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Fitted retractable towbar tomy vxr estate! (possible how 2)
Good evening folks, last weekend i picked up a GM retractable tow bar for the vectra estate, I asked some questions and apparently it would fit my VXR, so yesterday is started the retrofit,
I took lots of pictures as i could't find a how 2 to fit a towbar to the estate.
So- step one, remove all the easy bits, the hatch doors on the left and right of the boot, the boot cover, and the carpeted boot floor, like so:
step 1.jpg
The next step is to remove the load restraining loops (X4) you need a large torx bit for these although im not sure what size - 20?
step 2.jpg
Next remove the small plastic caps covering some smaller torx screws which hold the plastic slam panel on, once these are removed pull the panel up, its clipped on.
step 3.jpg
This will enable you to remove the flexible tray,
once this is removed you will see the towbar plug and the parking sensor plug, this tow bar plug is wired for a 13 pin system which is good!
step 4.jpg
Then you need to remove the inserts for the flex load system, these are clipped on and a bit awquard to remove, also you need to remove all 4 of them... sigh!
step 5.jpg
once removed they look like this:
step 6.jpg
Next remove the 6 small torx screws on each side of the boot to release the side panels...
step 7.jpg
then pull them out
step 8.jpg
This is one of the brackets that needs to go in, its got collars already mounted so you just need to drill the holes,
the bracket.jpg
Now you need to get your drill with a hole cutting bit, i used a 25mm which was a bit larger than needed but it doesnt really matter- i think 23mm would have been perfect, The points to drill are pre marked, for the retractable towbar use the points i did, 1st, 2nd and 4th, the 3rd point isnt used on this towbar.
holes drilled.jpg
now you have the holes drilled the 2 brackets should just drop in
second bracket in holes.jpg1st bracket in holes.jpgrhs bracket under car.jpg
Under the car you can see that the 1st two holes are accessible but the 3rd will be tricky, I decided to lower the heatsheilds enough to give enough space to slide the towbar in
rhs heatshield lowered enough.jpg
Unfortunatley the exhausts needed to be lowered as well to allow the towbar to be raised into place, pop off the rear 3 rubbers and the one to the rear of the centre section, I supported the exhausts with a jack.
lower exhausts, shows jack.jpg
Raise the towbar up to the screw threads, franticly try to screw a nut on while the towbar crushes you, once its in place crawl back out from under the carand have a cup of tea,
Next job is to drill 2 holes to allow the power cables and the release cable to enter the car:
Drill the 2 holes near the existing tow bar plug (its dimpled where you need to drill)
cable holes to be drilled.jpg
again i used the 25mm cutter as its all i had! 30mm would have been good.
Feed the cables through, plug the electrical loom in and run the cable release as shown:
cable route.jpg
Hook the release cable on to the lever and plug the small 3 pin plug into the base of the lever ( i think all estates have this little 3 pin flat plug taped up)
cable hooked.jpg
Thats it, Refit the trim.
No Tech 2 needed.
When you pull the release lever an led lights up and a buzzer sounds until the towbar is locked into place.
The finished item!
cant see it!.jpgfinished!.jpg
Hope someone finds this useful! i know these towbars arent common but they are useful and invisible.
It has a 13pin caravan power connector built into the neck of the tow bar which is neat!
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Originally Posted by jammyd88
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