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   Caravans and Caravanning -  Caravan Towcars and Towing Advice 		Share   Post on X / Twitter  Share on Facebook  Email  Printer Friendly Version Print
Subject Topic: Towbar or not Towbar? Post Reply Post New Topic
Personnick holder
01/10/2008 at 7:26pm
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Hi everyone, need a little help here regarding my new car/towbar configuration.
I have just taken delivery of a new 7 series Bmw with a factory fitted removable towbar.
It is an Oris AK40 which mounts vertically. My first question is will it allow me to use my Alko 2004 hitch?
Not sure of the minimum clearance needed from ball to bumper etc.
I know on my last car I swapped the existing ball for an Alko type as I was told it would not fit otherwise, not sure of situation here.
My van needs transporting in a weeks time from its storage site (150) miles away to its new site and I dont want to turn up unable to tow etc.
Also, the electric socket is I think the new euro one (lots of little holes) instead of usual grey/black seperate sockets. Can i just buy an adaptor? and will my new socket automatically be wired up for dual electric?
Thanks in advance for reading this marathon post.
Nick.


PersonMartyM
01/10/2008 at 8:11pm
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Detachable towbars are swan neck so it will have enough clearance for the Alko.

You can buy an adaptor from a caravan shop, it consists of a 13pin plug with 2 leads coming out with 12n/12s sockets on 'tother end. These cost about £30 tho & if you jusy want your 'van legal to tow with lights working its cheaper to buy(£4)a single adaptor 13pin/7pin so you can plug the 12n 7pin on caravan into 13pin car. I mention this because you may want to have your 'van fitted with a 13pin plug.

Check with your dealer about the 13pin wiring on your car as the battery charging & fridge pins may not be live unless you have requested this. However it will be wired so you can tow your caravan with lights working using the adaptor.

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Sell my camper? I'd rather eat school semolina!


Personnick holder
01/10/2008 at 8:32pm
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Thank you so much. Appreciate your reply. Any idea what it may cost to wire van up to single Euro plug?


PersonMartyM
01/10/2008 at 8:45pm
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The simplest way of doing it is to remove the 2 7pin plugs & wire both cables to a 13pin plug. you could tidy up cable by winding some of that curly cable tidy stuff around them. A caravan repairer would probably charge you an hours labour for that, much less than wiring the 'van with 13core cable(although it would look neater)& of course retaining the 2 cables would make changing back simpler if required if you wanted to sell the 'van.

If you want to diy, google, 12n/12s wiring & 13pin wiring & you will see its fairly simple.

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Sell my camper? I'd rather eat school semolina!


Personboff
01/10/2008 at 10:10pm
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This might be even simplier  http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/redirect.asp?redir=http://www.towsure.com/category/7198-European-UK_13-7_Pin_Converters


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Personnick holder
06/10/2008 at 9:26am
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Thank you everyone.


PersonThe 2 Tops
06/10/2008 at 4:23pm
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My VW Touran has a detachable towball (Brink), and it is very close to the rear bumper.  When we changed our caravan, I had the Winterhoff coupling transferred from my old van to replace the OE Al-ko coupling on the new one.  This is because I was concerned that the bulky Al-ko hitch might foul the bumper on a good lock.  By comparison, the Winterhoff has a very tapered snout.

Bertie.



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The 2 Tops



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