[cherie]

Hi,
I have my touareg booked in to have redarc towpro installed on Friday.
Any advise or info for my auto electrician. I'm concerned as it was hard to find someone that would be willing to install. also my 18ft poptop caravan has 12pin connection, is it best to install 12pin to my vehichle or just an adaptor? caravan also has WDH..on reading some forums this sounds like a bad idea for the touareg? I've only owned touareg for 6months and new to towing..so any help will be much appreciated.

Kind Regards Cherie

 

[hedditch]

Cherie,

I have PMed you the instructions you need, come back to me if you have any questions.. Installation is very simple, so don't be discouraged by uninformed service people.

Stuart..

 

[dragline1570]

Cherie,

I have PMed you the instructions you need, come back to me if you have any questions.. Installation is very simple, so don't be discouraged by uninformed service people.

Stuart..

Good work Stuart ever the guiding light

Hi,
I have my touareg booked in to have redarc towpro installed on Friday.
Any advise or info for my auto electrician. I'm concerned as it was hard to find someone that would be willing to install. also my 18ft poptop caravan has 12pin connection, is it best to install 12pin to my vehichle or just an adaptor? caravan also has WDH..on reading some forums this sounds like a bad idea for the touareg? I've only owned touareg for 6months and new to towing..so any help will be much appreciated.

Kind Regards Cherie

Cherie
I have no doubt Stuarts info will be a great help.

Where is One mile ?

regards
Drag

 

[cherie]

50mins from Maitland NSW

 

[Beefgravy]

Hi Cherie
I had a redarc tow pro fitted a few months ago. Took me a while to find a shop happy to do it. They reckon it is more difficult in modern complex cars. None the less the work was done and the brake controller is by far the best I have ever had.
I too had the 12 pin plug on my van. I chose to leave the factory plug on Touareg and replace the van plug with a 7 pin and an anderson plug.
The anderson plug is just there in case I want to one day run power to the fridge in the van. I dont normally use it as fridge stays cold for ages anyway and I put it on the gas when I get where I am going.
Lots of discussions on caravan forums abnout 12 pin plugs carrying enough power to run a fridge anyway, thickness of wire and how far it needs to go through the van to get to the fridge. The other issue I found was the factory caravan plug only carried two wires to the van, just to the van battery and not directly to the fridge. I was really worried about the fridge running down my car battery. In my case the van battery is kept topped up anyway by solar power.
Good luck and happy travels.

 

[hedditch]

Cherie,
In respect to WDH's, if you have steel suspension then treat the Touareg like any other car and go with the WDH if you need it. The only time they should/must be avoided is if you have Air Suspension, as it is an intelligent system and will fight with the WDH as they both attempt to level the vehicle. Not good for the vehicle and not good for the driver.....

I am towing a 22ft 2400 kg (gross) caravan with Air Suspension and without a WDH and it rides level and tows perfectly. Thank you for the contact details, and I will give you a call this evening to see how you are going.

Kind regards
Stuart....

 

[cherie]

red arc towpro 12pin plug.

Hi Cherie
I had a redarc tow pro fitted a few months ago. Took me a while to find a shop happy to do it. They reckon it is more difficult in modern complex cars. None the less the work was done and the brake controller is by far the best I have ever had.
I too had the 12 pin plug on my van. I chose to leave the factory plug on Touareg and replace the van plug with a 7 pin and an anderson plug.
The anderson plug is just there in case I want to one day run power to the fridge in the van. I dont normally use it as fridge stays cold for ages anyway and I put it on the gas when I get where I am going.
Lots of discussions on caravan forums abnout 12 pin plugs carrying enough power to run a fridge anyway, thickness of wire and how far it needs to go through the van to get to the fridge. The other issue I found was the factory caravan plug only carried two wires to the van, just to the van battery and not directly to the fridge. I was really worried about the fridge running down my car battery. In my case the van battery is kept topped up anyway by solar power.
Good luck and happy travels.

Hi,
That's great info, thanks.
O.K. I'll leave the factory plug on Touareg,silly question is the 7pin on the van round or do you use an adaptor?

Do you know if your electrician had to remove all left side interior panels for installation and access under left front seat? He asked if I wanted cable run from battery to van for fridge while he has the panels off..after reading your reply I won't worry about that now. Just seems invasive.
Do you use a weight distribution hitch for the van ?

Ta Cherie

 

[cherie]

Hi Stuart,
Thanks alot for all your help. Just a question about the connector under the dash..may be a blond woman question. The auto electrician said he will need to access under the left front seat and remove all left side interior panels for wiring and will need to source a tool to get under front seat..is this correct? Or is the connector mean it's all prewired and no need for all the invasive work.
Ta Cherie

 

[noobytoogy]

The car's battery is under the front left seat and there are two bolts is the floor your need to undo in order to be able to hinge the seat backwards to access the battery and other electrics under there.

Changing the T1, T2 AND T3 battery, including both in the V10 - myTreg forums

These bolts require a 10mm "triple square" male tool similar to the Torx 6 point star fastener except it has 12 points instead of 6.

Without this tool you will NOT replace the battery!

The bolts are torqued to 45 NM

Make sure your man knows he has to remove the trim off the seat rails at the back of the seat first for it to tilt backwards fully.

 

[seafarer28]

Cherie,

I would get an Anderson plug fitted to the back of your Touareg as Beefgravy suggests.

By fitting a dedicated 50A cable and plug it gives you a high amperage circuit which you can use to charge your van battery whilst under way, your van battery would then run your fridge as normal.

You should have an Anderson plug already fitted to the van's drawbar which is normally wired direct to your van battery.
I suggest you get him to also fit a VSR (Voltage Sensitive Relay) so you don't accidentaly discharge your car's battery by keeping the car and van connected whilst not under way.

TonyB

 

[Steve_L]

Cherie,

I would get an Anderson plug fitted to the back of your Touareg as Beefgravy suggests.

By fitting a dedicated 50A cable and plug it gives you a high amperage circuit which you can use to charge your van battery whilst under way, your van battery would then run your fridge as normal.

You should have an Anderson plug already fitted to the van's drawbar which is normally wired direct to your van battery.
I suggest you get him to also fit a VSR (Voltage Sensitive Relay) so you don't accidentaly discharge your car's battery by keeping the car and van connected whilst not under way.

TonyB

Or... run a 2nd AGM battery (under the spare wheel is a great storage space) with a regulator/controller to to ensure the main vehicle battery remains charged to run the car. 2nd battery provides (for me) full time 12V outlets in the cargo area of the Touareg to provide power to the WAECO fridge, re-charge small portable appliances when the vehicle is not actually running and supply the power to the van fridge via the Anderson Plug.

Works a treat.

 

[cherie]

Cherie,

I would get an Anderson plug fitted to the back of your Touareg as Beefgravy suggests.

By fitting a dedicated 50A cable and plug it gives you a high amperage circuit which you can use to charge your van battery whilst under way, your van battery would then run your fridge as normal.

You should have an Anderson plug already fitted to the van's drawbar which is normally wired direct to your van battery.
I suggest you get him to also fit a VSR (Voltage Sensitive Relay) so you don't accidentaly discharge your car's battery by keeping the car and van connected whilst not under way.

TonyB

Hi Tony,
I will get the anderson plug fitted..yes the caravan had anderson plug fitted previously..when we bought the van we had mechanic put brake controller on our jeep xj99 to tow van. he decided to install 12pin on our jeep and changed the van plug to 12pin. Looks like I'll have the van plug changed back to original connections.
Tony I also have genuine tow bar fitted, as I'm the second owner would I assume this means towing module also included. It looks like the 08 model has a brake control connector is this related to the module?

Thanks Cherie

 

[seafarer28]

Hi, The more I read the more I worry..I have my Touareg2008 booked in tomorrow to have redarc towpro installed..was hard to find auto elec to touch it. this auto elec said he's confident to do the installation, has worked on Treggs BUT hasn't installed a controller on one. Seafarer is the towing module the same as the factory brake control connector? I'm second owner of vehichle and there is a genuine tow bar fitted does this mean the towing module is as well?
Ta Cherie

I wouldn't worry about installing the TowPro too much, I am sure that an experienced auto elec wouldn't have too much problem with the install as they do come with clear installation instructions.

The towing module is not the same as the brake connector, the connector is a small plug generally hidden under the dash on drivers side, into which your TowPro would need to be connected to (saves running wires back to plug) I'm pretty sure every Touareg comes from the factory with one, although sometimes are impossible to find under there, this is where your electrician may have problems.

The Towing module is a "box" (part#7L0907383L) that's fitted in the RHS back corner forward of the CD changed and is dealer (think?) installed when the genuine towbar is fitted, yours most probably has got it but you can check pretty quickly by opening the small hatch and see if you can see it in there.

I have attached a pic of where it is and what it looks like although for the pic some of the trim has been pulled out, prepare to do the same if you can't see it at first.

I would try to get a quote for the installation first as if the electrician has problems finding the connector it could cost a lot more than you may have been told.
Suggest you prepare yourself first by reading various posts on here about finding that connector and print it off to show the auto elect, might save him some time.

TonyB

 

[seafarer28]

Or... run a 2nd AGM battery (under the spare wheel is a great storage space) with a regulator/controller to to ensure the main vehicle battery remains charged to run the car. 2nd battery provides (for me) full time 12V outlets in the cargo area of the Touareg to provide power to the WAECO fridge, re-charge small portable appliances when the vehicle is not actually running and supply the power to the van fridge via the Anderson Plug.

Works a treat.

Agree Steve, I have done the same although I may have one up on you as I added a DC/DC charger in front of my second battery as well.

TonyB

 

[Beefgravy]

Hi,
That's great info, thanks.
O.K. I'll leave the factory plug on Touareg,silly question is the 7pin on the van round or do you use an adaptor?

Do you know if your electrician had to remove all left side interior panels for installation and access under left front seat? He asked if I wanted cable run from battery to van for fridge while he has the panels off..after reading your reply I won't worry about that now. Just seems invasive.
Do you use a weight distribution hitch for the van ?

Ta Cherie

I don't believe my technician needed to remove panels as I had the factory tow pack so I am assuming he tapped into harness under the dash which I believe is present when the factory tow pack is fitted.

Dont have a WDH either as I have air suspension which makes for a very even level set up.
cheers

 

[hedditch]

Hi Stuart,
Thanks alot for all your help. Just a question about the connector under the dash..may be a blond woman question. The auto electrician said he will need to access under the left front seat and remove all left side interior panels for wiring and will need to source a tool to get under front seat..is this correct? Or is the connector mean it's all prewired and no need for all the invasive work.
Ta Cherie

Absolutely no interior panels other than the pedal cover need to be removed. If you are getting this advice the Run Away, as the fitter hasno idea what they are doing. Your Touareg is pre-wired for a brake controller. Please see the document link I have PMed to you.

Stuart. ..

 

[cherie]

Thanks again Stuart, I sent the instructions to the auto elect this afternoon. He seemed really confident about installing the brake contoller as no one locally wanted to touch it. As you have noted my concern when he advised he was going to be pulling my car apart I had second thoughts , hence I joined this great club to investigate it myself. He has ordered the protow elite and booked in for tomorrow ..I just don't know if I should go ahead now..a couple of locals had recommended him as a good electrician..as I said before I did question if he was confident with the touaregs and that I'd had a few declines already. He said he had worked on touaregs but hadn't actually fitted one with a controller..I don't know if I should be his Guinea Pig. Stuart also on the instructions it says I would be needing 2 vw parts, is that correct as I'm sure they haven't been ordered. Thanks alot for all your help.
Cherie

 

[hedditch]

Give you a phone call tonight...Easy to sought out....

 

[cherie]

Hi Tony, thanks for your info. I'm definitely having second thoughts now. Stuart has said to run away because the auto elec had said he had to remove all the left panels to install, the auto elec also had said he was confident but hadn't installed a brake controller on touareg before..maybe I should find someone who has installed on touaregs already.
regards Cherie

 

[seafarer28]

The towing module is not the same as the brake connector, the connector is a small plug generally hidden under the dash on drivers side, into which your TowPro would need to be connected to (saves running wires back to plug) I'm pretty sure every Touareg comes from the factory with one, although sometimes are impossible to find under there, this is where your electrician may have problems.

TonyB

Just to qualify my statement above, T1's and T2's (2004-2010) should all be fitted with the factory connector plug under the dash, look till you find it, as in my case I got my dealer to look for it but said it wasn't there, not convinced after reading numerous posts on CT, I spent best part of 1/2 hour looking for it before I found it, very nicely cocooned in grey foam.

Note however that in the T3 models (2011 model onwards) it seems VW have dropped fitting the connector, many thanks to Unky Dunky for pointing this out as he spent many hours trying to locate it to no avail.

TonyB

PS, thanks for the move Steve_L!