Aftermarket Towbar for R-Line Tiguan

[Back Door Shenanigans.]

Any idea how much does this cost?

Regards
J

$1040 plus GST

Thanks for those pics...

I guess I've only really had experience with Hayman Reece style tow bars before..
I'm assuming that the gooseneck style are all compliant?

Thanks to everyone for their inputs, let's see how it goes.

Cheers

I'll find out but it was through the dealer and another third part tow place so you'd assume so.

[TIGR]

So I've had a 2000kg Hayman Reese fitted to the R-Line by the guys from Canberra Towbar Fitters Canberra Towbar Fitters Towbars of Woden - We come to you!

Really happy with the overall look, and will be doing some towing with it this weekend.


With the bumper off, there is a blank bar in place.


Hayman Reese bar in place


Finished product

[arcadelt]

So I've had a 2000kg Hayman Reese fitted to the R-Line by the guys from Canberra Towbar Fitters Canberra Towbar Fitters Towbars of Woden - We come to you!

Really happy with the overall look, and will be doing some towing with it this weekend.

That's a really neat job TIGR. What did they do with respect to wiring? I'm looking into having a towbar fitted in Canberra too, but have been talking to Westfalia. One of the Canberra agents has come back with a quote, but has said "the wiring we use utilises its own ECU and power to run the trailer lights, rather than CAN bus wiring". I've been reading in the car's manual about the benefits of CAN bus compliant wiring (bluemotion control, trailer stabilisation, alarm, bulb monitoring, etc) and think I would like some of these these. Does your Hayman Reese setup provide some or all of these benefits?

[clarko]

Looking good TIGR! I think I'll be doing the same (and I work in Woden atm which should make it easy). I prefer the Hayman Reese bar for the straight square hitch for the bike carrier I want. Do you know if it works ok with LED lights on a trailer/bike rack? The trailer I have has LED lights but is only used for the occasional trip to the tip with garden prunings and the like and the bike carrier has an LED light bar as an option. The genuine VW bar needs an extra box to be used with LED lights.

[TIGR]

So this setup is using its own control module, and is attached to each of the taillights.
I also read the trailer module bits and pieces but ultimately, i don't do that much towing to justify the hassle. (I really just wanted a be able to carry a bike rack, and occasionally get a trailer from Bunnings etc)

I currently dont have any parts with LED lights to test it with.. But I've got a VCDS cable, so can always disable the globe checks if needed.

[Dingah]

Just had an after market tow bar fitted to my wife's new R-Line as per TIGR's post above.
Canberra Towbar Fitters Towbars of Woden - We come to you! are the folk concerned.
Fast, efficient, good product and what appears to be a very careful and professional fit.
I do not accept second rate and would strongly/high;y recommend this fitter.
What's even better he comes to you and it took about 90 minutes including the sourcing of another wiring ECU as the kit he had had been delivered to him without that part.
Great job.
Left in all in black without fancy chrome bits so that it blends in with the underside of the car.
Why did I not go with Westfalia?
Having pioneered the fitment of a very good, smart and beautifully engineered Westfalia bar on my Audi SQ5 I couldn't face the going through the same exercise again.
The cost of the Hayman Reese tow bar fitted and wired up ready to go with compliance plate fitted and a life-time warranty was less than the cost of the Westfalia bar alone, delivered but not fitted.
Secondly, unlike the SQ5 there is no access plate on the underside of the Tiguan's rear bumper, hence whether I have a Hayman Reese as fitted or a Westfalia set-up there will need to be be a hole permanently cut in the rear diffuser.
As you can see from the photos below the hole is minimal and almost entirely filled by the receiver hitch and wiring.
Apparently this is wired such that it is good for either incandescent or LED trailer lights - I have both so will find out in a few weeks when we do the next trailer run.



Dingah

[clarko]

Had the same tow bar as Dingah put on my R-Line today also from Canberra Towbar Fitters. Fitted in the carpark over the road from where I work (above and beyond the call of duty when it's a -7 degree start to the day). I'd add photos but they'd be identical to Dingah's (my R-Line's white too). Very happy with the job, it's a pretty neat and unobtrusive solution. Will have a trip to the tip with the trailer this weekend to see how it goes.

[PerthMTB]

So I'm trying to decide if I go the dealer route or Hayman Reece for my Tiguan towbar. Have read everything I could find on the web concerning this, but am still confused by exactly what the proper VW wiring pack does for me that the HR doesn't...

1. Switches parking sensors off - tick.

2. Includes trailer in alarm system - tick.

3. Shows globe faults on the trailer - tick.

4. None of the above are a big deal for me, at least not when the dealer is quoting $1800 versus $815 fitted from the local HR agent. But what I am interested in is the reported safety features that affect handling & braking, especially as I'm planning on towing a camper trailer. But this is where it gets confusing. There seem to be widely varying views as to what this does. First I've read there's some kind of active monitoring of vehicle handling and then real-time control over the ABS and 4Motion system to affect handling - so if the trailer starts to sway then the car will react and bring it under control. Then someone else said that there's no active monitoring or control, that the Tiguan just loads a different weight distribution 'map' and the systems react accordingly whether it's a bike rack or a two tonne caravan actually hitched to the back. And then I've even seen someone say that none of the towing features are activated on Australian vehicles anyway even if you get the proper VW wiring kit!

Obviously the first scenario would be worth having, but the other two probably not, so I'd be real interested if someone can shed some light on this topic! Thanks.

[TIGR]

Had the same tow bar as Dingah put on my R-Line today also from Canberra Towbar Fitters. Fitted in the carpark over the road from where I work (above and beyond the call of duty when it's a -7 degree start to the day). I'd add photos but they'd be identical to Dingah's (my R-Line's white too). Very happy with the job, it's a pretty neat and unobtrusive solution. Will have a trip to the tip with the trailer this weekend to see how it goes.

Looks like we may need to have an ACT Tiguan R-Line meet up!

So I towed a large 8x5 enclosed trailer to Sydney to pick up some furniture and back, and while it was perfectly ok, boy does it burn fuel!
Just as a heads up

For PerthMTB's comment - i was the same... There were so many comments that it just came down to the path of least resistance...
It is true about the parking sensors.. but yeah, you can silence the buzzer if you're doing alot of reversing with the hitch fitted (which i dont)

[arcadelt]

So I'm trying to decide if I go the dealer route or Hayman Reece for my Tiguan towbar. Have read everything I could find on the web concerning this, but am still confused by exactly what the proper VW wiring pack does for me that the HR doesn't...I'd be real interested if someone can shed some light on this topic! Thanks.

PerthMTB, I have looked into both a Westfalia bar, which I am led to believe is the factory bar in Europe, and the dealer fitted bar, which is not a Westfalia bar. The two Westfalia authorised dealers in Canberra told me they do not use the factory wiring and I was explicitly advised by the dealer in Canberra (Lennock Volkswagen) that the features mentioned in the manual are not available in Australia. I too am now trying to figure out what is truth and what is fiction.

In this thread, Nicko from Tassie is connecting the factory wiring and he gets some good advice from a couple of knowledgable VWW members about both the wiring and coding, so I suspect they know. I haven't asked them yet as I have been distracted by other things, but that was going to be my next course of action.

Ultimately, my preferred setup (if it was possible) would be a HR bar like the ones installed by the gentlemen above, but with the factory wiring and coding to provide the ESP benefit you (and the user manual) describe.

BTW, the Westfalia bar was much more expensive than even the dealer fitted option.