Bosal euro detachable hitch install... PICS

Kennedy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Location
Fredericksburg, VA
Bought the old lady a motorcycle and needed a way to tote this thing around. I went out on a quest to find a nice towing system and finally settled on the Bosal "AK6" design detachable towbar. Seemed to be the highest quality unit out there with the features I wanted... Stealth, detachable swan neck, and purely bolt on. installation. THAT'S RIGHT, NO DRILLING INTO YOUR TRUNK!
I placed the order with Tony Maris from www.towitall.co.uk, and my towbar was delivered 5 days later!. Here's what it came with. Note the downward facing reciever, the heavy duty detachable swan neck hitch, keys (it's lockable), and hardware. Mine didn't come with any electrics, I still need to call back to the UK and find out if that was accidentially ommited.



To install the towbar, you have to drop the rear bumper cover. This is what's underneath your rear bumper cover. To remove the bumper cover, remove your tailights from inside the trunk (3 bolts), then remove the 2 torx screws under the taillights, 3 three torx screws under the rear valance, and the 4 little torx screws in the fenderwells.



To remove the 5 mph bumper, simply remove the 4 mounting bolts as seen in the picture, and pull it off.
Once the 5 mph bumper is removed, slide the towbar into the bumper mounting point. Don't put it in upside down, the reciever opening needs to be facing the ground.



There seems to be a great debate over removing the 5mph bumper for safety reasons. This thing is beefy, much beefier than the oem 5mph bumper. I don't feel any less safe with this thing installed. In fact, I think the towbar affords more protection due to the extra steel, extra mounting points, and sturdier design. If you are involved in a fender bender you will dent you bumper cover though, as there is nothing supporting the molded abs plastic bumper cover.

To properly mount the towbar, feel around under the frame for soft spots, right near the final exhaust mount and just beyond it. Scrape the undercoat to expose the mounting holes. 2 holes on each side... It's that easy, towbar is mounted. Replace bumper cover and taillights.



Here's the swan neck mounted to the towbar. It pops into place via the knob, then locks.
Note how the mounting point is under the car as opposed to the rear. Very stealty, no receiver hitch sticking out the back.
Sorry, no pic of the ball mounted with bumper cover on, you have to dremel about a 3x5 in. section of underside your lower valance to permit access to the receiver. I need to borrow a dremel...



Check this out...
I think this detachable unit was designed to be OEM, the swan neck fits right right into the OEM foam in the rear.



This unit was quite expensive. The hardware itself was about $350, then another $150 UPS shipping from the UK.
In the group buy I put together, there are other options that are cheaper. Bosal makes two other applications for the Jetta/Golf, all of which mount identically. The only difference is the swan-neck mounting.
-One is the "eco-fit" which is a similar detachable system, but the receiver sticks out of the back of the car like a US spec "draw-tite". It's about $400 delivered.
-The other is a non-detachable unit almost identical to the towsure/brink units seen here on the forums. One of those can be gotten for about $330-$350 from Tony.

Here's the original thread, be sure to read all the way through it for proper descriptions of the bars available and pricing.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showflat.php?C...part=1&vc=1

Install is easy, 2 beers, 2 hours, some torx bits, and a metric socket set, (oh, and a dremel).
 

alhutch

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2002
Location
Portland, Oregon
TDI
None
Kennedy,

Great writeup and pictures! How detailed are the directions about cutting the valence? I am probably going to get the same setup for my '02 in the next couple of months, thanks for laying the groundwork.

Al
 

stayalert

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Location
VT, USA
TDI
2001 golf black
Cool but out of my budget. I was rummaging through the trunk yesterday and was looking at the spare tire/foam thing. I said to myself looks like a spot for a trialer hitch....You confirmed my thought....Rob M Concord, MA
 

Birdman

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 7, 1999
Location
Near Hagerstown MD.
TDI
Jetta 2001 Died by Truck one snowy day. Jetta 2003
Kennedy Nice job, A little expensive for me. You can get the Electrion Light package at any auto store even Walmart carries the converter needed.
 

Kennedy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Location
Fredericksburg, VA
Thanks Jerry,
Should I even bother with the euro electrics? Euro electrics are 7 or 13 pin connectors /images/graemlins/eek.gif... what the hell are those pins for?
or should I just buy a generic 4 pin kit form wally world.

Word from Tony is that NO bars come with electrics in the UK as there are 2-3 different standards. They sell these seperately as every car has its own application.
 

Kennedy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Location
Fredericksburg, VA
New photos... Finished the dremeling. You have to take about a 9in. x 4in. chunk of the bottom of the valance off, but it's completely unnoticeable unless your laying under the car.

Here's a view of the cut, note the fold down electrics bracket (still trying to figure out what to do about electrics though). Ignore the rough edges, I still need to file the dremel cuts smooth then sear them. You can also see the safety chain connection point in this pic.





Looks like plenty of clearance between the skin and ball:



Installed sideview:



Installed view from the rear:



Phew... always wear safety glasses when dremeling.

Edit, like that sexy badging? the R is for "Rice"
All my sexy letters f'd up due to soot... Damn PP520s and Upsolute!
 

christi

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 22, 1999
Location
Ruislip, Middlesex, UK
TDI
Peugeot 806, 607
[ QUOTE ]
Kennedy said:
/images/graemlins/eek.gif... what the hell are those pins for?

[/ QUOTE ]

In the UK we have 2 X 7 pin connectors.

One of them has
Right turn
Left turn
Brakes
Right tail
Left tail
Fog
Chassis

The second connector is only needed if you want to tow a caravan (camping trailer ?).
It has
+12V permanent (for caravan lighting)
+12V ignition switched (for fridge and caravan battery charging)
Reversing lights
Earth return

There are also officially other stuff like work light that no-one ever hooks up.

The European 13 pin connector is a combination of the two UK ones in one connector.

In Europe trailers have to have separate amber turn signals and rear fog, hence the greater number of pins.
 

jasonTDI

TDI GURU Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Location
Oregon, WI
TDI
20' RAM 3500 CCLB dually HO/Aisan. 2019 Cherokee 2.0T
Great post, following up on this as I was linked here from another thread.

My Volvo XC70 we just sold had the 13 pin wiring with the factory harness. Volvo FINALLY developed a 13 to 4 pin adapter for U.S. usage. It was a PITA before that. I had to fabricate some wiring to get it to work.

The adapter is about $15.
 

Kennedy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Location
Fredericksburg, VA
sat...
I've since sold that car to buy an identical manual tranny version... with a few extras.

To make a <font color="666666">1.9</font> <font color="red">TDI</font> emblem requires 3 OEM badges, get these from IMPEX (www.vwparts.com).

1) 1.8T Badge = remove 8 T
2) VR6 Badge = Remove VR
3) Euro 150 PD (all red) TDI badge

Got it?
 

Kennedy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Location
Fredericksburg, VA
Just wanted to take the opportunity to bump this up...
I reinstalled this into the Bad Bora over the weekend.

Only mods to the install this time:
- Skip installing the fold down "euro" 7 pin connector. Just install one of these:
http://hitches4less.com/universal.html

You can pick one of these up at any Autozone/Walmart...

Less valance to cut, and it's a safer way to wire it in.


Being the dummy I am, I lost the hitch keys. Tony at www.towitall.co.uk is sending me another set right away. How cool is that?

This is one nice hitch. Now I just need a trailer.
 

Luckycar

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2004
Location
Columbus, OH
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon Wheat Beige
I bought this towbar from Tony based on your post. It was really easy to install onto my 04 PD Wagon! I can't wait to use it.

Dennis
 

DougFromMaine

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 17, 2003
Location
Freeport, ME
TDI
'15 Golf Sportwagen TDI (Diesels but not TDIs: '82 VW Vanagon Wesfalia 1.6TD, '86 VW Transporter Single Cab 1.9TD)
I can't quite tell from the pics... is there someplace to attach your safety chains?

I'm in need of a hitch and was just about ready to order a hidden hitch when I found myself behind a golf with a hidden hitch in on the way to work this AM. Watching it come seemingly withing an inch or so of the pavement as the car hit bumps/potholes has made me reconsider. The Bosal looks great - excellent write-up.

Thanks,
Doug
 

Kennedy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Location
Fredericksburg, VA
I can't quite tell from the pics... is there someplace to attach your safety chains?

I'm in need of a hitch and was just about ready to order a hidden hitch when I found myself behind a golf with a hidden hitch in on the way to work this AM. Watching it come seemingly withing an inch or so of the pavement as the car hit bumps/potholes has made me reconsider. The Bosal looks great - excellent write-up.

Thanks,
Doug
Safety chains attach to the loop, to the left of the mount. You can see it in the pic below, ignoring the fold down electrics plate.

 

david_594

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 28, 2004
Location
Cheshire, CT
TDI
2000 Jetta GLS Silver
Dont forget that extra $300 also gets you something rated to tow 1500kg and a tongue weight of 75 kg's.
 

TyeRant

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2004
Location
Campbellford, Ontario
TDI
Jetta Wagon, 2003, Silver
Towbar on Wagon

Luckycar said:
I bought this towbar from Tony based on your post. It was really easy to install onto my 04 PD Wagon! I can't wait to use it.

Dennis
Hi Luckycar,

Tell me, how did you deal with the larger bumper on your 04 Wagon? I would love to see some pics.

I have an 03 Wagon and the bumper is about 2 inches larger that the Euro Bora Estate. All indications are the Bosal Towbar will not fit correctly???

Thanks!

Tye
 

dqa

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2002
Location
Alabama
TDI
RIP: 1999½ New Golf GL TDI satin silver
david_594 said:
.... in other news..... Bosal does not make the OEM hitch available through VW any more.
Did they at any time?
 

SCarroll

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2001
Location
Aurora, CO
HI Tow vehicles,
I tried to get this hitch ordered today and they say that it will not fit th eJetta for a US car. I was serious to get this hitch can anyone verify the part numbers and to be mountable to a Jetta-2004 US. If all that I need to do is dremmel the lower valance then I am good to go.
Steve
 

quigley

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 2, 2007
Location
strawberry az.
TDI
2006.5 jetta
Kennedy,
Thanks for the blow by blow illustrations. Based on your writeup and a couple of conversations with OEMpl I ordered the Westfalia version, still 300.00 dollars though. Also, Someone ran up the rear of my 06.5 and waffled the lower valance. While speaking with OEMpl I found that I could order the valance in pebble black pre cut for the hitch. I did so thinking an oem valance is way out of sight price wise. All in all this is a very expensive add on, but a needed one.
 

robinhood

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2006
Location
Seattle
TDI
99.5 Jetta TDI 5spd
Would anyone be willing to take some measurements of the euro hitch for me?

I am looking to have one fabricated.
 
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