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Hi,

I need a bit of help as i am new to caravanning, so new havn't towed or been in it yet, and even newer to towing. I have made enquiries with various firms in my area about fitting of a tow bar to tow a caravan. But getting confused about single or double electrics. Some say ok with single others insist I need to have double electrics. I noticed a lot of companies offer DIY for towbars and electrics, how easy is this to do as it could save me up to £100 on the quotes I have had. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Haz

You only need the second connection if you want to have your fridge on whilst towing.  The battery should charge up when you plug in the electric hook up.

As for fitting yourself - it depends on the car and how confident you are with the electrics.  I fitted my own on a ford focus but had it fitted for the Honda CR-V (Mainly because I didn't have the time).

For the Honda it cost me about £270 to have a towbar and twin electrics fitted, but would have been around £170 had I done it myself.  So worth having a go yourself if you can.

Thanks Knightwarrior,

The car is a ford escort estate and I feel confident followiing the instructions and there is always the helpline some firms offer so probably have a go.

Harryc

Hi, Towbars are quite straightforward to fit on Fords both twin and single electrics. If you have any problems please contact as I am a qualified Ford auto electrician/technician.

robhill2004

You also need the 12S grey socket if reversing lamps are fitted to your van

Some later model fridges also need a fully charged leisure battery in the caravan to work the electronics as well as the leads from the car for power and earth

Have alook on

www.towitall.co.uk

Socket and plug wiring instruction
12N Normal Socket		12S Supplementary Socket
1)	Left indicator	1)	Reverse
2)	Fog	2)	Battery Charge **
3)	Earth	3)	Earth
4)	Right indicator	4)	Power feed
5)	Right side light	5)	Spare
6)	Brake	6)	Fridge **
7)	Left side light	7)	Earth for pin 6 (1998 on)
**NB It is essential that pin 6 is wired through a split relay from 1998 on!!

Hiya Harryc,

Totally irrelevent to your question, but I recently asked in the forum about caravan insurance for older units. You asked me to let you know if I found one, well I was advised to try the following:

http://www.cover4caravans.co.uk

They were great and managed to insure my 1983 Rambler for me with no problems £80.00. but I dont know if that is a good price!

Hope it works for you too.

All the best

Adam

Hi, Harryc.  How old is your vehicle?  With some of the later ones (my 2005 VW Touran, for example), you need to know what you are doing, otherwise you can cause serious and expensive damage to the car's electrical system.

I always used to fit and wire my own towbars.  In the case of my current car, I had this done by the dealership before taking delivery.  Expensive, yes. But I have peace of mind in knowing that the vehicle warranty is absolutely intact.

Bertie.

HI harryc. Have to agree with Bertie I used to fit all my own towbars and electrics but with todays cars electrical systems I get them fitted.

Having said that an escort is not difficult if you follow the instructions 

Thanks everyone for the advice but SWMBO has decided that she does not trust me to do it myself, (although not in those exact words) says it is not worth it so have had to bow down to that. Got it fitted with electrics (Single) for 135 quid and it is guaranteed for the life of the vehicle so I suppose that wasn;t too bad so off this weekend with fingers and everything else crossed. Very slowly does it.

Harry C

Quote: Originally posted by robhill2004 on 05/7/2007

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Hi, Towbars are quite straightforward to fit on Fords both twin and single electrics. If you have any problems please contact as I am a qualified Ford auto electrician/technician.

robhill2004

Hi there

Im new to the forum but would appreciate some advice. Ive just bought a second hand towbar & electrics for my 2003 focus hatch. I am quite confident on fitting the bar but the last time I fitted electrics for a towbar was about 25 years ago. In the boot there are 2 looms of wires with in line connectors, would I be right in assuming these may be the looms for the towing electrics (single and double)?

As mentioned in other postings I too am a little nervous about just 'tapping in' and   causing a problem with the ecu. if you are able to give me some help I would be very grateful

 

many thanks

John

 

Quote: Originally posted by SoundsDigital on 20/7/2007

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You will need a split charging relay for the 12s. If you got the wiring second hand, I suspect the relay was left in the original car. Towsure do them for about £15 Better to use one rather than flatten your car battery.

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thanks for advice however I'm still a bit in the dark. The towbar (fitted today) came with one set of electrics (not connected yet) are you saying I will need to get a second socket or is there a way of using the first set of electrics and getting this split charging relay to work with the existing socket.

I know these may be stupid questions but I want to make sure I dont blow anything up.Also not too sure about which wires to connect to inside the boot.

Appreciate any more help

thanks John