tow bar

I bought my tow bar from Amazon.

Tow bar Detachable Suzuki JIMNY 2doors 2-4WD ((08/01)-) It cost £99, free delivery.

The tow bar took just 4 days to arrive from Italy and I fitted it the next day. Believe it or not, every mounting hole aligned perfectly and it took me just 35 minutes to bolt it into place! Well made and has a good finish and comes with easy to understand instructions and all of the parts required to fix it to my Suzuki Jimny, including the removable tow ball. Fantastic value for money! Electrics etc. were not included in this deal (although I believe there is a bar with electrics included, it is a 13 pin kit where all I needed was a 7 pin to pull a trailer) and I bought them separately. I did grind a lump out of the mounting plate next to the exhaust as it will knock against it.

Wiring it all up also took me about 2 hours using the info from this forum. I soldered the connections into the loom behind the plastic side panel on the left side of the car and insulated the bare connections with amalgamation tape. (It was easier for me to access as I had already removed the rear seats and modified this area to make a larger boot space.)

Hope this helps.

I would be really interested in learning more about how you adapted the back without the seats

Sorry in advance for going off topic, but as you were the original poster (OP)...

All I did was pull the rear seat out (it's only clipped in. unclip the plastics surrounding the area in-between the rear seat backs and remove the two bolts. Undo the nuts either side of the rear seats (where they swivel) and take out the seat backs. (I've put the old seats in plastic bags to keep them clean and stored them in the garage). I also put all the bolts back in the holes... bar two (see end of next para). I've kept the rear seat belts in place.

I used an old cardboard box to make a template of the new boot area, drew round the template on a sheet of 10mm ply and cut it out. (I also cut across the ply to make a flap to enable jack access). At the front seat end of the ply I glued and screwed a 75mm x 30mm piece of wood to act as a small barrier (up-stand) to prevent anything rolling into the rear of the front seats or falling into the old now unused rear footwells when you are loaded and braking. The plywood base is held down by using two countersunk bolts into the holes left by the rear seats.

I then bought some 3mm ribbed rubber sheeting from Amazon and covered the up-stand and flooring. The rubber acts as the hinge for the jack flap. I never glued the rubber down on the ply, but did attach it to the up-stand. (The rubber really stinks though, it took 3 months for the smell of rubber to go. Not that nasty if you have a rubber fettish!!)

If I need to, I can remove the rear mod and re-install the rear seats in 35 mins. I've tried

Doing the above mod and fitting a tow bar for my trailer enables me to transport most things I need to. Even an old 3 seater sofa to the tip :laugh:

When fitting towbar, is a bypass relay necessary, and what does it do?

Brooklynodog wrote: When fitting towbar, is a bypass relay necessary, and what does it do?

Not for the Jimny. You may require a 7 way bypass relay if your vehicle has a bulb failure systems or multipex/cambus wiring.

Paul

How would that work Rhinoman? Is there a socket in the engine bay or something?