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TowBars
Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 3:11 pm
by PisceanJoy
About how much does it cost to put a towbar on a Bongo?
Re: TowBars
Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 3:17 pm
by Ian
2 hours labour, plus the cost of the towbar. Plus VAT. Around £250 in total I reckon.
Re: TowBars
Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 6:07 pm
by Garry W
Wotcha.
I took mine up to A1 in Sheffield - £110 fitted.
Re: TowBars
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 3:30 pm
by John_H
Garry W wrote:I took mine up to A1 in Sheffield - £110 fitted.
flipping heck!!!

that was cheap!! the club price for one of these is £140.00 PLUS fitting
Re: TowBars
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 4:58 pm
by alant54
We had ours fitted by Wheelquick pre purchase...£190.00 ( top job ...

)
We also had one fitted to our Suzuki Ignis by a local firm for £200.00 CASH..

.. ( say no more..

)
Alan
Prices depend on the quality of the bar and the fitting.
Re: TowBars
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 5:19 pm
by cmm303
Make sure you pick a make that attaches to the Bongo strongly especially if towing a caravan or other heavy load.
The common attachment is to a bracket which is only held on by spot welds which give way. Alternatively I think people have had the welding of this bracket reinforced.
I don't recall the makes of towbars however Simon Jones has posted about this so a search on his posts for tow bars should pull up what you need.
Re: TowBars
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:52 pm
by mikeWalsall
This is the A1 tow bar that is well recommended .. I had one fitted to my V6 Bongo ..
http://www.towbars-uk.co.uk/fitting_ins ... 4d9ab2.pdf
Re: TowBars
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 8:15 pm
by Simon Jones
Yep, the A1 MA465 is the most substantial model available and it is ideally suited to using a bike rack or back box. There have been issues with another make of towbar which I believe has resulted in the design being changed to avoid the problems of spot welds coming loose which can cause the rear bumper to droop.
Re: TowBars
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2016 10:41 am
by lpgimports
The A1 version is the only version we fit on our sales cars, the others certainly were very in adequate in comparison. If A1 are doing them £110 fitted inc VAT I would take it straight there, I will take mine there and have them do it rather than buy them trade from them and fit them myself.
Re: TowBars
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2016 2:04 pm
by g8dhe
To be fair to Tow Trust they have now altered the design after understanding the Bongo mounting problems and the new design includes bolting it now to the chassis as well as the nearside mounting point.
You can compare the old and new designs here;
OLD DESIGN TMZ168
http://www.g8dhe.net/bongo_images/Tow_Trust_TMZ168.pdf
and
NEW DESIGN TMZ168
https://tow-trust.s3.amazonaws.com/inst ... TMZ168.pdf
Re: TowBars
Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2016 6:36 pm
by Tertiary
Some time ago I bought the 'wrong' towbar from Towtrust.... I've had it in the mancave whilst I mulled over what to do. Thanks to the new information supplied by Simon and Geoff, I emailed Towtrust on Saturday eve asking if the new part on the new design was compatible with the old one....
I had a reply today saying that it is, the part is available to buy separately and is only £17.50 delivered!
Result!

I now have a towbar that can be fitted and used with confidence
Thank you Simon, Geoff and Towtrust

Re: TowBars
Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2016 4:05 am
by helen&tony
Hi
That's good news...I'll be mailing them soon, as it was on my "to do" list...fortunately towing hadn't damaged my chassis!
Cheers
Helen
Re: TowBars
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 7:46 am
by claireb
Hi im hope you don't mind me jumping on. I'm looking to tow a caravan with my bongo 2004 aero 2ltr petrol. As you all have towbars I'm gathering your towing. Some say not to tow bingo won't handle it and some say no probs. Just need advise from people towing. Thankyou
Re: TowBars
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 9:33 am
by Bob
As said on the other thread weight is your issue with a 2ltr petrol.
We have a diesel and our caravan is max 1600kgs, just on the 85% guideline and no probs.
If you haven't towed before there are courses available and if you passed your test after about 1996 (?) there are restrictions, easily Googled.
Re: TowBars
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 9:49 am
by claireb
Hi yes thank you for both your reply's and looking into other people opinions. Passed test in 1988 so all good there. and looked into the mass weight ect. Of 85% we are looking into a retro style old school maybe of max weight of 850. But still wanting others advice. Looked n the AA site for legal stuff and govement site. Just needed real people towing advice.