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Looking for some comments of those that have experience of detachable towbars.  I have decided that I have had enough of cracking my shin on the tow ball when putting stuf in/out of the boot.

So I need a detachable for a VW Passat est.  I have hunted high and low and it seems that the witter is about £250-£300, others Brink I think at about £200 and Towsure in at £165.  Now I know tht some have had delivery problems with Towsure, not an issue as I will collect or get them to fit.  Has any one fitted or had fitted one of these.  Does it go straight in or did you have problems.  Based on the money it looks to be a no brainer, I have been quoted £395 to get a witter fitted so sub £200 plus fitting looks attractive.

BTW any one know if the passat (2000) has multiplexed wiring?

Thanks

Hi Mark, I have the witter detachable fitted on my Meriva, no choice as it is the only bar available due to the low number plate, had a guy fit it at the door all in for £350, having seen what it entailed I certainly would have been able to do the job myself and saved £150, the witter towbar comes complete with a lock and keys, something that is an extra on some of the cheaper versions. When pricing mine I found that some of the ones at around £160 (not fitted) cost an extra £30-40 for the lock, I also worked out that the Vauxhall fit bar was also the Witter one with a different badge, £100 dearer for the privelige of having a different stamp!

Certainly have found that after a years vanning I must admit that the detachable ball certainly has saved on the sore shins, greasy trousers etc.

Couple of other points, neither Witter or Bulldog would advise or recommend on the use of blade type stabilisers, Witter said no but wouldn't say why but pointed out the warranty would be void if I used my bulldog blade stabiliser. Bulldog when pressed said that they could not accept any liability if I used the stabiliser on a removable ball towbar.
Suffice to say the first time out with the van I did not fit the stabiliser but took it with me as someone had expressed an interest in it. After a hairy drive in high winds I decided to give it a go, the van was nice and stable on the return journey in similair weather conditions. If you have a newish van then the hitch type stabiliser would be ideal and worth the extra spends, if your van is old like mine then I would think twice about forking out on a stabiliser that is grossly overpriced in my opinion.

Happy Shinless Towing!!!

As has been said modern cars have specific mounting points to which the towbar must be fitted to get type approval

My own towbar is a Brink/Nissan and I came by it as a towbar manufacturer bought it copied it tried out their prototype on my car and then fitted the Nissan bar to my car for £60 !

I think that you will find that the Towsure will be VERY similar to another well known manufacturer

Detachable does not mean invisible as some posters on this site have found out.

Update time. 

Well it has now been fitted and I am £270 lighter. It only took them just over the hour to fit. This is cheaper than any where I found to supply me the bits.  If you want a fully concealed to bar then this is not the one for you.  This is very much like the Witter Stow bar, you get to see the sockets and the cover where the swan neck clips in.  From what I have seen of the vertical Witter this will be much more concealed.

Not the neatest of jobs on the wiring. I needed to get them to give me a few more tie wraps to keep the wiring out of harms way.  Here is hoping that these scotch clips do not give me any problems later.

The tow bar is not supplied with a lock to prevent detachment.  However, it does need just under a quater turn twist to fit and remove, so I doubt it could be detached when the van is hitched.  I will try this later when it is not so flippin cold out and I have the van hitched up.

I hope this helps..

\Good job done Mark.

Al has gone back to the car dealer today as we didn't have an alco tow ball, we have a normal one, hoping to swap it over.  We didn't think to mention it to be fair and I didn't know when I went to pick up the car , good job we didn't realise at the point of hitch-up!

If you need an Alco I have one in the garage..  Let me know..

Glad that you got sorted out

The Towsure is similar to the Witter

Now that is surprising

If you have problems with the scotchlocks and I've met plenty who have (including me!) you can change them one at a time

My prefered method is to strip the car wiring and fold it back on itself to make a spike long enough to crimp into a female bullet connector

The male bullet is them crimped onto the lead to the 12N /12S socket and plugs in with a much greater area of contact

When you change vehicles you can quickly remove the wiring to transfer to the new car .

A squirt of Tri-flow on the bullets helps as well.