Fitting tow bar and wiring to a Yeti with tow prep.

[Skooter]

Fantastic info with pics - when I did my Octavia Scout I found a few really useful pics on Octy bodywork in Briskoda. Big respec for you guys who spend the time to bring us detailed info.

I bought my entire kit from Jeff at Ironbull. There was only one drama and that was the wiring kit - it was for a non trailer prep, which should have been no prob, but Jeff's instructions were for UK wiring and I had German wiring; we sussed this after determining that his wiring colour info didn't correspond to what i had in my hands. Sorted it by talking to him while seated in the spare wheel well, looking at what i had in front of me!

i would have liked the right wiring harness, but cutting down and fitting pin connectors wasn't really a prob. The kit he sold seems to specify NOT to set it up in the CPU for trailer hitch??? It even came with a sticker so service personnel wouldn't mess with it. Which is odd, as obviously the rev sensors scream whenever we reverse. I have no idea about stability control - feels great towing and we don;t do that much of it.

Stealership quotes are over the top. Jeff actually travels interstate fitting for VAG and Merc dealerships. Hope he's back on the scene soon.

[joel0407]

There was only one drama and that was the wiring kit - it was for a non trailer prep, which should have been no prob, but Jeff's instructions were for UK wiring and I had German wiring; we sussed this after determining that his wiring colour info didn't correspond to what i had in my hands. Sorted it by talking to him while seated in the spare wheel well, looking at what i had in front of me!

i would have liked the right wiring harness, but cutting down and fitting pin connectors wasn't really a prob. The kit he sold seems to specify NOT to set it up in the CPU for trailer hitch??? It even came with a sticker so service personnel wouldn't mess with it. Which is odd, as obviously the rev sensors scream whenever we reverse. I have no idea about stability control - feels great towing and we don;t do that much of it.

Stealership quotes are over the top. Jeff actually travels interstate fitting for VAG and Merc dealerships. Hope he's back on the scene soon.

I tried to get info of Jeff early on but didn't get anywhere. Reading your story makes me glad I went the way I did.

I have never heard of different wiring for different parts of the world. There is tow prep or no tow prep. Either the plug is in the back or you need to run cabling all the way to the front.

The "NOT to set it up in the CPU for trailer hitch" worries me. Sounds to me like it doesn't interface with the canbus at all?

Happy Days.

[Skooter]

It interfaces totally (otherwise nothing would work!) - the long non-trailer prep wiring has about 8 more wires than are required. The diff b/w German and British is that Germany requires the brake lights to be wired slightly differently (I think with a failsafe if the Canbus doesn't function or L & R separately). So the issue was that the German colour coding wasn't the same. Basically I removed about 4 metres of cable and used only 5 wires to the Canbus unit that comes with all trailer hitch kits. Obviously I would have much preferred a simple plug end and correct length, but it works fine.

As for the VCDS settings stuff - I'm a little baffled - if Jeff was around i try and get an answer from him; if we used the trailer every day i would definitely look into it!

[joel0407]

It interfaces totally (otherwise nothing would work!) - the long non-trailer prep wiring has about 8 more wires than are required. The diff b/w German and British is that Germany requires the brake lights to be wired slightly differently (I think with a failsafe if the Canbus doesn't function or L & R separately). So the issue was that the German colour coding wasn't the same. Basically I removed about 4 metres of cable and used only 5 wires to the Canbus unit that comes with all trailer hitch kits. Obviously I would have much preferred a simple plug end and correct length, but it works fine.

All of Europe has separate left and right tail lights. I'm happy to be corrected if you can share a link that says they are different.
Here is the 13 pin euro plug that is standard Skoda: Tow Bracket Wiring from Adrian Tyldesley

It sounds to me like it interfaces one way. In that I mean it reads the canbus signal and turns the lights on but it doesn't talk to the car. It only listens and hides. CANBUS is a standard so it could just be a generic unit that will work with many different brands of vehicle.

if Jeff was around i try and get an answer from him

That was why I gave up on him.

Happy Days.

[Blue103TDIDSG]

Re Ironbull Towbars

Hey guys

Just Googled "Ironbull Towbars" and nothing came up
Website has "gone"

Sadly seems that is the end of Jeff
I found him most helpful albeit sometimes a bit hard to get hold of him

[Gazman]

I know this is an old post, but a Google search brought me here. In Australia, I have been quoted anywhere from $1602.00 to $1939.15 for the supply and installation of a tow bar for my MY15 Yeti. On top of this, the dealership charges $45 a day for a loan car. Is it worth having a Skoda dealership install a tow bar or should I explore my options if there are any?

[Makofthetribe]

Recoding

I didn't take any photos with the bumper off or how the actual tow bar was fitted. It’s really simple though. The bumper comes off by removing these covers:



Like this:


And then you can remove these nuts:


There are 4 plugs/clips under the bumper. 2 screws at the edges which join the bumper to the inner guard and that’s about it. The bumper is not much more than a cosmetic thing. There is nothing solid behind it, which is a good thing when someone bumps you in a car park. You might break a couple of clips but the plastic bumper should bounce back and since it’s not painted it shouldn’t show a scratch too bad.

Once the bumper is off, there is a pressed metal bar that needs to be removed. There are 3 screws in one end and 4 in the other, if I remember correctly. It gets chucked out.

The tow bar itself is very simple. There are 2 flat, vertical tongues that insert into the ends of the chassis. Then 2 bolts screw into the tongues from inside the wheel arches. There is a large square tube that runs across the back of the car with the socket for the tow hitch in the middle. All the bolts have torque settings so a Torque Wrench is needed to get the right tension on the bolts.
Here is the socket visible with the cover off:


And the cover on:

Did you have to recode the electrics, if so how?

[Makofthetribe]

Yeti towbar electrics

Joel

Which uk dealer did you get towprep module wiring kit from and did you have to get it coded by skoda after fitting?



There are 4 plugs/clips under the bumper. 2 screws at the edges which join the bumper to the inner guard and that’s about it. The bumper is not much more than a cosmetic thing. There is nothing solid behind it, which is a good thing when someone bumps you in a car park. You might break a couple of clips but the plastic bumper should bounce back and since it’s not painted it shouldn’t show a scratch too bad.

Once the bumper is off, there is a pressed metal bar that needs to be removed. There are 3 screws in one end and 4 in the other, if I remember correctly. It gets chucked out.

The tow bar itself is very simple. There are 2 flat, vertical tongues that insert into the ends of the chassis. Then 2 bolts screw into the tongues from inside the wheel arches. There is a large square tube that runs across the back of the car with the socket for the tow hitch in the middle. All the bolts have torque settings so a Torque Wrench is needed to get the right tension on the bolts.
Here is the socket visible with the cover off:


And the cover on:
[/QUOTE]

[MarkCros]

What an old but very useful topic. I searched the Internet for a long time for information on installing a towbar on a Skoda Yeti, but this forum turned out to be the most informative. Thanks to the author for spending his time and making the necessary photos and comments in the topic. As I understand it, when buying original electrical wiring, no adaptation of the control unit is needed.