Towbar electrics 7 vs 13 pin

[Bill]

Is there any advantage of 13 over 7?? I need to get a towbar fitted to tow my unbraked trailer with a 7 pin plug. I can't see me wanting to tow anything else but I can't rule it out completely.

[Pflanzgarten]

You need a 13 pin for most caravans don’t you, plus a 13 to 7 pin adaptor is about £6 off Amazon I can see why you wouldn’t.

[jeremyc]

See the guide here

Witter said:

7 Pin Towbar Wiring

7 pin electrics provide the normal or legal lighting requirements for towing. A 7 pin towbar plug will provide basic brake, indicator and tail light functions on your bike rack, trailer or caravan for simple towing. If you have a towbar-mounted bike rack which covers the lights on your vehicle, you'll need a lighting board so light signals are still visible.

13 Pin Towing Socket

13 pin electrics combines both the basic and advanced electrical features needed for towing within one plug. Each pin in the 13 pin towing socket has a specific function with a corresponding colour. This allows you to see which wire in the plug provides which electrical function. If you are towing a trailer or caravan, it connects to your vehicle's advanced features including trailer stability control and provides power inside your caravan for appliances.

So, you'll need the 13 pin to power the 'fridge on your unbraked trailer.

[Krikkit]

Pflanzgarten said:

You need a 13 pin for most caravans don’t you, plus a 13 to 7 pin adaptor is about £6 off Amazon I can see why you wouldn’t.

This - if you've got a choice then get the better one just in case, and adapt down to the lower standard

[Bill]

jeremyc said:

So, you'll need the 13 pin to power the 'fridge on your unbraked trailer.

I didn't think I was missing anything! It's not the main car so will never be used to tow a caravan, even if we owned one.

[Pflanzgarten]

Bill said:

jeremyc said:

So, you'll need the 13 pin to power the 'fridge on your unbraked trailer.

I didn't think I was missing anything! It's not the main car so will never be used to tow a caravan, even if we owned one.

You might not but the bloke who buys it off you might, if it’s the same cost (and in my experience it always is) I always go 13 pin and run the cheap waterproof adaptor.

[Limpet]

I went 13 pin when I fitted a towbar to the Volvo last year just because the kit was only a couple of quid more than the 7pin one, and it covers all potential options in the future. We only tow a horse trailer with 7 pin electrics, but an eight quid adapter takes care of that, and I've always got the option if I ever need to tow anything else / help someone out in future. Also when I sell the car on, it's a plus point for anyone wanting it to tow a caravan.

The extra cost was negligible, and using the official Volvo wiring kit, installation was no more difficult (both are plug and play)

[Fastdruid]

Mine came with the 13pin one (factory fit towbar). I've never used a 13pin connector in it as the trailer and both bike racks have the 7pin.

I'd still have gone with 13 pin given the choice as the adaptor is trivial to fit and use. If I ever need 13pin I've got it.

[vikingaero]

I only use our towbar for a bike carrier and specified a 13 pin as most bike carriers are produced by continental manufacturers who use 13 pin only and saves on an adaptor.

[surveyor]

I would actually change the trailer fitment to 13 pin. It's an easy diy job and the fixing is far more secure and watertight.

[aland75]

It's not just caravans, most/all new trailers come with 13-pin electrics now.

I bought a new Ifor Williams trailer 2 years ago, which was 13 pin.
I've converted another trailer to 13 pin so now everything uses the same system.

[Bobupndown]

My caravan is 13 pin. My used Freelander 2 came with twin 7 pin. Have 2 trailers with 7 pin. Simple adapter lead connects the caravan.
If I was buying a new car or having a new towbar fitted I'd go 13 pin but what I have works perfectly.

[Decky_Q]

Just to be contrary I fitted 7 pin plugs to my unbraked trailers and car because it was alot less faff running large guage wire the whole length of the car for charger line etc. When I don't really need it, I have electric hook ups to charge batteries run fridge etc in both boat and caravan.

The trailer lighting relay will need a fused +ve run from the battery but just normal guage so easy to hide behind trims.

[SkodaIan]

The main advantage of the 13 pin is the the connector is a lot better quality, and the plug properly mechanically latches into the socket rather than being badly held in by the spring cover.

I ran my last car to nearly 10 years old, and it never had an issue with the trailer electrics. On previous cars with 7 pin electrics, I was lucky if it was 3 or 4 years before the salt destroyed the socket on the car and I had to replace it.

You can run 7 core cable into the 13 pin plug on the trailer - it won't care that the other pins aren't connected correctly, just needs a couple of layers of heat shrink over the outer sheath of the cable so its the right size to fit into the gland on the plug.