Hi everyone, going to be wiring in for a tow bar and I plan on possibly using a Sankey trailer, what wiring set up would be best, many thanks

You need to decide/make a decision.
If you are going for a Sankey trailer what tow hitch will you be using
Sankey's tend to come with a Ring for a NATO hitch ... and wired up for a NATO socket.
So you'll need one of those. Look on eBay for the parts - not cheap.

You'll have to modify the Sankey or find one where the PO has done it.

Either way you'll need some 7-core trailer cable. Any decent Caravan & Camping emporium sells this by the metre. A meter should do. If you are going for a conventional towing ball and lighting socket, you can get these at the Caravan place too.
You patch into the vehicle's wiring behind the off-side rear cover in the corner of the tub.
We have the wiring diagrams for the NATO hitch and towing electrics in the Wiring Diagrams section on this forum.

Or you can do it the easy way like I did. Buy or make a trailer board and use the standard 7 pin socket.

... an even better solution 

Do you intend to tow other trailers as well as the Sankey? If so, get an adjustable tow hitch, 2 slider plates, 1 with a 50mm ball hitch and the other with a NATO hitch. That's what I've done.
Never tow a trailer with a NATO hitch with a pin and jaw type hitch.

What's wrong with the jaw type with pin

They are designed for a much smaller ring.

It simply doesn't fit the large eye of the NATO hitch and the latter has to be able to swivel which it can do with a proper tow hitch.
NATO tow hitches are designed to swivel if the trailer has a fixed eye. Normally the trailer hitch can. One must be able to swivel and the other is locked so it can't.

I found the  most suitable towing hook for towing a trailer with a lunette to be this one, part no.246109.
It eliminated a lot of the clanging. Stupidly I left it on the vehicle when I sold it.
.W.

Hi,

Trailers are supposed to PULL on the front-inside of their tow ring, and push on the rear-inside if the tow ring, so their will be a mild clang as power comes on and goes off.

I looked into the hitch you pictured ... called a NATO HITCH, I believe ... about 20 years ago. Very expensive ... unless you know different?

They bolt direct to the LR rear cross-member, which puts them at the correct height for a SANKEY. I suspect, but don't know, that the SANKEY hitch can be mounted UNDER the trailer's draw bar. My "brakeless" SANKEY was fitted with a home-brewed draw-bar extension, under the draw-bar which allowed me to used a "civvy" 50mm ball hitch, and wear the ball at regular height. There is probably a photo in the clubs files.

602

Quote from: Alan Drover on Mar 10, 2024, 08:43 PMIt simply doesn't fit the large eye of the NATO hitch and the latter has to be able to swivel which it can do with a proper tow hitch.
NATO tow hitches are designed to swivel if the trailer has a fixed eye. Normally the trailer hitch can. One must be able to swivel and the other is locked so it can't.

If the NATO hitch has a locking pin, keep it locked when not in use. An unlocked hook can be dangerous when used as a step.
.W.

There speaks the wisdom of a man who has obviously come unstuck at some point.

Confession - I once stepped on the tow ball to get into the back of a Series 3 over an inspection pit. That did not end well- several hours in Kingston A&E...

Do not run  have both a swivel eye with a swivel hook  as the whole can tie itself in a knot on a sharp turn and start breaking/bending things. When the NATO trailers went to  fixed eyes , from rotating ones , one found a number of bent/ broken hitches around through not setting the hitch to rotate . My first Ex MOD Sankey wide track hitch was broken when I picked it up for this reason 

So does it mean that this swivel tow jaw is no use as it has a pin

It should lock in place. Only if the trailer eye is fixed should the tow hitch be free to swivel. I think most Sankeys have a swivel eye, mine did. The larger military trailers would've had a fixed eye