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Indicated by the shiny surfaces the receiver has been moving it its mount, thereby allowing the van to jar the receiver which could eventually cause it to fracture. My D4's has slight movement too and I don't like it because it will wear and get looser, but being stronger it is very unlikely to break.Quote:
Originally Posted by 07Disco3
I have heard of some falling out of the mount entirely in the UK, there are a couple of youtube articles on them but they seem to be different to the D3 again.:(
Hi guys, that's not nice seeing the break on the D3 Hitch. Not an expert but by the looks of the rusty stain it may have had some sort of previous fracture then let go, glad to see no one was hurt in the process but.
I have just bought the same car last week and i am just setting up my hitch for our boat trailer for the holidays. Once i saw these pics, i went and sourced a D4 hitch instead. Much shorter drop, no hollow section so hoping its stronger. this also has resolved me wanting to raise the draw bar by 2 inches, might be worth looking into if your looking for a replacement? there is also an after market hitch some of my clients use called a Mitchell Bros. Again sits even higher. regards, Steve.
Given this failure and a couple of other reported failures in Aust I would have thought a safety recall is in order to have it replaced with something more suitable and safer.
Garry
I agree before they kill someone:eek:
Quote:
Originally Posted by garrycol
Recalls only happen if someone tells the distributor of a potentially dangerous fault and they agree, discussing it on here won't acheive anything in that department.
cheers,
Terry
From what I've seen on youtube Land Rover must know of these faults as they keep changing the hitch styles, you don't try to fix something that aint broke do you, but at the same time from what I've seen on youtube is that they don't want to admit any liability either! This forum at least gets to owners so they can check their own and preferably a lot more often than we did it could be your life at risk or your equipment and nobody wants to risk either.:eek:
While I have a Mitch hitch and wouldn't use the standard one its not correct to say they keep changing them. The D3 hitch never changed in the 4 plus years the vehicle was built.
The main issue with the originals was they often dug into the ground when being used off road. I found this out the hard way after first getting the D3 when I drove up a steep bank only to find the hitch dug in and held me firm when I tried to reverse back down it.
The original D3 design is crap and the D4 one isn't much better but the vast majority of people have never had an issue with them, you have. Did you buy your D3 new or second hand? If second hand how would you know what the previous owner might have put the hitch through to cause the cracking?
cheers,
Terry
The design of the Australian-compliant tow hitch only changed once in 2010 with the release of the D4.
The various types you see on YouTube are for different markets and regulations.
Cheers,
Gordon
Exactly :) To crack like that, whats to say it didn't take a hit up the bum from another motorist or backed into a wall etc...Quote:
Originally Posted by TerryO