towbars

nicstrike · Post by **nicstrike** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 7:03 pm

i am looking to (diy) fit a towbar to our bongo. there seems to be quite a selection on the market. the type i am looking for is one where the bar assembly is hidden behind the bumper rather than visible below, with just the plate to bolt the hitch onto coming up from behind. can anyone reccomend one within our buget (small!)

silvern · Post by **silvern** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 9:10 pm

I bought an Anker towbar from eBay, like this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-Bongo-T ... 45fc22363b

Had no problem fitting it (requires one hole to be drilled), and managed to get the electrics wired in through the rear light cluster grommets (removed the cupholders/ashtray from the inside and squeezed one arm inside the wing to get to the wiring). The wiring comes in on the nearside through a grommet into the wing then runs accross the floor under the plastic trim panel to the other wing.

No mod to the bumper required and only the towball is visible. I don't have a photo of the finished product, but I could take one if you want to see it.

nigelgibson · Post by **nigelgibson** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 10:17 pm

the type shown not only looks better i think you can also have rear nudge bar on if you choose. The other type you mention with bar showing precludes rear nudge bar but the worst disadvantage is they are a b****** to fit !
i fitted one with a mate and vowed never again. there's a lot more drilling and it took half a day without the wiring ! Go with the above [ it's cheap enough aswell as looking a lot neater ]

briwy · Post by **briwy** » Mon Aug 01, 2011 12:30 pm

Got mine from here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Towbar-Mazda- ... 35ad788640

One hole to drill and the others all bolt straight on using the existing holes, just have to take off the towing eye.

No need to take the bumper off to fit this one. Took a couple of hours all up including the wiring.

Post by **g8dhe** » Mon Aug 01, 2011 1:29 pm

Whilst your fitting the towbar check the welding on the bracket above the exhaust backbox its only spot welded see the problem we had http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... 81#p339381

nicstrike · Post by **nicstrike** » Mon Aug 01, 2011 10:14 pm

thats ideal , just what i was looking for & my kind of prices too. briwy , is that one zinc plated/galvanised or have i just got sparkly-vision?

321Away · Post by **321Away** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 9:06 am

briwy wrote:Whilst your fitting the towbar check the welding on the bracket above the exhaust backbox its only spot welded see the problem we had

If your fitting that type of bar then its best to seam weld of brace the nearside bracket, as the point at which it meets the rear crossmember is a rust trap and weak spot.

Julian

briwy · Post by **briwy** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 11:24 am

Yes it is galvanised. Didn't come like that but I got it done by a mate who works in a galv plant.

nicstrike · Post by **nicstrike** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 8:12 pm

briwy wrote:Yes it is galvanised. Didn't come like that but I got it done by a mate who works in a galv plant.

thought it looked a bit flash! nice job , wish i had a mate who worked in that line. mmmm? galvanized bongo.....could be on to something!!

briwy · Post by **briwy** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 10:29 pm

Don't think his tank is big enough and it would absolutely ruin the trim.

missfixit70 · Post by **missfixit70** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 10:34 pm

briwy wrote:Don't think his tank is big enough and it would absolutely ruin the trim.

Visibilty'd through the windows'd be crap too

nicstrike · Post by **nicstrike** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:00 pm

carpets would be easy clean though!

nicstrike · Post by **nicstrike** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 8:46 pm

silvern wrote:I bought an Anker towbar from eBay, like this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-Bongo-T ... 45fc22363b

Had no problem fitting it (requires one hole to be drilled), and managed to get the electrics wired in through the rear light cluster grommets (removed the cupholders/ashtray from the inside and squeezed one arm inside the wing to get to the wiring). The wiring comes in on the nearside through a grommet into the wing then runs accross the floor under the plastic trim panel to the other wing.

No mod to the bumper required and only the towball is visible. I don't have a photo of the finished product, but I could take one if you want to see it.

have you used the bar in anger yet? seen some other posts refering to major issues with the anker bar. i still really dont want a bar that is visible below the bumper line , they end up looking like ground anchors!

snips · Post by **snips** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 9:17 pm

nicstrike wrote:thats ideal , just what i was looking for & my kind of prices too. briwy , is that one zinc plated/galvanised or have i just got sparkly-vision?

I also got this one i use it to tow a horse box total weight with horse 1400kg no problems at all, but i did mig weld the bumper bracket.

nicstrike · Post by **nicstrike** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 9:23 pm

snips wrote:
nicstrike wrote:thats ideal , just what i was looking for & my kind of prices too. briwy , is that one zinc plated/galvanised or have i just got sparkly-vision?
I also got this one i use it to tow a horse box total weight with horse 1400kg no problems at all, but i did mig weld the bumper bracket.

am i right in saying that this type is visible below the bottom of the bumper though?

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