Quote:
Originally Posted by yusaf1
I am looking at putting a towbar on my v40 but it seems that to have one supplied and fitted is about £250.
I'm thinking about a used one but cannot find anyone that will fit it and do the electrics.
I'm in Surrey, does anyone know of someone who can fit this for me?
Thanks.
|
250 quid is real cheap for a good towbar and electrics, so I would not waste your hard stolen cash on an iffy used one, as they do corrode and the electric socket might not work or even be wired correctly.
A Volvo stealer will charge one arm and two legs for the parts kit and about 5 hours to fit and test it. Might be close to a grand in total!
When you fit the electrics, make sure to use the correct fuse (The kit only has 2 fuses) on every wire. I think the OEM kit just has one big fuse on the earth return and brake feed wire.
The connection to the brakes is very important in fuse and bulb type terms, because if you blow the 15A fuse in the footwell box, none of the brake lights work AND you will not get a brake bulb fail warning, which can be dangerous.
15A is not much for all the brake lights, as the 3 normal ones can pull nearly 8A, so there is a real good chance that the fuse will blow if you use normal bulbs, rather than more efficient approved LED's.
If you fit LED's on the caravan or horse box, then just use 5A for the brake line fuse.
The other option is to take a slight risk and increase the main fuse to 20A and then use a 7.5A for the feed to the socket.
You will also need a universal adapter, as the pin wiring for some trailers, caravans or horse boxes is different.
Finally, it's a good idea to buy one of those emergency starter batteries that are in a sealed box with the cables and clips (You can also make one), as anything left plugged in can trash the cars battery. A horse box trailer light nailed my first OEM battery a few years ago, although the kids playing with a boom box did not help either. The ADAC (AA equivalent) chap had a real small neat jump start battery with intergral light and charger.