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[charlieboy]

hi,i have recently bought a 2.6 auto for towing, the previous owner has installed rear sensors and i was wondering if you good folk out there can give me any advice about how these will be affected when i fit a tow bar? would a removable one be any better than a fixed one will the sensors work anyway with a tow bar? thanking you in advance for all your comments and advice from previous queries

[Kevin Wood]

Depends on the sensors really. It may be possible to adjust their range to compensate. Factory parkpilot also has a connection to the towing hitch to disable it if towing.

Kevin

[alexandjen]

My aftermarket parking sensors work fine with my towbar and twin electrics  

[Entwood]

Just had a tow bar fitted, they took a lot of care checking first that the towball would not set off the sensors, and they don't ...

[charlieboy]

many thanks for that, it is appreciated, was it a normal towbar?

[Entwood]

Yup..... normal fixed, flanged towbar.. no fancy swannecks or removables here ... .

I also got the Vx/Opel 13 pin electric kit, but its not quite as good as expected.. some connectors don't and the line to the park pilot (to stop reverse sensors when reversing hitched up) has yet to be found ....  !

Other than that, once we worked out the so-called instructions and found decent feeds for the missing connections, all the 13 pin connections work fine.

HTH

[charlieboy]

thanks again,will now get one fitted......

[Andy B]

..... normal fixed, flanged towbar.. no fancy swannecks or  ....

The normal bar in Europe & the OE bar is the swan neck bar! The swan neck is far nicer looking IMHO.
If you're towing a caravan with your new towbar be aware that if you have an Al-ko hitch/stabilser you'll need to use the ball that come with it/made for it. You need more space under your ball, ooer , to allow articulation of the hitch.

[Entwood]

Andy B .. quite correct, one of the reasons I go for the flanged towbar .. I can fit an alko towball on very simply using just 2 bolts !!  

And attach a "pigtail" for the breakaway cable at the same time .... I HATE the idea that some folks do of just "looping" the cable around the towball neck. Swan necks make pigtails very difficult to fit .

[hotel21]

Andy B .. quite correct, one of the reasons I go for the flanged towbar .. I can fit an alko towball on very simply using just 2 bolts !!  

And attach a "pigtail" for the breakaway cable at the same time .... I HATE the idea that some folks do of just "looping" the cable around the towball neck. Swan necks make pigtails very difficult to fit .

My factory fit demountable swan neck also has a pigtail affair, just its fitted to the hook basemount plate....

[Andy B]

Andy B .. quite correct, one of the reasons I go for the flanged towbar .. I can fit an alko towball on very simply using just 2 bolts !!  

And attach a "pigtail" for the breakaway cable at the same time .... I HATE the idea that some folks do of just "looping" the cable around the towball neck. Swan necks make pigtails very difficult to fit .

Swan necks means you don't need to swap the ball.
My Bosal (OE) has a welded loop specifically for the pig tail.

Deuce

     

[Andy B]

......
My factory fit demountable swan neck  ......

I was being a tight 4r$e when I replaced the IMHO 'orrible Witter bar that was already fitted to my car when I bought it. In hind sight I wish I'd put my hand a bit deeper into my pocket for a detachable.