Hi folks,

Dad’s given us a loan of his car. it’s a 2012 Merc B class. I know, be still my beating heart. Bought in about 2015 second hand. He never knew, but it has the 7 pin electrics for a trailer and a some kind of evidence of a type of removable tow bar. What the heck is it? Can anyone ID?

Terminal cancer driven limited mobility, rapidly increasing dementia, and his wife (my mum) as a second car owner and somewhat willing chauffeur means he really shouldn’t be driving, so we’re looking after the car long term.

We only have 1 vehicle, a T6, so a second is quite handy. T6 usually has bikes inside, or on a tow bar mounted Thule rack on the rear. After using dads car for a 2 bike trip yesterday and us making a bit of a mess of the internal trim (thanks DMR vaults!), and seeing the tow mount and electrics, would be great to find what I can attach so the bike rack can be used.

Maybe a fixed one that’s been removed, rather than a removable one. I would expect to see the locking gubbins still there if it was a removable one.

Is there any sort of ID plate tucked away on it?

Edit: turns out that’s complete tosh and the locking thingies are in the removable bar. Also realised that your pic is taken looking straight up?

Been looking here but can see anything that fits with the circular cut outs.

Tow bar place

You probably have aready , but did you look in all the cubby holes in the car ?
It may be under the spare wheel , or in a underfloor / seat compartment ( if the b class has them)

You know the supplying dealer? Call them they might have fit it new.

Actually, reasonable call on the dealer knowing, Merc in Paisley, will give them a shout.

No ID plate that I can see, other than that for the electrics.

revs, yes, I’ve had a god dig but found nothing sadly – though I was sure I would find something! (not even an emergency puncture repair kit, have admonished dad a little for that!).

here’s some more shots in case anyone has a clue:

Googling “Thule 5522” brings up a Czech picture of an A-class detachable bar?

Thule bought Brink, so most likely one of these: Sold eBay brink 5522

Whilst gazing at it, could be worth some wd40 and oil in preparation for finding a towbar. That thule plate has all the information you need.

Ted has it.

Brink, either a horizontal or diagonal one, hard to tell from the op pics

More detail here..

Brink stuff

I have the same issue with my V50. It has what appears to be a factory fit removable Thule/Brink fitted, and a previous owner seems to have kept the ball.

Replacements aren’t cheap or easy to find. Probably cheaper and easier to get another fixed one fitted.

You might be luckier than me.

Hey folks, thanks, awesome. I did the same as you lot once I’d posted that Thule info plate piccy as I thought “I wonder…”

Will give a couple of Brinks suppliers a buzz and see what they say, if its too pricy then it’s not worth it, cheaper/easier to get a rack for the back window I think. Fingers crossed

PF Jones were decent for brink kit for me.

Brink towbars are pretty cheap on eurocarparts. The most economical thing to do might be to buy the whole thing and just keep the bar. A quick search suggests £200 minus whatever todays discount is (probably 30%)

Ebay ball

@mjrose – thats super, thank you for that link. Can we assume that all the Brink ‘diagonal’ tow bars themselves are the same, but that the fixing kit is the bit that differs from car to car?

It is indeed the diagonal one that is required for the B-Class.

Not easy to find that out (or my google foo is weak!), but it would make more sense than Brink creating a thousand unique tow bars… right?

I would also assume the mechanism will be the same across them. However They will be different lengths and heights for depth of bumper and height of ball. There will probably just be a handful of different ones, not unique to each car.

But if its just for a bike rack then I would gamble on one off ebay.

Have you looked under the spare tyre in the depths of the boot for a ball? Cubby holes either side of boot?

@wzzzz – yeah, had a right good dig, even lifting trim that it turns out was not really meant to be lifted. Nada.

I will however go and do another forensic dig just to make sure before ordering.

Thanks again everyone – Brink were in the end extremely helpful, giving exact part numbers etc and local vendors to contact to order the towbar. not cheap, it was indeed basically the same price to buy the whole frame + towbar, as opposed to just the bar itself.

There is quite a bit of variety of length and angle of neck, so ebay gamble a bit risky.

Anyway, helping parents to clear out their garage in advance of asbestos roof being replaced, and there tucked in a corner, behind decades old garden waste bags, canes and old paint tins – was the towbar! Hurrah!

Mum even had the keys in a special jar.

Result!