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Tow bar fitting

7K views 23 replies 10 participants last post by  BMK 
#1 ·
I've just ordered a new Yeti with a factory fitted detatchable towbar. I have a new caravan with an AL-KO stabiliser tow hitch and I have informed the supplying dealership with that information. Can I assume that the tow ball will be compatible with the AL-KO hitch? (I had to change the towball on my last car as it wasn't.)Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
#4 ·
Was unaware that Factory Fit existed, more like Dealer fit at double the price of what it would cost you. I recently had a Witter detachable with full electrics fitted at home , took 3 hours and £360.00 plus ups of tea. That was a special VAT free price for the month of Jan. I had to order the Skoda Cover plate and frame about £16.00
The only factory fit is partial wiring loom at £180.00 which most fitters tend to ignore.
Make sure your dealer orders the trap door that sticks on under the bumper and make sure it is fitted correctly
 
#5 ·
They're charging me £400 for the towbar. I've always had them retro-fitted in the past, but this way it should be included in the three year warranty.Incidently, if you have a new car which gets 3 years RACbreakdown cover for the whole of Europe, this can be extended to covera caravan for an additional premium of about £56 - not bad value. You have to be a member of the CC&C.
 
#9 ·
Discodriver59 said:
Was unaware that Factory Fit existed, more like Dealer fit at double the price of what it would cost you. I recently had a Witter detachable with full electrics fitted at home , took 3 hours and £360.00 plus ups of tea. That was a special VAT free price for the month of Jan. I had to order the Skoda Cover plate and frame about £16.00
The only factory fit is partial wiring loom at £180.00 which most fitters tend to ignore.
Make sure your dealer orders the trap door that sticks on under the bumper and make sure it is fitted correctly

I hope they used the plug in the boot for plug connections anddidn't hack into the light wires, that cancause no end of problems, and the fog light will not turn off when the trailer one is on, bulb out warning will not work, along with the ESP, Did theyre code the yeti after fitting ?
 
#10 ·
Just had my L&K delivered with factory fit towbar (yesterday), excellent job, you wouldn't know the towbar exists, its well hidden. Great new option half the price of retro fit. It even came with a UK electrics adaptor. I think its only been available for a couple of months.
 
#12 ·
I have seen other forums discussing "bulb failure" warning with LED lights on trailers. This is not exclusive to Yetis, the situation is mentioned in regard to Tiguans and Ford Rangers.
Hopefully this is useful info for anyone looking at ordering a Yeti with a towbar, remember of course that we are in Australia.
We purchased our Yeti and had the towbar fitted by the Skoda dealer in Coffs Harbour.


It is a Best Bars unit, from NZ. A conservative load limit of 600kgs unbraked & 1200kgs braked, that suits us because the heaviest thing we would ever want to tow is a rental campertrailer. It is detachable, the kit included the 11 pin round to 7 pin flat adaptor you see above. When a trailer is attached the trailer warning image appears on the parking screen and the beeping is cut out. That is my homemade trailerboard for bikeracks etc.you see in the above photo.


When I attached the boat trailer for the first time the "bulb failure" symbol appeared. The local Skoda service department (run by a lady!) said it was the LED lights on the trailer, to rectify it I should install incandescent lights on the trailer. So I did and everything works great.
If you wish to have LED lights, an auto electrician said it is a simple job to fit a resistor at the electrical coupling and this will fix it too.
The trailer board for the bike rack which you can see on the first picture uses normal lights as well.


I was pulling away from the boat ramp the other day and the warning symbol appeared. On inspection is wasn't the bulb but the 7pin plug on the boat trailer (which is over 10 years old) needed a little TLC, 5 mins with the philips head and we were underway and legal.
Safe travels all, Rob.
 
#13 ·
Hi AllI just had my Yeti 2011 towbar fitted withwiringloometc but now have light on dashtellingme my rear fog light is u/s but on checking and replacingglobestill have light on dash also interior lights not working. any suggestions for a simple fix otherwise have to take back to towbar installer some 80 k's away
appreciate assistance
 
#14 ·
BMK said:
Hi All I just had my Yeti 2011 towbar fitted with wiring loom etc but now have light on dash telling me my rear fog light is u/s but on checking and replacing globe still have light on dash also interior lights not working. any suggestions for a simple fix otherwise have to take back to towbar installer some 80 k's away
appreciate assistance
Is this with it coupled to a trailer BMK?
 
#16 ·
BMK
If you've checked the basics, i.e fog light bulb is correct power, type (non LED) and working. Interior lights are set for "on" but aren't working, you've checked all fuses are good, then maybe the installer needs to check their work.
Good luck with it mate, let us know.
Rob.
 
#18 ·
OK , had the same problem with my cycle rack plugged in. After a lot of checking (connections bulbs etc) I realised that the right and left tail circuit in the bike rack plug was paralleled and connected to one side ( left if i recall) so nothing was connected to the right hand side pin and hence the warning light on the dash saying check right rear lamp. Cut the paired wires, re-connected properly and all was good. Cuts the production cost of the wiring process in the factory perhaps?? Anyway, a simple fix.
 
#19 ·
I have now rung the installer twice and he is not returning my calls. I'm tempered to do the job myselfyou mentioned when the rack was hitched up you had the problem but I haven't put the trailer onto the vehicle as yet
We will see what happens in the next few days
Cheers
 
#22 ·
The installer claimed the wiring loam was from the Dealer and the markings on the towbar indicate is from Europe but I don't know if any additional modifications were carried out here as the towbar was supplied from Queensland and I'm in Victoria.I have just downloaded the installation instructions from Erich Jaeger GmbH,24 pages, I will see what I can do if not get a auto electrician. but love the car
Cheers Barry
 
#23 ·
This is the plug that the tow bar plug should go into, no other wires need be joined into. Otherwise it will case no end of problems to the light warning system.



The earth should go here
 
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