Car Data & News | Car Data
Car Data Sheets are available to download in Acrobat pdf format.
You will be asked for the user name which is: CarData (case-sensitive)
You will also be asked for a password.
The current password appears on current or recent invoices.
As a customer, you can also obtain it by phoning 0161 430 1120 in office hours
Disclaimer
By passing on information collected in
the Car Data report Ryder Towing?Equipment Ltd does not assume responsibility for
its accuracy. We are simply passing on data collected in good faith from
contributing towbar fitters. It is always the responsibility of the individual
fitter to ascertain the conditions that apply in any vehicle he or she is
working on and to complete his or her installation accordingly.
This information is not published for the use of
non-professional fitters of towbar electrical equipment.
Updates to CarData
We continually publish new information in our regular newsletters and,approximately six times a year, distribute all the up-to-date data to CarData members.
Information comes from towbar fitters
Most of the information contained in the CarData report comes from our customers and we provide some from our own workshops. We collect and collate the data. Sometimes we devise new products to solve problems customers have alerted us to. Sometimes we work together to find the best ways to overcome fitting problems.?
Benefit from sharing and exchanging
The free exchange of information helps everyone. When towbar fitters share information about new cars they all benefit and so do their customers. We compile the most comprehensive possible record of car data and to make it freely available to the trade.
Car Data Record
The Car Data Record form in this section is designed to collect and store information about the cars you fit and problems and solutions relating to them.?
Send a copy to us?
We ask our customers, when they come across new models or new problems, to fill in a blank form (there is one near thew front of the CarData file, to keep for future reference and send a copy to us.We then use it to update the CarData file.
Perform essential checks
Cars are changing all the time, often in subtle ways that you may not notice but which may have important implications for you. So always perform your essential checks, including:
1. The vehicle?
Wire thickness and current capacity (See page 3: of the products section for a cable capacity chart.)
Fuse ratings
Circuits sharing critical fuses
Bulb-failure detection (Remove a brake light and side light bulb and run the engine. See if a fault is displayed.)
Computer-controlled systems
2. Your installation.?
How much current will your installation draw?
Is it possible that the trailer to be towed will draw more current than you might usually expect (extra brake, side, flasher lights, etc.)?
Will you protect vulnerable circuits in the vehicle?
Do you have the correct components?
Are the components you intend to fit suitable for the purpose?
Bulb-failure Warning Systems
Bypass Relays
Bypass relays were first developed and introduced by Ryder Towing Equipment Ltd. Since their introduction, other manufacturers have broadly copied the Ryder designs, Bypass relays allow trouble-free fitting on vehicles with complex electrics and electronics. They are designed to operate trailer road lamps in unison with the towing vehicle?s road lamps without drawing any significant current from the vehicle?s road lamp circuits.
Not detected
Bypass relays employ miniature relays to switch the trailer lamps on and off. Connection is made to the vehicle?s lamp circuits but only to interface with the micro circuits that control the relays in the bypass module. The current to energise the relay coils is taken from the relay's own power connection to the battery. The ?interfaces between the relay's micro circuits and the vehicle light circuits are heavily protected and can pass no more than than one milliamp each between the vehicle and the bypass module.
Power direct from the battery
Power for the relay coils and the trailer lamps is taken directly from the vehicle?s battery and merely switched by these relays. No significant load is put on the vehicle?s own lamp circuits.
Easily handle currents
The switching capacity of each relay within the module is 20 amps. This means they can easily handle the currents found in typical trailer/caravan road light systems.
Bypass relays available from Ryder Towing Equipment Ltd.
| TF1011 | Single |
| TF1013 | Three way |
| TF1014 | Four way |
| TF110R | Two way with flasher monitor? |
| TF2218/7 | SmartLogic 7-way? |
Computers and Multiplex Wiring Systems
Multiplexing is a method of transferring many data signals along a single "bus"cable to switch relays drawing their power from a single power cable. Using this method, many devices can be controlled without a mass of individual interconnecting wires. Multiplexing is associated with computer control units, these being the source of the control signals. CANbus is the multiplex system that is now becoming standard within the motor industry.
CANbus systems
Although ?Smart? bypass relays are still be applicable to most vehicles with CANbus controlled rear lights, CANbus-dedicated towing kits may be required in certain cases. For example, vehicles with a trailer stability program (an extension of electronic stability control) may need to recognise the attachment of a trailer. This would require a SmartCAN towing module TF2302.