Towbar Electrics for modern cars

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Towbar Electrics for modern cars

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fastbike

527 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#3469532 12-Mar-2026 17:41

yup not cheap , we ended up buying an ex head office outlander as it already had the tow bar fitted, buying the new car was 2.k for tow bar and another 1000 for ORC and car mats. Absolutely crazy cost to get one fitted

Towmaster came back today with a sensible quote, answered my questions about wiring (they splice) so when car arrives I will get them to do the mechanical work, and buy an ecu kit and fit that myself.

Otautahi Christchurch

fastbike

527 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 404

#3470864 16-Mar-2026 15:07

Wiring kit ordered last Friday from ECS in the UK, custom designed for the car. No wire splicing or other crazy stuff required. Just need to buy an adapter for the trailer.

Otautahi Christchurch

richms

29251 posts

Uber Geek
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#3470865 16-Mar-2026 15:13

If you have reverse lights on the trailer, check they are not going all the time with a UK soured plug. When a friend put a round to flat adapter on their UK sourced car it was always lighting the reverse lights with 12v. Most trailers do not have them so you would not notice this till you borrow one that has them.

Richard rich.ms

fastbike

527 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 404

#3470917 16-Mar-2026 15:24

richms:

If you have reverse lights on the trailer, check they are not going all the time with a UK soured plug. When a friend put a round to flat adapter on their UK sourced car it was always lighting the reverse lights with 12v. Most trailers do not have them so you would not notice this till you borrow one that has them.

Thanks for the tip. Trailer is old so has no reversing lights but if I hire a covered furniture trailer it might.

Otautahi Christchurch

fastbike

527 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 404

#3479755 10-Apr-2026 12:21

fastbike:

Wiring kit ordered last Friday from ECS in the UK, custom designed for the car. No wire splicing or other crazy stuff required. Just need to buy an adapter for the trailer.

Wiring kit has arrived, towbar is here next week so can fit it all together. I will post a write up on the Ariya Forums as there is an audience there that is keen to see how it all works out. I can link once the write up is completed.

Otautahi Christchurch

fastbike

527 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 404

#3482404 20-Apr-2026 10:49

All installed. The mechanical kit said it was a 90 minute job. I found that excluded putting it all back together.

The electrical kit required removing interior boot panel and the instructions were incorrect. So that took a little longer. I found a service manual online so that helped immensely.

But it is all done now.

Otautahi Christchurch

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