D3 Tow hitch

[gasman]

Having trouble fitting the coupling into the chassis socket under the D3.Not the 50mm tongue, but the tongue receiver.
It will not go up all the way. I have turned the key a thousand times and now my left hand arm muscle is oversized compared to the right from trying.
Could it be that dirt has collected inside the housing and not allowing the triangulated section to home properly?I have also tried to remove the hexhead screw, but that reamed out real quick, so I now cannot remove this for inspection.
Any clues?
One more thing. I haven't got the tongue either so will any 50mm RHS tongue fit?

[Fatso]

Can only be something inside blocking the tow hitch receiver from going all the way in , or the locking pin is in the lock position ,ie sticking out of the reciever , if it is can you turn locking the handle or push on the locking pin to retract it into its locked position . A 50mm hayman reece tongue will fit. Al

[roamer]

Are you turning the green knob and pulling it out

[simoncs]

i had the same problem - until i worked out how it all fitted.

As roamer says you need to turn the green knob and also pull it laterally to the right. This can be a bit fiddly i found.
The metal pin needs to go all the way into it's recess so that the tongue can go up far enough to then allow the pin to come out and rest on the ledge (if you stick your head under the mount you will see what i mean.)

[sniegy]

OK,
Some things to check prior to fitting.
Is the key in the tow hitch handle assembly?
Is the large pin (oval shaped with a flat surface) lodged inside of the hitch?
Is the small pin sitting proud?
Is the green handle sitting out a little & you can see the red section?

If so to all of the above, you can then just slam the hitch into the wedge section of the chassis & what normally happens is that it will lock into place.
You then rotate the key in the handle 90degrees & remove, store in vehicle.

Clean the wedge shape of the chassis & remove all grit, would advise to get if you don't have one, a red protector that sits in the chassis to stop it from filling with grit.

If the key is not in the tow hitch handle assembly & the hitch is in the unfitted state (as per above questions)then the key barrel has failed as the key should not be removed when the hitch is not fitted. Fix-replace key handle assembly. About $30 from spare parts.

HTH
Cheers

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner

[gasman]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
After literally 2.5 hours of fiddling, farting and swearing in that order of course and using copious amounts of WD40, I just read your posts, went in the garage and presto, it works.
Why didn't I pull the dam thing sideways, Oh and please don't tell me it was written in the manual all this time, I will just spew!
And another thing, what do I do about my left arm muscle that is now twice the size of right from holding the bastard up for several hours?
Thanks again people, I love this forum.

[Fatso]

Drink tinnies with your right arm to catch up with your left . Al