MK6 Golf Towing / Tow Bar thread

[epicmac]

The price of the VW towbar has scared me off. As I mainly want it for a bike rack I can't use some of the Euro style ones where the ball and mount are all one piece as the rack needs to be bolted between the ball and the mount. Hayman Reese do one for $328rrp for the bar and $204rrp for the ECU to allow it to connect to the VW. Plus installation. Like the VW one it requires the rear bumper to be cut. It should work out about half the VW price.

[peedman]

Im guessing you've already considered roof racks and bike rack instead if your not actually going to tow anythinmg?

[epicmac]

Im guessing you've already considered roof racks and bike rack instead if your not actually going to tow anythinmg?

Yes I looked at racks. The VW ones, like everything aftermarket VW are expensive ($450 for the racks + $320 for each bike mount). Out of the two, I'd rather have a towbar for the very occasional time I actually tow. Currently about once every 2 years.

The Hayman Reese tow setup should be $600-$800 cheaper than VW's after installation.

[rossw]

SInce I have a Novated lease, I had to pay the VW price to get my towbar . I thought I'd post some pictures so people can see what you get for ~$1500

The bar is still the NZ made Best bars one, rather than the more sophisticated Westphalia type that you get in Europe. That may be an ADR compliance issue.

The bar is a vertical hitch receiver type, and the loose hitch comes with a chrome towball and cover, and a rubber protector for your shins . There's also a plastic plug that fills up the hole when the hitch is not there.

There is a hole cut in the lower bumper panel, but this has some edging added to neaten it up. A steel plate painted black is added behind to blank off the opening. It's pretty thin paint though and I don't know how long it will be before it starts to rust. At least it's easily replaced. For the money, I would have preferred them to use the proper VW part with the insert.

The connector is the 13 pin Euro type, but you get an adaptor to alter this to the 7 pin flat type. The hitch comes packaged in a bag that looks like it's made from leftover floor mats. The hitch is a tight fit inside, but it's a sturdy bag.

The hitch is pretty easy to remove and fit, and there is a tapered pin with a security clip to hold it in place.

Here's the photos:






One detail I've noticed is that the towball does not obscure the numberplate, so no fines when forgetting to take it off

[rossw]

Some further information. The standard 13-7 pin adaptor supplied with the towbar does not have the link that grounds pin 12 (pin 12 is the trailer detect pin). I have added a link between pin 12 and pin 3(earth) and now my fog light is disabled when it's supposed to be. That seems to be the only indication that the car is in trailer mode.

For bike racks maybe leave this link out.

Further investigating the connnections in the 13-7 pin adaptor:

Pin 2 (rear fog light) on the car is connected to pin 5 (electric brakes) on the trailer. Well I guess if you have to tow a trailer with electric brakes, you'll find some other way to wire up the brake controller.

Reversing lights (Pin 8 ) are not connected at all, so they will not work even if your trailer has them.

Both pin 5 (Right side tail lights) and pin 7 (left side tail lights) on the car are connected to the trailer tail lights via diodes. This is so that the one side only parking light with ignition off function will still work I suppose. They could have just used one or the other (maybe right hand side?) and used the remaining wire in the cable for the reversing lights. I haven't worried about it because my box trailer doesn't need it.

EDIT: From posts seen elsewhere about the issue, it seems that you need the tail lights of both sides connected to avoid false positives when detecting globe failures. Apparently the ECU interprets the lack of load on the side that isn't used as a globe failure.

[m_wave]

GTI Towbar removal Adelaide

Hi All

I've just purchased a second hand 2010 Golf GTI which has a towbar. I don't think it's factory fitted, but wondering if anyone could suggest a reputable person to remove it for me?

I'm not concerned about the actual bar removal, which I can do myself, however I've heard the wiring harness can be tricky.

After it's removed I'll be looking to sell so keep that in mind as well.

Thanks in advance

[AdamD]

I've just purchased a second hand 2010 Golf GTI which has a towbar. I don't think it's factory fitted, but wondering if anyone could suggest a reputable person to remove it for me?

Presumably any decent mechanic could remove it. Shouldn't be too difficult. You could always search for a towbar specialist, or else your dealer.

[m_wave]

Thanks Adam, I just had the tow bar removed including electrics so it's available if anyone would like to flick me a PM. I'm willing to do a sweet deal for what is a pretty expensive bit of kit from the factory. Ideally if I can find a fellow GTI owner we can swap valance as well, but that might be pushing it!

[118stip]

MK6 GTI Aftermarket Towbar Help

Hey VW Watercooled.

I have been trying to get an aftermarket towbar sorted for the new GTI. I owned a 2010 mk6 118tsi before this and had a hayman reece towbar fitted and it was fine, and alot cheaper for $700. I thought when purchasing this vehicle that I would be able to get the same bar for the GTI. Turns out that hayman reece state that it does not fir the GTI.

I am slightly pissed that I may have to go and spend $1800 for a genuine VW towbar from the dealership..

Does anyone know if I have any other options left?

Thanks in advance guys, hopefully you will all be able to save me over a grand somehow lol..

118Stip

[Cam89]

I took the plunge and bought the genuine tow bar as it is covered by VW warranty (and was in the same boat unable to find an aftermarket one), apparently the problem lies in the plug for the trailer and the traction control (not sure if this is right just what I was told by the dealer). The genuine one integrates perfectly and is unnoticeable when not on the car.

Thanks Cam

[118stip]

I took the plunge and bought the genuine tow bar as it is covered by VW warranty (and was in the same boat unable to find an aftermarket one), apparently the problem lies in the plug for the trailer and the traction control (not sure if this is right just what I was told by the dealer). The genuine one integrates perfectly and is unnoticeable when not on the car.

Thanks Cam

I recieved a quote last night for fitment of a genuine VW towbar and aftermarket electrics from the UK for $1010. I am definitely going to take this. I still cant justify the extra cost to go with a genuine bar.

[GTD Dubber]

Off the track a little, but I have a genuine VW bar and I took the trailer off after I had accidently locked the car and the car alarm went off. A benefit of the genuine, if someone tries to steal the trailer, off goes the alarm. Not sure if this feature works with a non-genuine one.

[Silvertfox]

Haha! Me thinks the motion sensors were on the job! Genuine or non-genuine tow bar won't make any difference to that!

[GTD Dubber]

Ahhh, okie, ta.

[1stVeeDub]

Hi everyone, I have a 2011MY Golf Comfortline 118TSI manual and need to tow a small 15 foot sailing boat that weighs about 70kg excluding trailer. I have seen the webpage for Shop 1 Auto at Gladesville suggesting fitting a Hayman Reese 2050W unit including a #4827 ECU protector. It looks a neat unit compared to what I had previously on an old VS Commodore. My car has the dealer fitted reversing sensors as well as CANBus alarm. I wondered if anybody else had had a Hayman Reese bar fitted by Shop 1 and whether the installation was able to connect OK to the CANbus system and din't impact on the reversing sensors and ESC. Were their any issues with a non standard fitting?