[SAN01]

Hi Everyone, I have just purchased my first touareg and need some advice on the following:

Spare Key: the car only came with one key and that small plastic spare, do i need to go to the dealer to get a second key or is there somewhere else i can get one? eg buy online and get a key place to cut? any idea on prices from dealer or otherwise?

Tow bar: will be getting a heavy duty tow pack to tow a boat (tow bar place quoted $990) reasonable i thought, the trailer runs LED lights and ive read on the forum i need a conversion box to not get the error messages. i couldnt find on the other threads any websites etc to buy these from though? do you get from your dealer or online?? i have found only one on ebay for $260.

Any advice would be great.

 

[ConservativeConsumer]

If Touareg is new (you have no model info in you post), then I believe it should come with two keys – at least this is how it comes in the US. Here in the US many do buy a conversion plug with resistors sold by etrailer.com (http://www.etrailer.com/Wiring/Tow-Ready/TR20141.html) which fools the system to think it has incandescent bulbs. The block you’re talking about is more sophisticated - it does not fool the Touareg diagnostic system and LED light failure will be reported – or so was my understanding after reading briefly about those blocks sold in Europe.

 

[SAN01]

Hi thanks for the information i havent seen those plugs but they are heaps cheaper that the other option i thought i had to use, Treg is a 2007 R5 TDI

 

[SAN01]

Just as an update I have now spoken to a few dealers and private tow bar installation places such as pedders and they both have conflicting views on the tow bar and wiring. Can anyone explain the difference below.

Dealer: They use a touareg factory towbar and wiring which means the pin is a European pin, so you will need an adaptor. In regards to the load box for the LED trailers this converts the euro pin to a flat aus pin but only comes in the flat pin version so another adaptor is needed if I want to plug it into my boat trailer. So basically I will need 2 adaptors plus the load box! Seems ridiculous. Quote is $1300 plus $250 for load box so $1550 all up.

Private installers: They use Hayman Reece tow bars and say the wiring is converted to and Australian plug already and they also have a built in load box into their wiring so no additional unit is required. This seems alot simpler but im also not sure they 100% understand the LED problem; they just seem to be reading of a fact sheet for the touareg install sheet.
Has anyone fitted a haymen reece tow bar and can shed some light on these two conflicting explainations?

 

[V10aholic]

My boat trailer has LED lights and would not work on my Egg, so I went to Jaycar and got some 100 OHM ceramic resistors, you need 4, Brake,left ind, right ind and tail lights.I have the 7 pin flat plug. I drilled small holes in the top of my plug on the trailer above the place where you attach the wires from the trailer, I layed out the resisters on top of the plug then put the wires from the resistors through the holes and soldered them to the wires for the different lights, then the other end to earth, then covered the whole lot on the outside with salastic. I will post some pics if I get a chance.

 

[SAN01]

What sort of towbar do you have and is it wired to an australian plug on the car or the euro plug.

Also I own the boat with a few other mates and if i did that to the trailer plug for my car would that mess up the plug for their cars which doesnt require the change?

Some pictures would be great, not sure how you came up with that solution in the first place though?

 

[ConservativeConsumer]

Wow, that is expensive! Perhaps I don't get the specifics of Australian towing principles... Last summer my boat trailer has been clipped on parking lot by some jerk when I was out on the lake fishing - it was a trigger to replace all trailer lights with LEDs. I've also decided to yank out 7-years old trailer wiring and put all new wires - for the sake of project completeness. The whole thing was ~$130 in parts and about 3 hours of my own installation garage work. The conversion plug was $15. Grand total runs ~$145 + some cold beer expenses. Wouldn't this be easier gents, to order the whole set from the US instead of spending $1500 for a very simple thing? Or the trailer equipment is standard-mandated?

 

[Colin G]

Just as an update I have now spoken to a few dealers and private tow bar installation places such as pedders and they both have conflicting views on the tow bar and wiring. Can anyone explain the difference below.

Dealer: They use a touareg factory towbar and wiring which means the pin is a European pin, so you will need an adaptor. In regards to the load box for the LED trailers this converts the euro pin to a flat aus pin but only comes in the flat pin version so another adaptor is needed if I want to plug it into my boat trailer. So basically I will need 2 adaptors plus the load box! Seems ridiculous. Quote is $1300 plus $250 for load box so $1550 all up.

Private installers: They use Hayman Reece tow bars and say the wiring is converted to and Australian plug already and they also have a built in load box into their wiring so no additional unit is required. This seems alot simpler but im also not sure they 100% understand the LED problem; they just seem to be reading of a fact sheet for the touareg install sheet.
Has anyone fitted a haymen reece tow bar and can shed some light on these two conflicting explainations?

If you have a look on ebay you will find 13 pin to 7 pin round adapter for around $5.95 it should work fine
Colin

 

[StevieC]

Also, I'm pretty sure the Au dealer kit inlcudes the 13 to 7 pin adaptor as it comes with the OEM wiring kit.

 

[V10aholic]

Sorry that you can't see much in the photos, but I'll try to explain...at the tail light (brown) wire you can see the wire from one side of the resistor that i poked through the hole I drilled in the plastic undernieth then soldered to the brown wire, I've done the same with both indicators (yellow and green) and brake (red). all 4 wires from the other side of the resistors are poked through to the earth (white/black) wire, you can see the big blob of solder where they all join. then in the first photo you can see the other side where all of the resistors are arranged so none of their wires touch and covered in silicon.
BTW, I think I got the idea from this forum somewhere???
If you can get load block for under $20...I'd go for that...

 

[Colin G]

Also, I'm pretty sure the Au dealer kit inlcudes the 13 to 7 pin adaptor as it comes with the OEM wiring kit.

Thats correct but its the flat plug not the round 7 pin
Colin

 

[Patr80l]

I bought some resistors and wired them in parallel with the LED's. 3 resistors x $13 each. (Right, Left & Stop) $39 wasted.
Didn't work so bought the VW part from the local dealer for about $230. Plug & Play and worked without problems. It came with the 7 Pin flat connectors (same as V10aholic's pics) at each end. I changed the vehicle end to a 7 pin round to connect to the T'reg. That's a few dollars from Repco and 5 mins with a screw driver.
My 2007 3.0TDI has a factory towbar with a 7 Pin round plug. In the boot (trunk) was an adapter to connect the European plug to the 7 Pin Round. I guess the last owner changed the socket on the vehicle.
I would have thought that an Australian dealer would have to fit an Australian Standard plug, even if they use a genuine towbar.

 

[pjod]

Ours has the factory tow kit and that included the large round 7 pin as fitted, with adaptors for the 12 pin flat plug. as our van had the 12 pim plug would have preferred the flat plug attached, but was told by dealer they did the round one for South Australia. On connecting with adaptor, worked perfectly first time, so it may depend on whether dealer or factory fitted (at time or order) for the plug, and what the dealer told the factory on the order sheet.
As a bote it was interesting to find that getting the tow bar and wiring done (along with spare wheel carrier) as part of factory build was several hundred dollars cheaper than getting the dealer to do it or aftermarket!

 

[SAN01]

Just thouht i would post an update on how i ended up with my tow bar.

Ended up getting Pedders suspension to install a HR towbar and wiring, total cost was $1100 (inc GST)

I can say i have tested it with a few trailers and our boat trailer running LED lights and everything worked fine.

I would definately reccomend this type of installation for anyone looking to install a tow bar.

As for the trailer plug, I choose a flat 7 pin (even though all the trailers i have use round) as the flat 7 pin fits under the tow ball there there is a removable plate to protect it. all you do it remove the cover and plug in a converter when towing, its alot cleaner and less bulky than having a round plug sticking out the bottom of the tow bar.

Just thought that would be a good thing for other ppl to consider.

 

[michaeq003]

LEDs

I have a MY12 set up with VW wiring to a HR hitch. My boat trailer has LED's and works without a glitch.

Regards

Michael

 

[Colin G]

If you have a look on ebay you will find 13 pin to 7 pin round adapter for around $5.95 it should work fine
Colin

I decided to try one of these adaptors it put a short into the trailer module and put constant power onto the trailer park lights even with the keys out of the ignition the park lights stayed on so dont use these adaptors it could cost you $647.00 for a new trailer module
Colin

 

[whitey63]

towbar plug

please advise, just ordered new Touareg with factory fitted towbar, will this be ok with standard 7 pin roun plug to fit to both my trailer and boat?????

 

[murraycod]

please advise, just ordered new Touareg with factory fitted towbar, will this be ok with standard 7 pin roun plug to fit to both my trailer and boat?????

I had a VW towbar fitted by Solitaire. The permanent lights socket is a neat flat unit that is concealed under the bumper. They provided a neat flat to round adapter that connect to the normal trailer plug and works very well. I am well pleased with it.

I also found that the 2012 wiring accommodated LED trailer lights without the need for the special adapter. I would presume that your 2013 model would be similar.

 

[Colin G]

please advise, just ordered new Touareg with factory fitted towbar, will this be ok with standard 7 pin roun plug to fit to both my trailer and boat?????

The factory doesnt fit the tow bar the dealer does so you will be able to ask them to fit a round socket if required
Colin

 

[whitey63]

ok thanks guys, will talk to the dealer and either get the connector or install round plug.