XC90 - Westfalia Detachable towbar fitting guide

[stephenlumb67]

Originally Posted by Nigetill

Both ways work perfectly. There are black pads thet peel off to reveal the horizontal holes required ti fit the 6 bolts of the Westfalia toebar.
The volvo version you have listed is different. I believe you must remove towing eye and exhaust bracket shown in fig 11b of the Westfalia instructions. This will give you the holes required for the vertical bolts. ( I guess the tow bar goes on followed by the exhaust bracket and towing eye on their respective sides)
YouTube has a good video of the second tow bar installation.

Sorry for the split posts but I'm trying to hit the magic 30 so I can pm.

Thanks again for the quick response. At least I now feel a bit more confident on a self install.

Steve

[stephenlumb67]

Hi all,

Just an update - having spent 2 half days at the weekend, have finally installed the towbar to my MY13 R-design with twin exhausts. Still to do the electrics but imagine the real hard work is done now.

Undid all the exhaust mounts, including the one between the front and rear axles to allow more space between exhausts and bumper to offer up the towbar. Propped up between front and rear axles using a few weight lifting plates so that exhaust didnt drop too far (wasnt sure if it might snap from the front).

First day, trying to put the towbar in place was a real struggle as space in to its final location is tight. Found that there was sealant in the area which required trimming otherwise the towbar just wouldnt fit. Also had to make the bumper cut as it was difficult to offer up without doing this first as bumper had a thicker backing plastic that just wouldnt cut with a stanley knife; had to use a mini hacksaw. Once in, found that it was such a tight fit that it virtually held the towbar in place. Could only locate 4 of the 6 bolts.

Second day, and bit of hammering with rubber mallet and sort of bench pressing the towbar to push it up, finally located the final 2 bolts. Hard work, and whilst hammering away, did wonder why I didnt pay someone the £120 to do for me! Now its in, am pleased that I did eventually do it myself.

Definitely a 2 person job for me. Firstly lifting the towbar in place (heavy!), then pushing the bolts through whilst I was hammering away underneath, and finally to hold the bolts from above with a socket wrench whilst I tightened from below.

A big thanks to "Nigetill" on this forum for posting the additional spacers so that both my exhausts clear the towbar. Did try without the spacers and noticed one exhaust just about cleared the towbar with about 2mm to spare. The otherside was touching so thought best to install. The spacers give an extra 20mm clearance approx.

Also putting the exhaust back was awkward. Its fairly heavy so had to use a car jack to lift in to position and then tighten up.

Am only planning to fit a bike rack on the back, and is my first towbar. The Westfalia towbar is a nice piece of kit as its out of view when not in use.

Now for the electrics...

Cheers
Steve

[Ham]

Originally Posted by stephenlumb67

Hi all,

Just an update - having spent 2 half days at the weekend, have finally installed the towbar to my MY13 R-design with twin exhausts. Still to do the electrics but imagine the real hard work is done now.

Undid all the exhaust mounts, including the one between the front and rear axles to allow more space between exhausts and bumper to offer up the towbar. Propped up between front and rear axles using a few weight lifting plates so that exhaust didnt drop too far (wasnt sure if it might snap from the front).

First day, trying to put the towbar in place was a real struggle as space in to its final location is tight. Found that there was sealant in the area which required trimming otherwise the towbar just wouldnt fit. Also had to make the bumper cut as it was difficult to offer up without doing this first as bumper had a thicker backing plastic that just wouldnt cut with a stanley knife; had to use a mini hacksaw. Once in, found that it was such a tight fit that it virtually held the towbar in place. Could only locate 4 of the 6 bolts.

Second day, and bit of hammering with rubber mallet and sort of bench pressing the towbar to push it up, finally located the final 2 bolts. Hard work, and whilst hammering away, did wonder why I didnt pay someone the £120 to do for me! Now its in, am pleased that I did eventually do it myself.

Definitely a 2 person job for me. Firstly lifting the towbar in place (heavy!), then pushing the bolts through whilst I was hammering away underneath, and finally to hold the bolts from above with a socket wrench whilst I tightened from below.

A big thanks to "Nigetill" on this forum for posting the additional spacers so that both my exhausts clear the towbar. Did try without the spacers and noticed one exhaust just about cleared the towbar with about 2mm to spare. The otherside was touching so thought best to install. The spacers give an extra 20mm clearance approx.

Also putting the exhaust back was awkward. Its fairly heavy so had to use a car jack to lift in to position and then tighten up.

Am only planning to fit a bike rack on the back, and is my first towbar. The Westfalia towbar is a nice piece of kit as its out of view when not in use.

Now for the electrics...

Cheers
Steve

It sounds like we have had a very similar weekend! I am also part way through fitting a Westfalia to a 2013 R-Design. The hard work is done and the wiring in place with just the final connections to the trailer module and fuse board left to do in the morning. I have fitted the bar without any exhaust spacers as my tail pipes have cut-outs in the top which line up with the bottom of the bar, giving sufficient clearance. I did make a couple of small cuts to the lower trim of the bumper as it was pressing up against the bar and also a small cut to clear the hand wheel of the detachable bit, but nothing drastic. So far so good!

[stephenlumb67]

Hi all,

Since there are no longer any photos with this thread and which originally helped me a great deal when installing mine, I have attached a few photos from my installation.

First photo viewed from behind. Can just about make out the towbar socket red plug. Second photo shows the clearance of the black horizontal towbar clearance over the exhausts. I used a 20mm spacer but could work with a normal 6mm washer to provide sufficient clearance. Third photo shows the cut required to the bumper (I know its quite rough but its not visible so I'm not intending to do any more work on it). You can just about make out the electrics plug which is folded up when not in use. Fourth one with the Thule (3+1) bike rack mounted in its normal position. Fifth photo shows the tilt function on the rack for accessing the boot.

Hope its useful to anyone as this thread was to me when originally deciding to do the installation myself.

Cheers

[mauser1905]

Thread has been very helpful. I was quoted 900ish for dealer fit towbar 13 Pin.

Now that FRF Volvo were kind enough to offer 15% discount on total delivery price to Scotland and PF Jones Westfalia detachable towbar on the online price, looks forwards to receiving these tomorrow. These will go on my 2013MY XC90 Exec.

I have been quoted £120plus vat for installation only in Aberdeen. But doesnt looks like if that installer has experience with Westfalia on XC90 as I had to fill in info. Perhaps he supplies and fit Witter which obviously can be seen even when detached.

[stephenlumb67]

Originally Posted by mauser1905

Thread has been very helpful. I was quoted 900ish for dealer fit towbar 13 Pin.

Now that FRF Volvo were kind enough to offer 15% discount on total delivery price to Scotland and PF Jones Westfalia detachable towbar on the online price, looks forwards to receiving these tomorrow. These will go on my 2013MY XC90 Exec.

I have been quoted £120plus vat for installation only in Aberdeen. But doesnt looks like if that installer has experience with Westfalia on XC90 as I had to fill in info. Perhaps he supplies and fit Witter which obviously can be seen even when detached.

Hi Mauser1905.

Dealer quoted me over £800. Got the 7 pin electrics (as will only be used for bike rack) from FRF about £60, PF Jones westfalia £220, Thule 3 bike with additional bike adaptor £424 from toys4cars, thule convertor for 7 pin to 13 pin £14. Installer quoted me £120 for fitting but decided to fit myself. Saved a fair bit so was looking at side steps (easy access for kids and protection against other car doors) but unsure whether it would fit my r-design, so got the car professionally detailed.

Cheers

[mauser1905]

Hi stephenlumb67,

Good to see the pictures of your R-design fitted with towbar. I did see a volvo xc90 outside my workplace with a Witter towbar 7 Pin. Doesnt look nice all open.

Volvo towbar comes with a panel cover which can be used to cover the opened bumper part when using detachable. However when compared to Westfalia's minimal cut to bumper and none visibility when detached, nothing else comes closer.

FRF Volvo did advise that EU norms coming with 13 Pin electrics as standard and oly xc90 was still provided with 7 Pin electrics. However just to keep compatibility in future I went ahead with 13 Pin.

I contacted 3 local firms for towbar installation, 2 of those talked nicely at the beginning but when came to know I have parts already supplied they closed the door saying wont do thrid party installation only. Such a shame not much competition up here in Aberdeen.

Third one ok to do installation 120 plus vat, however from talking doesnt seem like he has fitted this arrangement on xc90 earlier. Mostly Witter.

I know I might struggle on this bit on my own but I will give it a shot.

[mauser1905]

Originally Posted by stephenlumb67

Hi Mauser1905.

was looking at side steps (easy access for kids and protection against other car doors) but unsure whether it would fit my r-design, so got the car professionally detailed.

Cheers

I am getting running board which has rubber step inserts on those for 575 fitted at dealer.You can check in volvo accessories website for the model and associated accessories.

[jimmyging]

Hi I hope I'm in the right thread . I am looking to fit a bike rack for a holiday to France this summer and have no tow bar . I have a d5 2007 2.5 D xc 90 . It looks like the westphalia from pf jones will do the trick with a 7 pin .All the previous thread seems to be for newer models or can I follow the OP instructions . Any advice really appreciated .
Jimmy

[graemenoble]

I went for the westfalia detachable tow bar on my 2012 R Design. Fitting was as described before in a few of the very helpful posts.

I removed the silver trim from the bumper as gave better access for fitting the towbar, although a nightmare to get the two sides clipped back in to replace the trim.

I ordered the wiring kit (13 pin) from Volvo Aberdeen who were very helpful, trailer module and installation kit for the R design. Wiring kit was the easiest I have ever fitted (Fitted a Corsa, Toyota Verso, Insignia and also a Kuga).

I have found out that the installation kit (£46.99) is only for the original thule towbar. Not any use for any other towbar. (it is two exhaust brackets and fixings to lower the two exhausts. So if anybody is looking for a cheap kit for a thule exhaust, give me a shout.

I can confirm that the right hand side exhaust is about 20mm clear for the towbar and no spacers needed. The left hand side was a lot closer, so I fitted the two 10mm spacers and M12x50mm bolts that was supplied with the westfalia towbar, which dropped the exhaust bracket down a bit (but not noticably lower than the other exhaust).

The front two bolts are the easiest to fit. We used a trolley jack to ease the towbar up into position to put the other two bolts into each side. Just remember to put the back bolts into the bracket before placing into position (as they wont fit once bracket is inside, one mistake I realised quite quickly. LOL).

Overall fitting took about 3 hours with two persons a real necessity..

The software upgrade is to switch off the fog light when caravan/trailer fitted. Volvo quoted £16.99, but that didnt include workshop charge. Don't think I will bother