Bolt to stop hitch rattling in the receiver

[IndusD4]

Today I hooked up a trailer for the first time but when driving away it sounded like the whole tow bar assembly was loose. Stopped and checked but it is just the hitch that is loose in the receiver. At home I noticed there is a hole in the underside of the hitch receiver for a bolt, presumably to stop the hitch from rattling. Does anyone know the size bolt would fit?

Thanks
Ron

[IndusD4]

The answer is an M10 sized bolt.

[greg-g]

I shimmed mine with some 1mm thick galvanized building strap on the top and one side and then used a 10mm bolt and lock nut. It hasn’t moved in 3 months.

[IndusD4]

I put an M10 high tensile 25mm bolt in the threaded hole on the underside of the receiver, that seemed to work. There was still rattling noises but that was the trailer not the tow bar :)

Ron

[IndusD4]

On a side note, I was pleased to learn that the D5 has no issues detecting a trailer with LED lights. No need for additional resistors as on the D4!

Ron

[greg-g]

I had to add load resistors to my MY17, something I found rather annoying. I'm please they have fixed it on latter models.

[Numb Thumbs]

Having the bolt on the bottom of the tow hitch receiver has one problem... It is prone to damage if the back end bottoms out. Have fun getting the tow hitch out. I usually shim mine to stop the rattles. The cut off bits of large cable ties work well.

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

[4bee]

My one had the bolt located at the top corner of the square tube ( @ 45*), visible & easier to tighten.

[oka374]

If you have a drill and a thread tap it is pretty easy to remove the tongue and drill and tap a hole at 45 degrees on one top corner which will push the tongue down and across and stop it rattling.

[Numb Thumbs]

I thought modifying a tow hitch or tow hitch receiver in any way was illegal?

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

[4bee]

Doj't know about Victoria but mine came fitted from Day 1 of my D1 Ownership from a well respected, reputable Tow Bar specialist here.

[Geedublya]

SCA Tow Hitch, Clamp | Supercheap Auto (https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/sca-sca-tow-hitch-clamp/519629.html?cgid=SCA01041207#sz=12&start=13)

[Numb Thumbs]

On a tangent...

What is the maximum length of a tow hitch for the Discovery 5 before it hits the spare tyre?

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

[greg-g]

SCA Tow Hitch, Clamp | Supercheap Auto (https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/sca-sca-tow-hitch-clamp/519629.html?cgid=SCA01041207#sz=12&start=13)

I don't think it will fit with the standard D5 tow hitch. The tongue drops straight down and gets in the way of this type of clamp.
I looked at all the commercial clamps in our local shop and decided I'd have to make my own .

[greg-g]

On a tangent...

What is the maximum length of a tow hitch for the Discovery 5 before it hits the spare tyre?

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

Unless you remove some metal from the back of the receiver the tow hitch can't go back past the end of the receiver tube which is about 125mm long.
Remove the obstruction (It's only a shield) and you may gain about 45mm. The total length would then be about 170mm. The standard tow hitch is about 125mm.

[Numb Thumbs]

Greg-g

Thanks for that. I'll have to check my hitches and see how long the shanks are. May need to get out the hacksaw and a bunch of new blades...

Also, how does that "clamp" above work????

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

[16PMark]

I got an anti rattle lockable hitch pin on my other car.
Works a treat! [emoji1783]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191107/78f3f91e81f2ea45c1076bb01e6d62fe.jpg

[greg-g]

I got an anti rattle lockable hitch pin on my other car.
Works a treat! [emoji1783]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191107/78f3f91e81f2ea45c1076bb01e6d62fe.jpg

Genuine Land Rover tow hitch is solid, I think these only work with tubular hitches.

[16PMark]

Genuine Land Rover tow hitch is solid, I think these only work with tubular hitches.Cool. I thought we were talking about the regular 50mm square hitch.
All good. [emoji1783]

[greg-g]

I've finally made my anti rattle hitch
50 x 8 mm plate cut to 90mm with some grinding
50 x 12 mm U bolt

[BradC]

I've finally made my anti rattle hitch
50 x 8 mm plate cut to 90mm with some grinding
50 x 12 mm U bolt

Correct me if I'm wrong please but when you tighten that up, it looks like it'd lift the bar against the top of the socket. It'd stop the rattle, but when you load the bar it'd be placing load on your anti-rattle bit rather than the bottom of the socket.

[greg-g]

Correct me if I'm wrong please but when you tighten that up, it looks like it'd lift the bar against the top of the socket. It'd stop the rattle, but when you load the bar it'd be placing load on your anti-rattle bit rather than the bottom of the socket.

Your correct, but I think these U bolts are normally used on trailer axles, and often in tension. I suspect that it's over engineered.
In the case of failure, the setup should just revert to the original configuration.
I don’t think this configuration is a potential problem, but I’m certainly open to comments.

[theelms66]

Isn't that a anti rattle bolt I can see in the bottom of your receiver. ?

[4bee]

Geezuz! All this faffing around! Just fit the bolt & welded nut at a 45* top corner on a tube type.

Job done.

Just sayin'

[greg-g]

Isn't that a anti rattle bolt I can see in the bottom of your receiver. ?

Yes, but it doesn't work very well. I've tightened it several times.
My present design is much more positive.

[disco4man]

The first time I towed my Caravan I had the same issues with looseness and surging even though the tongue was a pretty tight fit.
I also had problems with my brakes on the van through the Redarc Elute V3 Tow Pro taking 2 seconds to come on and 2 seconds to come off which was pretty disconcerting to say the least.

However, I fitted the M10 bolt to the underneath of the hitch and it was now rock solid. The van never made a murmur after this and what's more my van brakes worked immediately after this bolt fit. So I had a bad earth even though I didn't know it at the time. I know I wired it properly with great heavy duty connections the body presents a much better path for the return -ve through the proper bonding of the tongue to the car. So now I will check the plugs and earth points for a poor connection, but al least I found the problem. The aluminium body of the D5 is a fantastic conductor the tiny plugs on the 12 pin connector not so much especially on the van side with very small capacity wiring as standard.

[Hugh Jars]

You should not be depending on an earth through the towbar. It should only be through a dedicated wire in the electrical loom.

I would be checking that there is in fact one in yours. Otherwise, you will have problems with lights as well as your brakes. Incandescent lights can find earth through other lights, particularly through dual filament lights like stop/tail lights.

[Numb Thumbs]

The new Disco - I picked it up today - came with a tow hitch which has shims to try to stop the rattle. Unfortunately, it is too low for my off road camper so I am going to have to find one with less offset - all of mine have way too much.

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

[Numb Thumbs]

Even with two shims mine rattled, so I added some cable tie ends on the top and one side. Problem gone. Have yet to tow, so I will see how it goes with some load on the tow hitch once I have a few kms on the car.

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

[4bee]

You are never going to tow with that new car are you & risk getting it dusty? OMFG! [biggrin]

[101RRS]

The bars do not rattle when there is load on them so take them out when not being used.

My Mitch Hitch (which did not rattle ever and did not have a facility for the bolt) was replaced recently after a rear ender and the new one has the nut welded to it but it does not rattle either.

Garry

[Numb Thumbs]

I always leave the hitch in the receiver. It has saved my car's back end three times from idiots not concentrating in traffic...

And I have every intention of turning the Disco Namib Orange - well, Outback Orange - at the first opportunity!

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

[greg-g]

SCA Tow Hitch, Clamp | Supercheap Auto (https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/sca-sca-tow-hitch-clamp/519629.html?cgid=SCA01041207#sz=12&start=13)

I have to retract my comment when I said I don't think this clamp will fit the D5 tow hitch.
As far as I'm aware this is the only commercial tow hitch anti rattle that will fit, It just doesn't fit the way I initially thought it would.
156054
Apologies for the rotated photo but my iPhone knows best.

[discomaniac]

I got the Land Rover pack with tow hitch, anti rattle shims (x4) and a lockable pin and a anti rattle bolt to be fitted from the bottom of the hitch. All of this in a land rover carry case.
The instructions say not to use the anti rattle bolt from the bottom of the hitch when towing. Very little rattle with the supplied shims when towing. Only use the anti rattle bolt when using the hitch connected bike rack. Never when towing as per the instructions. I know this pack is expensive, but I negotiated it to be included with my D5 when I was negotiating the purchase contract.