Tow Bar Diy Wiring

[paulmel]

Hi all

Fitted a Towbar myself last weekend, not all plain sailing but got there eventually (after 5 hrs). Bought it for the sole purpose of towing my son's christmas present of a small off-road buggy the 2 miles to a secluded local place. Will NEVER be looking at towing anything else and am 99.9% sure it will only be during daylight hours.

Anyway, now looking to do the electric side of it and don't know which way to go. The cost of Towbar was only £90 and the price of a OEM loom is about £110 which,for starters, doesn't sit well with me.

I've done loads of reading on this forum about how easy the bought loom makes the job, but that side of it doesn't bother me that much. I thought just tapping into lights and indicators in the boot area should be easy enough but the loom looks a hell of a lot more complex than that with in-line fuses, various looms running from engine bay to rear etc., etc.

Obviously I don't want to tow a caravan with fridge etc.,just want basic Road Legal requirement.

Can anyone who has gone the DIY route comment.I would solder, not cut or scotchlock any joints and know I would make a good job of it but there are mentions of earth faults in articles I've read. Also wondered what effect the extra bulb in the indicator circuit would have? I know that if an existing indicator bulb goes the speed of "flashing" increases to let you know of a bulb failure, so is the opposite the case? An extra bulb would slow the fashing down? Does the extra bulb affect the relays in anyway?

Any input greatly appreciated.

[anchorman]

If you buy aq normal wiring kit and towing relay you won't have any problems with the indicators. They are often supplied as a kit.

[acetip]

Hi all

Fitted a Towbar myself last weekend, not all plain sailing but got there eventually (after 5 hrs). Bought it for the sole purpose of towing my son's christmas present of a small off-road buggy the 2 miles to a secluded local place. Will NEVER be looking at towing anything else and am 99.9% sure it will only be during daylight hours.

Anyway, now looking to do the electric side of it and don't know which way to go. The cost of Towbar was only £90 and the price of a OEM loom is about £110 which,for starters, doesn't sit well with me.

I've done loads of reading on this forum about how easy the bought loom makes the job, but that side of it doesn't bother me that much. I thought just tapping into lights and indicators in the boot area should be easy enough but the loom looks a hell of a lot more complex than that with in-line fuses, various looms running from engine bay to rear etc., etc.

Obviously I don't want to tow a caravan with fridge etc.,just want basic Road Legal requirement.

Can anyone who has gone the DIY route comment.I would solder, not cut or scotchlock any joints and know I would make a good job of it but there are mentions of earth faults in articles I've read. Also wondered what effect the extra bulb in the indicator circuit would have? I know that if an existing indicator bulb goes the speed of "flashing" increases to let you know of a bulb failure, so is the opposite the case? An extra bulb would slow the fashing down? Does the extra bulb affect the relays in anyway?

Any input greatly appreciated.

the warning for when the flashers on can be visuel (lamp) or audible (buzzer).you must have some indication by law.

you can buy a flasher relay for the extra lamp when towing.

i am sure if you google,youll find plenty of advice how to do all the wiring.

[daveh_rav4]

I have an older Rave (4.1) so may not be too relavant... but as ancorman recommended, get the optional Toyota harness kit. That cost me about £30 about two years ago from my local Toyota dealer (check out partsman for a TOC discount ;-) ) and included the uprated indicator relay. I purchased the towbar from an online supplier (£80) so the whole job excluding my labour was about £110... way to go :)

DaveH

[three5]

I have an older Rave (4.1) so may not be too relavant... but as ancorman recommended, get the optional Toyota harness kit. That cost me about £30 about two years ago from my local Toyota dealer (check out partsman for a TOC discount ;-) ) and included the uprated indicator relay. I purchased the towbar from an online supplier (£80) so the whole job excluding my labour was about £110... way to go :)

DaveH

Don't know about the older RAV ( Toyota ) wiring kits, but the one for my 4.3 had no means of indicating if the trailer was connected, either visual or audible. Seems odd for a manufacturer to sell a kit that is not fully "legal". I've said before on here, the Toyota kit is very simple to fit and IMHO much better than the scotchlok of splice solutions, but legal it ain't!

[three5]

I have an older Rave (4.1) so may not be too relavant... but as ancorman recommended, get the optional Toyota harness kit. That cost me about £30 about two years ago from my local Toyota dealer (check out partsman for a TOC discount ;-) ) and included the uprated indicator relay. I purchased the towbar from an online supplier (£80) so the whole job excluding my labour was about £110... way to go :)

DaveH

Don't know about the older RAV ( Toyota ) wiring kits, but the one for my 4.3 had no means of indicating if the trailer was connected, either visual or audible. Seems odd for a manufacturer to sell a kit that is not fully "legal". I've said before on here, the Toyota kit is very simple to fit and IMHO much better than the scotchlok of splice solutions, but legal it ain't!

Should have said: there is no available extension for the Toyota kit that overcomes the problem.