Removing tow bar from doner vehicle...

[Big_ben]

Hi folks,

Happy Christmas!

I am going to scrapyard this week to take the towbar from a 2nd gen. I'm getting it for €40 if I take it off myself.

Anyone know how big a job it is to get it off? Is it just a few bolts? The owner on the phone said it was a factory tow bar, and the bumper needed to come off to take the tow bar off.

I presume it's fairly easy mechanically....but any pointers or tips??

Thanks! -Ben

[Bayside]

When I took mine off it was bolted to two chassis brackets not the bumper.

Remove the towbar from the brackets by undoing the six nuts and bolts - I think they are 17mm but cant properley remember. These are on the arms going from the horizontal bar leading towards the chassis. By taking this off you get a bit more space and less weight to try to hold when you take the chassis mounts off.

Once the towbar itself is out of the way you will see the brackets bolted to the chassis rails at the rear behind the bumper. These have I think three nuts and bolts bolted through the chassis but there may be more I think there might be a couple underneath. Undo these and remove the brakets. Job done.

Bumper can stay on its not a load bearing unit and therefore not connected to the towbar at all.

The nuts and bolts are a b*stard if seized so take some penetrating oil with you and potentially a blow torch if they wont budge. Plus make sure you have a BIG breaker bar as they can be really tight.

Ill have a look and see if I have any photos that will help... I think I do so give me ten minutes and Ill post one.

[Bayside]

You can see the bolts for the towbar on the brackets just below the bottom of the rear 3/4 the plate in front of it forms part of the chassis bracket.

[Big_ben]

SOUND! Thanks a million for that!

I'll be sure to bring some elbow grease for those nuts.

[IanB2]

I'd recommend an angle grinder for getting those nuts off, which will be a tough one to pull off in a wrecking yard, lol.

[BioHazard]

Make sure you don't leave the tube spacers in the chasis

[Bayside]

Let us know how you get on.

[Big_ben]

Job done. Handy enough. Not the nicest laying on my back in a scrapyard when it started to rain half way through.

I didn't get a chance to take photos, thanks to the rain!

But basically, there were two brackets attached to the chassis on each side. One was a "boomerang" shape that slid inside and bolted to the chassis. The other bolted onto the chassis, and then onto the "boomerang"....The actual tow bar fitted between these brackets.

Nice handy job, just have to do the wiring at some stage after christmas. (Time for the SEARCH function again!) Only problem I hit was that one of the nuts and bolts was stripped....so a new M12 for €0.56 sorted that.

The bolts were 19mm...just in case anyone else was going to do it.

Thanks again lads.