Hi folks,
Upgraded the towing car to a Volvo XC90 last October ( 2006 plate) our other towing car is a Volvo V70 but she's an old girl and gone into retirement from towing ( unless in an emergency)! (2000 plate)
The XC90 has already got a towbar fitted...it's a swan neck with one single 13 pin socket.
The 2002 caravan we tow has the old twin plug electrics with the standard 7 pin plugs. The V70 has a flanged towbar with twin 7 pin plugs as that's what worked obviously.
Now! Problem.....what are our options regards tackling this situation??? We would prefer to have both cars on the same towing electrics incase we need to use the V70. And the caravan has the twin sockets.
The XC90 has rear parking sensors so the swan neck is better.
Can anybody suggest the best ( and cheapest way) to tackle this mix up of sockets and plugs? There's also the issue of if we ever upgrade to a post 2008 caravan as I've heard they use the 13 pin sockets.
Any help and advice is most appreciated as always. Need to think about getting this sorted ASAP in the new year before the new towing season starts for us !
Happy new year 👍🎄
I think you can buy a adaptor from13 pin to 7 pin. Not 100% sure but I member seeing something in a shop somewhere. It's a plug in lead so no hard working needed.
------------- May 2020 - tbc
7tth August -15th August 2020 trevornick Cornwall
The adaptor hacksaw bob linled to is fine if you want the fridge or leisure battery charging while toing. However it does have a teendancy to droop down on the ground when towing.
This one is much more convenient, in fact I keep mine permanently plugged into the 13pin socket on my car. However it does only do the road lights on the caravan.
I used to use the type adapter that 'Hacksaw Bob' posted but I changed to this type (shown in link) and kept the first adapter as a spare. I find it much better for storage plus you don't have the excess twin cables hanging down that you have to tie up with bungee cords.
The adapter fits directly on to the towing socket via a collar so no twisting of the adapter is necessary.
When I was using the adapter, I just used a bungee strap to prevent the droop. Problem solved.
------------- Alan
2016
February C&CC Theobalds Park
March C&CC Salisbury
May C&CC Adgestone IOW
July Le Clos Auroy, Auvergne France
August C&CC Polstead
August C&CC Oxford
October C&CC Lauder