I am about to have a tow bar fitted to my 2006 vw passat,at the same time i am thinking of fitting a parking sensor . I,ve heard there could be a conflict between the two. Does anybody have any experience of this problem?
Hi John, I recently had the same problem, and overcame it by fitting a detachable towbar, although most retrofit parking sensors can be programmed to ignore specific items ie towballs. Depending on the type of towball the sensors may not see it, I think the swan neck type are usually ok. I couldn't program mine to ignore the van though, so had an on off switch fitted in the boot for use when reversing the van. good luck Alan
kenmore212.............I've recently fitted front and rear sensors to my Mk3 Mondeo. They were just a set from ebay but colour matched to my bumpers for £16.50 a set. They work absolutely fine and dont pick up the towbar at all.
Hi Kenmore212, I had rear parking sensors fitted to my Sorento, I must say they are brill. They do not detect tow bar, but I had an on/off switch fitted so I could disable sensors when 'van hitched up.
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I had a Vauxhall Zafira with rear sensors about 6 years ago and asked about a towbar fitment. Vauxhall advised that I had a detachable fitted as a standard towbar would conflict with the sensors. The Ford Focus estate I have now has rear parking sensors fitted as standard so I approached a local company that fits towbars for advice. They fitted the twin 12N & 12S sockets just under the rear the bumber with a standard towbar and it works fine, it was also half the cost of the detachable. I didn't get ripped off a second time, so if you place the two towing plug sockets or 13 pin single socket in the right place you should be able to fit the sensors accordingly without problems of detection.
I have found that fitters generally want to fit a detachable where sensors are fitted, though TBH it has made no difference - the sensors don't 'see' the bar.
My 2007 Passat Estate came with factory fitted parking sensors. I had fitted a standar towbar, one with a face plate and two bolts for the tow ball. No problems with the sensors giving false readings.
The car even senses whan a trailer is plugged in via the towing electrics socket and disables the parking sensors, though this did requires a visit to the dealer to enable it in the ECU.
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Topic: parking sensor/tow bars
