Tow bar

[atlegranby]

Hi all

I am looking for a tow bar to fit my car, but this seems to be a hard task. The electric wiring is not available from Jaguar any more. I did purchase a used tow bar with electric wiring on e-bay, but it has been missing in the mail-system since September.......
If YOU got a tow bar for x308 laying on the shelf, or maybe you know of one PLEASE contact me.

[daveji]

Hello Atle
We usually use a local "man with a van" specialist to fit towbars these days.They do it all the time and are the experts.
My local firm is Mota-Bars of Leamington Spa www.motabars.co.uk who can supply towbars from all the main manufacturers. They may be able to advise and/or supply the parts for you to install yourself.
How you could achieve a result in Norway I have no idea!

[atlegranby]

Hi
I might found the right person for deliver my a brand new tow bar including electric wiering on e-Bay. http://stores.ebay.co.uk/phantomjag
Have any of you purchase parts from this man?

[johnweber]

Hi attle
ive had the same problem trying to find someone to supply
i have found this company though http://www.towbarsrus.com/index.html
but there search engine keeps calling our cars a x300 weather they fit the same unknown.

goodluck and please let us all know how you get on

jonny

[mmikethebook]

Hi,
I recently bought my first Jaguar, XJ8 3.2 and for business use I needed a tow bar.

I found one at Jagcats, Near Pontefract. They had a car in the yard which on inspection, proved to have one fitted. They removed it and installed it onto my car. Having seen what they had to do to fit it, I would really not be keen to do it myself.

The job took about 4 hours.

Re the electrics: The bar came complete with all the relays etc, which fit into ready made ports in the distribution bay at the rear of the battery bay, but take note, there is one relay which plugs into a dedicated bay in the boot, and without this, nothing works.

Without the actual hook in place, the whole thing is virtually invisible.
Cheers,
Mikethebook

[dhammond]

It must be noted that if the vehicle is first registered from 2001 then it can only be fitted with an EU type approved towbar. This will have a plate on it which stipulates the maximum nose weight that can be applied. As far as I am aware only Brink make towbars for the X308 which are type approved and it is only available with the detachable swan neck type towball. Whilst other types will fit, fitment of them will invalidate the vehicles insurance.

Only attempt to fit it yourself if you are a competent mechanic and have access to all of the required tools.

Also when fitting the towbar either a smart relay bypass unit will need to be fitted in order to fit the towbar electrics or a specialist will need to configure the security and locking control module (which also controls all of the rear lights with the exception on the high level brake light). For the towbar to be wired to the security and locking control module, the towbar must be purchased from a Jaguar main dealer and come with the OEM wiring harness. This wiring harness is not available as a separate item.

Personally I would recommend leaving the connection of the towbar electrics to the vehicle to a qualified auto electrician as major damage can occur if the wiring is not fitted correctly.

When fitting the Brink towbar, you may need two new rear bumper mounts (depending on the condition of the units currently fitted to the vehicle) as the towbar utilises the height adjusters from the original mounts. You may also need to cut away a section of the bumper for the swan neck to clear.

Spray all of the bolts on the bumper mounts liberally with penetrating oil the day before. It is highly likely that at least one of the bolts will need to be drilled out as the mount is held onto the body with carriage bolts and the square section of the bolt is held by the plastic bumper mounting moulding so if the bolt has rusted all that happens is the head rotates rather than the bolt releasing.

Allow at least a day to fix the towbar into position (excluding wiring) and fitment is really a two person job.

Regards,

David