XC60 Towbar fitting guide

[Clan]

Originally Posted by psung

Clan whats your opinion on the Brink towbar? I heard Volvo use Brink towbar as they don't make their own? The volvo brand one is about double the price of the Brink.

Brink and/or Thule make them for volvo to volvo specifications which includes collapsible side pieces , the manufacturer would not be allowed to sell these identical towbars to anyone other than to Volvo of course . I have seen very rusty Brink and Thule towbars , I would think the surface finish would be in volvo's specifications too . you get what you pay for ..

This kind of thing has been the case for 50 + years , Volvo make the body shell and engine and gearbox , that's about it . They imported £50 million of parts a year from the UK in the 1970's . I knew the owner of a local rubber factory in the middle of a small market town , he was given the contract to make volvo accelerator pedal rubbers in 1990 , He showed me a prototype , I did not recognise it , but later found it on the new 850 ! You would be shocked with volvo's level of detail , materials and methods in the specification sheets for just an accelerator pedal rubber , it turned out they wanted auto brake pedal rubbers too . It we are 30 years forward from there now , 850 pedal rubbers never wore out ... just 20 miles away there was a Girling brake factory which made the 340 rear brakes , they had to use a special rubber seal to volvo's specification , whist other manufactures were quite happy to take the standard parts , that is why , sometimes 30 years later a 340 would still have the original dry and freely moving cylinders and shoes . I could go on , But that is why Vovo is a premium car, mechanically anyway .

[rikernumber1]

Hi all,

Just purchased 2011 XC60 which already has 'single' genuine Volvo 7 pin 12s type socket fitted - and it works just fine. However, I tow a caravan, so I'd like to upgrade the socket to a 13 pin type with power for the leisure battery and ignition switched power for the fridge. It seems the easiest/cheapest way to do this is to leave the trailer lights and module well alone (just wire them in to the 13 pin socket instead of the existing 7 pin socket) and simply split the existing permanent 40A feed that comes in to the rear cargo fuse box in to a separate fused circuit, with a relay which operates when the ignition is switched on. My question is: is there anything I can use in that area of the car that is only live when the ignition is on (not lights)? I was hoping to use the power socket but it seems it's permanently live. Note that this is to actuate a relay only so it doesn't need to be heavy duty.

Thanks,

Phillip

[Clan]

Originally Posted by rikernumber1

Hi all,

Just purchased 2011 XC60 which already has 'single' genuine Volvo 7 pin 12s type socket fitted - and it works just fine. However, I tow a caravan, so I'd like to upgrade the socket to a 13 pin type with power for the leisure battery and ignition switched power for the fridge. It seems the easiest/cheapest way to do this is to leave the trailer lights and module well alone (just wire them in to the 13 pin socket instead of the existing 7 pin socket) and simply split the existing permanent 40A feed that comes in to the rear cargo fuse box in to a separate fused circuit, with a relay which operates when the ignition is switched on. My question is: is there anything I can use in that area of the car that is only live when the ignition is on (not lights)? I was hoping to use the power socket but it seems it's permanently live. Note that this is to actuate a relay only so it doesn't need to be heavy duty.

Thanks,

Phillip

Probably not, car wiring is now completely different , modules have permanent live and are woken up by a computer message coming in through the network signal wire ...
That is where the trailer module comes in .

The best way is to get a new 13 pin socket/lead and trailer module and get it programmed .. competitively priced ..

It has been many years since volvo stopped selling 7 pin kits i'm surprised yours has one !

[rikernumber1]

Thanks for the advice - I'm getting this same story from multiple places. I suspect the existing tow bar and 7 pin electrics were fitted when the car was new back in 2011 - not sure when Volvo stopped selling 7 pin kits but that is 8.5 years ago now!

A whole new kit from Volvo seems like an expensive way to go when half of what I need is already in place. I may just run a separate fused line direct from the battery and use a smart relay that detects voltage to actuate (i.e. will only actuate when engine is running and voltage is higher). That's a nuisance to do (i.e. run the cable) but it will be significantly cheaper than a Volvo kit and will be entirely separate from the car electrics so won't interfere with them.

That said - when you say 'competitively priced' - how much does that mean? I had a quote from a tow bar fitter, who said it would cost £230 to fit the genuine Volvo kit; and my local Volvo dealer told me all I needed was an adaptor plug which goes in the existing 7 pin socket - £48. This was after I told him I needed the extra electrics to run the fridge etc. That solution will definitively not work as the existing 7 pin plug only has trailer lights and no spare pins, so that latter advice from the dealer was total rubbish.

Thanks again for the advice above though!

[Clan]

Originally Posted by rikernumber1

Thanks for the advice - I'm getting this same story from multiple places. I suspect the existing tow bar and 7 pin electrics were fitted when the car was new back in 2011 - not sure when Volvo stopped selling 7 pin kits but that is 8.5 years ago now!

A whole new kit from Volvo seems like an expensive way to go when half of what I need is already in place. I may just run a separate fused line direct from the battery and use a smart relay that detects voltage to actuate (i.e. will only actuate when engine is running and voltage is higher). That's a nuisance to do (i.e. run the cable) but it will be significantly cheaper than a Volvo kit and will be entirely separate from the car electrics so won't interfere with them.

That said - when you say 'competitively priced' - how much does that mean? I had a quote from a tow bar fitter, who said it would cost £230 to fit the genuine Volvo kit; and my local Volvo dealer told me all I needed was an adaptor plug which goes in the existing 7 pin socket - £48. This was after I told him I needed the extra electrics to run the fridge etc. That solution will definitively not work as the existing 7 pin plug only has trailer lights and no spare pins, so that latter advice from the dealer was total rubbish.

Thanks again for the advice above though!

you can get your heavy duty feed from the one that feeds the trailer module , that is direct to the battery and properly fused ( 40A i believe )

[rikernumber1]

Originally Posted by Clan

you can get your heavy duty feed from the one that feeds the trailer module , that is direct to the battery and properly fused ( 40A i believe )

Yes - that's the one I found - it is fused at 40A. The fuse on the existing trailer module (after the 40A fuse in the same circuit) is only 15A, so I'm going to leave that well alone and split the feed before the 40A fuse (the cable is clearly heavier going in to the 40A fuse than coming out to the trailer module), and fuse that new feed separately as well. It's worth a go anyway!

[t0n01]

Originally Posted by jdhx

I have had a witter tow bar fitted to my new XC60 but so far only with a universal wiring kit. Where can I get wiring kit that provides full integration?

Thanks

how did you wire up universal kit

[charles p]

Originally Posted by rikernumber1

Yes - that's the one I found - it is fused at 40A. The fuse on the existing trailer module (after the 40A fuse in the same circuit) is only 15A, so I'm going to leave that well alone and split the feed before the 40A fuse (the cable is clearly heavier going in to the 40A fuse than coming out to the trailer module), and fuse that new feed separately as well. It's worth a go anyway!

I just fitted a 7 pin electrical kit to my V60CC and used an ECS dedicated kit from Just Tow. Piece of cake and I doubt that the 13pin will be any different.
£98 and 15 minutes of your time is an easy way to deal with the devil that is Canbus wiring.
https://www.just-tow.co.uk/product/v...-to-june-2017/

[DarrenNJ]

Just a quick Q. I have the Volvo fitted towbar. 2015 detachable. Do I need to sand the paint off it before use. Thanks in advance

[Clan]

Originally Posted by DarrenNJ

Just a quick Q. I have the Volvo fitted towbar. 2015 detachable. Do I need to sand the paint off it before use. Thanks in advance

Not sure what you thought you had to sand the paint off , but No you don't , use as is 👍