Towbar Advice Needed - Volvo Vs AL-KO?

I have an XC70. When I bought it I had the dealer fit a Volvo detachable tow bar. This is fine for my van. I expect the XC60 one will be the OK too. The fitting bracket will be specific to the car but the actual ball part may even be the same. I've seen threads on the forum from other Volvo owners and can't remember any issues with the towbar itself.

A detachable towbar or fixed swan neck towbar, of any make, will both be suitable for use with an Alko hitch. A standard 2 bolt flanged towbar is NOT suitable with an Alko hitch because it hasn't the room below the ball for the hitch to fully articulate. The only other problem that you might come across is room between the ball when fitted & the bumper if the car is fitted with any 'go-faster' styling packs.

Also don't make car tow bars 😉

We have had a few Volvos, all our Volvo towbars were actually made by Brink, a reputable brand.

We also currently have a Brink on our Touareg.

The detachables are all swan neck type, which is what you need for the AlKo hitch.

The only issue we had was the lock that stops anyone stealing the detachable bit failed after about 5 years, it seems to be quite a common problem.  The one on our Touareg has already failed after only 8 months, so it will be going back under warranty!

Maybe Brink have improved since they are now together with Thule, but at the time I was in business, they never managed to get our approval for factory fitment.

To the best of my knowledge AlKo don't make towbars for cars, only for motorhomes. No car manufacturer makes his own towbars. They are all bought out items although some have different suppliers depending whether the towbar is factory fitted or an approved dealer fitted accessory item.

It may well be worth your while phoning around and asking for prices. You may find out that a dealer fitted tow bar/electrics is more expensive than at an independent fitter. When we bought our Kuga (from new) Ford told me they would simply take it to a local independent to have the equipment fitted. 

Hi hastghyll,

I would be wary of the Volvo dealer fitting the towbar and sooner take it to a towbar specialist. I went through 240/740/940/960/S80 with independent's and on my new at the time XC90 ordered it with a "Volvo " detachable towbar,so when not in use it would not be seen. it came as a fitted Witter and the hole they had cut in the rear bumper looked as though Stevie Wonder had done it with a wood saw.

Needless to say, at great expense the dealer had to replace the rear bumper and supply what was ordered.

I've had two V70s and currently I've got a V60.  I've had a different make towbar on each. One fixed and two detachable. None from Volvo and all very good. 

If you look around you'll probably get one for around £200 less than Volvo would want - and it may even be fitted by someone your Volvo dealer would have gone to, as some dealers don't fit them and send the car elsewhere.

Interesting to hear different experiences.

Volvo main dealer towbars are indeed expensive.  Our compromise was to have a Witter bar fitted by the dealer but with Volvo electrics.  (we'd previously found that very few independent fitters can re-programme non-volvo towing electronics). That way any canbus or re-programming requirements are dealt with by Volvo with no warranty issues arising.   We saved about £350 on at least 2 occasions.  It pays to ask.

Last year we changed to a Kuga and the main dealer fitted a Ford towing package.  The bar is a Brink.  We were pleasantly surprised that it worked out about £50 less than most independent quotes. 

As the club had an offer for £1000 of free accessories ( September 2017) we had Kia fit a detachable towbar and full electrics and it was done at the distribution centre at the port. They did a good job it's fully covered by the Kia warranty. It would have been expensive if not on offer at £850! When talking to the salesperson she said had we wanted one through the dealer they would have got the local towbar fitters to come to them to do it from Durham.

The towbar was a Witter.

You can use a  2 bolt flanged towbar but you must use an extended neck towball

http://www.al-ko.co.uk/pages/towball.html