Expensive to fit tow bar?
- Thread starter Stu_No1
- Start date
Hi Stuart
When I bought my Cayenne the caravan centres wanted £750 and I got it done at a Porsche Centre for £950
With my club discount .the tow bar and kit is a work of art when I watched it being installed ,the big problem with a non Porsche towbar is the wiring as the Porsche kit just plugs in .the wiring on a Cayenne is very complex letting a non Porsche company work on your Cayenne could prove expensive in the long term.My advice is join the club and use the discount offered at your local Porsche centre.
Thanks Paul
When I bought my Cayenne the caravan centres wanted £750 and I got it done at a Porsche Centre for £950
With my club discount .the tow bar and kit is a work of art when I watched it being installed ,the big problem with a non Porsche towbar is the wiring as the Porsche kit just plugs in .the wiring on a Cayenne is very complex letting a non Porsche company work on your Cayenne could prove expensive in the long term.My advice is join the club and use the discount offered at your local Porsche centre.
Thanks Paul
Hi Stuart
i am afraid the retractable one is even more money.the one i have is removable so when it is not on the car you cannot tell the car is fitted with a towbar.
Paul
i am afraid the retractable one is even more money.the one i have is removable so when it is not on the car you cannot tell the car is fitted with a towbar.
Paul
The "factory" tow bar is made by Westfalia and can be bought either via the OPC or other towbar stockists (ebay is your friend here) as an OEM part The bar from someone like PFJONES is around £250is and the associated wiring about another £170 . No idea how much from Porsche . Depending on your model year your car will already have towbar prep or not(you need the tow bar prep to connect the wiring from the installation kit etc). I think it's standard from 04 model year.
It's worth buying the Porsche specific wiring, either from Porsche or elsewhere as the wiring interacts with the Cayennes systems and enters a towing mode. This needs coding via PIWIS or PST2 (depending on how new your Cayenne is) it's a five min job to do the coding or should be.
There is a full technical document from Porsche that explains how to fit the towbar and electrics available via PIWIS.
Basically (oversimplifying) you remove the rear lights, rear Bumper / PU, remove the old crossmember and foam infill pieces and replace with the new towbar and refit the infill pieces. The cabling is passed through the light housing and into the rear passenger compartment on the RHS threaded through a side compartment and plugged into the trailer controller. Everthing is placed back on in reverse order( you will need to cut the rear bumper for the tow bar to fit, there is a template on the rear of the bumper to do this) and you then get the car recoded as having a towbar fitted. Job done.
I have'nt done this yet but i understand the hardest part of the job is likely to be threading the cabling into the side compartment and onto the controller, due to the fact that things like the cd changer and Bose amp tend to get in the way. The rest is a matter of unbolting/ unscrewing and refitting. A trip to your opc to get the bar coded in and your done.
edited for spelling and removed some info that could cause confusion.
It's worth buying the Porsche specific wiring, either from Porsche or elsewhere as the wiring interacts with the Cayennes systems and enters a towing mode. This needs coding via PIWIS or PST2 (depending on how new your Cayenne is) it's a five min job to do the coding or should be.
There is a full technical document from Porsche that explains how to fit the towbar and electrics available via PIWIS.
Basically (oversimplifying) you remove the rear lights, rear Bumper / PU, remove the old crossmember and foam infill pieces and replace with the new towbar and refit the infill pieces. The cabling is passed through the light housing and into the rear passenger compartment on the RHS threaded through a side compartment and plugged into the trailer controller. Everthing is placed back on in reverse order( you will need to cut the rear bumper for the tow bar to fit, there is a template on the rear of the bumper to do this) and you then get the car recoded as having a towbar fitted. Job done.
I have'nt done this yet but i understand the hardest part of the job is likely to be threading the cabling into the side compartment and onto the controller, due to the fact that things like the cd changer and Bose amp tend to get in the way. The rest is a matter of unbolting/ unscrewing and refitting. A trip to your opc to get the bar coded in and your done.
edited for spelling and removed some info that could cause confusion.
david_yorkshire
New member
retractable bar is about 2k fitted
Frutti_pig
New member
Great advice from Laurence. It does look much better hidden away when not in use imo.
Good Luck deciding
FP
Good Luck deciding
FP
Posts made and opinions expressed are those of the individual forum members
Use of the Forum is subject to the Terms and Conditions
