Towbar Electrics

[webleymk3]

All,

When i bought my Rav i had Toyota put a Towbar on it. Unfortunately they put on an after-market one opposed to a shiny toyota one. They put on two sockets, the black and the white.. The issue I have is that the sockets always get knocked about when i go anywhere remotely off-road.

This evening the electrics finally got bent right up behind the bumper and the metal bracket sheared slightly. I'll need to bend them back before i can use the electrics again. I am wondering is there some way they can be detachable so i can remove them to protect them when not in use??

Has anyone else had any similar issues??

Weblers

[peterat8]

Hi there

You can get the mounting plates for the sockets that can be flipped up out of the way.

Witter do a single one that flips up (about £3).

Check the Witter site for more info.

Hope this helps.

Thanks.

Peter

[webleymk3]

Thanks Peter. This sound like what I need however the picture doesnt show how it works or if I can work with a double socket.

Anyone any ideas?

Thanks

[bothwell_buyer]

Nice one.. I didn't know about the flip plate.

And yes, I've had problems in the past with the wee plate bending up. I haven't towed anything in the past couple of years so I've ignored the difficulty of having to hang upside down to get the plugs in.

What about screwing the socket plate to a thick piece of rubber which you then attach to the mounting??

[peterat8]

Hi again

The following link shows the flip up used on a BMW with a detachable bar.

http://www.pfjones.co.uk/witter/BM29Q.pdf.

It looks as though you would have to have a socket either side of the towball if you have the 12N and 12S.

If you have a fixed towball, I would imagine that you would need a standard socket plate and do a bit of surgery to remove the excess and leave just one hole to attach the flip plate to.

Hope this helps.

Thanks.

Peter

[three5]

All,

When i bought my Rav i had Toyota put a Towbar on it. Unfortunately they put on an after-market one opposed to a shiny toyota one. They put on two sockets, the black and the white.. The issue I have is that the sockets always get knocked about when i go anywhere remotely off-road.

This evening the electrics finally got bent right up behind the bumper and the metal bracket sheared slightly. I'll need to bend them back before i can use the electrics again. I am wondering is there some way they can be detachable so i can remove them to protect them when not in use??

Has anyone else had any similar issues??

Weblers

It would appear that Toyota not only used a non-Toyota towbar ( OK, the ones they supply are badged Thule units ) but didn't use their own ( Toyota ) wiring kit which has sockets that swing upwards to avoid this problem. I do very little towing but do use a towball mounted bike rack. I also manage to end up in some pretty rough site/offroad areas. The Toyota swing-up socket seems to survive everything including immersion in water and mud.

Tip: When you replace the sockets, fill the wiring void in the back of the socket with vaseline. You will never have any problem with water again and the connections will undo without any difficulty if you ever have to repeat the exercise. Good luck!