Mitchell Tow Hitch

[rednib]

can somebody please tell me where I can have a mitchell towhitch fitted in Melbourne

[Disco4SE]

can somebody please tell me where I can have a mitchell towhitch fitted in Melbourne
Ritters in Burwood are good.
There are a couple of Landrover service places in Mornington, but have never used them, so cant comment.
One of the AULRO members have used a place in Seaford that supposed to be good.
I fitted my own to my D3 when I had it. Fairly easy to do. I used a coping saw to cut the plastic cover plate so that it fits back around the tow hitch.
The tricky bit is moving the sensors around until they are just right (not picking up the hitch when reversing.
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/members/disco4se-albums-my+disco+3-picture1721-337.jpg
I also had it colour coded. Good Luck.
Regards,
Craig

[PCH]

They are very easy to install. You just need to unscrew the white electrics socket to get the bolt through the recovery eye on the D3. It takes about 20 mins to install. The reverse sensors take a bit of time to remove and rotate (maybe 20-30 mins)

A bit of fiddling and you can pop the inner parking sensors and then file a slot to then allow them to be rotated and pushed back in.

By the way I have one for sale in the Market Place, PM me or phone if interested, details in the link below

Message - AULRO Classifieds (http://www.aulro.com/apc/showproduct.php/product/5468/cat/8)

Chris

[PaulGOz]

Hi All,

A word of caution the Mitchell Bros Hitch is easy to fit to a D3 not so easy on a D4. The D4 recovery eyelet has excess material on it that needs to be removed which can take some time to ensure only the required amount is evenly removed. The installation instructions are very clear on what is required.

P.S. I have no issues with my D4 parking sensore and the hitch when the Trigg is in the hitch it sends the sensors berserk but I normally leave the Trigg off when unhitched os it is not an issue.

[pohm66]

Put the Mitch Hitch myself... need to trim the urethane bushes to go into the eye... yet another use for a Dremel;)

Found the fiddliest bit was finding a way to align the fixing bolt through after unscrewing the 2 plugs.

As for the reversing sensors used black silicon putty to block approx 1/3 of the 2 sensors. Also put some reflective tape on the hitch to help protect shins.

[Dirty3]

Ritters in Burwood are good.


Yep, I'd agree with that. I got mine fitted and supplied by Ritters. This included turning parking sensors etc.
If your not too handy, then do it yourself. I had a go at the sensors before I had hitch fitted.....what a pain in the a**e.
Too fiddly for my big hands!!

[rednib]

OK guys it took me some time but I finally can say that I made and fitted my own hitch based upon an "other" design. Thanks for all the answers.
I welded a square tube onto an existing hitch.(the [mechanical] stabilizer bar arrangement is not used) cut the square tube top and bottom sides off which provided me then with the U shaped part at the end
that fits over the lug. Turned a ring with a hole in it, that fits into the lug. Then turned a pin to fit through the lug with two secure pins on each side. Sounds maybe all a bit complicated but the photos should give you a better impression.
Then went onto a three week test drive and all is well (that's why it took so long to post again) any questions please ask maybe I can help.

39753

39754

39755

39756

[Mike&Loz]

Received mine today. A bit disappointed that it wasn't dispatched until 6 days after I paid for it but it arrived and that's a bonus.

There is a problem fitting it if you have a Kaymar bar. At least there is for mine. The receiver doesn't fit into the recovery point opening in the bar. So a little modification to the opening with the handy dandy angle grinder and.....yet another problem. The shape of the bar doesn't allow the two bolts into the bottom section as well as lining up with the compression spacer in the recovery point.

So tomorrow will be an attempt at a minor modification to bottom of that section of the bar with a calibrated 2kg lump hammer and see where that gets me.

[Presto]

Received mine today. A bit disappointed that it wasn't dispatched until 6 days after I paid for it but it arrived and that's a bonus.


Mine took 3 weeks to arrive!! ...but they were moving at the time, or that's what I was told!
I found it pretty easy to fit with the only issue getting the poly bush and bolt through (had to remove both sockets and jiggle a fair bit).
I'm very happy with mine, but noticed it's not perfectly horizontal - the hitch has a downward slope. I reported this to them, but they pretty much asked for pics and then did nothing!?

[roamer]

Ditto on the slopes down slightly

[101RRS]

Same here.

Garry

[Mike&Loz]

So tomorrow will be an attempt at a minor modification to bottom of that section of the bar with a calibrated 2kg lump hammer and see where that gets me.

Well it's in. A few whacks with the knockometer, a bit more grinding to make the hole in the rear bar bigger, a few choice words and my daughter hanging off the other spanner while I applied the appropriate amount of ham fistedness to tighten the bolts and voila. Done and dusted.

Bugger, bugger, bum, poop. The 12 pin plug casing cracked while "adjusting" the rear bar with the hammer. Off to Malz for a new one. THEN try and work out the best method for stopping the van LED lights from flashing. Time to call in some professional expertise here methinks.

[640Newton]

The reverse sensors take a bit of time to remove and rotate (maybe 20-30 mins)

A bit of fiddling and you can pop the inner parking sensors and then file a slot to then allow them to be rotated and pushed back in.
Chris

I'm also having some issues with the rear parking sensors after having a Mitchell Bros hitch fitted to my RRS. What exactly do I need to do to the sensors to adjust them? Do I have to change the angle of the sensor or rotate it or what?

Any help or step by step instructions would be much appreciated.

Many thanks,

[Dahai]

Last night I connected our (new to us) 3,500 van and our Discovery 4. The van appears to sit about 2-3 inches above the Land Rover tow ball.
Land Rover said to connect the van and vehicle, and let the vehicle make the adjustments (my paraphrasing).

It has also been suggested by another dealer, that they have fitted the Mitchell hitch.

Could anyone comment on driving with or without the hitch? Would it be better to have it installed? Does the vehicle "like" it with the hitch on?

Best wishes
Bruce

[NomadicD3]

HI Bruce,
I have the mitch hitch installed and whilst I only tow a light trailer the horizontal line through the trailer and vehicle were vastly improved over the original tow plow, oopps I mean hitch:D. I have a friend who tows a 3ton trailer dual axle trailer with his D3 and was very impressed with the improvement on the handling of the vehicle after he switched to the mitch. There are other options though such as the adjustable height tow ball.
I assume the 3500 refers to the weight of the trailer?
happy travels mate

[Snowy]

Have a Mitch Hitch fitted to my d4 and tow an off road van at about 1.2t, the car and trailer perform as one and I would certainly go that way again if i started new. The interesting thing with my installation is that my reversing sensor required no adjustment, the only other thing to mention is that I fitted a Pulse buster to the trailer to overcome the led pulsing and have the car recognise that the trailer is attached.
The hitch performs well but the experience off having it fitted by the manuf. could have been a better one. cheers snowy

[rednib]

Hi Bruce,
You absolutely would want to have a straight line between the D4 and the van. The Dealers quite frankly would tell you anything...!
You either have to have a hitch that is adjustable or alternatively you have to fit the Mitchell hitch. I made my own as per my post of 4th October and it works fine. I tow a 3.2 ton trailer and can only say that if the trailer is too high (i.e.) sagging at the end it will tend to lift the back of the car or if the trailer is too low it will lift the front of the car. It's not all that much but you feel it (always) when you don't need it !!! Besides, if you have problems with the rear parking sensor it's mainly because the sensor "sense" the tow hitch. The only annoying thing is the sound so if you switch the sound off you are ok. After all you don't need the sensors when you tow(and reverse with) the Van ..?! Of course you might have to unhitch the hitch when you are not traveling with the van behind you !
Quite often however I don't bother but remembering that I have a hitch
sticking out the back when parking...(its easier then "unhitching" the hitch
Hereunder one of the pics from my earlier post
Rgds Fred

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachments/d3-d4-rrs/39753-mitchell-tow-hitch-resized_img_3223.jpg