Set out yesterday morning to pickup our Conway Crusader from Northampton. Sorted everything out, how to erect & fold away, hooked up to the car..(Citroen C5 Est) side lights ok, indicators ok, brakes NO!.
Checked the trailer, all working, problem was with the car. The guys at Northampton did their best, checked the socket and the wiring all seemed spot on.
We've only had the car 3 weeks or so, it came fitted with a towbar, great I thought but when I took a closer look I started to have my doubts. It was very well made I have to say, but I think it's "home made". Now from what I can make out from looking online it's illegal, in the past I've made the odd towbar myself and fitted it, then sorted the wiring and it's always worked first time.
I suggest to one of the guys that I was willing to splice a cable from the rear brake lights to the FC so we could at least take it home, no wasted journey that way and then sort the problem at home. The one guy then told me a bit about modern car electrics...I know todays cars have moved on but bl**dy hell, all I want to do is plug in and drive away.
I know all about EMS, these computers that do this & that while your driving, but after a couple of hours yesterday reading up on "Dedicated electrics" "multiplexed" and "CAN-Bus" systems, I think it's time to give up.
As the towbar on the car is probably illegal I think the only way out of this quagmire is to have it removed and a branded one fitted. Now you would think that's the easy part.....think again...there's only a limited number of bars that fit an 09 plate Citroen C5.
The Witter site states "no bars for this model" yet on the PF Jones site their selling Witter bars for the said car. So I'll give Jones a call tomorrow and see if they can fix this problem, all we want to do is go away for the Bank holls....
------------- Drinking rum before 11am doesn't make you an alcoholic, it makes you a Pirate
We had lots of problems with our first tow bar. OH has a company car, but they said to get it fitted ourselves. We used a reputable fitter but it still didn't work properly, and in time caused problems with the cars electrics. Skoda wouldn't touch it and said it invalidated the warranty so we ended up paying as much again to an auto electrician to sort it out. I don't know exactly what they did, but I do know they finished up by updating the cars computer system, which the original installer hadn't done. They were very good, also independent, and if they fitted towbars I'd go back to them, but they specialise in electrics!
When he was due to change he insisted that they supply it complete with towbar and we've had no problems. In future I'd always start with the main dealer. Getting a price doesn't commit you in any way, you can still go elsewhere, but they should know what they're doing with your model of car and it might be worth paying a bit more for that certainty.
Have you got a picture!
The only thing that's worrying about home made tow bar is if it has been fitted correctly using the correct mounting holes and chassis spacers etc! it crazy you can built you own trailer but can't build a tow bar
But giving the price of tow bars nowadays I don't how people could be bothered and I'm a welder
I was 70 pound posted with full fitting kit off ebay I think the make was ankor! And if your car is tow bar ready ie it has the holes already there for bolting a tow bar on Its a pretty straight forward task to fit one as for the wiring you can buy plug and play kits that are made for easy installation not cheap but very easy to fit!
Pete
Thanks guys & gals, we've hit on an idea of buying a trailer board fitted with LED lights (£25) just so we can get away this bank holls and have a play. Tomorrow I'm going to phone the local Citroen dealer (thanks Alison) in Stratford upon Avon for a price, also (thanks kpnuts81) I found CDF online will call for a price.
With work taking up 14/15 hour days I don't have time to sort it myself Pete2ltr, like I said in the past I've always done my own, but that now seems illegal.
It's after 11.00 pass the Rum Jim lad....
------------- Drinking rum before 11am doesn't make you an alcoholic, it makes you a Pirate
If you need a specialist in Warwickshire I can recommend Motabars in Leamington Spa, tel 01926 426382. They have a workshop in Morton Street and also offer a mobile service.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: What a Cockup!!!
Whatever happened to the simple life?
