tow hitch problem

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Originally Posted by discotwinturbo

This is off the Mitch hitch ?

How did you know that the bush was buggered....did you hear something ?

Brett...

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Hi Brett,

It starts to tilt down,and could sense knock when slow off roading,
bolt was bent and ready to sheer off.
If its not level get it looked at
It would have been putting alot of pressure on the LR cast bar where the bolts go thru.
I tow a 2ton KK

When spoke to Mitch Bros about it,
"oh yeah if you use off road should have larger 16mm bolt"
They knew there was a problem but never did a recall on them, they know where they are from the serial numbers.

Caver it was not the crush tube the bush had pulled up OK,
early serial no first batch


Cheers Ken

The two halves pull together into place after that the bush will bulge and tighten and be forced against the recovery eye. If the crush tube is too long it will not allow the extra movement. Over time slight movment allows it to wear and it comes loose. Some of the early ones had the crush tubes cut slightly too long I think.

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Originally Posted by discotwinturbo

Howard, your towball is tilted a fair bit forward. An engineer from Hayman Reese fitted my cam to my touareg and the ball points a little backwards...they indicated that in all cases the ball will point either directly up or backwards before using the bars. When you use the bars, if set correctly, the ball will move towards the upright position.

I am sure you have it right, but looked this way in the pic.

Brett.....

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G'day Brett to answer your observation and to the rest of you sorry for being slightly off topic.

The tow ball in the picture is actually perpendicular it is an illusion.

My literature that came with the hayman reece WDH actually says that the ball can tilt slightly back or forward and does not effect the hitch. Obviously you would not take it to the extreme but tilting the ball slightly fore and aft via the cams assists in chain linkage length adjustment and torsion bar clearance.

Example if the ball tilts back the chains will be longer and the bars could hang very low below the van chassis and foul the ground. In reality every case is slightly different hence the adjustable cams.

Howard

I purchased a second hand a Mitch Hitch and had it fitted, the bush lasted about two months and then failed. It turned out to be an early one, we took the car to Mitchell engineering and they replaced the parts in about 2 hours.

In the end it was about the same price as buying a new one after I paid for the upgrade.

Re the casting failing the only one that I have read about is the guy who came on here after a discussion started and from memory he couldn't be 100% sure that he hadn't set the chains to tight for the sharp corner he went round when it failed.

The problem I see with the original hitch is it isn't 100% fool proof even if you lay on the ground and check it everytime you fit it. As I put myself in the category of not wanting to lay on the ground or be uncertain about the hitch everytime I fit it I decided to just get a Mitch Hitch, it might not be pretty but it is functional and that to me was far more important.

I read elsewhere on here today of a new owner of a RRS not likeing the way the Mitch Hitch sticks out, to me that means he thinks it takes away from the look of a RRS, it would seem that he has made his decision based on form not function.

cheers,
Terry

I am a recent convert to the Mitch Hitch. When I pulled the original LR hitch out you could see there was wear on the hitch. You could see where it had been working. I have towed about 30000klm with the original hitch. I changed to a Mitch hitch for a few reasons and at the end of the month it will get its first road trip test.

TerryO, I think I could be the "new RRS owner" who made the comment about the appearance of the Mitch Hitch, but that was before I learnt about various failures of the D3/RRS plough elsewhere in this thread. However, I still want to explore other hitch options before I go to the Mitch Hitch.

So far as the D3/RRS hitch is concerned I agree that its design seems to be at odds with its function as a critically important dynamically loaded structural element. (It doesn't really pass the commonsense test!)

I note the D4 hitch shown in Howard's post in this thread is a much more sensible and compact design, which looks as if it could be used on an RRS. Are you or other members able to confirm this please?

In fact, I was concerned enough about the D3/RRS plough that I was planning to design my own unit for the RRS (to fit to same way as the original). But the D4 hitch, which I hadn't seen before today, is pretty close to the geometry I was planning. So why reinvent it?

By the way, I cannot see how the hitch could just fall out if it was fitted properly in the first palce. I agree that it is a bit difficult at first but there is a knack to it which takes a bit of practice. Also, so far as I can see, the only time you can remove the key is when the plunger is fully protruding - ie in the locked position. (Please correct me if this statement is wrong ...)

If anyone with an RRS has had negaitive experiences with a D4 hitch I'd be very keen to know.

Cheers,

John

D4 hitch is how LR Aust should have designed the original hitch.

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Originally Posted by NutoLR

If anyone with an RRS has had negaitive experiences with a D4 hitch I'd be very keen to know.

Cheers,

John

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John

From what I have seen here the D4 hitch will fit.

The hitches can and do fall out if the locking pin is not correctly engaged for what ever reason my cause that.

I have removed my D4 in favor of a the Mitch Hitch and I can see the wear in my D4 hitch, it has done a lot of towing with a big van.

I have a D4 6 month old hitch for sale.....Mitch hitch fitted yesterday.

Brett...

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Originally Posted by mowog

John

From what I have seen here the D4 hitch will fit.

The hitches can and do fall out if the locking pin is not correctly engaged for what ever reason my cause that.

I have removed my D4 in favor of a the Mitch Hitch and I can see the wear in my D4 hitch, it has done a lot of towing with a big van.

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Thanks mowog - your reply appreciated.

I agree that the locking pin is key.

As the combination of the taper fit and the pin seat produces a very tight fit (with my D3/RRS hitch, at least), I'd be very interested to know where the D4 hitch showed wear.

Cheers, John