Hi all, when I bought my focus it had a detachable tow bar, the previous owner gave me the detachable part and said he had never used it and didnt know how to fit it.

Iv spent a fair time today trying to figure out how it works, Iv managed to get somewhere in the fact Iv worked out how to get the ball bearing fee so that the tow ball goes all the way up to its fixing position.

I can also realese it so that it stays in the correct position, However on the towball itself it says during use the white dot must be in the green marked area on the twist handle, I cant get it to go that far back.

Has anyone else got this tow bar? If so instructions would be much appreciated.

Here are some pictures:

Tow ball (I think its ford fitted, it has ford sticker on the towbar mount)

As far as I can get it to twist back (needs to be in the green)

Key position when trying to fit (wont turn completley to the lock position either)

Thanks

looks very similar to my Brink detachable you stick it in the slot and push it down to lock and then turn the knob to the right whilst depresing it and pull towbar back up to unlock...

This is a ford fitted one.

The owners manual says how to fit it however when the turn handle should sping into place with the white dot on the green line once it is in the correct position its not doing this, its springing about half way and stopping inbetween the red and green as pictured above.

It also says you should turn the key to the lock position and remove the key... The key wont turn and it wont twist to the lock position...

looks like we need a member with a Ford fitted one to reply...

Hi!

If you tell me your car type and e-mail address i can send you a Ford factory install guide!

Regards!

nice1 Lez ur a gent...

Still needing ideas as to why the green line isnt lining up with the white dot when fitted.

I have followed instructions and still nothing happening.

Any help would be appreciated.

Still needing ideas as to why the green line isnt lining up with the white dot when fitted.

I have followed instructions and still nothing happening.

Any help would be appreciated.

i think it`s not go in deep enough or damaged one off them other wise must be good...

i think it`s not go in deep enough...

Oh how the realms of dirty minded jokes have just opened!

If you are fitting the tow bar with the instructions, and its not locking in - are you applying sufficient pressure? I know some folk dont want to press down too hard in case of injury, but are you applying enough pressure?

Oh how the realms of dirty minded jokes have just opened!

If you are fitting the tow bar with the instructions, and its not locking in - are you applying sufficient pressure? I know some folk dont want to press down too hard in case of injury, but are you applying enough pressure?

Im prety sure its going in far enough as the lock clicks into place however the hand wheel dosnt turn far enough to reach the lock position which it should automatically, you should just be able to turn the key to lock position and remove the key, however because the turn handle isnt turning far enough you cant turn or remove the key.

I poped it into a ford dealership today and they didnt even know how to fit it and I had to show them so that really wasnt any good, they wouldnt get another part in to test what was actually at fault either and didnt offer any kind of service to look into it or possibly fix it, been there twice in 2 weeks and both times have been utterly useless!

Soaking the lot in wd40 overnight to see if anything frees up to work or not.

All sorted, theres a ball bearing that has to drop into a recess in the top part of the tow bar, after ages trying to sort it out of chance I decided to get a piece of wire with 90dgeree bend on the end to check if the recess was completley clean (Had been sprayed with wd40 several times) and a tiny piece of grit fell out as I poked the wire into the recess. The ball bearing must have to seat 100% in the recess for the locking mechanism to engage properly.

Nice1 well done....

Nice! have fun ;)

Glad to see you found the cause! well done and glad it was a cheap fix!