tow hitch problem

[Annemc]

Just wondering if any other Disco 3 drivers out there have had any problems with their tow hitch.

Mine fell off! Yes, while I was towing a horse float (luckily it had no horse in it) along the Monash freeway, the tow hitch literally fell off the vehicle causing the float to swing wildly attached only by the safety chain. I have been told that the metal has "worn". The only thing I have ever towed is a double horse float well under the 3.5 tonnes towing capacity of the vehicle.

Luckily for me the float didn't hit another vehicle on the road or it could have been the scene of a major accident.

so, I would love to hear from other drivers who may have had a similar problem.

[KarlB]

Was the tow hitch a Land Rover supplied one or after-market, and who fitted it?

[101RRS]

Unfortunately is happening more often.

Landrover should be forced to do a safety recall on these things - they are a danger.

Report your failure to the relevant agency that coordinates safety recalls. My Mitch Hitch works for me.

Garry

[harlie]

Unfortunately you're not the first D3 or RRS to loose a trailer, there have been many. The tow bar arrangement is the stupidest thing I've ever seen - what the hell is wrong with a big lump of steel - why does some over educated idiot feel the need to have an artistic cast & pin heap of crap for what is essentially a VERY structural function. Bet he stood back with it in hand and said "O'yeah, no one makes anything that pretty".

When I was shopping for a car 4 odd yrs ago and found the numbers of failures, I went to L322 as it has a traditional towbar to chassis set up. Actually I nearly went away from LR all together after 15 yrs of LR ownership because of this reason.

As a side note:- This IS why you can't use Load Distribution Hitch (nothing to do with the official "Air suspension" line) - the tow bar assembly is rubbish, the casting just snaps off with a decent trailer let alone the torque forces a LDH generates.

Tow anything more than a box trailer - fit a Mitch - they do look solid.

[Mike_S]

As a side note:- This IS why you can't use Load Distribution Hitch (nothing to do with the official "Air suspension" line)

And where did you read that ? I'd be interested to see how that's been concluded.

[101RRS]

As a side note:- This IS why you can't use Load Distribution Hitch (nothing to do with the official "Air suspension" line)

I am not sure that is correct - the coil D3 can use a Load Distribution Hitch and it uses the same tow bar arrangement as the Air Suspended D3.

Garry

[Learner]

Hi Guys,
Thanks for challenging harlie on this. I suspect that I would have been less polite.

[Annemc]

Yes, It was a Land Rover hitch supplied and fitted by them when we bought the vehicle

do you know the name of the safety recall agency that I could go to?

Land Rover don't seem to want to take responsibility and I don't want to have to pay the Thousands $$$ for Land rover to fix - which apparently involves cutting off the rear end of the vehicle and then welding on a new structure?????

This could have been a serious accident


Also - we have paint peeling off the roof! Again, we have never had this happen on any car we have ever owned and Land Rover don't seem to care!

[Scouse]

Also - we have paint peeling off the roof! Again, we have never had this happen on any car we have ever owned and Land Rover don't seem to care!

The D3 has a 6 year paint warranty so all but the very first cars will still be under this.

Why don't LR want to fix it? Have you had the annual inspections done?

[harlie]

Sorry to hear of your problems Annemc, unfortunately LR don’t like customer service at all. Can I ask, where is the cost? Garry will know better, but I didn’t think there was much to fitting a Mitch Hitch.

To respond to the others;
I have an old colleague (went through uni together) who was (until recently) an engineering consultant for a leading tow equipment manufacturer. When any failure occurred while using their product he was involved in the investigation. This is how I found out about these failures, and several of the early D3s that failed were coil (3 that he looked at if memory serves) using a LDH – he had great delight telling / gloating to me (LR fan) all about the problems. About this time they (not LR) decided the LDH was not to be used with (all) D3. This was 2005.

Yes Land Rover’s official line is that it’s Air suspension with D3/4 and RRS (no LDH with Air). Old and newer Range Rover is OK, they have air. D2 is OK as long as dealer part number xxxxx is fitted (it is a Hayman Reece manufactured towbar that replaces the factory structure underneath – couple of threads in D2 section about it). I know about the D2 story because the dealer sold me the upgraded tow bar which “is approved to use LDH with air SLS” when I purchased our D2 in 2000 (they sold heaps) – It’s not available through HR. WTF, I can use LDH with air SLS on D2 if I replace the towbar with this absurdly expensive steel structure under my car but without the upgraded bar it’s the Air that’s at fault – the upgraded bar actually looks like the towbar under D1/Defender, and we are still dragging 2.5-3t with LDH around some 12 yrs later. 4yrs with the L322, on air no issues.

Air suspension has the ability to put greater torque stress through the tow structure to the chassis with LDH. (This is the problem) As you tension the bars the ECU levels and you can’t see how much you’ve lifted / force you’ve applied. In 2000, the HR rep had a booklet for Air Suspension cars, still have it somewhere; it contains a very detailed procedure for the initial set up with several steps not required with steel springs. The Air suspension does not see any additional stresses. And these tow components can't handle the possibility of more stress - several cases have shown they can't handle the standard stresses (without LDH).

As a side note, none of the other vehicle manufacturers have an issue with LDH and air suspension – and there are quite a lot of them, especially in the US (where LDH were developed). In Aus - Toyota have no issue (admittedly Prado air on rear only), VW have no issue (3500kg), Merc have no issue. Have a look at the structure under an air sus Toureg, makes anything LR produce currently look lite. Why is Land Rover the only manufacturer? Do you really think they are going to come out and blame physical structure? Does it not seem strange that it is the tow assembly that is so different to anyone else's - not the air system.

Annemc has given fist hand example of a failure with a trailer of (what?) 600-800kg, that’s not much. Gary has hinted to knowing about failures too. No info on whether LDH was used on any of these examples has been provided. Either way, to have the towbar simply snap off the back of what is supposed to be a leading tow vehicle is pretty poor. Then have a look at the LDH they use in the US, far heavier than here producing far higher stresses, on air suspension vehicles, no worries.

I’m sorry if some above have taken offence to my comments (as others have mentioned the D3/4 section seems to get nasty), I’m not trying to can anyone here, the OP asked for comments, I’ve wandered off to the SLS debate. I know many of us get a little sensitive when someone highlight an issue with our cars (and choices) – I should know my baby L322 is currently in the garage and doesn’t start!