[Digger]

Hi
I've had my titanium for about six weeks now, I am quite happy with it. I have been looking to fit a towbar (since before I had it) I like to investigate first.



Two No Nos.

No 1. I absolutely refuse to have my bumper cut even by the smallest amount.

No 2. I really want to keep what is called the "inside bumper" on the car with the towbar.

Most makes of towbar need a bumper cut and you have to store the "inside bumper" in your garage till you remove the towbar.



I've looked at the threads from - charlieparker - rspannerman - geoff - and the dapper during May this year.



The Bosal (detachable) is the only one that does not require a bumper cut as far as I can see and I quite like the look of it.

There is also a cheap towbar on the market which I do not like, it bolts onto the 4 bottom bolts (2 each side) of this inside bumper. Sowith this towbar you do not have to remove the inside bumper (I think).

I shall probably go for the Bosal.



I have downloaded several PDFs of fitting instructions (various), is there anyone out there who is super knowledgeable on kuga towbars???



I am happy with the electrics but even comments here would be appreciated.



Thanks

 

[BruceKuga]

Hi Digger, The ford towbar is made by bosal, so if you are entitled to an employee discount this will be a good move. with it the detachable is about £180 which is a lot cheaper than off the web. if you choose a dedicated electric kit then again the ford part is about £80 with discount, even without employee discount it is cheaper than some i ave found on the web.
I have made other posts on this forum on the matter.

I will be buying a detachable bar very soon, and fitting it myself. the fitting points are the same as a focus and cmax (same platform). the cut on the bumper is very small and if you had a factory fitted bar it would have been cut the same anyway.

 

[Digger]

Thanks Brucekuga


As no more info forthcoming - I have bought the Bosal detachable and will fit it Saturday 11th.

 

[Ursus]

Digger,
Hope all has gone well. Did you take any pictures of the procedure? Would be interested in your experiences regarding the wiring. I have ordered my Kuga with a factory fit bar but from other posts I suspect I will have to carry out additional wiring to get the caravan fridge & battery supplies working.

 

[BruceKuga]

Digger, Hope you have managed to fit the bar ok? Been at work all w/end so not been on here. Please let me know if you had any trouble as i will be getting mine soon. Thats why i`ve been working all weekend.... need the money to buy the towbar!!!!
BK.

 

[Pilotlight]

we've had a thule swan neck fitted by the dealer, using a local towbar company. you could take the bar off by removing the bolts. we only use it for putting bike rack on.

 

[Digger]

Hi all
I fitted the Bosal towbar over the weekend. It's funny I expected fitting the steelwork to be hard and the electrics to be easy.

WRONG.

I had taken off the rear bumper (the whole of the back - below the rear lights) a couple of weeks ago to have a look and learn a bit. Of course I put it back on till I was ready.

Any one thinking of doing this - remember THERE ARE 16 SCREWS holding back bumper on. Only 14 are visible, the other two are behind the wheelarch felts one each side. These two screws clamp the bumper to the body - danger of cracking the rear bumper plastic if removed with screws still tight. More info on this if anyone wants it.



Anyway last weekend I assembled the towbar on the ground first to see how it all went together. Where each bolt fitted - and to ensure which parts were for LH and which for RH. You can tell this by looking at the diagram in the instructions.

Took the bumper off and the inner bumper (which you DO have to leave off while towbar remains fitted). fitting the towbar was then relatively easy, though it took me 4 hours. The instructions claim 60 to 90 minutes fitting time (including electrics?). But it was straightforward when you have the actual towbar and the instructions in front of you.



The electrics is a different story. In my case I have to run (2) power cables from the battery to the small box of tricks (relays) which will be by the towbar, to supply power to ALL the lights etc on the trailer / caravan. You also have to connect several thin wires from this relay box to each of the lighting systems -stop - tail - RH indicator etc.etc. The relays do the clever bit by sensingeach small amount of current down these individual wires and switching on the appropriate relay to supply power to the correct trailer / caravan circuit.

SORRY TO GO ON.

You cannot just connect an extra bulb into modern car circuits, it sends the car electrics crazy.

I am fitting the twin electrics system(12N and 12S) and not the up-to-date 13 pin system.

I did not buy the dedicated kuga electrics because 1/. the twin system is only half the price and 2/. I was unable to find out where the dedicated system PLUGS into the Kuga electrics.

I have only started to fit the electrics and intend to finish it next weekend 18/19 jul.

Right sorry if I've bored you, tried not to get too technical. I'll write more after electrics done IF ANYONE WANTS IT. I have copies of instructions etc if anyone interested.



For towbar electrics info look at www.rydertowing.co.uk



The swallowneck towball is detachable by using a key and turning a knob. The electrics fold up behind the plastic bumper. Nothing is visible till you want to use it.

 

[BruceKuga]

thanks for the info digger, keep us informed when its all done.

 

[Slimus]

When you have finished messing about I will bring mine round and I want itfitted in the designated 90 mins.


Slimus.

 

[BruceKuga]

After 4 months of posts about it I have finally fitted my towbar. Ford detchable with 13 pin wiring kit. Sacriest bit was cutting the bumper, but the finished job is great. Still have a fused supply to run from the battery to provide the power to my smartcom relay. Didnt take photos during the job but will take one of the bumper and fitted ball unit and email them to members if you PM an email address. Bumper cut looks like it wasalways there so im well pleased. Also the disapearing electric socket is great too. BK.


One day on and i now have run the fused supply from the battery to the self switching relay and now im all done.Just one point, if your are fitting or modifying the 13 pin ford wiring kit, as fitted at the factory, as well as wiring the switched and continous power supplys yourself, also the earths for these two are provided but are taped up in the loom in the boot. as initially fitted only the earth for the road lights is visible. They do have rings crimped on the end but are taped so youll have to look for them. BK.

Edited by: BruceKuga

 

[Slimus]

Hi Brucekuga,
I will be fitting a subwoofer in a couple of weeks and need to run a live from the battery to the boot and was wondering which route you took and any shortcuts or tips to avoid damaging trim etc...



Thanx, Slimus.

 

[BruceKuga]

Hello slimus, At the battery iput the fuse under the battery cover then the wire comes out of a slot in the lid of the cover on the left hand side of itso it isnt trapped. The wire runs through the main wiring grommet which is visible behing the batery box. its a bit of a bugger to get to but 1: remove the adhesive tape around the wires and grommet
2: take the grommet out of the body into the engine bay 3: remove tape around the inside face of the grommet and wires 4: thread wire through next to the other existing wires 5: tape the inner wire / grommet joint 6: refit the grommet into the body 7: tape up the outer wire / grommet joint. the wire comes through behind the inside fuse box.TO MAKE IT EASIER TO THREAD THE WIRE THROUGH I TAPED IT TOA STIFF CABLE TIE.

The front door sill cover just unclips. just lift up. t i threaded it below the seat belt trim under the felt underlay. the rear sill trim lifts off on 2 clips. then you can pass it through into the boot. good luck.

 

[Slimus]

Thanx Brucekuga,
as I mentioned it will be a couple of weeks as I am off on Hols but I will follow your route and hopefully not break anything (big fingers and small clips dont mix).

Thanx again Slimus.

 

[Digger]

Hello BruceKuga

and Ursus, Pilotlight, Slimus



Well I finally got round to doing the electrics. As with BK I too routed the main battery feed wires from the boot through the nearside door sills, to the front footwell. that's where I stopped, the wires are waiting under the front nearside carpet for me to have a go at what BK did and go through the main bulkhead grommet.


TEMPORARILY - I disabled the rear power socket and used that (from inside the RH wheelarch carpet) as my power feed. I fastened the relay box and most of the gubbins inside the LH wheelarch carpet. As feeds, to operate each relay I attached thin cable from each bulb so as not to cut into any KUGA wires. One from each rear indicator, one from LH stop and one from LH tail, finally one from LH reverse. I neatly routed these to the relay box and fitted them. The technical instructions with the wiring kit advise on why you only need one feed for both stoplights and both taillights. Most caravans / trailers have only one reversing light.



Everything works fine - but I must route the permanent power feed through the grommet as BK says.Perhaps My lad (slimus) will help me (fat chance?).



I looked for this Kuga socket at the rear end to use as my feeds to relays. I found three sockets - two inside boot under RH wheelarch carpet, and one under RH side of car by foglight. I couldn't get any voltage on my tester even trying all the systems (indicators, stoplights etc.)

I kind of think that - with the Kuga dedicated wiring you still have to run the (relay) wires up to each bulb socket - (I think) - because as I looked at each bulb socket there seemed to be room for some kind of connector to be pushed into the socket and make the connection. On the indicator bulb sockets there is a small plastic strip that can be pulled out to make room for the connector. Can anyone shed light on this? I am probably wrong and there is probably a lovely plug / socket (with all the required connections) that I have missed.



Iwould love to see an actual dedicated wiring kit - or better still a Kuga wiring diagram.

 

[BruceKuga]

Hi digger. The ford wiring kit takes its power supply ONLY FOR THE ROAD LIGHTS and fog lamp cut out relay from the rear power socket supply. As built it is protected by F119 15AMP. In the kit you replace this with a 25 AMP fuse, then in the boot you have a link wire with two connectors, 1 to go to the trailer control unit and 1 to go via an additional 15 amp in line fuse back to the rear power socket. The kit has connectors which you run up to the rear lights and out to the fog lights. The original wiring plug is joined to the kit and then a new plug in the kit is connected back to the light. The idea is the supply to the rear lights goes through the trailer contol unit and when the trailer lights operate the unit senses this and supplies the additionalpowerfrom the power socket. The wire i ran from the battery is for the fridgeand power supply for the trailer socket. The rear power socket is not man enough to provide all this power. I have changed the supply to the rear power socket now its via the fridge relay so it now only comes live when the engine is running, so if i plug my camping fridge in and switch off the engine the battery will not go flat. BK.

 

[the undertaker]

is there a reason to fit your own?? I ask because I have quote for £295 supplied and fitted.

 

[Slimus]

Fat chance Digger (Dad),
I will be more than happy to assist you but I cannot until after hols as only 2 days left but if you want to do urgently I will make time.

Also feel free to communicate via the telephonic device in your establishment to enable me to accomodate your needs in a more timely manner. (gis a ring).

Slimus.

 

[BruceKuga]

hello undertaker, Seems really cheap. The list price of a witter detachable is £290 + vat,without fitting. Do you know what make your quote is for? Also, i had one bar fitted to a focus in 2002, and found the fitting to be poor. One nut which was hard to reach was left ony finger tight. The left and right side lights feed were both taken from one side of the car, so if one car fuse blows i would have lost all trailer side lights. I`m much happier to do it myself and also find it satisfying to get a job done. BK.

 

[Digger]

Hello BK - UT - Slimus


UT I looked online for various towbar / fitting options.I actually found a towbar for £89 but when I downloaded the fitting instructions I could see it was a really cheap setup.

I looked at Witter and Bosal etc, the most reasonable (nondetachable) I could find was about £140. Both the above prices excluded fitting and electrics. Some of the reasonable supply and fit places I found were 50 or more miles away. I reckon an average fitting charge is around £120.

AnywayIwanted a Bosal detachable because, as I read in an earlier post on towbars, it was the only one that did not require a bumper cut.

I bought a bosal and (universal electrics 12n and 12s) for just over £300. The supplier, who was 18 miles away, would have fitted it for another £120. With hindsight,I might have let him fit it.



BK Interesting to read your slant on the power lead(s). I simply followed the "universal kits" instructions to run two power wires from battery to towbar. One wire to supply to the 12n for lights - indicators etc. the other to supply power to the caravan fridge - inside lights - and charge leisure battery etc.

Reasons for 12n / 12s. I haven't got a caravan yet and when / if I get one it won't be new so I assumed it would also be 12n/12s. My trailer is a 12n. A conversion lead is only £10/£15.

Is there any chance you could scan your electric instructions and email to me,I will PM my email address to you if you can. I like to understand everything. Like you - I like to do everything myself, but as I am fast becoming a doddering old git, I am going to have to get others to do these things for me - like Slimus for instance??????

 

[Ursus]

Hello Digger & BruceKuga,
From reading your posts I suspect your differences are down to the 13 pin versus the 12N/12S wiring kits.

BruceKuga,
Would I be right in thinking that the Ford detachable towbar with 13 pin kit only requires the 1 power lead from the battery? I called in a Ford garage today and looked at the towbar page of the parts screen. There was a picture (very basic picture) of a length of wire going to a connector block (presumabley to plug the relay into) and then a shorter lead out with a lug attached (earth connection?). The part number was 1521189 priced at £11.97 and called something like "constant current supply to pin 9". Does that look like the correct part? The man on the parts department wasn't quite sure, I suspect he had more to do with the Mazda part of the dealership, although he was very helpful.

Any confirmation would be greatly appreciated,

Regards
Paul.

Edited by: Ursus