Tow Bar Electrics 2007 Galaxy 1:8tdci

[GRIM REAPER]

I am having a tow-bar delivered from tow-equipe next week which i intend to tow a caravan with.

Had much shaking of heads and complete lack of DIY help from ford dealer in Ellesmere Port.

Does anyone have expierience of fitting caravan electrics to this model?

Main dealer said towing electrics should only be factory fitted and any 'after market fittings' could break the ECU!

I have not ordered the car specific fitting kit as yet but need to asap.

Incidentally tow- equipe informed me that they do 'factory fit' tow-bar electrics for several ford main agents!

Any technical help hints or tips would be appreciated

[big_kev]

Considering that Ford sell the towing bracket and electrics as an accessory

 

Towbar

I think the Main Dealer does not know what he is on about.......

[RADIOTWO]

I am having a tow-bar delivered from tow-equipe next week which i intend to tow a caravan with.

Had much shaking of heads and complete lack of DIY help from ford dealer in Ellesmere Port.

Does anyone have expierience of fitting caravan electrics to this model?

Main dealer said towing electrics should only be factory fitted and any 'after market fittings' could break the ECU!

I have not ordered the car specific fitting kit as yet but need to asap.

Incidentally tow- equipe informed me that they do 'factory fit' tow-bar electrics for several ford main agents!

Any technical help hints or tips would be appreciated

 

Hi GR

 

The reason for the wiring kit, is the car wiring is called can-bus and you cannot connect direct to the

car wiring, but there is a box that converts the wiring, they are very simple to wire, and some come

as a kit specific to each car, and various prices.

 

the other part of the electrics are to supply the caravan with power to the Fridge, charge the battery,

and supply power direct from the car its self, this is called 7S wiring.

 

if you want to do this, its easy, but does not connect to the car wiring as far as the can-bus, it connects

direct to the battery, but you need to use as thick (as you can) wire, and run it through to the back of

the car(I usualy run it under the chassis) and up into cubby hole at the back, there you need to connect

something like a Smartcom, and then run the four cables from there to your 7 pin socket ie, one for the

fridge, one for battery charge, and one for the constant live, and of course the earth.

 

http://www.towsure.com/bespoke/dedicated-wiring-kits.html

 

http://www.towsure.com/product/2973-Self-S...elay_Wiring_Kit

 

hope this is of help, but please take the advise of the thick cable very important !!

 

Radiotwo

[GRIM REAPER]

Thanks for the help,just tried to order the car specific wiring loom from tow-sure but was enable to access any information specific to my particular

car such as spec or price,I was however able to order (which I haven't yet) the smart com box

I have sent an enquiry via their contact us section, just hope it is not another example of my inability to look properly!

Again thanks for the info it really helped to understand what the score was.

[AndyBee]

I am contemplating a DIY towbar installation myself, and have done some research but have not yet ordered any parts. Hence my comments are based on understanding rather than experience !

 

Ford do 3 parts as accessories for the Mk III Galaxy: The towbar itself (ie the solid metal parts - made by Westfalia I understand), although they now only supply a retractable system for the Galaxy which is a bit move involved and looks more (too) complicated for DIY purposes. [Personally, I think the detachable system for an S-Max would also fit an Galaxy, just using different bolt holes - but your dealer will probably not acknowledge this]The other bits you need are both electrical, one is the wiring and the other is a black box of electronics. The latter controls the flow of information with the cars electrical system (brake lights, fog lights, indicators, parking sensors, etc). By the way, I think the "CAN-bus" system is a VW system used on Mk II Galaxys - the Ford system is different but essentially does the same thing.

 

I have part numbers for the latter 2 items somewhere. but your dealer's parts department SHOULD be able to supply these without a problem.

 

Good luck !

[dellybeanhead]

Hi, I researched thsi too and found that the genuine Ford wiring kit is better and cheaper than any 3rd party one.

 

I fitted a Bosal Towbar as it is rated higher (nose weight) than the westfalia.

 

It was a doddle to fit DIY.

 

The electircs are dead easy.

 

So too is the tow bar.

 

well within a competent DIY'ers capability. The removable one is no more difficult than the fixed.

 

You will need to get the Garage to do a software upgrade though. This is required to get it (the elctircs) to work at all. I got the 13 pin version of the wiring kit and the relay (which is actually a CAN-BUS unit with a relay built in). You don't need to order the 3rd bit (the bracket) as this comes in the other kit. It simply plugs in to existing sockets that are ready for it. There is one lead that requires pushing into the fuse box and then a fuse adding (whcih is supplied). You can actaullay do this without removing the battery terminal as there is no risk of shorts (which means you don't have to pay Ford to unlock your stereo).

 

The Genuine Ford one is well worth fitting as it does cool stuff like, disbale your rear parking sensors, diverts the fog light power to your caravan (so you don't get glare off of the front of the van in your rear window), flashes indicators double speed if a caravan bulb has failed.

 

Hope this helps, James