Thread: D4 hitch - I think - lugs broke off

Originally Posted by Redback

No, you will bump into the wheel on the wheel carrier first

Baz.

After driving heavy vehicles and towing trailers for many years this to me sounds like a complete comedy of errors. If the van was correctly attached to the vehicle the chances of this happening is near on zero. The number of people that lifted the van back onto the coupling tells me that it was loaded front heavy by a mile ect ect ect. I think that the driver is simply looking at any excuse other than himself for the cause of this breakage which could have been catastrophic.

We just built a new manufacturing facility for Hayman Reece (Trimas Corporation).
The Boss has a D4 and that does not have a Hayman Reece tow/bar hitch on it!!

Regards

Chuck

Folks ,
As the driver of the vehicle in question, I have sat back and watched this conversation with great interest. The car is my second LR and I’m very pro this great make. For that reason, I wanted to protect the brand and thus avoided highlighting the issue on the AULRO forum. However, noting that it is just me dealing with LR Aus, I still wanted to seek advice from others who may have experienced similar problems with other types of cars.

I’m can assure you that I am fastidious when it comes to my family’s safety and how I tow our caravan. My statement of ‘potential human error’ simply refers to the one aspect of coupling the caravan which did not have a secondary locking mechanism –ie the hitch lock.

The chains are the perfect length (would permitted attachment at 90 degrees and didn’t hit speed bumps) , the chains were crossed as recommended, and attached using rated 1.5T shackles. I don’t use a WDH as I don’t consider it necessary and judging by the balance of feedback, that appears to be a good decision. The brake safe cable was passed through both safety chain attachment points.

The hairpin corner preceding the accident was taken as wide as possible and very slowly. The caravan became detached about 20m after the corner on a straight piece of inclined road, it coincided with starting to accelerate up the hill. The shackles were unmarked after breaking away.

The speculation over 5 chaps lifting the caravan back on is amusing. Why 5? Because 5 chaps had kindly stopped to help and we all looked at the jockey and said “don’t bother well just pick it up” – I was able to reverse straight back onto the van. The caravan had no water in its tanks and enough gear for just 3 days at the coast (no annex), it was probably about 2.1T and the ball weight had no reason to be anything but ‘normal’. If there are any aspects of my account of what happened that are still not clear, please ask and I will clarify.

Finally, whilst my rig is perfectly level using the OEM bar, the frequent talk of a Mitch Hitch is making me think that it will be the only way that I can restore my young family’s confidence in the vehicle. As I said, It was not my intention for this issue to be shared so broadly whilst I’m still seeking a solution with LR, but I’ll keep you posted as best I can.
Kind regards
Paul

Well written Paul. The facts are always good but sometimes not as entertaining.

All the best with your repair. Lucky it didn't occur at speed though.

I will ensure I also use rated shackles from now on.

Thanks for the post Paul .

I had a long post typed up but you have answered most of my queries, as for the number of people lifting the bar as has been pointed out, I don't know how fit most Of the members on here are, but your van would probably have around 200 kgs on the ball, 5 people would be around 40 kgs each (100 lbs) that would cut me out !! Probablyy not flat level ground either.

Best of luck.

DD

I must say I am concerned about the break, particularly as I am loading up about 3t of trailer and horses this morning.

Given LR are aware of this incident, is there a process (for them) to look into a potential weakness in the tow hitch structure and engineering? And is there a way for owners to get any official feed back or action taken by LR (if needed)?

I must say that I am not 100% happy with the factory tow hitch tongue and fit into the receiver, it feels very sloppy and on certain trailers with tandem axel trailers tending to bang the hitch around a lot in the receiver. Following some other threads on this have resorted to using some PVC tape to take up some of the slack when towing certain empty tandem trailers. I will be putting some welds on the hitch and grinding back to make the hitch tighter in the receiver, however concerned about warranty etc. I will take this up the dealer when I take the car in 2 weeks for a service.....(and de-construction of the interior to fix the reverse and all the surround cameras!)

Anyway, am interested to know if LR will look into the incident and any 'potential' issue.

Cheers

Paul,

You seem to believe that the chains were not too tight and did not pull the safety shackles out on the bends.

Given that, I guess you believe that the caravan and car parted ways first and then the shackles pulled out of the the holes in the car etc.

Can you tell us what style of hitch you have on your van and specifically why the van and car parted ways. You have alluded to a possible human error and if that is the case can you explain what this error was.(at this stage I think everyone here is interested in learning rather than criticising - let the person who is guilt free cast the first stone and all that)

Also was there a failure of any part of the tow hitch arrangement.

Also I think that your rated shackles might be a bit light (though they held up in this case) given the weight of your van and that in theory the load should be able to be carried by one chain an shackle in a worst case scenario - like a detached, swaying van that has all its weight momentarily in one chain and shackle.

I appreciate you coming on here and explaining the process.

Cheers

Garry