Terrano / Mistral Towbar

[Yakkerman]

Im wanting a single electrics towbar for my 1998 Mistral ... need one pronto ...

anyone recommend a good place to get one fitted at a good in or near the Hull area ?

 

[paulp]

towbar

save some money and fit it yourself the bolt holes for the towbar are already in the chassis so that just leaves the wiring which most garages can do cheaply.
My local towing centre charges £25

there was a towbar for sale on here very recently

paulp

 

[Terranical]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Towbar-Brink-...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35aa56b2ee

Have look at this - I fitted one to my T2 last year, you could pull the QE2 with it. Took me 20 mins to fit (all bolts are included, all mounting holes already there). For the wiring I bought a vehicle-specific wiring kit. Plug in connectors that you fit by disconnecting a plug to the (I think) offside rear light and fitting male of the kit to the female of the car wiring and vice versa. Normal price of these kits is around £80 - I got mine, new old stock, for £9 from eBay. Comes with all instructions.

 

[Terranical]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Towbar-Brink-...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35aa56b2ee

Have look at this - I fitted one to my T2 last year, you could pull the QE2 with it. Took me 20 mins to fit (all bolts are included, all mounting holes already there). For the wiring I bought a vehicle-specific wiring kit. Plug in connectors that you fit by disconnecting a plug to the (I think) offside rear light and fitting male of the kit to the female of the car wiring and vice versa. Normal price of these kits is around £80 - I got mine, new old stock, for £9 from eBay. Comes with all instructions.

Just had a look on eBay, there's a wiring kit as above on there at the moment, Buy It Now, for £10.24 plus postage.

 

[Terranical]

Just had a look on eBay, there's a wiring kit as above on there at the moment, Buy It Now, for £10.24 plus postage.

Company advertising the wiring kit is the same as the one selling the towbar - Brink are reckoned to be the best towbars you can get - you can get the whole lot for under £100!

 

[Yakkerman]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Towbar-Brink-...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35aa56b2ee

Have look at this - I fitted one to my T2 last year, you could pull the QE2 with it. Took me 20 mins to fit (all bolts are included, all mounting holes already there). For the wiring I bought a vehicle-specific wiring kit. Plug in connectors that you fit by disconnecting a plug to the (I think) offside rear light and fitting male of the kit to the female of the car wiring and vice versa. Normal price of these kits is around £80 - I got mine, new old stock, for £9 from eBay. Comes with all instructions.

yes ive been looking at this one on ebay ... but does this one fit the existing 3 hole brackets that are fitted to either side of the vehicle or is it a drill new holes everywhere type

also just rang local towbar shop and quoted me £230 fitted for one ..

 

[rustic]

yes ive been looking at this one on ebay ... but does this one fit the existing 3 hole brackets that are fitted to either side of the vehicle or is it a drill new holes everywhere type

also just rang local towbar shop and quoted me £230 fitted for one ..

These 3 bolts either side is where they all fit as far as I am aware, they are the factory fitting points, so should be a 10 minute job to lift up and assemble.
If in doubt call them.
Then you need to torque them up

 

[Terranical]

These 3 bolts either side is where they all fit as far as I am aware, they are the factory fitting points, so should be a 10 minute job to lift up and assemble.
If in doubt call them.
Then you need to torque them up

Didn't have to drill any holes for my towbar, had to drill one just below the rear door boot light switch to bring the 7 core cable out, wired up the socket, bit of silicone around the hole to protect the cable & prevent water getting in - job done! No need to take off or drop the bumper, didn't even jack the back of the car up.

 

[BigBlack]

also just rang local towbar shop and quoted me £230 fitted for one ..

Someones taking the pi$$!!!!!!!

Got mine for £30 from the scrappers, £3 for 6 new bolts, bit of black hammerite I had in the garage anyway to 'tart' it up.

Local towbar fitter charged £15 to wire up 12N socket... and I asked him to torque the bolts up (FOC!) :thumbs Litterally took him 20 mins to wire it... including the cup of coffee!!!!

 

[elty001]

have got a towbar for sale complete with electrics,plug,cable,buzzer and instructions for 25 quid.
recently been powdercoated.drop me a pm if you are interested:thumbs

 

[Yakkerman]

have got a towbar for sale complete with electrics,plug,cable,buzzer and instructions for 25 quid.
recently been powdercoated.drop me a pm if you are interested:thumbs

sadly i already ordered a Brink setup ... it came the other day ..

all fitted except for wiring harness ... looks a little intimidating to me ..

heres the instructions ... its a plug and play type with all push on type connectors ... would you say its easy to follow for a beninner ?

 

[Terranical]

sadly i already ordered a Brink setup ... it came the other day ..

all fitted except for wiring harness ... looks a little intimidating to me ..

heres the instructions ... its a plug and play type with all push on type connectors ... would you say its easy to follow for a beninner ?

The instructions make it sound a lot more complicated than it is. It took me around 45 mins to fit mine (10 mins of that was connecting the 7-pin socket). I fitted the warning lamp to the middle of one of the unused switch blanking plates to the right and below the steering column, you can pull that out to drill it and fit the lamp (I recall that the supplied lamp was not 14mm diameter which is what the instructions tell you to drill it out to, but 10mm, be a good idea to measure it before drilling, which I failed to do) then just push it back in place (after connecting it of course!) I seem to remember the kit didn't contain connection details for the 7-pin socket, if yours is the same let me know and I'll post them for you.

 

[Yakkerman]

so all this plug connecting is done under the steering area where the relays are and nothing to connect near the rear lights ... this is where i though such connections would be made ... then i guess i have to take the floor entry plates up to hide cable or is this run under the car through hole .. ?

silly me ... lol :lol

 

[Terranical]

The plug connection are all done at the back of the car - the connectors are close to each of the rear lights (you will have to remove the centre scuff panel, that will be the plastic panel running across the inside of the back of the boot, just above the bumper). There should be no cables running the length of the car. The only connections at the front will be the heavy duty flasher replacing the original one, and the two wires to the warning light.

 

[briggie]

any news / updates on the mistral logo stickers ?

 

[lacroupade]

so all this plug connecting is done under the steering area where the relays are and nothing to connect near the rear lights ... this is where i though such connections would be made ... then i guess i have to take the floor entry plates up to hide cable or is this run under the car through hole .. ?

silly me ... lol :lol

personally i find it a whole lot easier to scotch-connect all the wiring in the boot area, straight into the existing loom....just need to remove the side panel if I recall correctly. Most new towbar looms have an audible buzzer that tells you bulbs are operating so the dash light isn't needed. :nenau Far easier than fannying about under the dash.

 

[Yakkerman]

any news / updates on the mistral logo stickers ?

yes ... got set cut now in Silver/grey but not had time to fit the buggers ... might try this sunday if the winds and rain stops ..

 

[Yakkerman]

personally i find it a whole lot easier to scotch-connect all the wiring in the boot area, straight into the existing loom....just need to remove the side panel if I recall correctly. Most new towbar looms have an audible buzzer that tells you bulbs are operating so the dash light isn't needed. :nenau Far easier than fannying about under the dash.

ill decide which way to do it when i look under the dash .... if theres lotso' darn wires then ill fir in boot .. :lol

 

[lacroupade]

ill decide which way to do it when i look under the dash .... if theres lotso' darn wires then ill fir in boot .. :lol

its just that its a bloody cramped place to work, not to mention getting in there in the first place, then you've got to hide the cable runs the entire length of the car....all takes twice as long as it needs to! :thumb2

 

[Terranical]

its just that its a bloody cramped place to work, not to mention getting in there in the first place, then you've got to hide the cable runs the entire length of the car....all takes twice as long as it needs to! :thumb2

With the vehicle-specific wiring kit there is no need to run a cable the length of the car. The only connections under the dash are:- Unplug the flasher relay (if you don't know which one that is, turn on the ignition and switch on an indicator. Put a finger on each relay until you feel the one that is clicking in time with the indicators). Take out this relay (it just pulls out) and plug in the adaptor cable contained in the kit to where you took the relay from. You then plug the relay you took out, into the socket on the adaptor cable. All of this should take no more than 5 mins. All you then have to do is drill the hole for the warning light in a spare switch blanking plate, push the light into the hole and connect the two thin cables to the back of the light. There is nothing else to connect at the front. All the other connections are made at the back of the car - those to the lights are made by locating the original Nissan/Ford multi-plugs which go to each of the lights, unplug them, connect the corresponding multi plugs on the new 7 core cable (there will be four, one male and one female each side) to the original male and female plugs and the earth lead (probably white with an eyelet on) to an existing earth connection. All that remains then is to connect up the 7 pin socket on the towbar itself (I drilled an 8mm hole just above the bumper, below the offside stoplight to bring the cable outside the car, painting the hole to prevent rust (???), fitted a rubber grommet to pass the cable through, finishing it off with some silicone to make sure no water got on. All you need to then is to cable-tie any loose cables up - job done. I did mine about 18 months ago, and as far as I remember the towbar took me about 20 mins and the electricals about 45 mins (and I am no auto-electrician!)