Koleos tow bar wiring
- Thread starter schlitzaugen
- Start date
schlitzaugen
1000+ Posts
Not exactly, but there's enough bits and pieces to cobble something together. Just unnecessarily obfuscated.
All the plugs inside are some weird proprietary shape because that is what people like, to come up with yet another one, as if there weren't enough millions of variations already, so I might have to cut them off and either solder directly or use some Deutsch plugs, which is what I favour. Plus, the earth and positive 12V supplies are my innovation/hack rather than the factory's helpful foresight.
Inside on my car, cav. Mine is 2010. Is this early?
All the plugs inside are some weird proprietary shape because that is what people like, to come up with yet another one, as if there weren't enough millions of variations already, so I might have to cut them off and either solder directly or use some Deutsch plugs, which is what I favour. Plus, the earth and positive 12V supplies are my innovation/hack rather than the factory's helpful foresight.
Inside on my car, cav. Mine is 2010. Is this early?
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cav91
1000+ Posts
Yep, I've fitted one to my 2010 and my 2008. Both had a very simple plug in wiring. Ill get a picture for you tomorrow if you like.
schlitzaugen
1000+ Posts
Thank you, that is very nice. Did these tow bars have a relay box with the loom, or just a bunch of wires?
cav91
1000+ Posts
No relay box. Literally just the one plug and the earth.
First picture is the tow bar side. The second picture is the car side. This is the tow bar we pulled off to send to you, but freight price was prohibitive. This car car is a 2013, but its the same wiring as both of mine.
I also remeber now after having a look, the plug actually doesn't fit out of the hole in the body, making the hole in the body bigger (only on a wrecked car in the wreckers yard) is the easiest way for us. Your ment to feed it through before joining the wires to the trailer plug. So if you got it from a wreckers they may have simply cut through the wires as its a bit of pain getting it all out.
Also we had someone recently get one for there car and they didn't come with the brakets inside the chassis rails, he had to make some. Make sure yours has come with those brackets it cost him alot of time.
First picture is the tow bar side. The second picture is the car side. This is the tow bar we pulled off to send to you, but freight price was prohibitive. This car car is a 2013, but its the same wiring as both of mine.
I also remeber now after having a look, the plug actually doesn't fit out of the hole in the body, making the hole in the body bigger (only on a wrecked car in the wreckers yard) is the easiest way for us. Your ment to feed it through before joining the wires to the trailer plug. So if you got it from a wreckers they may have simply cut through the wires as its a bit of pain getting it all out.
Also we had someone recently get one for there car and they didn't come with the brakets inside the chassis rails, he had to make some. Make sure yours has come with those brackets it cost him alot of time.
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schlitzaugen
1000+ Posts
Thank you very much indeed, Cav.
My tow bar did come with that plug, but with a mess of wires somebody tried unsuccessfully to hack into their car wiring (not sure why).
CORRECTION (after I checked again). The plugs I got with the bar are actually cut out of the car's wiring (the ones in your second picture). I didn't get the one that was supposed to come with the tow bar and plug in (first picture). So I need to make up one, possibly remove the car's plug and just replace with a Deutsch connector.
And yes, I had to do some brackets to stick inside the chassis rails myself. Not a problem if you have machines. I machined them out of some really thick angle steel, in fact I wonder if I didn't change the way the chassis would deform in a rear end impact. Hopefully not. The only annoying part was that the angles inside the chassis rail are not exactly 90 degrees so I had to machine the brackets to match and not to distort the flimsy chassis rails when the bolts are done up. And they're not the same angle left to right either. They came up a treat (long live chinese machinery), just regret they're not somewhere exposed to be seen. Anyhoo. Lots of fish oil later the chassis rails are sealed and hopefully I won't have to go in there again.
My tow bar did come with that plug, but with a mess of wires somebody tried unsuccessfully to hack into their car wiring (not sure why).
CORRECTION (after I checked again). The plugs I got with the bar are actually cut out of the car's wiring (the ones in your second picture). I didn't get the one that was supposed to come with the tow bar and plug in (first picture). So I need to make up one, possibly remove the car's plug and just replace with a Deutsch connector.
And yes, I had to do some brackets to stick inside the chassis rails myself. Not a problem if you have machines. I machined them out of some really thick angle steel, in fact I wonder if I didn't change the way the chassis would deform in a rear end impact. Hopefully not. The only annoying part was that the angles inside the chassis rail are not exactly 90 degrees so I had to machine the brackets to match and not to distort the flimsy chassis rails when the bolts are done up. And they're not the same angle left to right either. They came up a treat (long live chinese machinery), just regret they're not somewhere exposed to be seen. Anyhoo. Lots of fish oil later the chassis rails are sealed and hopefully I won't have to go in there again.
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Good day, I am just in the process of fitting my 2015 Koleos for the trailer brake wiring. I've managed to get a cable the full length of the car but I am now stuck, trying to find somewhere to poke the wiring through the firewall. I need 12v power for the caravan and power for the Tekonsha unit. Would appreciate any ideas you might have. Dave (Perth)
Fordman
1000+ Posts
The last couple of cars I have had with 12v power for the caravan, I had done professionally, both were similar.
A 30 amp circuit breaker mounted near the car battery, directly wired to Battery positive, and a similar capacity relay connected to that c/b and the cable running under the car in a protective sheath (convoluted split tubing, Narva call it).
The relay is activated by Ignition On, so no heavy cable in the cabin. You might find an Ign On connection at the fusebox under the bonnet, or somewhere similar.
This set up suited me as a simple way of never running your car battery flat, presuming there is a battery in the caravan to run lights etc when car engine is turned off. Mine had a 3-way fridge so that would normally be connected to caravan park power overnight, or gas if free camping. The fridge should be ok during day stops up to an hour or two. My caravan (Coromal) had a main diode in the system to prevent the caravan battery draining back to the car. The caravan battery is also charged from the car while driving (or engine running) through the same cable.
I am not sure where the brake controller wiring was routed, but I don't think the wiring is very heavy, certainly not like the 12v power feed, and is completely separate from the power feed.
Cheers.
A 30 amp circuit breaker mounted near the car battery, directly wired to Battery positive, and a similar capacity relay connected to that c/b and the cable running under the car in a protective sheath (convoluted split tubing, Narva call it).
The relay is activated by Ignition On, so no heavy cable in the cabin. You might find an Ign On connection at the fusebox under the bonnet, or somewhere similar.
This set up suited me as a simple way of never running your car battery flat, presuming there is a battery in the caravan to run lights etc when car engine is turned off. Mine had a 3-way fridge so that would normally be connected to caravan park power overnight, or gas if free camping. The fridge should be ok during day stops up to an hour or two. My caravan (Coromal) had a main diode in the system to prevent the caravan battery draining back to the car. The caravan battery is also charged from the car while driving (or engine running) through the same cable.
I am not sure where the brake controller wiring was routed, but I don't think the wiring is very heavy, certainly not like the 12v power feed, and is completely separate from the power feed.
Cheers.
Thanks for the reply. I thought about taking the cable under the car but as I use the car for Uber I don't think they would allow it through the annual inspection. I would have to run it alongside the fuel and brake lines The brake cable supplied is a twin so I will run the power to the front from the auxiliary in the luggage bay and then the brake cable back to the towbar. They certainly don't leave much space in the engine bay to get to the firewall.
schlitzaugen
1000+ Posts
What is a Tekonsha unit?