Toyota wanted something in the region of £450 to supply and fit a towbar to the pick up when supplying new...i thought that was ridiculous enough.
I sourced a Witter for about £130, fitted it meself as it's a (heavy) doddle having an open ladderchassis, and my sparky wired it inside the cab away from all water problems whilst doing some other mods at the same time.
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Perhaps they just recognise that their price will be ridiculous.
Thats it... well partly....
We priced one up today...(approx prices)
£950 for the bar and electrics.... also needs:
uprated radiator £300
uprated cooling fan £250
transmission oil cooler £500
upgraded electric control unit/fuse box £300
front bumper, with additional cooling slots £300 + paint
thats around £2600 for parts.. plus paint....
fitting £ dunno..... is down as time taken.... not done one before so would need to make an educated guess..... maybe 5 hours?
Now... you could say, the after market guys dont upgrade the cooling system, so why would we (as main dealers)
the answer.... liability... if we dont do the job as per manufacturers spec, we are liable for any grief that follows.
in all honesty, unless the customer was towing a van, on the weight limit, up a steep hill, in a heat wave, the chances of overheating are slight.... BUT..............
Not worth the risk.
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innit nice on older cars
mini , origional version , £38 for the tow bar £12 for the bkt/skt and wire , 7 x scotchlocks
couple off bolts
job done ,,
sigh , it beats me why you pamper to your "dealer" ,
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Moggie Minor, bumper off, bit of angle iron, two holes drilled for tow ball (that took the longest), scotchlok the electrics (including additional indicator relay). £peanuts.
It was only for towing a Mirror dinghy, (who remembers them, built from a kit)?.
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Towbars now have to be Type Approved so, depending on the age of his car, gordonbennet's might be illegal. No one will notice unless someone rear-ends him. Then the insurance damage assessor will spot it and disallow the claim.
HJ
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My friend asked me to get a bar fitted to his C3 while he was away, a couple of months ago.
Price from village Citroen agent where labour charge is about 40 euros an hour, 485 euros. Price from chain in nearby town, same type-approved bar and fittings, same labour charge, price 315 euros.
the swiss tony - maybe I am naive and out of touch, but rather than all that expensive paranoia, presumably the result of a risk assessment, wouldn't it be possible just to get the customer to sign a disclaimer saying that the way the towbar is put to use is their responsibility, not that of the firm who fitted it? Surely the fitter could only be liable for faulty workmanship? As I say, I am a bit out of touch with the blame culture.
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Swiss Tony, I take your point but are you not just being a bit "Corporate paranoid"? Cars are designed to tow they have a max tow weight specified in the vehicle handbook, , that is what it is for, surely? I have never heard of the modifications you list as standard towbar fitting requirements. On the subject of retro fit/self fit, I fitted a Bosal unit for £60, it's type approved and came with comprehensive fitting instructions. The big suppliers all sell type approved kit, they're not daft and many supply the same units as OE equipment to the big manufacturers.
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Swiss Tony I take your point but are you not just being a bit "Corporate paranoid"? I have never heard of the modifications you list as standard towbar fitting requirements
As franchised dealers we HAVE to be 'Corporate paranoid'
the manufacturers as part of our franchise agreement give us certain standards, including completing work to the standard they demand (ok there can be shortcuts in the actual work, ie loosen a part rather than totally remove) and if the work instructions state to upgrade other systems, basically we have to do so.
(these standards include having special tools, (a lot of which we will never use!) the make and colour of things like floor tiles, what times we have to be open for business, the list goes on and on)
IF we dont abide the these standards, we stand the chance of becoming an EX dealer - that HAS happened!
as for not hearing about such modifications, honestly they do exist.
I remember on the Mk3 Escort, 1.1's had to have larger radiators fitted, so its no new thing.
its not always towing that needs other parts upgrading BTW
the old ML, had to have uprated rear damper/springs, when retrofitted with the external sparewheel carrier.....
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I think this very site warned me about CANbus problems if not installed properly + the fact that Honda (and Skoda) warrant the fit afterwards.
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gordonbennet's might be illegal. No one will notice unless someone rear-ends him.
Blimey, Witter wouldn't supply a non type approved bar would they, doesn't say that on their site....it's supposed to be the same one that the dealer would have fitted somewhat more expensively.
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Just looked it up on Witter's site...the bar fitted is type approved.
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