Tow bar decision finally made. Yipee!!

[knoffie]

Finally, finally after two months of procrastination, research and countless phone calls to dealers, comparing OEM to aftermarket tow bars for our new 2013 Tiguan and all the potential hazards of buying either, I decided on a Hayman Reese bar with ECU and rear parking sensor cut out switch which is incorporated into the trailer plug on the tow bar itself. At $970 fitted I feel it was a good choice and around $600 less than what VW distributors quoted me. I am very happy, no cuts to the bumper, neat and unobtrusive right height etc and all set up for LED trailer lights.
Thanks to this Forum and its members for the information made available and which helped me make my decision.

Knoffie ( Adelaide)

[MGV]

Thanks Knoffie, that's good to know for the future! I almost bought the Hayman Reese 18 months ago to self-move myself from Melbourne back to NSW, but my new employer paid for the move & i haven't needed to tow anything since then anyway...

[TDIjeff]

Knoffe,good job on a decision. Did you consider a HR bar with OEM loom ?

[knoffie]

Towbar for our Tiguan

Knoffe,good job on a decision. Did you consider a HR bar with OEM loom ?

No I just made the decision to go with Southern towbars in Adelaide , who said they had done heaps of them and all ok.

Very happy
Knoffie

[NZTiguan]

Pity really, all that effort and now you don't have all the extra electronic towing aids built into the Tiguan through the use of the correct module. Oh well, you saved a few bucks I guess.

[knoffie]

Hayman reese tow bar

Pity really, all that effort and now you don't have all the extra electronic towing aids built into the Tiguan through the use of the correct module. Oh well, you saved a few bucks I guess.

I am only going to use it to take rubbish to the tip and move the occasional bit of furniture Its a 6x4 trailer I have.
Do you think that will be ok?
Knoffie

[tigger73]

I am only going to use it to take rubbish to the tip and move the occasional bit of furniture Its a 6x4 trailer I have.
Do you think that will be ok?
Knoffie

I am sure it will be fine for occasional use. The OEM setup will do things like disabling the reverse sensors when you're backing which stops the annoying beeps.

If you're only going to use it for the odd trip a basic hitch will work fine.


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[MGV]

I think that was a sarcasm facepalm... Hehe.

I would also choose the non ecu talking hitch set-up if still in the market.

[knoffie]

hayman Reese tow bar

I think that was a sarcasm facepalm... Hehe.

I would also choose the non ecu talking hitch set-up if still in the market.

The Hayman Reese tow bar has the parking sensor cut out . it costs a lttle more but I think it will be worth it. It is incorporated in the trailer coupling. As soon as you connect the trailer it trips the cut out switch. I seriously hope I made the right decision.
I will let you know how it performs.
Tigger you may remember how nervous I was originally buying the Tiguan..but you helped me over my nerves back then..and I am so happy I bought it now. Hope its the same with this towbar.
Knoffie

[NZTiguan]

I'm sure it will be fine for what you need and after all the older systems didn't have any of the electronic wizardry and we all towed all sorts of stuff perfectly happily. I was just pointing out that most of us pay a premium to drive the Tiguan in the first place, one of the reasons for that (in my case anyway) is the added safety features that VW electronics provide and one of those very clever electronic safety aids is the towing module. The fact it turns the sensors off is neither here or there though it is nice to have, the main thing is the changes to the ABS and ESP settings so that the trailer can't jacknife, take over the rear of the car, cause instability cornering etc etc. In my case I believe it's worth every cent to have the real deal, same as I wouldn't put a cheap knock off stereo in my Tig or anything else for that matter. So, not trying to dis anybody, just my 2 cents worth and after all it is YOUR Tig.

Cheers

[knoffie]

Towbar for our Tiguan

I'm sure it will be fine for what you need and after all the older systems didn't have any of the electronic wizardry and we all towed all sorts of stuff perfectly happily. I was just pointing out that most of us pay a premium to drive the Tiguan in the first place, one of the reasons for that (in my case anyway) is the added safety features that VW electronics provide and one of those very clever electronic safety aids is the towing module. The fact it turns the sensors off is neither here or there though it is nice to have, the main thing is the changes to the ABS and ESP settings so that the trailer can't jacknife, take over the rear of the car, cause instability cornering etc etc. In my case I believe it's worth every cent to have the real deal, same as I wouldn't put a cheap knock off stereo in my Tig or anything else for that matter. So, not trying to dis anybody, just my 2 cents worth and after all it is YOUR Tig.

Cheers

Absolutely no offence taken. I found it quite difficult to get the right information before I bought the Hayman Reese tow bar. Thanks everyone for your help and advice . Much appreciated.

Knoffie

[tomgti]

Bumping an old thread here, sorry! Can anyone tell me if the bumper has to be cut to fit a Hayman Reece bar to a Tiguan 5N? Anyone got any idea of prices to fit the bar and wiring?

[tomgti]

Not sure if this is a stupid question/idea.. however, I've picked up a second hand Hayman Reese towbar, but I have a feeling the wiring is not all there. If that is the case, would it be ok to use genuine VW wiring with the HR towbar? I don't see why not.. Only the fact that VW quoted me $370 for the wiring alone ha! Also, they mentioned that pre-wiring should already be there, so a bit easier to install.

Perhaps also, the mounting of the wiring onto the towbar.. might have to make up a custom bracket or something..

Anyone done this?

[arcadelt]

Tow bar decision finally made. Yipee!!

My experience is that the bumper needs to be cut, but I have a heavy duty bar (Trailboss, but same as HR), so YMMV.





I researched using the pre-exisiting wiring at the time of fitting. Frankly I never got a definitive answer and am not handy enough with electrics to do it myself, so I left it. There are a couple of threads on this and as I understand it you need to connect the pre-exisiting wiring somewhere in the driver's footwell, and then connect the harness wiring in the paneling in the boot.

[Umai Naa!!]

What year model, Tom?