 13 pin electrics on my car, the total price was £301:52
The £1000 price seems to be a highly inflated factory fitted towbar & electrics

We have just had a tow bar and electrics fitted to the motorhome for £750. Might seem a blt pricey, but the motorhome has no points for fitting a tow bar direct so a steel frame has to be custom made. Martin (our great guy at Morton Valence near Gloucester and thoroughly recommended) spent about two hours carefully measuring the chassis under the m/h and made a steel frame to be welded onto the chassis. He over engineered it to make absolutely sure that it was sturdy enough to tow a car and then colour matched it to the m/h. He has done a fantastic job. We have also had the A-frame connection and braking system fitted to the Toyota. It has 2 forms of braking, one is electric via the m'h's footbrake and the electric connections and also inertia brakes similar to the inertia reel seatbelts in cars. This makes absolutely sure that should the car somehow become unhitched then it will stop (and not overtake us or something Laughing

). Its been expensive, but worth it. We tested out the Toyota by towing it round the country lanes behind the X-Trail (got some funny looks) There are some careful adjustments to be made to the inertia braking system, so that it operates only when it has to - not when going down a steep hill !! We got stuck at one point going down hill with the Toyota braked hard and not releasing! Needed to adjust a certain widget in the Toyota to get us going again. Think we are there now, but will have another go round our steep hills to make absolutely sure.