towbar electrics

[john m]

i have fitted a towbar to my renult traffic van now i want to fit the electrics myself is this an easy diy or to hard, it is the normal socket with seven wires yellow blue white green brown red black the problem is i dont know where to attatch in the van there is also a prewired plug behind the lights but only has five wires can i attach to this does anyone have a link to some kind of diy manuel

 

[pvb]

....does anyone have a link to some kind of diy manuel

See here for details of which pins connect to which lights. You may need a relay too.

 

[gjgm]

i have fitted a towbar to my renult traffic van now i want to fit the electrics myself is this an easy diy or to hard, it is the normal socket with seven wires yellow blue white green brown red black the problem is i dont know where to attatch in the van there is also a prewired plug behind the lights but only has five wires can i attach to this does anyone have a link to some kind of diy manuel

In a "simple" installation, you should be able to clip them onto the wires in the rear quarter lights.
Problems are if the vehicle has more sophisticated electrical management, such as blown bulb sensitivity, rear parking sensors, any sort of "handling" electronics. A relay to isolate the tailboard from these is £25-35 usually, but if its a fancy set up (possibly not on a van), its £100-200 for the full wiring loom.

 

[me2]

If the van was made after July 2001 then most of them have a plug on the left hand side where the fog lights plug in , if so then it is ok to wire into this , if not the loom is in the roof so wire up top . It is ok to wire with out relays to this van . This is what I do all day , fit towbars and build trailers I have never had on go wrong wiring without relays so you will be ok.

 

[Lakesailor]

That's the kind of advice you need. I wired a Rav 4 for a towbar and it entailed stripping most of the trim out as far forward as the front seats.
Later ones had a simple multi plug.
Why anyone would build a 4x4 vehicle without towbar electric beats me.

 

[pvb]

But most hairdressers don't tow things, do they?

 

[ColdFusion]

But most hairdressers don't tow things, do they?

 

[john m]

Plug in electrics

Yes I have got a plug behind the rear lights at the drivers side it has 5wires1thick black 1thin 2white 1thick 1thin and 1yellow is this the right plug cal you tell me what wires go where .
I am fitting the standard socket with 7 wires that came with the towbar

 

[me2]

No the plug is on the other side , on the inside the last big square hole near the floor right at the back ( the hole is facing forward), put you hand inside and there should he a socket clipped to the side , pull it off the side of the van and pull through the hole. The fog light plugs in to one side and all the other wires are the to. If there is no socket the the wires are at the top near the roof , pull the cover off and then wire behind the cover.

 

[Lakesailor]

But most hairdressers don't tow things, do they?

Hairdressers never went where I went.

Oooer missus.

 

[Csail]

For the sake of 20 quid let the towing company do it.

 

[SAMYL]

Get a Subaru and the tow bar comes with a plug which you simply plug in..simples

 

[john m]

Ok I think iv found it where you said would be I have on 1side a blue thick black yellow black pink White grey brown purple
and on the other I have 2black 1blue 1 grey 1 pink 1 purple 1 White can you tell me what side I can attatch to and what colour is for what

 

[me2]

That sounds like it , it is only there for the towbar. The colours do change year to year but going on what you said it should be ....

White in 7 core to thick black thats the earth.
Yellow in 7 core to Grey thats l/h flasher
Green in 7 core to White thats r/h flasher
Black in 7 core to Blue thats l/h side
Brown in 7 core to Blue thats r/h side
Red in 7 core to Purple thats stop lights
Blue in 7 core to Grey thats fog lights.

Like I said colours can change and there is more then 1 of some of them so do check the to sure which is which.

Like a Subaru you can get a kit that plugs in to that plug , so you could always go that way if you want , no matter how you do it, it will work.

 

[john m]

Job done

Thanks for your help job done it wasn't just for saving money I wanted to do it

 

[Mark-1]

Bit of a thread revival.

I'm tempted to fit a towbar to a 2013 Renault Trafic (hence a 15yo thread seems appropriate).

The mechanical side of things seems straightforward and fitting myself allows me to do things like cleaning the old threads with taps, etc. (I bet a fitter won't bother to do that.)

However, I don't fancy fiddling with the wiring. Is it a sensible plan to get a specialist vehicle electrician to do this after I fit the bar?

 

[seeSimon]

For the sake of 20 quid let the towing company do it.

£20!!!

Just seen the date...those were the days!

 

[seeSimon]

Bit of a thread revival.

I'm tempted to fit a towbar to a 2013 Renault Trafic (hence a 15yo thread seems appropriate).

The mechanical side of things seems straightforward and fitting myself allows me to do things like cleaning the old threads with taps, etc. (I bet a fitter won't bother to do that.)

However, I don't fancy fiddling with the wiring. Is it a sensible plan to get a specialist vehicle electrician to do this after I fit the bar?

I've recently fitted...a 2003 golf easy. .. a 2005 focus...easy.

A 2008 golf...struggled. canbus.

A pal seriously bu66ered up a 2010 seat, octavia size, forget the model name.

A 2018 tiguan...no chance diy. And when came off lease it was cheaper to buy a new electrics box/loom than pay to have old removed and fitted to an identical replacement tiguan by a pro. Says something about the work involved?

 

[Mark-1]

I've recently fitted...a 2003 golf easy. .. a 2005 focus...easy.

A 2008 golf...struggled. canbus.

A pal seriously bu66ered up a 2010 seat, octavia size, forget the model name.

A 2018 tiguan...no chance diy. And when came off lease it was cheaper to buy a new electrics box/loom than pay to have old removed and fitted to an identical replacement tiguan by a pro. Says something about the work involved?

I don't need it wired into the can bus. But.... AIUI, that means splicing into a few cables which is exactly what I'd like to avoid - even if someone competent is doing it on my behalf.

Why on earth don't vehicles just have a socket you plug into.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I don't need it wired into the can bus. But.... AIUI, that means splicing into a few cables which is exactly what I'd like to avoid - even if someone competent is doing it on my behalf.

Why on earth don't vehicles just have a socket you plug into.

The electrical management on cars so equipped cannot just be ignored. I’ve fairly recently helped do a 2018 California VW. The kit came with CANBus connections, and the ECU needed to be programmed to allow it to work. I don’t know if your 2013 Renault needs that or not, but tyat is what could be involved. It wasn’t hard, but required the CAN tools and software.