Technical Wesfalia Tow Bar/ Hook Installed. Help with Bypass Bosch PDC.

[SaltyBill]

Hi guys,
I just finished the install of a Wesfalia Tow bar. It was pretty straight forward, this is my 3rd tow bar ive installed ( first with the universal loom, my others had OEM looms and dongle for coding) , I made sure any bare metal was sprayed with rust inhibiter primer, and also used silicon , just like OEM.

I purchased the Wesfalia kit with the 13 pin universal loom. As the only one that came with an oem plug in loom was for a 7 pin. ( i need a 13 pin, i use my trailer for work.)
Anyway i am wiring the loom and i am up to the last pink wire coming from the control unit. It says i need to find my OEM PDC, ( i found it its a Bosch unit , hidden in the rear left pillar.
The instructions say to cut the earth to the OEM BOSCH PDC and connect it to the Tow bar module so the reverse sensors dont go off while i am hooked up.
Has anyone done this before. ? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

I will try and disconnect the EARTH tomorrow and see if it works.
I have attached some photos.

Cutting the earth on the PDC does make sense, the module im guessing disconnects the circuit once the trailer loom is plugged in. Im just not sure if the black wire coming out of the OEM BOSCH PDC is the earth cable. if no one has done this before im going to have to try tommorow.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

While I cannot answer your question, thank you for that great set of photos. I intend to fit a towbar to my 4x4 Panda and those show the detail of the task ahead! Its also interesting to see the back of the Panda 'naked' like that.

In passing, I see there are different versions of each make of towbar - one for the 'standard' Pandas and one for the 4x4 and Cross models. I guess this is so the tow ball is at the correct height, given that the 4x4s sit higher off the ground. I wonder what (if any) effect your added height from the spring spacers will have? They show up nicely in photo 3

 

[Panda IIs]

While I cannot answer your question, thank you for that great set of photos. I intend to fit a towbar to my 4x4 Panda and those show the detail of the task ahead! Its also interesting to see the back of the Panda 'naked' like that.

In passing, I see there are different versions of each make of towbar - one for the 'standard' Pandas and one for the 4x4 and Cross models. I guess this is so the tow ball is at the correct height, given that the 4x4s sit higher off the ground. I wonder what (if any) effect your added height from the spring spacers will have? They show up nicely in photo 3

Hi there HH; I've fitted the FIAT OEM version (which I think is of Westfallia origin) to my '63 plate 4x4 - same colour as yours too... One difference I note from the pictures from @SaltyBill here is that I had to cut a section from the bumper (the silver "skid-plate" bit) which is different on our cars. As you say there are different versions of tow bar for the various models, I found the FIAT supplied one to be cheapest at the time. I don't have the parking sensors so didn't have to wrestle with that problem. I working away right now but will check the provenance of the original kit and report back, it did go together rather well, although its now had probably three winters now and I am wishing I had supplemented the original paint or powder coating as it is showing some signs of rust in places.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

Hi there HH; I've fitted the FIAT OEM version (which I think is of Westfallia origin) to my '63 plate 4x4 - same colour as yours too... ...

Thanks. I've been looking for a while (via eBay mostly). It seems the Fiat OEM one is very overpriced (now) compared to those from the 'big names' (Brink, Westfaila, Witter etc) - and the least expensive seem to be those from Umbria Rimorchi (made in Italy but sold from Wales). A detachable one for the 4x4 starts at about £150 and seems to go to over £300? Fixed versions for as little as £120. There are one or two 'dedicated wiring kits' out there too, at least one of which seems to rather neatly connect to the fuse box inside the car, rather than a wire going up through the wheel arch. Prices for those kits vary from £130 to over £180 for a 7 pin version. I'll get to it sometime...

 

[dragonwagon]

Thanks. I've been looking for a while (via eBay mostly). It seems the Fiat OEM one is very overpriced (now) compared to those from the 'big names' (Brink, Westfaila, Witter etc) - and the least expensive seem to be those from Umbria Rimorchi (made in Italy but sold from Wales). A detachable one for the 4x4 starts at about £150 and seems to go to over £300? Fixed versions for as little as £120. There are one or two 'dedicated wiring kits' out there too, at least one of which seems to rather neatly connect to the fuse box inside the car, rather than a wire going up through the wheel arch. Prices for those kits vary from £130 to over £180 for a 7 pin version. I'll get to it sometime...

The Umbria Rimorchi towbar is very easy to fit and seems to be of good quality. No problems fitting one to my 2013 4x4 TA.

 

[SaltyBill]

I finished the install, Getting the main 12 volt cable to the battery was a nightmare but i managed it eventually.
A tip would be make sure you use a Solid draw wire, i used a normal home 2.5mm2 electrical twin and earth cable.
I first punctured a hole in the rubber grommet with a super long screwdriver. Then i proceeded to push the draw cable through the hole.
Make sure you tie the cable with electrical tape and strip the draw cable as to keep the circumference identical, (to stop it snagging).
That was the hardest part of the entire install, my hands are cut to pieces.
I found the Earth wire for the Factory Bosch PDC, and cut it. I then connected to the pink wire of the module following the instructions.. It unfortunately does not work. So when i reverse the sensors pick up the trailer and beep constantly. ( of course Fiat doesn't add a button to turn off the PDC.. like every other manufacturer. its the little things.. anyway i put it all back together, i will contact westfalia, see if they can help.

ive added some pics , enjoy

 

[SaltyBill]

more pics

 

[The Panda Nut]

This is the same principle as with the rear fog lamp cut out and should cause no problems whatsoever. I have done two fits to pandas. I have the same bar and am very pleased with it. The nylon bushed foldaway socket is the best thing since the wheel! Others have needed a lever but this is so easy its a delight.

 

[SaltyBill]

This is the same principle as with the rear fog lamp cut out and should cause no problems whatsoever. I have done two fits to pandas. I have the same bar and am very pleased with it. The nylon bushed foldaway socket is the best thing since the wheel! Others have needed a lever but this is so easy its a delight.

So you got the PDC to deactivate using the pink wire? In one of my photos you can see i connected the wire to the earth wire of the Bosch factory PDC, it didnt work for me.
I would have thought the Westfalia controller is a N,C relay and when i hitch up the trailer it opens the circuit, turning off the Bosch PDC.

Ive contacted Westafalia, lets see what they say.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

more pics

Nice to see that you can get a small size trailer with brakes. Here in the UK, because you are legally allowed to tow up to 750kg trailer+load (when the car is capable), there are very few (if any?) small braked trailers around. As the 4x4 Panda is limited to just 400kg with an unbraked trailer, that's quite limiting. Sadly, the Cresci Rimorchi trailers are not available here... (Edit: I did find this company - https://davidmurphytowing.com)

 

[SaltyBill]

This is my 2nd Cresci trailer. This is there :animali transporto" version. There are a few unbraked versions but their not my cup of tea. My cresci can only hold 450kg maximum.
Great company, an quality trailers.

 

[SaltyBill]

Ok good news, i got a reply from westfalia, They sent me the instructions for the westfalia wiring kit for the Panda. They said i purchased a westfalia tow bar kit but the seller (ebay) sold me a Aftermarket wiring kit (so not an official westfalia wiring kit) he said they have had people contact them with the same issue. Attached is the document he sent me , with instructions to follow page 21, picture 17./ And to connect my PINK wire from the aftermarket controller to the pin on the OEM Bosch PDC ( the one already in my panda)/
I will try it today and hopefully the problem, will be solved.

i hope the documents help anyone else thinking of installing the tow bar kit..

 

[SaltyBill]

After all this headache i recommend pay the extra and get the original westfalia full plug in wiring kit.
They charged me 70 euro for the different brand wiring loom so total of 378 euro for the tow bar and electrical kit.
( which i thought was westfalia brand , it wasnt)
and the westfalia original plug in is 220 euro.. not much difference for piece of mind and no splicing wires.

Elektrosatz 7 Pin per Gancio di Traino WESTFALIA per Fiat Panda 4250557500591 | eBay

Le migliori offerte per Elektrosatz 7 Pin per Gancio di Traino WESTFALIA per Fiat Panda sono su eBay â Confronta prezzi e caratteristiche di prodotti nuovi e usati â Molti articoli con consegna gratis!

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Gancio di traino per Fiat Panda 4x4 Cross III dal 10.2014 + uni kit el. 13-poli | eBay

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have a look at the link, if you look carefully at the pictures you see the control box does not have westfalia printed on it. Next time i will be more vigilant when purchasing from ebay.

 

[SaltyBill]

The EBAY seller replied to me admitting he deceived customers, ( and yes the wiring loom is aftermarket not WESTFALIA as stated) and apologised. He also said to me the wiring kit he supplied me does not disable PDC.. ( great!!).
I wasted all my time installing a wiring kit , ripping off my panels and breaking ****, just to find out it was not westfalia branded ... I HATE LIARS!!

the ebay seller's name is

captainhook_eu​

 

[Panda IIs]

...I found the FIAT supplied one to be cheapest at the time. I don't have the parking sensors so didn't have to wrestle with that problem. I working away right now but will check the provenance of the original kit and report back, it did go together rather well, although its now had probably three winters now and I am wishing I had supplemented the original paint or powder coating as it is showing some signs of rust in places.

Following this up I can confirm the FIAT Accessory part is (or was) a Westfalia tow bar; below is the box the hook came in and a bag that had various bits and pieces in. A quick search just now fails to find the part number shown but maybe it is still out there.