Tow bar Fitting - Advice Please
 

I know you can't really generalise, and costs will vary between vehicles, but can anyone give me a rough idea of how much it costs to get a towbar fitted?

Also, does anyone have any recommendations for who might be able to fit a towbar, either a mobile service in the South East, or a company located in the SE London / Kent / Surrey area.

TIA

Ian

What vehicle and what make of towbar is it?

I fitted a Towsure to my BMW 3 series and it was very easy! You just had to remove the existing bumper, unbolt the bumper mounts and replace them with the supplied ones. The longest part was drilling two holes - I didn't have the right size drill bit so needed a trip to B&Q but the car was in bits! Then when I did get one, the battery died halfway through...

They're not that hard to fit if you know the right end of a screwdriver.

Its an Alfa 164 and I haven't bought a towbar yet....I'm just toying with the idea of fitting one myself or getting it done properly!

I've seen a few sites giving DIY info, and can get a bar to fit myself for about £150....just wondering what the premium will be to get someone to do it for me...I'm guessing it will be in the £400 region.

Regarding drilling holes, my main concern is getting them in the right place... did you jack the car up, put the bar in place, mark the holes and drill from the bottom up?

£360 all in, from Trident Trailers in kent http://www.tridenttrailers.com/Towbars.htm

We had our Vectra done by their Canterbury branch. Took it in at about 10 in the morning, had lunch in Canterbury, picked it up afterward.

All on the 7th July..... Very spooky listening to the radio in the street and Dixons knowing but for taking the car in you'd have been there...

In the circumstances, £360 sounds like a bargain!

Thanks for that, I'd seen the Trident Trailer's site, I'll give them a ring and get a quote.

oh. oh, I know this one
 

Just had it done to my car. I got a removable one that locks into place on my M5. A guy from Southend travelled to my place in Bexleyheath and supplied and fitted it for £320 (I think). As I recall, I think supply only from TowEquipe / Towsure was £260 so I was confused to why he would travel that far and fit for £60 but he get's the parts at trade so ended up being a no-brainer for me really. I wasn't confident I would do it right and the thought of my bike falling off due to my incompetence wasn't an option.

As it happens, the towbar he in stalled was a removable one that is the exact same one supplied to BMW except they charge £1200 to supply and fit it!!! Go figure.

Oh, his name and number: Ian 0184 385 3037

HTH

simon

Cheers Simon, £320 sounds VERY cheap for a detachable bar fully fitted...probably a bit extra for me , as I'm a bit further round the M25, but I'll definitely give him a ring.

I fitted on to the Fiat myself, i think it cost £75 from a company who advertise on Ebay. Took me most of sunday afternoon to do including the wiring.

For the BMW, you have to replace the bumper mounts with longer versions (longer into the car) that need an extra hole drilled to bolt it in place. The Towsure kit was an exact copy of the BMW original one, so once you'd lifted up the floor mats there were already dimples in the tops of the runners, so you knew exactly where to drill!

The hardest part was the wiring of the lights, but it just took some time with the multi-meter on the rear light cluster to figure it all out.

Total cost was less than £50 as I got the towbar well cheap off ebay (like £11 or something!) then a fiver for a ball, about 8 quid for the pre-wired socket and a couple of quid for a rubber cover for me ball - gotta be safe!

Shame your not up in the Swindon area, had one fitted to my Toyota Hilux last week, done on my doorstep. Massive thick structured bar, which was bolted to main chassis, done with twin electrics, all in 2 hrs. Only £227!!!! Jobs a gooden...:D

I've got a Witter towbar on my Alfa 156.
I got the 'bar on e-bay for b*gger all and took it to my local (non-dealer) Alfa garage for fitting. It took about 3 hours to fit mainly due to wiring as the 156 rear lights work off a programmed ecu....

BTW...have you considered the conversion that my garage mate has done to his 164...2 x 3.0L V6 motors (one in the front/one in back), 4WD....monstrous!

RX

Alfa Mike from Rusper Alfa? Yeah, Mike looks after my 164, and he took me for a spin in it a couple of months ago...word is he's working with a South African Alfa Tuner to build one with 720hp (360 in the front and 360 in the back) now that will really shift!

Indeed..the very same!
Last time I had my car serviced he was going to lend me the Bimotore 164 as a "loan" car...unfortunately I had to change my plan at the last minute so I was able to borrow it for the day!
I believe he's currently messing with a Maserati Biturbo motor (or two)....

E pazzo!

RX

I have had towbars fitted to my last 3 Passats all by 'Jims Towbars' mobile fitting 0800 801215, the last one cost me £140-mind you that was 3 years ago, got to call them again since my new Passat arrived week before last.

Stop press: new number(amended above) just had a quote from them for the new Passat, single electrics £190

John

[Edited on 31-3-2006 by Monty]

i had mine fitted by an outfit that come and do it on your doorstep for you 2003 vectra about 180 quid (witter bar) they are in the yellow pages and i think they are based in southend , but cover the southe east area at least,

Many thanks for all the advice...I think the bit about a multimeter and the rear light cluster has put me off DIYing (not to mention the image of the trailer parting company half way up the M11), so I think I'll give the outfit in Southend a ring.

Thanks again, Ian

If you're going to Southend then you're more than welcome to bring it round mine and I can give you a hand fitting it - Chelmsford would probably be closer.

Antonye, Many thanks for the terrific offer...I was going to contact the Southend firm to see if they could offer a mobile service to my part of Kent (based on the bargain service Marchenisi received). I've found a place just around the corner from the train station I use, where I could leave the car with them for the day. As long as their quote is reasonable , I think I'll go with them...

Cheers again for the offer...what a fine bunch of people the DSC are!!!

No worries mate, just let me know if you need a hand.

i got a towbar fitted in my Transit connect.......£150 and they picked up all the electrics as well.

Simon I bought one on line from Binks for my Alfa GTV for about £200.00. A removeable bar one so when not in use you can take the ball bar off and stowe it in the boot and not spoil the Alfa look. I fitted it myself they said 2/3 hours work ?

But it took most of the day but got there in the end the electrics came with it but didn't fancy doing it so took it to a Guildford trailers and they connected it all up for £30.0 Righ Result works very well and a hiden when not in use. If you want can sedd you a picture..
Mark

That should say SEND you a picture (too much Wine);)

I did get a quote from Bishops the main Alfa dealer in Guildford/Woking and they wanted £500.00 for the bar + about £400.00 to fit it :lol::lol::lol:
ther servicing is just as expensive:flame:

Ian,

Sent you a U2U ref a s/h 164 'bar.

RX

tow bar discussion on a ducati site ----lol caravans next!??:sing: