OK, so I’m looking to buy a new car. One of my requirements is to be able to fit a tow bar, so that I can mount a bike rack on it.

I’m an absolute noob to this subject, so I’d like to know the following:

– Can a tow bar be installed to any conventional car?
– Do most cars come with a pre-existing fitting to which an external hook and ball can be simply slotted into, or does a support frame need to be installed under the chassis first?
– Will any tow bar cope with the weight of a bike rack with 2-3 bikes on it?
– What’s the approximate cost of the parts needed (excluding bike rack)?

Thanks in advance!

Simple answer is that it depends. Some cars have the bits pre-fitted and you just need the actual ball unit (usually a bespoke part at a high price from a dealer), some cars need a kit to add some structural elements. More common cars may have aftermarket options. Either way it will be very specific to the exact car model. Then there is electrics. A lot of cars have a universal socket fitted so its easy others you need to hack into the loom. Any rack should cope with a bike or three. That is a very low load compared to a trailer, in fact some are only rated for carrying bikes and not towing. Probably best to google for prices, don’t forget fitting

Most cars can be fitted
Cars come with pre-existing mounting points or you may have to replace the rear cross member with one that has the mounting points (that’s what I had to do with my A3)
Pretty much yes but check your car’s handbook for nose weight and don’t carry 3 e-bikes!
I paid £567 fully fitted including electrics and coding from PF Jones for a detachable swan neck towbar.

Have a look at the PF Jones website. You can check whatever model you are considering and see how much it will cost.

And yes, it will carry 3 bikes – its designed to pull a caravan on a motorway.

If you are buying from a garage, they may have a company that they use for tow bar fitting (ours did) or go direct to a reputable company. If you are super confident to DIY, there is probably a ton of stuff on YouTube for your car model.

Worth understanding the difference between a “towbar” and a “TowBall” before researching too far. as otherwise it might get a bit confusing.

Other terms to understand are “Swan neck” and “Detachable”

Towbar – The frame or cross member that connects to the chassis and generally results in a mounting bracket on the outside of the car onto which you can Bolt a TowBall.

Swan neck, bolts under the car and then bends round to provide a towball on the outside of the car

Detachabele – allows you to take the swan neck/ towball off the car when you’re not using it.

Bike mounts are either tow bar mounted or towBall mounted.
Tow bar mounted require you bolt a bracket onto the towbar which you generally drop some posts into, While tow ball mounted clamp onto the round tow ball.

Most towball/car ratings are for about 90-150kg nose weight. so a couple of bikes will be fine. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a lighter weight one (unless your car is particuarl cardboardy)

90% of cars its dead easy to fit the tow bar I’ve done about 5, most cars are of similar unibody construction (big proper ladder chassis 4x4s excepted).

You remove the plastic bumper cover
Remove the metal bumper bar behind it revealing the ends of the “chassis” rails
The kit comes with reinforcers you slide into the rails and bolt up from in the boot.
then you fit the replacement metal bumper bar with tow bar attachment

Some times you have to cut the plastic bumper a little to fit it back.

There are fixed towbars meaning its always fitted, removable types, swan neck etc your choice.

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Electrics however are annoying.

You either go with a “factory” style plug and play “dedicated electrics” loom, or a “generic interface box” that you have to identify and strip each wire connection in the rear light clusters.

The former is more expensive (usually £100 for a kit) but easy if the car has connections in the boot (Mercedes) or been specced from factory with “tow prep”. Some cars (VAG) you have to lay the wires all the way to the front of the cars which is a massive PITA as you ahve to disassemble loads.

Now on most cars these “plug and play” looms will operate the trailer lights etc just fine and you get bulb failure warnings on the dash. However to get the stability control programs to recognise the trailer you might have to hook the car up to a computer to “code” the trailer facility on. I’ve never bothered but I never tow heavy trailers.

The latter generic interface box is a bit of a faff but easier and far cheaper than laying wiring to the front of the car. Of course you don’t get stability programs or bulb failure warnings on the dash with these.

Best to look up the instructions for the wiring kit on your car and see how much of a faff it is to fit, and what kind of trailers you tow.

If towing heavy trailers or caravans then best to get the full shebang and have the car coded to operate stability programs correctly. However if it’s just a bike rack, the interface box will be fine.

You also have to choose between 13 pin and 7 pin electrics…. 7 pin is the old UK type… 13 pin is the newer more reliable Euro style. Go 13 pin as you can get an adapter for the 7.

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Last I bought from https://www.towbars-uk.co.uk/ for a Tow Trust unit and dedicated electrics about £300 all in for a Mercedes C Class.

Regarding getting the electrics done, is that necessary for tow bar mounted bike racks? i.e. do you need to have working light on the outside of the rack? I can’t tell on the Thule racks whether the lights are just reflectors or actual working units.

Yes you need lights and numberplate if the bikes obscure your lights and numberplate on the car. The Thule racks all have working lights.

Thanks for a very thorough answer btw @wzzzz

Check that the EXACT model you’re buying can have one fitted. When I bought my Fabia the standard model was able to have one fitted but the Monte Carlo version was not as it was not Type Approved due to the fake rear diffuser. Despite the body structure underneath being identical it was not on the Approved list so no fitter would do it. I was told the old style of crimped relay box with buzzer was also a no-no legally on modern cars too, worth checking. As I planned to keep the car a long time – 7years and still going strong – I did it all correctly as having a claim refused for the extra cost of £110 fully fitted and coded wasn’t worth the risk when it’s a £8k car and £2-3k of bike you’re claiming for.

It’s also worth checking with your insurers about the installation requirements. I had the proper CANBUS wiring fitted as I didn’t want issues with warranty etc but the insurers insisted that the car was coded for it too.

I was aware the car I was looking at didnt have a towbar as standard before I purchased it, once purchased I got a local mobile installer to install a tow trust detachable on my drive, this was last year and cost me around £400.

Yes you need lights and numberplate if the bikes obscure your lights and numberplate on the car.

Ah, darn, this is starting to look very expensive. I mean, technically, most of the simple boot-mounted racks will also obscure the rear lights.

Check that the EXACT model you’re buying can have one fitted. When I bought my Fabia the standard model was able to have one fitted but the Monte Carlo version was not as it was not Type Approved due to the fake rear diffuser.

Yeah I came across this on an M3 and 350z, no problem as long as you don’t actually tow anything. A bike rack is fine, it’s no different to a strap on rack in that respect. The 350z I bought a hitch from the USA.

I was told the old style of crimped relay box with buzzer was also a no-no legally on modern cars too, worth checking.

“legally” they are just fine, the only legal requirement is to have working lights. Ideally the connections should be soldered and heatshrink not crimped or scotchlock.

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One other note, if you get 13 pin electrics they are tested at MOT time. 7 pin electrics are not.

Ah, darn, this is starting to look very expensive. I mean, technically, most of the simple boot-mounted racks will also obscure the rear lights.

And in that case you should have a lights and numberplate as well.

Regarding getting the electrics done, is that necessary for tow bar mounted bike racks? i.e. do you need to have working light on the outside of the rack? I can’t tell on the Thule racks whether the lights are just reflectors or actual working units

They are proper lights on Thule, (or any others TBH) bike racks. Once you’ve got the length of the bike rack on the sticky-out tow ball that’s the best part of a meter extension behind the light cluster, plus the obscurity factor to take into account of multiple bikes between the following car and your boot. TBH, as a road user I’d want you pulled and fined by the police if you didn’t install the electrics.

edit –

Ah, darn, this is starting to look very expensive.

Well yeah, you’ve got the confluence of 2 expensive hobbies here, driving and mountain biking. Really you either need to suck it up or find a different solution/compromise. Roof bars and carriers are a more economical solution.

– Will any tow bar cope with the weight of a bike rack with 2-3 bikes on it?

You need to check the “nose weight” spec of the the car and the weight of the bikes accounting for the leverage of the rack…but 2 bikes should be fine on anything, 4x e bikes will probably be pushing it on even a proper 4×4.

Roof bars and carriers are a more economical solution.

I absolutely don’t trust myself with a roof rack XD. I still have very vivid memories of my dad ploughing the families’ bikes straight into a welcome sign of our hotel on the first day of our summer holiday when I was about 9.

If your buying a brand new or still under manufacturers warranty car , I’d check the T&C incase you invalidate part of the electrics cover .

Most of what’s been said is true. I’d add the following.

Bike rack weight is not the same as towing nose weight. It’s levered off the towbar and it’s COG is a good 50cm behind it. Doing some back of an envelope maths that’s somewhere around 50% more leverage on the car’s chassis (taking the rear axle being 1m from the towbar as the fulcrum). If you look at the towbar it will have an approved nose weight, which will be higher than the car, so when towing you take the lower of the two. With a bike rack, I’d aim for more like 66%. Some car’s do actually specify a maximum weight for bike racks around 66-75% of the nose weight. just depends on how cautious you are.

You can DIY it on most cars, it’s really not that hard. Universal relay electrics can be used on most cars, just use propper terminals, not the scotchblocks they come with. Otherwise, the manufacturer will have a plug in kit which will likely need activating in the ECU. If it was a brand new car I’d probably just cough up the extortionate price the manufacturer charges for it as an option, at least then it’s warrantied and will play nicely with reversing sensors even if it costs £10 a month for 5 years rather than £75 and an afternoon* of your time.

Other things to bear in mind, some insurers are really arsey about them. I’ve had one refuse to cover it because it’s not an OEM towbar (it was a Witter), I want to say it was e-sure bt I really can’t remember, it was one of the big companies, not some minor broker or unheard of company. A different insurer with the same underwriter just counted it like any other modification (think it added £4.50).

*some are easier than others, my c-max was well under an hour. The plastic bumper comes off, unbolt the bumper, slide new one in, torque up bolts and replace plastic trim. My Berlingo was an absolute utter PITA as it’s mostly done by bending the trim with one hand, lifting the towbar into place with another two and doing up the nuts with your 4th and 5th hands, and the hole they give you for the electrics would struggle to pass bell wire.

They are all tested to appropriate regulation, there will be a data plate on the towbar showing the test number.

So the insurer doesn’t really have grounds to quibble.

Also a moot point if you are not actually towing a trailer.

Most towball/car ratings are for about 90-150kg nose weight.

There’s plenty of cars that are much lower than that. My A6 is 85kg. My 3 series was 75kg. And as TINAS points out, these figures need to be adjusted down for a bike rack as you’re clamping a load behind the towball, rather than placing it on it.

Once you allow some weight for the rack, it’s not hard to exceed the limit with 3 big bikes.

Just about to have a towbar fitted on a new car.
£470 with fitting, electric kit and coding that won’t affect manufaturers warranty.
Telford Towbars if you’re anywhere near.

If you’re buying a new car, get a quote for a dealer/manufacturer supply & fit first.

Then you can compare with a 3rd party.

Beware anyone offering to “crimp onto some electrics” on a modern car.

Was going to say the same – just get manufacturer to fit it

I asked dealer for a price to fit when supplying current car new, they said they’d send it to a well known local place and suggested I went there direct, which is where i’d had the previous one done too. very expensive but keeps warranty etc as it needs to be. Audi Q5, detachable tow ball supplied and fitted, £800. Previous A6 Avant was about £850.

Ford do a factory fit – don’t know about others

Ford do a factory fit – don’t know about others

Pretty much all manufacturers do.

They are all tested to appropriate regulation, there will be a data plate on the towbar showing the test number.

So the insurer doesn’t really have grounds to quibble.

Also a moot point if you are not actually towing a trailer.

Their game, their rules I’m afraid. Their policy was they only covered optional extras not modifications. So you could have a towbar, tinted windows, big alloys etc, as long as they were the factory ones. You couldn’t fit a towbar, or have the windows tinted, or replace the wheels.

Most towball/car ratings are for about 90-150kg nose weight. so a couple of bikes will be fine. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a lighter weight one (unless your car is particuarl cardboardy)

Those are really high, what are you looking at? I’ve only seen 150kg on ‘propper’ 4×4’s like defenders. And for comparison, the Al-Ko hitch on most trailers is only rated for 100kg, so you’d probably be looking at a nato style hitch for something that heavy anyway.

Most car’s are in the region of 50-80kg, my Berlingo is 70kg, my Focus was 50 IIRC.

The manufacturer ones are often fold-away which are very neat, and take seconds to fold/unfold, but often fabulously expensive especially if retro-fitting (e.g. £650 factory option vs over £1k retrofitted). Volvo were £800 or so, and are fitted by the dealer even if specified as a factory option.

Slightly different here but my Mazda 5 has what we call a class 1 hitch. (1.125″ receiver) 200lbs tongue weight limit. It’s essentially bolted to sheet metal and the towing eye.
My 1 tonne van on the other hand has a class 5 hitch with a 2″ receiver. Its bolted directly to the box steel chassis and has a 1200lb tongue weight.
I can carry 2 bikes max on my Mazda hitch – because hitch Mount bike racks in 1.125″ only come in 1 or 2 bike versions. My van takes 6 DH bikes without blinking.

Bearback you must be in the states.

Those hitches are not common here except on RVs, and if you import one they won’t be euro type approved for towing anyway.

But a great solution for a bike rack as you cut out the need for a ball mount.

In my opinion tow bar and tow ball are synonymous. I have never seen a uk rack that bolts into what I would describe as a receiver hitch (which i think the previous poster was referring to as a tow bar).

If you’re happy to diy, eurocarparts can be cheap. 160 for dedicated electrics and towbar from brink (who used to be thule) for a newish galaxy from them. Its also worth checking ebay for oem parts 2nd hand.

The thule 970 rack doesn’t come with electrics. When I use mine I dont bother with them as its mostly short journeys. When I’m on a bigger trip I use an altera rack which does have them

A lot of the specific kits still need enabling on the ecu, which can often be diyd at home with the right cable. My last vauxhall (basically a vectra) and my current ford (galaxy) both needed that.

In my opinion tow bar and tow ball are synonymous.

I tend to agree. You can get flange mount bike racks, which mount directly onto the tow bar, sandwiched between the tow ball and the tow bar, but they only work with fixed tow balls, and I think the only reason you’d do it is if you’re also towing a caravan.

I tend to agree. You can get flange mount bike racks, which mount directly onto the tow bar, sandwiched between the tow ball and the tow bar, but they only work with fixed tow balls, and I think the only reason you’d do it is if you’re also towing a caravan.

Having used boht types of mounting onto towbars.towballs, I much preferred the ones with the block preinstalled. Pendle bike racks do a good range of these. The Thule one I had that clamped onto the ball felt a bit dubiously secured with a pinch bolt holding it in place. I knew it wouldn’t flal off but if I didn’t tighten it up right or put more weight on it would slip and angle down to the road.

https://pendle-bike.co.uk/collections/tow-bar-mounted-racks/products/new-wheel-support-rack

In internet shocker, i’ll admit i was wrong above in quoting such high noseweights and others have corrected me.

The tow ball itself is rated quite high, but the tow bar is the weak part of hte chain.
Link below explains
https://www.kensautospares.com/blog/44/guide-to-nose-weight/