Which Towbar???

[Weewaawoowaa]

Hi all, I'm new on here and new to SEATs actually.

I am really enjoying my 2005 Altea FSi at the moment and struggling to suppress the many changes I'd like to make in favour of the ones I NEED to make.

1st job is fitting a detachable tow bar for my trailer.

Question is, which one? Witter? Westfalia ? Etc

I'm looking for anyone who has either got one or seen one fitted to comment on the remove ability(?) and the extent of the rear bumper skirt cutout to facilitate the Towbar itself?

I have fitted a westfalia to a juke a few years ago which was very neat and although a fair size cut out, it was almost unnoticeable since the skirt curved in towards the car.

Any comments, pics are welcome.

Thanks.

 

[towcester vag]

westfalia is the better bar

 

[ritch_b]

I ended up with a Westfalia; easy enough to use but, as with all the detachable tow-bars I'd looked at, there's no way to fit a bracket for the break-away cable, but such is life!

Using the bar is just a case of putting the detachable neck and ball in and turning a key to lock it; removing it is just turning a key and dropping the same out; literally takes 30 seconds at most.

The cut-out isn't massive and a blanking-panel is available from Seat to cover the hole, but this is designed for the OEM detachable tow-bar and other tow-bars may require a slightly different cut; the blanking-panel will still cover most of the cut though.

The only real pain is that the electrics aren't easy to connect; I have to get down on my knees and, for someone who doesn't walk too well without crutches, that's a problem. Again, for any detachable tow-bar, it's going to be the same; if you want the tidy, hidden electrics, you have to accept that they're going to be a bit harder to get to!

R.

 

[Tweaky]

Which Altea have you got...

I have a Witter on an XL, and the detachable loading is Horizontal. It's always visible as its past the bumper skirt, I would of liked it to be out of the way and behind a cover. Electrics socket are tucked away as previous comment. If you are really fussed find a vertical loading detachable part as I think the westfalia is. My towbar came with the car so i didn't have a choice, but i have thrown away the abismally wired bypass relay and bought the original Seat socket and wiring, but i did have the optional towbar pre-wiring module fitted so it was easy. Why the original towbar fitter didn't use this instead of making a right mess of the bypass relay. Bypass relay's are ok too, just need to be installed by someone with a modicum of common sense and skill.

Good luck