Your Towbar Experts,

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Yes, Five Star Towbars provides professional electric brake controller installation services throughout Melbourne. We specialize in both proportional and time-delayed controllers, ensuring compliance with Australian laws that require trailers over 750 kg to be braked. Our mobile service allows us to conveniently install the controller at your location, ensuring safety and reliability for your towing needs.

All of our onsite or instore towbar installation comes with everything you need to tow as soon as the job is finished, including tow ball, rated shackles and suitable wiring harness to your specified trailer connection.

The maximum tow rating can usually be found in your vehicle’s handbook. Towbar compliance stickers which state maximum towing capacity and maximum ball weight capacity are also installed to the inside of the driver’s door and onto the towbar of every vehicle we install. Generally towbar manufacturers construct the towbar to the maximum capacities that are stated by the vehicle manufacturer, although in some cases ‘light duty’ towbars that are under the vehicle towing capacities may also be available from some manufacturers.

The towbar and attachments can be on the vehicle when not in use so long as the rear number plate is not obstructed from view.

Sometimes the trailer plug and car socket do not make proper connection from repeated use. Usually some lube or spreading the terminals can help. If there is no lights functioning at all, it may be a blown fuse to the ECU module installed to operate the trailer lighting. Your installer would have shown you the location of that, or call us for guidance.

The passive ecu trailer wiring harness is an independent module we install to control trailer lighting, it does not integrate with vehicle factory towing functions such as automatic rear sensor deactivation and lane assist deactivation, transmission and engine setting among other functions. The integrated coded ecu wiring harness available for most newer vehicles which is OEM compatible does adjust these functions, although not available for all vehicles.

If the part is not genuine but is interchangeable with the genuine part and is ADR Approved, it is deemed appropriate for the purpose and would therefore not void your manufacturer’s warranty. If your vehicle dealer tells you otherwise we suggest asking for it in writing. See link attached for details from AAAA (Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association).

https://www.aaaa.com.au/news/truth-vehicle-modifications-brochure-ready/

Class 2 light duty non removable Towbars are generally for smaller vehicles with lower towing capacities.

Class3 medium duty Towbars are generally for medium sized vehicles, they are a 40mm square hitch receiver towbar.

Class 4 heavy duty Towbars are the 50mm removable hitch Towbars generally designed for heavier capacity vehicles.

European Towbars are the cast metal towbars that look like a hook, or ‘swan neck’ coming from underneath and around the bumper bar, usually removable and invisible, concealed when the hitch is removed. Generally available for European vehicles only, but sometimes available for other vehicles.

Generally newer caravans have electric brakes which require an Electric Brake controller to operate them. Power systems may also be required to charge batteries, power the fridge or ESC (electronic stability control) on the trailer/caravan. Manufacturers use different plug configurations for these setups, usually a wiring diagram/schematic is supplied by manufacturer with specifics so as your vehicle can be setup for compatibility

Vicroads Legislation states that any trailer including load that is more 750kg ATM (aggregate tare mass) needs to have brake system installed, either hydraulic, cable pull or electric brakes. If the trailer has electric brakes, then YES an electric brake controller is required to operate trailer brakes.

Towing a trailer with electric brakes installed without an electric brake controller can open the driver up to scrutiny from police, vicroads/RTA and also insurance companies.

Whilst using a load-rated shackle isn’t mandatory, it’s a good idea to choose a shackle to suit your trailer and towing vehicle.

Suitable shackles include:

• shackles supplied as original equipment by the original vehicle manufacturer (e.g. Ford, Holden, Toyota etc.)
• shackles supplied by an original equipment tow bar manufacturer
• shackles that are rated and compliant with Australian Standard AS 2741 “Shackles” or other equivalent recognised standards AND the break load limit of the shackle is rated at least 1.5 times greater than the Aggregate Trailer Mass (ATM) of the trailer (see below for example).
• Lifting hooks and ‘hammerlock’ joiners are not rated for towing.

Some Towbars may be installed by the experienced DIY’ers. Although some specific automotive tools and equipment may be required. Some wiring harnesses are plug and play, others may need to be integrated into car system or even be coded (programmed using specific hardware and software).

Towbar installation usually takes around two hours to complete for experienced fitters, same timeframe to install a brake controller or power system also. Each installation job is different due to completely different install procedures from vehicle to vehicle, and also if vehicle is to be programmed/coded by the installer.

Dedicated car specific trailer harness wiring is not always necessary, depending on the intended use and application of the tow vehicle. Standard or passive wiring harnesses that do not integrate with the vehicle are certainly a cheaper option but do not function the same as the integrated car specific wiring harnesses. The standard or passive wiring harnesses control the trailer lights independently from the vehicle and can sometimes automatically deactivate rear sensors, suitable for light or basic towing whereas the integrated car specific wiring harnesses can do the following:

• Activation of the vehicles TSP (Trailer Stability Program) helping to correct the ‘snaking’ action of a trailer
• Adapted braking settings providing optimal emergency stopping and enhanced assistance on hill starts
• Continuation of the vehicles light health check monitoring system to provide warning of any bulb failures
• Disabling of the vehicle‘s rear parking sensors to stop unnecessary and distracting ‘beeps’
• Disabling of the vehicle‘s rear fog lights (but not the caravan‘s!) to avoid distracting rearview mirror glare
• Adapted new gear ratio settings for automatic gearboxes to take account of the extra load being towed
• Disabling of the vehicle‘s stop/start economy feature to avoid stalling in unsafe locations

Other features that may be adapted include reversing cameras, adaptive cruise control, suspension systems and cooling systems

All the Towbars we sell come with a manufacturer lifetime warranty. Generally the towbar will outlast the vehicle it is attached to. It is important to choose the correct towbar for your vehicle and purpose intended and stay within the towing weight and ball weight capacities specified by the manufacturer to ensure towbar longevity and warranty.

Vehicle parking sensors will work as normal after towbar is installed. Some wiring harnesses supplied with towbar can deactivate rear sensors automatically when towing, others do not (refer to dedicated v passive harnesses above). Most modern vehicles do have switch/button to deactivate rear sensors manually when towing.

Sometimes the towbar can be detected by the rear sensors even when trailer is not attached, removing the hitch when not being used will rectify

Not all styles of Towbars are available for all vehicles. Generally if it is a small or light towing vehicle then only the light duty or class 2 non removable towbar will be available from the manufacturers. Larger or heavier towing vehicles generally have the removable hitch, class 4 Towbars available. Call us for advice or options for Towbars on your particular vehicle.