Towbar Wiring Instructions

[rava]

Hello, first post, can anybody help? The Toyota dealership quoted an incredible price to fit a towbar, so I fitted a tow bar myself. It was the genuine Toyota Swan neck type off eBay for forty pounds.

I have since bought the dedicated 12N wiring kit, and can’t make any sense of the instructions. No words, just diagrams, I now they say a picture paints a thousand words but not in this case.

Has anyone here fitted the wiring kit, if they could give a couple of words to explain what each diagram means it would be greatly appreciated?

I have to fit it this weekend as have bought a small boat and have committed to picking it up the weekend after, so any advice at all would help.

On a separate note, my car is Rav4 4.2 2003 VX with the full body kit, and when fitting the towbar I had to take off the rear step, I now think the back of the car looks terrible with the bare towbar sticking out. Do you think it is feasible to cut a semi circle out of the aluminium rear step so I could reinstate it? I would have to trim the edge with some rubber; my worry is ruining the step.

[three5]

Hello, first post, can anybody help? The Toyota dealership quoted an incredible price to fit a towbar, so I fitted a tow bar myself. It was the genuine Toyota Swan neck type off eBay for forty pounds.

I have since bought the dedicated 12N wiring kit, and can’t make any sense of the instructions. No words, just diagrams, I now they say a picture paints a thousand words but not in this case.

Has anyone here fitted the wiring kit, if they could give a couple of words to explain what each diagram means it would be greatly appreciated?

I have to fit it this weekend as have bought a small boat and have committed to picking it up the weekend after, so any advice at all would help.

On a separate note, my car is Rav4 4.2 2003 VX with the full body kit, and when fitting the towbar I had to take off the rear step, I now think the back of the car looks terrible with the bare towbar sticking out. Do you think it is feasible to cut a semi circle out of the aluminium rear step so I could reinstate it? I would have to trim the edge with some rubber; my worry is ruining the step.

Hi Rava and welcome to TOC.

I know EXACTLY what you mean about the wiring instruction "pictures" having done the job on my 4.3 XT5. I guess the "picture" format is taken by Toyota to avoid having to translate the instruction into a whole lot of different languages.

One of our lady member came up with the best way of tackling the problem ( outlined below ) and it worked for me.

First of all the kit works by iterposing the plugs and sockets on the towbar wiring loom between the ones on the vehicle loom. There are almost no ( see later )places where the towbar loom just plugs into "spare" sockets on the vehicle loom. The problem is identifying where all the places are where you need to unplug existing connections so that you can interpose the towbar plugs and sockets.

If you spread out the bits of towbar loom on the floor and then from the pictures identify first of all which section is which ( A,B,C & D on the 4.3) and then which connections are which ( they were numbered on the 4.3 version so that you have connections A1 to A9 on the main ( A ) section of the loom, B1 to B5 on the second ( B ) section of the loom etc ) and then stick some masking tape lables near the connections so that you can easily identify them when you are making the connections.

The most labourious part is removing the vehicle trim. It is well worth investing the £3 or £4 they cost in a trim removal tool. When you get it wrap all but the two prongs at the very end in insulation tape to protect the bits of the trim that you are levering on when you use the tool. I reckon removing the trim took me about two hours.

When you have done this, identify and lable the plugs and sockets that you will seperate to connect the loom. They are generally fairly near the lights on the vehicle. I guess that labling them is not STRICTLY necessary as you could plug the towbar loom in as you make the identifications, but it is a good confidence booster. You can't really go wrong as it is impossible to mate the towbar wiring to the wrong plugs and sockets on the vehicle as they are all different.

The plugs and sockets are very high quality and have weatherproof seals built in. They can be a bit awkward to seperate but should come apart fairly easily once you have found the retaining catch and depressed it. Buying the Toyota wiring kit was a very smart move - expensive but foolproof with no chance of damaging the vehicle loom with Scotchloks or leaving the connections open to corosion by the weather afterwards.

With a bit of patience, identifying the connection points from the diagrams is not too difficult as the diagram shows the symbol for the type of light you are trying to connect ( i.e. Foglights with the wavy vertical line passing through the horizontal lights "rays" ).

Making the connections took about 45 minutes AFTER I had identified where they were. So, so far, 2 hours to remove the trim, 1/2 to 1 hour to identify the connections and 45 mins to wire up.

A couple of observation based on my experience of the job:

On the 4.3 wiring instructions it says put the fuse into the fuse holder with the red/blue wire on fuse output on the "C" section of the towbar loom. With a 12N socket this does not work and the fuse needs to be inserted in the other fuse with the red output wire. Don't know about the 4.2 kit but worth watching for as it's like being kicked somewhere uncomfortable when the wiring dosen't work at this stage!

The exception to the "no spare sockets" bit earlier is the end of the "C" section of the towbar loom that feeds power to the rear of the car. The socket for this ( on the 4.3 ) is tucked away near the nearside headlamp. It has a "blank" plug fitted which is disgarded when the C2 plug is fitted.

I'm sorry, this has turned into a bit of a ramble, but I know exactly how you feel at the moment and hope the above helps/reassures. Post back if you need anything else.

[three5]

Hello, first post, can anybody help? The Toyota dealership quoted an incredible price to fit a towbar, so I fitted a tow bar myself. It was the genuine Toyota Swan neck type off eBay for forty pounds.

I have since bought the dedicated 12N wiring kit, and can’t make any sense of the instructions. No words, just diagrams, I now they say a picture paints a thousand words but not in this case.

Has anyone here fitted the wiring kit, if they could give a couple of words to explain what each diagram means it would be greatly appreciated?

I have to fit it this weekend as have bought a small boat and have committed to picking it up the weekend after, so any advice at all would help.

On a separate note, my car is Rav4 4.2 2003 VX with the full body kit, and when fitting the towbar I had to take off the rear step, I now think the back of the car looks terrible with the bare towbar sticking out. Do you think it is feasible to cut a semi circle out of the aluminium rear step so I could reinstate it? I would have to trim the edge with some rubber; my worry is ruining the step.

Hi Rava and welcome to TOC.

I know EXACTLY what you mean about the wiring instruction "pictures" having done the job on my 4.3 XT5. I guess the "picture" format is taken by Toyota to avoid having to translate the instruction into a whole lot of different languages.

One of our lady member came up with the best way of tackling the problem ( outlined below ) and it worked for me.

First of all the kit works by iterposing the plugs and sockets on the towbar wiring loom between the ones on the vehicle loom. There are almost no ( see later )places where the towbar loom just plugs into "spare" sockets on the vehicle loom. The problem is identifying where all the places are where you need to unplug existing connections so that you can interpose the towbar plugs and sockets.

If you spread out the bits of towbar loom on the floor and then from the pictures identify first of all which section is which ( A,B,C & D on the 4.3) and then which connections are which ( they were numbered on the 4.3 version so that you have connections A1 to A9 on the main ( A ) section of the loom, B1 to B5 on the second ( B ) section of the loom etc ) and then stick some masking tape lables near the connections so that you can easily identify them when you are making the connections.

The most labourious part is removing the vehicle trim. It is well worth investing the £3 or £4 they cost in a trim removal tool. When you get it wrap all but the two prongs at the very end in insulation tape to protect the bits of the trim that you are levering on when you use the tool. I reckon removing the trim took me about two hours.

When you have done this, identify and lable the plugs and sockets that you will seperate to connect the loom. They are generally fairly near the lights on the vehicle. I guess that labling them is not STRICTLY necessary as you could plug the towbar loom in as you make the identifications, but it is a good confidence booster. You can't really go wrong as it is impossible to mate the towbar wiring to the wrong plugs and sockets on the vehicle as they are all different.

The plugs and sockets are very high quality and have weatherproof seals built in. They can be a bit awkward to seperate but should come apart fairly easily once you have found the retaining catch and depressed it. Buying the Toyota wiring kit was a very smart move - expensive but foolproof with no chance of damaging the vehicle loom with Scotchloks or leaving the connections open to corosion by the weather afterwards.

With a bit of patience, identifying the connection points from the diagrams is not too difficult as the diagram shows the symbol for the type of light you are trying to connect ( i.e. Foglights with the wavy vertical line passing through the horizontal lights "rays" ).

Making the connections took about 45 minutes AFTER I had identified where they were. So, so far, 2 hours to remove the trim, 1/2 to 1 hour to identify the connections and 45 mins to wire up.

A couple of observation based on my experience of the job:

On the 4.3 wiring instructions it says put the fuse into the fuse holder with the red/blue wire on fuse output on the "C" section of the towbar loom. With a 12N socket this does not work and the fuse needs to be inserted in the other fuse with the red output wire. Don't know about the 4.2 kit but worth watching for as it's like being kicked somewhere uncomfortable when the wiring dosen't work at this stage!

The exception to the "no spare sockets" bit earlier is the end of the "C" section of the towbar loom that feeds power to the rear of the car. The socket for this ( on the 4.3 ) is tucked away near the nearside headlamp. It has a "blank" plug fitted which is disgarded when the C2 plug is fitted.

I'm sorry, this has turned into a bit of a ramble, but I know exactly how you feel at the moment and hope the above helps/reassures. Post back if you need anything else.

FORGOT! The towing socket is in a very exposed position on the RAV and, by it's nature, is not waterproof. Having done the job on several vehicles over the years, the best way of avoiding future corrosion problems is to pack the back of the 12N socket with ( don't laugh! ) vasilene after you have wired it but before you mount it. Before I get any rude comments, I accept that I could have phrased that better

[Parts-King]

Before I get any rude comments, I accept that I could have phrased that better

Oh I don't know it could have been phrased a lot better than that, how about, to avoid future problems, slip some vaseline up the rear end to easy entry and exit in future?

But back on topic, the 4.3 genuine wiring is a big job, total book time for tow bar and wiring is best part of 6 hours

Kingo

[rava]

Thanks Chris, I will have another look this evening and try and work out the connections, a bulb needs mounting on the dash and a hole drilled any ideas where on a 4.2 ?

I will bear in mind the tool, vaseline and rear mounting

cheers

Brian

[three5]

Thanks Chris, I will have another look this evening and try and work out the connections, a bulb needs mounting on the dash and a hole drilled any ideas where on a 4.2 ?

I will bear in mind the tool, vaseline and rear mounting

cheers

Brian

Hi Brian,

I can see that you are going to fit in here well

[Davrav]

a bulb needs mounting on the dash and a hole drilled any ideas where on a 4.2 ?

cheers

Brian

Are there any blank switch mounts in a convenient position?

[rava]

a bulb needs mounting on the dash and a hole drilled any ideas where on a 4.2 ?

cheers

Brian

Are there any blank switch mounts in a convenient position?

Yes, of course, my brain must be frazzled in the confusion, that will be a much more suitable solution

thanks Davrav

Brian

[olblueeyes]

Hi guys very interesting thread, ive got the rav 4 2009 2.2 xtr, ive invested in the wiring loom from toyota but im stuck on the very last section thats the , mains supply to the rear of the car, im left with the brown/white the red and the red/purple, I am expecting to find a socket somewhere up front as this loom has a female plastic connector on it, but I also have an extra piece of loom with 2 ring connectors on and 2 more fuse holders in it, any help please as the loom came with no instruction at all, I also have a single red wire at the rear of the car that seems to plug into the relay but that gives me an orange cable from that relay that seems to do nothing on the offside of the car

[Heidfirst]

Sorry, don't know enough about RAVs to narrow it down to a single file download link for you but you will find installation instructions at https://www.toyota-tech.eu/Aim/Aim.aspx?pubtype=AIM&menuitem=2. Just select the relevant boxes in the Search boxes.

[olblueeyes]

thanks for the link that was a massive help centre section of cable is now in from the nearside footwell to the rear of the car, the bit im really struggling with now is the last section thats under the bonnet to the Battery, ive looked all over the engine bay but must be missing something as i cant seem to locate the last connector, any body help please, martin

[olblueeyes]

this is all I have left to connect, rings to the Battery but I cant find the female end of the plastic connecton anybody help please, martin