Tow Bar Fitting..How To

A2-Dork said:
ive been in engineering all my life and i cant believe some people think half a job will do
the long solid bars that go through the chassis to meet up with these brackets and bolts do many things to add to the strength of the tow bracket
the small bolts on the flanges into aluminum are week on their own
you are pulling a weight and road conditions force a trailer up and down it will fail eventually without them
oh dear please dont leave out the brackets
good luck
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They are a belt in a belt and brace system, that is all. The counterweight/crash bar which has to be removed to fit the towing bar assembly weighs mor than the probable permissible nose weight on the hitch, but yet that is only held on with the same 6 screws. Believe me, the metal they’re threaded into is not weak, or even week.

Now cutting 4 holes into a chassis leg, risking not sealing the cuts well, or having galvanic corrosion occurring from mismatched pop rivets etc, that worries me more. Because yes, some people will do half a job and won’t de-burr their holes drilled, or won’t treat the bare aluminium on the edges of the cuts, and that is a surer way to weaken the whole assembly.

If you’re towing light loads in frequently, then believe me, the 6 screws alone are fine. I’ve been doing just fine for the last 2 years this way.
 
not a lot of difference I should think,..both have to be approved, id be more then happy to use any..
 
The aftermarket GDW towbar during my installation:


rsz_120151227_130941.jpg
 
Does anyone have a spare set of the support brackets that could be lent to depronman? He might be able to fabricate some for those members who need them ( I'm one). Cheers
 
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I'm also in need of these brackets,i have found some dimensions on line for these and have already forwarded to Paul depronman hopefully he can make some up
 
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I have yet to get round to sending mine to Paul. I will post photos and dimensions here shortly in lieu of this. I don't think the design is particularly good, in terms of requiring a large hole to be drilled into the rear chassis leg.

Stand by for details.
 
Good point Skipton, maybe Paul could make a bracket that avoids the need for drilling out the larger hole, instead just slotting into the existing?
 
Sorry to bring up an old thread, any idea if the brackets were ever reproduced? I want to purchase the GDW tow bar in the next few weeks but thankfully I read this thread & these support brackets may be my downfall.

Thanks

Mart
 
Bluesplit said:
Sorry to bring up an old thread, any idea if the brackets were ever reproduced? I want to purchase the GDW tow bar in the next few weeks but thankfully I read this thread & these support brackets may be my downfall.

Thanks

Mart
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I'm fairly certain these brackets come with the GDW towbar.
 
A2-Dork said:
Well i will try to be as brief as possible on how to fit a factory towbar to an A2 (we have now done this)
So, well i bought a cheap A2 thinking it was a bargain and it was not (but it had a tow bar)
Then my friend wanted the factory towbar fitting on his car
Bare with us as our combined age is 142 ! A2-Dork & Robo
This job would be much easier on a ramp (i have one)

Here we go
1. remove the rear wheels
2. remove the wheel arch liners
3. remove the rear bumper (there is a how to thread already on here as we used that for info)
4. you will see 2 bumper reinforcing bars 1 metal 1 aluminum Remove both, the tow bar uses the same bolts

2hg43up.jpg

mbsvau.jpg

Towbar
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you must have 2 of these they are pop riveted into the chassis
4s1qb6.jpg

119b70w.jpg

you have to drill the chassis as Audi has not provided this
5e70j7.jpg

5lnkg8.jpg

you need 1/4 inch pop rivets
check the tow bar bolt holes line up before you pop rivet this in
2iufc41.jpg

16h20cz.jpg


the rear bumper has to be cut, fortunately we had a cut bumper from the donor car
the wiring is easy plug and play into the rear lights, battery etc
hope this helps but if you buy one make sure its taken off properly and you have all the bits
more info and pics to come i hope (camera was acting up)

oh dont forget to refit the bumper etc.. lol
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What paint/goop/other corrosion inhibitor should be used on the cut edges of the drilled holes? I've got myself a GDW bar and have hopefully got someone to fit it for me (funny lot, these towbar specialists; many don't like to fit a customer-supplied towbar), and I want to make sure it's not going to cause the structure to dissolve over time.
Many thanks,

Mike
 
bretti_kivi said:
Sorry, Bertelshofer. https://www.ebay.de/itm/Elektrosatz-13-pol-spez-Audi-A2-Typ-8Z-02-2000-08-2005-EBA-Erich-Jaeger/381150112382?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

You can ask them to add the check.control set to it. it's either €13 or €30, I don't remember which.

Your part number for the blocks is 8Z0 813 941 B. Currently a tick over €60 minus discounts.

- Bret
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Morning, I'm buying a wiring loom for the towbar via brets link, does anyone know what the check control extra bit does? Is it for cars with dis? Cheers
 
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