"MasterHook" tow bar for AY30 / AYH30

[Lester]

Found a manufacturer in Thailand, and via a Thai friend have received their towbar kit for our 2017 Vellfire hybrid.  Their website (Google it) is navigable in English.  Costs were around £200 for the tow bar kit (no electrics), £250 courier (27 kg, DHL Express, 5 days), and £50 customs tax.  The local garage says they'll be able to fit it, fingers crossed.  May be worth noting that it seems a good courier service was money well spent.  DHL had to re-package the box, it would not have made it across Bangkok never mind to the UK, the contents had zero packing support.  The original box was more or less destroyed in transit, only the copious DHL parcel tape kept it sufficiently intact.

 

[Dan C]

Hi Lester. How did this work out?

[Lester]

Hi Dan, worked fine!  Rear bumper comes off without trouble, a piece of black plastic under-trim is sensibly left out at re-assembly rather than being cut up to make room for the bar.  The slightly tricky step is getting the 'nuts' in place for the bolts.  The 'nuts' are not nuts (!), instead are drilled and tapped rectangular chunks of steel designed to stay in place while the bolts are located and tightened.  Loctite recommended.  The mechanic spot-welded a stiff wire to the 'nut' so it could be inserted into the narrow opening and then kept in place while the bolt found it, the wire twisted off afterwards.  The electrics were very easy.  A universal by-pass relay kit has plenty of room in the auxiliary 12V battery compartment conveniently located in the rear, and there are already openings to the outside underneath the bumper for the wiring.

 

Two comments.  One is that the towbar sits below the rear floor, and so takes up 5 cm of available ground clearance.  No problem on-road, but aggressively formed speed bumps or off-road require a little more attention.  The other is that the attachment and locking mechanisms for the detachable ball, while perfectly secure, do have a little play.  If I was towing a caravan or trailer rather than simply mounting a bike rack, I would shim the lateral play out.

 

[Alan paterson]

I’m looking for a tow bar to fit my 2016 AH30 Alphard, can’t find any in the UK 

[Alan paterson]

A bit of a strange one here, the electric passenger door when engine is running opens fine but when engine is off I have to press the door button on the doors 4/5 times before the doors open, closing them no problems. Any ideas 

[Rojie]

12 hours ago, Alan paterson said:

A bit of a strange one here, the electric passenger door when engine is running opens fine but when engine is off I have to press the door button on the doors 4/5 times before the doors open, closing them no problems. Any ideas 

 

Your battery may be in need of a good charging. 

[Alan paterson]

Believe or not it’s a new battery I’ve installed

[Rojie]

11 hours ago, Alan paterson said:

Believe or not it’s a new battery I’ve installed

 

Yes, but is it fully charged?

[MicroMike]

On 4/7/2024 at 12:59 AM, Alan paterson said:

I’m looking for a tow bar to fit my 2016 AH30 Alphard, can’t find any in the UK 

 

I bought my Alphard's tow bar from towbarsdirect:

http://www.towbarsdirect.co.uk/