Which Towbar is best for GXL 150?

[Nath]

We are booked in for Friday morning to get the towbar fitted at Wynnum. Leo quoted $600. Is this the same price everyone else is paying?

[bdee]

I ended up going a HR and very happy with the result. I have looked at both the Toyota and the HR and to be honest either looked quite good although the HR was far less prominent and $200.00 cheaper. If anybody is looking for somebody out West of Melbourne Radiant Exhaust in Laverton did a very neat job and also installed electric brakes all up 1K.

Brett

[jss]

I rang Leo at Wynnum on friday to book in for my towbar, when i said Prado & mentioned PP he laughed & told me i was the 3rd bloke that morning with a 150 series & who was using him because of good reports on PP.

[georgev]

Hey guys, just got fitted a HR towbar on my Prado Altitude last Friday from Speedy Towbars at Springwood. They are in Moss st. 45 mins install time or they can come to you. Highly recommend them.

George

[ed-gxl]

Great choice. I had mine fitted last month. They really know what they are doing.

[jss]

What a handy little thread!! I too have been tossing up bewteen a Toyota & HR bar. Now i'll be popping down to Wynnum Towbars next week to get one of theirs fitted instead. Cheers for the info guys.

[Brains]

Hi all. I'm also getting a new Prado shortly and want to get a towbar but am not sure which way to go. The Toyota bar appears to fit snugly against the bumper bar (although it will be a permanent fixture with the cut made into the bumper bar). There is a company called BTA in Melbourne who produce their own product and they can fit an after market wiring loom with built in ECM which they splice into the existing loom that they say is relatively easy, or for an extra $50 or so they can fit the genuine Toyota loom but they then have to remove part of the back seat to access the connector which is apparently located somewhere in the midst of the subframe. This takes more time and hence costs more $$. The tow bar itself looks OK, is bolted to numerous parts of the subframe and doesn't involve cutting the bumper bar but it is more "visible' than the genuine bar...but it costs about $300 less. The other thing they told me was that the 150 is longer in the rear than the 120 series so they have to put spacers in to account for the extra length to secure it...not sure if this weakens the integrity of the bar but am thinking maybe stick with the genuine product....

Wynnum Towbars ships bars al over Australia and have what I believe to be the best bar available. Solid as and bolds onto the chassis.

[plodder627]

Many thanks - had a look at the photos- will let you know how it all goes. HR it is.....

[Disco4]

Plodder

I got mine fitted at Hayman Reece.
I suggest you ring them for authorised fitters.
I believe ARB supply & fit.

I have just added photos in My Rig Build Up

[plodder627]

Disco4.

Plodder

Hayman Reece have a new design bar for the 150.

It is similar to Toyota's but not as prominent & does not require a bumper cut.

They access the loom via the jack storage compartment & it comes with a electronic box that interfaces with parking sensors & allows the use of led trailer lights.

Thanks for the info. Any places you can recommend in the eastern suburbs who will fit the new bars? Sounds like access to the loom is not as big an issue as I was told.

[Disco4]

Plodder

Hayman Reece have a new design bar for the 150.

It is similar to Toyota's but not as prominent & does not require a bumper cut.

They access the loom via the jack storage compartment & it comes with a electronic box that interfaces with parking sensors & allows the use of led trailer lights.

[plodder627]

Hi all. I'm also getting a new Prado shortly and want to get a towbar but am not sure which way to go. The Toyota bar appears to fit snugly against the bumper bar (although it will be a permanent fixture with the cut made into the bumper bar). There is a company called BTA in Melbourne who produce their own product and they can fit an after market wiring loom with built in ECM which they splice into the existing loom that they say is relatively easy, or for an extra $50 or so they can fit the genuine Toyota loom but they then have to remove part of the back seat to access the connector which is apparently located somewhere in the midst of the subframe. This takes more time and hence costs more $$. The tow bar itself looks OK, is bolted to numerous parts of the subframe and doesn't involve cutting the bumper bar but it is more "visible' than the genuine bar...but it costs about $300 less. The other thing they told me was that the 150 is longer in the rear than the 120 series so they have to put spacers in to account for the extra length to secure it...not sure if this weakens the integrity of the bar but am thinking maybe stick with the genuine product....

[wooley]

I spoke to the HR Guy regarding this matter.

The towbar is rated at 3000kgs & is the same towbar fitted to the three door Prado's

The car (five door) is only rated at 2500 kgs.

Three doors are rated at 3000 kgs.

Something about gross vehicle mass.

It's to do with GCM: the 5 door prado has a GVM of 2.99t and GCM of 5.37t, with a braked trailer capacity of 2.5t that means you have to find a balance between driven and trailed mass in the order of 0.12t

With the 3 door the GVM is 2.6t and GCM 5.57t which is a slightly better deal in terms of not having to really juggle load in terms of driven and trailed mass.

Either way, all the towbars from any manufacturer will be rated to 3t as they're designed to fit SWB and LWB.

[Disco4]

I spoke to the HR Guy regarding this matter.

The towbar is rated at 3000kgs & is the same towbar fitted to the three door Prado's

The car (five door) is only rated at 2500 kgs.

Three doors are rated at 3000 kgs.

Something about gross vehicle mass.

[Matty R]

But having a 2500kg sticker on your car doesn't mean you can legally tow 3000kg either.

I see your point though.