Fitting a towbar and associated electrics
FITTING A TOWBAR AND ASSOCIATED ELECTRICS
Ok then, this is how I fitted my towbar and electrics.
Note that you can click on any photo to see an enlargement in a separate window.
First find your product. If I tell you that the wiring alone for the Alfa supplied one is about £175 (£193 from local agent), you can perhaps guess that there are cheaper products around, though the wiring is a plugin apparently. Oh yes on line towbar price, minus electrics £485 (yes really - I've back checked 3 times!).
I chose P F Jones as my supplier and this product:
Alfa Romeo Giulietta 2010 Onwards Westfalia Detachable Towbar
I can't express how satisfied I am with the guys at this firm. Prompt delivery, charges low and immediate, detailed responses to any questions asked regarding fitting.
You will need to decide what connector plug you want to use and order accordingly, including the relay. I used the 7 pin standard as that is what is on my motorhome and all trailers. By all means use the 13 pin if you wish. I see that I've written elsewhere that this is over a hundred quid.
This Westfalia detachable towbar is completely invisible when looking at the rear of the car. The electrical socket is swung down when required and the heavy swan necked towball is attached very easily, clicking into a holder from below. When not required the ball assembly is stored in a plastic bag.
Arrival
The product arrived in a big log box with masses of padding. It weighed a worrying amount but once unpacked, so did the discarded packing. Have something soft at hand to place the towbar on when unpacking so as not to scratch off the paint on your driveway. The assembly looked really good but I gave it a couple of coats of spray on black Hammerite just for good measure, even though I knew it would be mostly out of site.
Preparation
This job is going to take you at least 2 days unless you've been fitting towbars all your life, so if you propose to do it out of doors, make sure you choose good weather. Possibly wait until Spring now! Or find an indoor facility. (The local Alfa fitter said he allows 2 days).
I haven't listed all the tools required although mentioning some for clarity. I suggest anyone undertaking this task should read through and make sure that the tools mentioned are available at the outset. Some form of bright lighting will be essential for marking and drilling the towbar attachment holes. A torque wrench should be used for safety and if not owned, can be borrowed for the few minutes necessary to tighten the 9 retaining nuts and bolts. Should the lighting strip lights not work after wires are connected, a test meter will be invaluable to trace where along the line there is a power break.
Rear bumper removal
This was a bit daunting but I hope to help remove your daunt.
First remove 3 cross headed screws in the rear of the rear wheel arches, and a 30T star head bolt at the top rear. If you jack up each side in turn and use a very short screwdriver, you don't have to remove the wheels. Store all removed screws and bolts safely where they won't get lost.
Unbolt the single bolt holding each rear light cluster to the boot recess.
Remove the screws along the base of the bumper underside.
Place something like the top from a sun lounger on the deck for the bumper to land on.
Grab hold of the bumper by the wheel arch and pull outwards gently. You will be rewarded by a series of 3 pops as it detached from 3 mounts.
Now, at this point the handbook just says to pull. Pulling worked; there was a forth pop and it all came away rather alarmingly. A better way would be to remove the light cluster first, using the patented Whiskeymac tool, a polythene spatula, the type that melts in the frying pan! (Thus not the hard plastic type). This can be inserted under the edge of the cluster at the bumper edge to pop off the cluster as shown in the photo. This is good practice for changing bulbs in years to come.
The technique is described here:
http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-giulietta/309643-rear-light-cluster-removal.html
The following photos, will explain the reason for the problem. One shows the slots on the bumper that popped (the end smaller slot is where the 30T bolt went through). It also shows two further slots ( top on photo) that mesh with the light cluster. The second photo shows the two protrusions at the bottom of the cluster, that do the meshing.
So if you removed the lights first, the bumper can be popped off and gently placed on the soft sun lounger top, or whatever, below. Unplug the lead for the number plate lights and, if you have them, the reversing sensors. The next photo shows the removed bumper which, being entirely made of thin plastic, incidentally is extremely light weight. Place safely aside.
Remove Plastic Bumper Undersection
Undo the six nuts holding on the undersection shown in this photo and discard the undersection. It isn't needed anymore.
Drill attachment holes
For the purpose of understanding the next stage, the towbar may be placed temporarily onto the six bolts, sliding the two flat arms inside the corresponding box sections. The arms have threaded holes. Corresponding holes now have to be very precisely drilled through the underside of the box sections.
First remove the towbar. Study the supplied templates. They have small car pictures to assist identifying which is left and right and their orientation front and rear. You will need a short metric ruler or devise some other way of transfering measurements. Mark with a pencil, double check, go away and have a cuppa, return and measure again, carefully. Measure twice (at least), drill once!
When you are absolutely certain that you are going to drill in the correct place, first unbolt the rear exhaust pipe mountings. Decide which side is to be drilled first and use a couple of bungees to pull the exhaust away from your drilling line. Also remove the square rubber plugs in the box sections and note that the one on the off side of the vehicle is where one bolt will go, i.e. you only have three holes to drill.
Make sure your drill batteries are fully charged, if using battery power.
The 18mm holes you need to make are larger than the largest drill bit you are likely to own, so get equipped before starting. It is also larger than is necessary for the bolts supplied, but allows for a bit of error. For those not used to drilling large holes through steel, you cannot use large drill bits straight off. Punch a start mark if you can, or use a tiny drill bit to drill a shallow pilot hole, then change to gradually larger bits, drilling right through with each in turn. A slow speed actually penetrates faster.
When all holes are drilled, check alignment by fitting the towbar and holding your breath. If all is well :thumbs: you can clean up the holes and treat with rust preventer, though I used dollops of grease. Fit washers to bolts and wind them in halfway until certain that all fit fine, then tighten up with a torque wrench to the torques given in the instruction diagrams. Fit washers and nuts on the rear bolts and tighten to their lesser torques.
Should you have been a bit ham fisted, you can always enlarge one side of a hole with a rat's tail file. If you have been completely ham fisted, buy another car and start again.
Take the plastic electric socket mounting from its packet and assemble on the bearing as shown on the diagram in the packet, and mount on the drop arm of the towbar. Your car should now look like this:
Cut out section from bumper underside :wow:
The section to be removed is shown in diagram 12 of the instructions. It is larger than you would expect, but is necessary to accommodate the ball bar locking mechanism handwheel and allow your hand to operate it. Don't fret, it is completely invisible from the rear of the car. It is quite tricky to measure and mark, I found, due to the curves of the bumper.
This is a good time to familiarise yourelf with the towball setup and try to understand the instructions on pages 26-27. I found it easier to fiddle with the ball assembly, fit it, lock it, then worry about how to get it off again. Once you've got it to lock on you've just about cracked it. Just read the 'structions again for good measure. No I still couldn't follow them either! Seeing it fitted will help you understand why the section has to be sawn out of the bumper.
Once the markings are pencilled on, another cuppa consumed then the markings and measurements again checked with great care, start cutting. I used a fret saw for the depth cuts and a very carefully applied Stanley knife for the cross cuts. By carefully, I mean very gently against a firmly held ruler for the first cut, then gradually deepening the cut, resisting any attempt to rush. Once complete, remove sharp edges and corners with abrasive paper. By all means use a power jigsaw if you prefer. They scare me more than a Stanley knife. There may well be other methods.
Mount Electric Socket
Mount the socket on the plastic swing mount, using all supplied washers and applying a little grease, silicon if you have some. Note that the cable snags a bumper mount. I slid a length of water pipe that I had, over the cable, to give protection at this point. It's not going to be used every day, but I feel better to have protected it.
Make a hole in the large rubber grommet that the cables go though into the bootspace; pass the towing cable through and seal with some sealant, mastic etc. I used some black silicon.
Refit Bumper
Refit the exhaust mounts if not done already and give your exhaust outlets a good clean.
Place the bumper behind the car and replug the numberplate light and reversing sensor cables, feeding them logically so they won't get crushed.
Offer up the bumper ensuring correct meshing with the fittings just beneath the boot opening. Ensure the rubber seal is fitted correctly. Rescrew and bolt and check there are no leftovers or missing bits
.
This is a good time to go and open a bottle of vino and celebrate.
The damned electrics can wait until you feel like tackling the job. Fortunately it's easy, thanks to the Whiskeymac instructions below, aided by those grand chaps at P F Jones.:cheese:
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Connecting cable to car wiring
The towbar connecting socket cable was, by agreement, sent with a bypass relay. This serves a number of functions including prevention of voltage drops being reported as faults, providing a mandatory bleeper to confirm working of trailer indicators and resolvement of the LED conundrum (see later).
First you need to know how the socket and relay are wired. This info does not come supplied!! I'll list the details here and the vehicle wires that I connected to. If you want more than indicators, brake lights, side lights (including number plate lights), you will have to delve deeper for the corresponding vehicle wires.
[Tabs and multi spaces are not supported so dots have been used here instead to create columns]
Connect the towbar cable wires to the relay connections first.
Towbar socket to bypass relay numbered terminals:
1…….Yellow
2…….Blue
THERE IS NO No 3
4…….Green
5…….Brown
6…….Red
7…….Black
The white wire goes directly to chassis earth, along with the one from the bypass relay.
Bypass Relay wires......Function..............Connect to car wire colour
Green (extended).........Right Indicator…….Blue/Black lead to right rear light cluster
Red…………..................Brake……………..…...Red/Yellow to LEDs in left rear light cluster
Yellow………................Left Indicator………..Blue/White lead to left rear light cluster
Blue………….................Fog
Grey………..................Unused (Reverse)
Brown……................…Right Tail…..………….No need to connect *
Black……….................Left Tail……..…………No need to connect *
White……................…Chassis earth….……To Chassis earth
* The tail LED lights double as tail and brake lights. Only the brake connection needs to be connected, the relay sorts out the tail light feed.
Connect Power to Relay
The relay needs to be connected to a constant power source (12v +) so that the emergency four way flashers work with the ignition off. There are two connecting screws on the side of the relay, connect to the one marked 12v. For power source see next section.
Locating Vehicle Wires
Most of the wires required were found on the rear nearside, behind the boot lining. To expose these procede as follows.
Undo the star headed bolt holding in the plastic boot rear lining and ease this upwards and inwards, peeling it out of the rear seal and lifting out of the mounting slots. Note these slots for when reinstalling.
Undo four cross headed screws in the assembly carrying the boot light, two in obvious recesses (use a torch), the third exposed by pushing the rear seat forwards and the forth by removing the triangular plastic surround of the seat back anchor post. The assembly can then be eased inwards, along with the lining outer trim and then the inner rubber lining. Without going mad, this creates enough space to work and access to the rear wiring loom. Locate where the wires enter the rear lights and find the left indicator wire and the left tail light wire.
Using one of the blue clips supplied attach the appropriate relay wire to the indicator wire. If you haven't used one of these clips before, here's my suggestion of how to do this. With a pair of pliers in one hand, find the rear channel in the clip that is blocked off, push in the relay wire, yellow in this case, and ensuring that the wire doesn't slip out, gently close the clip with the pliers just enough that the wire is trapped. Prise open the clip and, having exposed a length of the correct vehicle wire, blue & white in this case, slip it into the other channel and pinch the clip closed. Flip over the cover and snap into place.
My power wire was a nice fat red one in the loom cluster on the floor and can be seen in the photo. It was a bit of a struggle to clip it but I managed to prise the metal prong apart a bit so that it fitted. A short length of wire is required for the connection from this clip to the supplied fuse terminal (using a supplied blue female spade connector), and similarly from this to the 12v terminal on the relay. Subsequent people following this guide have reported that they failed to find a fat red wire. My advice would be to look for a big, fat black, or even blue wire as Alfa seem to have changed the colour on later cars. To be sure, use a voltmeter (test meter set to Voltage), touch the black probe to a good earth (The body of the vehicle negative pole) and stab through the insulation of the wire. If it is a permanent live you will get a 12v reading. Test meters are very useful for a myriad of other functions such as testing cable continuity, fuses and light bulbs, and all sorts of batteries. It is confusing to see a black wire and consider it to be a possible positive (+) source but from what I gather from others, this is the case. [In the event that no suitable power source can be located, a new cable fitted with an in-line fuse will have to be routed from the battery as described in Post 50. It might be expedient to route 2 cables should you have thoughts of fitting reversing sensors in the future].
Next, bare the ends of both white wires, from the cable and the relay and, having loosened the 13mm nut on the earthing post, slip in these earth wires and retighten.
Connect a lighting strip to the towbar socket and test that the left indicator works on the strip and the buzzer buzzes in the relay.
Using another length of wire and blue clip, extend the green wire so that connection can be made in similar fashion to the indicator wire on the right tail light assembly. I used a piece of two core indoor power cable for this, threading it through the back panel of the boot from high on one side to high on the other. Once complete, test the four way flashers without turning on the ignition.
At this point the conundrum appears. If, like me, you had used a test meter on the wires to the rear light cluster to establish which was which, you would realise that there seems to be a wire missing, as the LEDs double as tail lights and brake lights. A phone call to
P F Jones revealed that only one wire, the red brake one, needs to be connected, after which the relay sorts out what happens at the lighting strip from the power coming through the LED wire. Clever eh! Thus, on the left side, the red relay wire is connected to the red and yellow cable. No further connection is needed for either tail light. (If I was crass I could say
simples at this stage, but I'm not, so I won't.
Well that's it! Just test that the tail and brake lights work on the lighting strip. I just tidied up the wiring with black tape, also taping the power clip cover shut which kept springing off, and taped the fuse holder so that it was accessible but so that it won't rattle around. Replace the linings, back cover and all screws and bolt and rejoice at how clever you are and how much dosh you have saved.