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 We hope to get our first caravan next month, a new Lunar Quasar 462. I recall reading somewhere that all new caravans now come with the new single13 pin sockets, is that correct ?  I have booked our car in at Honda to have a towbar fitted, (they don't fit them themselves but get someone in ) so I have stated I need a 13 pin socket fitted to avoid the need for a converter. Have I done the right thing ? Also on an earlier thread here, I read that the towball has to be Al-Ko supplied to go with the Al-Ko stabiliser, I said I had an Al-Ko stabiliser and needed the towball to fit this. Do I need to get back to them to make sure it's an Al-Ko towball ?

You definately need an Al-ko compatible tow ball with a Al-ko hitch stabiliser.  The reason for this is that it has a higher neck than the usual towball, which ensures that the hitch with the Al-ko stabiliser can swivel side to side as the car turns.  With an ordinary towball, the stabiliser would be likely to foul on the ball.  An Al-ko branded towball is the sefest way of ensuring you get the correct thing, although they are much more expensive than a standard towball.

It makes sense to me to have a 13 pin socket on the car if you have a caravan with 13 pin plug.  It saves any risk of the cables of a converter lead draging on the floor and shorting out through being chaffed.  I changed my car wiring to 13 pin after only one use of a converter lead after getting a new caravan - it was a nightmare trying to keep it off the floor and needed an elastic bungee to secure it (anyone want to buy a converter cable??).

The 13 pin socket is also much easier to use and much more secure than the old 12S/12N's.

We collected our new lunar in december-it was supplied with an al-ko ball which the dealer would have swapped if necessary. The difference is clearance from the vehicle from an ordinary ball. I would imagine swanneck towbars have this built in. We have a detatchable westfalia towbar which was fitted to our 53 plate jeep 4 years ago with 13 pin electrics so compatability should not be a problem.we started off using an adaptor as the caravan we had then had the grey/black plugs, but i used the plug off the adaptor & wired the two wires straight to it which was a far better job than the grey plug "seasonal" replacement after 12 months use. In my humble opinion the 13 plug arrangement is far better than the grey/black plug set up as it is positive, easy engagement first time every time. So have you done the right thing?-definately, & don't worry too much about the towball as, if the towbar comes with the wrong one you will get a nice shiney new one with your nice shiney new caravan! Just to chuck some more info in-remember to clean the paint off the ball before you use it or it will ruin the friction pads in the stabiliser. Enjoy your new van!!

See you all soon, Bernard.

Quote: Originally posted by marmitemate on 09/2/2010

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 Thanks all, much happier now , will clarify with Honda when I drop off the car, they are really helpful dealer but very surprised they know $*d all about towbars !

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They probably farm all towbar stuff out to a local towbar fitter.