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I thought I would share my towbar story as it may benefit others. Having called the dealer and being quoted $1,800 to fit a towbar to an MKV GTI I started looking for cheaper alternatives. The actual bar was cheap enough. I chose the Hayman Reece for $450 fitted. It is a tongue type, not a square tube and I asked the installer to put a rubber grommet around the cutout in the bumper. I don't mind how it looks.
The wiring was much trickier and I finally resolved it as follows.
Heavy Duty ModuLite Power w/Circuit Protection
purchased from http://www.woodys-auto-supply.com/pe...rod=T1G-119190
This allows you to tap into the tailight wiring while drawing power from the cigarette lighter in the hatch. You only need to tap three wires, left turn, right turn and tail/stop. The tail/stop sends different voltage (3v or 12v) to light brake lights versus running lights. You obviously need to use a multimeter to figure all this out. Pulling the trim out from just behing the taillights is scary but doable, no different to changing a globe.
The problem is that the output from the above unit is US style where the stop lights are the indicators as well. So you need to also buy -
2 To 3 Way Tailight Converetr
purchased from http://www.woodys-auto-supply.com/pe...rod=T1G-118158
This takes the US signal and converts it to Australian. ie it takes stop/left and stop/right and converts it to stop, left and right.
As a result I have my trailer wiring working correctly, including running lights for night driving.
Total cost of towbar was $450 for the bar plus $180 for the wiring equals $630. Much better than the $1,800 the dealer quoted. So I went and bought a trailer and still had plenty of change!
Note that I actually bought modulite model 119191, however it now seems to be discontinued as its extra features have been added to model 119190. I checked the instructions for 119190 and they are identicle to mine and describe the single brake light running light scenario that the Golf has so I am sure it will work.
The wiring was much trickier and I finally resolved it as follows.
Heavy Duty ModuLite Power w/Circuit Protection
purchased from http://www.woodys-auto-supply.com/pe...rod=T1G-119190
This allows you to tap into the tailight wiring while drawing power from the cigarette lighter in the hatch. You only need to tap three wires, left turn, right turn and tail/stop. The tail/stop sends different voltage (3v or 12v) to light brake lights versus running lights. You obviously need to use a multimeter to figure all this out. Pulling the trim out from just behing the taillights is scary but doable, no different to changing a globe.
The problem is that the output from the above unit is US style where the stop lights are the indicators as well. So you need to also buy -
2 To 3 Way Tailight Converetr
purchased from http://www.woodys-auto-supply.com/pe...rod=T1G-118158
This takes the US signal and converts it to Australian. ie it takes stop/left and stop/right and converts it to stop, left and right.
As a result I have my trailer wiring working correctly, including running lights for night driving.
Total cost of towbar was $450 for the bar plus $180 for the wiring equals $630. Much better than the $1,800 the dealer quoted. So I went and bought a trailer and still had plenty of change!
Note that I actually bought modulite model 119191, however it now seems to be discontinued as its extra features have been added to model 119190. I checked the instructions for 119190 and they are identicle to mine and describe the single brake light running light scenario that the Golf has so I am sure it will work.
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