Fitting tow bar and wiring to a Yeti with tow prep.

[joel0407]

How long (how many hours) did it take you to install it? If you don't mind me asking?

It's just a bit of a hard question to answer. I went back to Bathurst, form Canberra, where I have a mate who owns a panel beating business so I could get him to remove rear bar. I was a bit worried about taking it off myself as I really hate plastic clips. After I saw how it is removed I would not hesatate in doing it myself next time. Once the side panels (shown in picture) are off, it's the nuts under them, 3 clips at the bottom and 2 screws.

Anyway after he took it off, I went back to my parents place and fitted the tow bar. That only took about 30 - 40 minutes, if that.

Then it took about 30 - 40 mintues to remove the spare wheel and the plastic panels inside the car. About this time I realised I had the wrong wiring kit. I left everything inside the car in peices, refitted the rear bar and returned to Canberra where I sorted out getting the right wiring kit. The kit took 5 days to deliver and less than 30 minutes to fit. Then it was about 30 - 40 miutes to put the plastic panels back in place, while taking photos.

I'm sure I could do it in under 3 hours if I had to do it again. Maybe even under 2.

Happy Days.

[Ocy_RS_TDi_Kombi]

Hayman Reese now sell a towbar for the Yeti. Its the 50mm square hitch and costs $612 from HR. A towbar place will charge another $200 - $300 to fit and wire it. Lots cheaper than what a Skoda dealer would charge!

[joel0407]

Hayman Reese now sell a towbar for the Yeti. Its the 50mm square hitch and costs $612 from HR. A towbar place will charge another $200 - $300 to fit and wire it. Lots cheaper than what a Skoda dealer would charge!

That's about what my Witter flange type bar cost, with wiring kit, delivered from the UK. The HR will have Australian compiance though.

Dont forget you can't just splice the wires to the vehicle lights. You need a dedicated wiring kit.

Does the HR require bumper cutting?

[Ocy_RS_TDi_Kombi]

That's about what my Witter flange type bar cost, with wiring kit, delivered from the UK. The HR will have Australian compiance though.

Dont forget you can't just splice the wires to the vehicle lights. You need a dedicated wiring kit.

Does the HR require bumper cutting?

I haven't spoken to anyone at HR but they would have the dedicated wiring as part of the kit.

Don't know about the bumper cutting, again a HR question.

[Blue103TDIDSG]

The HR will have Australian compiance though.

One of the main issues for me is compliance if I get, say a Westfalia towbar from the UK.
No problem if some business down the road imports it and I buy it from them because if it goes "pear shaped" I have them to point the finger at.
But if I buy it overseas and fit it myself the buck stops with me.

My mission statement is "must be hidden when not in use with bumper cutout refitted

So after a lot of searching, this is what have found

Starting with the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_...#Type_approval

Quote
__________________________________________________ ________________________________

Type Approval
The 1958 Agreement operates on the principles of type approval and reciprocal recognition. Any country that accedes to the 1958 Agreement has authority to test and approve any manufacturer's design of a regulated product, regardless of the country in which that component was produced. Each individual design from each individual manufacturer is counted as one individual type'. Once any acceding country grants a type approval, every other acceding country is obliged to honor that type approval and regard that vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment as legal for import, sale and use. Items type-approved according to a UN Regulation are marked with an E and a number, within a circle. The number indicates which country approved the item, and other surrounding letters and digits indicate the precise version of the regulation met and the type approval number, respectively.
Although all countries' type approvals are legally equivalent, there are real and perceived differences in the rigour with which the regulations and protocols are applied by different national type approval authorities. Some countries have their own national standards for granting type approvals, which may be more stringent than called for by the UN regulations themselves. Within the auto parts industry, a German (E1) type approval, for example, is regarded as a measure of insurance against suspicion of poor quality or an undeserved type approval.

__________________________________________________ _________________________________


Where it all comes from and the design rules involved for the towbar are found here


UN Regulations (1958 Agreement)
Regs 41-60 - Transport - UNECE

Regulation No. 55 Revision 1
UNIFORM PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE APPROVAL OF MECHANICAL COUPLING
COMPONENTS OF COMBINATIONS OF VEHICLES
http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/t...gs/r055r1e.pdf

Quote
__________________________________________________ __________________________________


SCOPE

1.1. This Regulation lays down the requirements which mechanical coupling devices and components shall meet in order to be regarded internationally as being mutually compatible.

__________________________________________________ _________________________________



This is an excerpt from the certificate for the Westgalia towbar



What it all means

The 55R - 01 2429
"55R" indicates the UN Regulation that applies and the "01" is the version that it is approved to
"2492" is the approval number

Type 317-117 is a Westfalia identification/design number

the Class A 50-X
"Class A" is the designated class of Coupling - Coupling balls and towing brackets employing a 50 mm diameter spherical device

"50-X" is the sub group for the 50mm Class - "Non-standard 50mm Coupling Heads"


__________________________________________________ __________________________________

Australia signed on 25th April, 2000 and is #45 on the list.

So the "E13" makes it approved in Luxembourg, thus also accepted by any of the signatories to the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations and that includes Australia.

Quote
"Every other acceding country is obliged to honor that type approval and regard that vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment as legal for import, sale and use"

__________________________________________________ __________________________________

So that means the Westfalia as well as the Witter that Joel used, assuming and I'm sure that it will have a similar "E" compliance certificate, are OK and LEGAL to use in Australia as they are ADR approved by default.

In passing, the likes of IronBull would not be able to have every towbar they advertise and sell actually tested to meet the ADR's as the cost would be prohibitive. On the other hand though, any towbar designed and made here in Oz must be tested before it can be sold.

So for me, Westfalia it will be, which I believe from reading posts on the Briskoda forum, is the OEM towbar in the UK
[edit] Obviously the "E" certification is accepted in the UK

I am putting this here on the forum to maybe help any others that might have the same issues with the OEM (BestBars unit) supplied by Skoda Australia and might be considering getting something else cheaper and not hang out the back of the car.

[joel0407]

That's awesome. Thanks Blue.

[Boon]

Guys was wondering whether it's possible to tow a tinny or jet ski with a yeti tow bar since it's got a 2000kg capacity? I understand the ball can only take 80 or 90kgs hence the question.

[joel0407]

What's the weight of the Boat trailer on the draw bar?

Since you already have the Yeti specs, there the specs you need. Maybe you need to ask on a jet ski or boat forum.

Happy days

[Blue103TDIDSG]

Guys was wondering whether it's possible to tow a tinny or jet ski with a yeti tow bar since it's got a 2000kg capacity? I understand the ball can only take 80 or 90kgs hence the question.

Boon

I'm no "expert" in these matters but have been looking at this very issue since before we got our Yeti nearly 12 months back. The 80kg refers to down force on the ball, the actual load the trailer puts on the back of the car The result for us was that we had to decide to sell our caravan if we went ahead and got the Yeti because the ball weight was over 130kg even though the all up weight was 1400kg - well under the 2000kg limit

Can't imagine the all up weight of a jetski and trailer being anywhere near the 2000kg mark, so it is just the ball weight you need to look at and with a jetski and trailer you should be able to gauge the ball weight just by lifting tow coupling by hand as they are generally pretty well balanced to allow for maneuvering by hand.

I am restoring a boat trailer for a rubber duckie with a 30hp engine at the moment and it will be set up so that there will be about 25kgs on the ball. The ball weight of this trailer can be adjusted by moving the boat to change the balance point so it is no big deal, but I want it nice and light for hand maneuvering into a storage shed

It seems on heavier things like vans, the compliance plate has 2 weights, GVM and I think ATM (someone please correct me if I am wrong here) One is the all up weight that the vehicle can carry including the vehicle itself and the other is the weight the axle or axles can carry. Obviously one is higher than the other and the difference is the ball weight. Some compliance plates actually have the ball weight - I have seen both types.

The simplest way is to get some electronic bathroom scales and a piece of 3x2 timber about 15" long plus another couple of pieces of 3x2 about 6" long. Wind the jockey wheel down to where the van is level or better to the height it will be on the towball, insert the timber and scales under the coupling, then slowly raise the jockey wheel. When the jockey wheel is off the ground the scales will tell you the ball weight
Did this on my (old) caravan and a mates Adria - his came in at 52kg ball weight, mine came in at 132kg
Similar featured vans, mine Australian and his European - won't get into that argument here but the Yeti is obviously designed for the Euro van designs.

Hope this helps

[Boon]

Thanks blue! I've never had a tow bar before but looks like I'll get one installed down the track