Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > General Motorcycles only > Tow bar Fitting - Advice Please

[Ian Harris]

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

[antonye]

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.

[Ian Harris]

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?

[FiscusFish]

£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...

[Ian Harris]

Originally posted by FiscusFish

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.

[marchesini]

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

[Ian Harris]

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.

[rockhopper]

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.

[antonye]

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!

[Duke2BSteve]

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...