Towing Eyelet Attachment Points

[roscoe1974]

Evening all,

Apologies if this has been covered previously, but am wondering if anyone's noticed the same thing on their Tig :

Today I decided to just check out the light recovery points at front & rear on the Tig (MY 2011 TDi with no Towbar or anything unusual).

I popped the small front panel off (just to the inside of the Drivers side Headlight) and saw the threaded bolt hole that the recovery eyelet screws into. No problem.

So then I check the back and after popping the panel off (again, Drivers side on the plastic bumper) discover that it opens onto a black metal square-section tube and there's no threaded bolt hole to which to attach the recovery eyelet.

Can anyone tell me if they've had the same discovery on their Tig? Is it possible that this a part of the Towbar assembly (which I didn't order and certainly don't have the rest of as far as I can see) and it's covering up the actual threaded bolt hole? Or is it possible that the access panel is just on the incorrect side of the car and the threaded bolt hole is actually on the Passenger side?

Any experience would be appreciated!

[Umai Naa!!]

Having fitted around 30-odd Tiguan towbars, I can tell you that the threaded hole the towhook screws into, is actually in the reinforcement bar that gets replaced by the towbar.

Essentially, you can use the eyelets you hook your safety chain(s) to, for recovery purposes.

[MGV]

Roscoe, the threaded hole on my '10 is on the drivers side behind the little round flap that pops off. (rear) I used it a couple of weeks ago using my tig to pull a broken branch from a tree. One thing that i found unusual is that is a reverse thread... Dunno why?

[jcubed]

Hi Roscoe,

Equal apologies if I've posted this before, but your problem is that you had a genuine VW Tiguan factory-fitted towbar installed. As reward for your loyalty, you then lose the rear recovery point.

Attached an article I wrote to a local motoring magazine when I made the same discovery 3 years ago.

I was super annoyed - as you can maybe glean from the tone of "Wot ver zey zinking?" - but knew it was pointless to take on VW about it. Rather have some fun.

[roscoe1974]

Thanks all - I'm a little flummoxed to be honest, as I didn't order a VW Towbar (due to the cost) and was intending to get a Hayman Reese version once finances were available.

Is it possible that Tigs now just come standard with the structure of the Towbar, just minus the actual Tow Ball etc.?? Or maybe it was my shameless flirting with the VW Sales Lady we bought from and she 'threw in' most of the Tow Bar without telling me as she knew we wanted one but couldn't afford it? ;o)

In the meantime though, as JJJ mentioned, it's a tad annoying not to have a Rear Recovery Point...

[roscoe1974]

Thanks all - I'm a little flummoxed to be honest, as I didn't order a VW Towbar (due to the cost) and was intending to get a Hayman Reese version once finances were available.

Is it possible that Tigs now just come standard with the structure of the Towbar, just minus the actual Tow Ball etc.?? Or maybe it was my shameless flirting with the VW Sales Lady we bought from and she 'threw in' most of the Tow Bar without telling me as she knew we wanted one but couldn't afford it? ;o)

In the meantime though, as JJJ mentioned, it's a tad annoying not to have a Rear Recovery Point...

P.S. somehow I severely doubt it was my flirting...that would more likely have led to an omitted spare wheel or something of the like!!

[roscoe1974]

By the way, is anyone able to tell me if there's an easy way to check if the Wiring Harness has also been installed? Just trying to figure out if it's worthwhile hitting VW up for the remaining parts of the Towbar Assembly or not...from previous posts, it seems the wiring & labour are a very large proportion of the overall cost of the OEM package. Cheers!

[roscoe1974]

So I contacted my VW Dealer about this situation (who've always been great by the way up to this point), and this is what they said...

The head of their Service area explained that the Bar I can see IS part of a Towbar assembly, but not one that we can get the remaining parts for here in Australia - possibly to do with ADR.

It seems that this configuration is how the new model (MY11+) Tiguan's come now? (at least the ones that my Dealer has stocked)

I think someone somewhere overseas might get a butt-kicking for that - it's a potential recall issue if the vehicles can't be recovered backwards if stuck. Could this could even potentially be a breach of ADR compliancy? (especially as the head of Service mentioned that he doesn't think there's an option to retro-fit the correct bar with Threaded Recovery Hole in the rear as it's not an available part here).

The Owner's manual certainly has both front & rear Recovery holes listed.

It presents me with a bit of a problem - if I DO manage to get stuck somewhere where I need the Tig to be recovered backwards, there is no way to do it since there is nowhere to attach the Recovery Bolt and we do not have a Towbar installed. Anyone have a suggestion for this?

An option I've given my dealer (to negate the problem) is for VW to fit the Australian Towbar to our car as a replacement for this bar - this would give me a point to recover from if stuck. That being said though, I feel VW Australia should heavily discount or completely fund this installation as it's a manufacturing issue.

Not liking my chances of them coming to the party on that, but nor am I very impressed with the fact there's no way to recover my Tig if it's stuck 'nose-in' somewhere. Anyone got any suggestions or comments?

[MGV]

You could always reverse into places where you may get stuck therefore enabling recovery from the front eyelet?
Sorry, couldn't help it...

[Umai Naa!!]

Of course. I'm an idiot.

They're now fitted with a faux towbar that is not relevent to our market (Given it's weak appearance, it looks like a display version). This is part of the Towing Preparation package that all Australian-spec Tiguans are optioned with, which also means they're pre-wired (well 80% of it) for the towbar electrics.

If you don't require a towbar, you could always steer the dealership down the more cost-effective path of fitting the reinforcement bar they'd come with, if not optioned with Towing Preparation. It's got the threaded hole in it.

[roscoe1974]

You could always reverse into places where you may get stuck therefore enabling recovery from the front eyelet?
Sorry, couldn't help it...

It would definitely make off-roading more challenging! ;o)

[roscoe1974]

Of course. I'm an idiot.

They're now fitted with a faux towbar that is not relevent to our market (Given it's weak appearance, it looks like a display version). This is part of the Towing Preparation package that all Australian-spec Tiguans are optioned with, which also means they're pre-wired (well 80% of it) for the towbar electrics.

If you don't require a towbar, you could always steer the dealership down the more cost-effective path of fitting the reinforcement bar they'd come with, if not optioned with Towing Preparation. It's got the threaded hole in it.

Very interesting...I wonder if they'll (VW) acknowledge the fact that most of the wiring is already in place and discount the cost of installing an Australian-spec Towbar...have read on this forum previously that the wiring cost is a large proportion of the install and what makes it so prohibitively expensive, so maybe...

I did ask about VW pulling the 'faux towbar' that's in there out, and replacing with the reinforcement bar with the threaded hole, but the Service Manager was of the opinion that it's not an available part. Waiting to hear back from them in the next few days and will post what happens. Thanks

[jcubed]

Towbar Wiring Cost

...have read on this forum previously that the wiring cost is a large proportion of the install and what makes it so prohibitively expensive, so maybe...

Hi Roscoe,

Not just VW.

The OEM towbar for a Freelander 2 costs the equivalent $1300 from a dealer. Half of that is the electrical installation due to the interfacing with the CAN bus in order to disable the reverse parking sensors, activate the active sway control program, testing all the lights on the trailer, etc. Then you have to do a VAG to tell the ECU you now have this installation.

Of course, there is probably only a $3.50 chip inside the little box, but seeing as you can't copy/hack this yourself, you are a captive buyer.

In the end I bought a universal towbar electrical kit for around $100 and installed it myself with numerous calls to a friend of mine - who had his installation done by a dealer - to tell me where the wiring runs, enters the vehicle, connects up, etc. So needless to say, it took a full week before first switch on.

This kit also came with a protection box, protecting the existing wiring of the car in case of an error - short - at the trailer end. It even has a fuse in the power line. No CAN-bus interface though.

But you definitely need the vehicle's wiring diagram - and know how to read it - which in the case of the LR2 was downloadable free from the internet.

[Umai Naa!!]

Very interesting...I wonder if they'll (VW) acknowledge the fact that most of the wiring is already in place and discount the cost of installing an Australian-spec Towbar...have read on this forum previously that the wiring cost is a large proportion of the install and what makes it so prohibitively expensive, so maybe...

I did ask about VW pulling the 'faux towbar' that's in there out, and replacing with the reinforcement bar with the threaded hole, but the Service Manager was of the opinion that it's not an available part. Waiting to hear back from them in the next few days and will post what happens. Thanks

Parts department would argue otherwise, regarding the reo.

As for the wiring, you'd still need to purchase the full wiring kit, to get the bits you need out of it to get the job done, as some of the wiring isn't avalable separately (FWIW, the module itself, retails for over $500). Labour-wise, there's still the LHR quater panel trim to remove (along with several other trims in the rear), as well as some (very fiddly) wiring to be done under the dash.