HOW TO BACK A TRAILER

I'm relieved and delighted (thanks everyone) to hear that I'm not alone in having trouble backing box trailers behind the defender. I can only see them in the side mirrors, and I can't see them until they poke their rear out so they are already turning. I managed to back my brothers trailer into a pole because I couldn't see the trailer or the pole. [bigwhistle]

Years ago I just purchased a towbar extension tube .... cut it off and welded it to the ****boxes bullbar. you offet it heavily to the drivers side so you can see down the side of whatever you are pushing :)

You cant just weld a tongue on as it will protrude to much and attract police attention. Instead you just slip a standard box section type hitch into it and use whatever ball you need on that ( unfortunately you can't just move the hitch receiver from the back as its some huge thing the hayman reece rear step uses).

Terex belly scraper was like that, Ian. We also had the Ovlov dumpies on site. Yep, startling on first try, even though I could see how it went.

The rear window in my MUX is so high (and small) that I struggle reversing trailers.

Easy fix, I open the tailgate and get a considerably better view. Just one minor problem....when you hitch a trailer the tailgate can't be opened, you have to go into the menu and 'enable power tailgate while trailer connected'.


Colin

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Originally Posted by gromit

you have to go into the menu and 'enable power tailgate while trailer connected'.


Colin

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Just remember to turn it back off if you hitch up the boat, Colin....[bigwhistle]

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Originally Posted by Captain_Rightfoot

So stumbled across this thread. I have a new camper trailer. I'm ok at backing - but the defender is a shocking car as the visibility is really poor and the turning ciricle is atrocious. So you can't maneuvre at all quickly. Big arcs are fine but no sharp moves. The only thing it's got going for it is low range. The camper we have is a TVAN but it has the drawbar extension so that probalby helps a bit.
Enjoy the Tvan... been lusting after one for years[thumbsupbig]. When I finally accrued the readies to get a reasonable pre-loved unit, I discovered that it's taller than I expected and wouldn't clear the 2040mm under the garage door.


Anyway our parking area is a bit rubbish and IMHO the only chance I reckon I've got of wedging this thing in there is with a front towbar.

My childhood home had a looong narrow driveway. Dad built a boat in the back yard. They took it out for sea trials and no one could ever get it back down the driveway. Everyone in the neighbourhood who could drive had a crack at it. It stayed out on the road for 6 weeks until there was a front towbar fitted to the falcon and after that it was just an everyday thing pushing this boat up the driveway.

Has anyone fitted one to the front of a defender? :o Factory bullbar.

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Enjoy the Tvan... been lusting after one for years. [thumbsupbig]
However when I finally accrued the readies for a decent pre-loved example, I discovered how tall they actually are... wouldn't fit under the 2040mm clearance of my garage door!
The Grenadier I bought 2 1/2 yrs ago doesn't have a winch or bull bar... but it does have a hidden tow hitch receiver behind the hinged front number plate.... now all I need is a camper trailer!

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Originally Posted by Hoges

Enjoy the Tvan... been lusting after one for years. [thumbsupbig]
However when I finally accrued the readies for a decent pre-loved example, I discovered how tall they actually are... wouldn't fit under the 2040mm clearance of my garage door!
The Grenadier I bought 2 1/2 yrs ago doesn't have a winch or bull bar... but it does have a hidden tow hitch receiver behind the hinged front number plate.... now all I need is a camper trailer!

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We have a Mk5 and I was measuring it for this exact reason. The van itself is about 2m to the top including solar panel, but the awning sticks up quite a bit about 12cm on the passenger side making the total height about 212-215.

I reckon if you dropped the tyre pressures on the awning side you would get it in. 2040 is a bit lower than my garage. I think mine is 2.1 and I reckon with the air out of the awning side I would be fine.

Atlas RV also do an air suspension kit that I don't think is stupidly expensive. That's another option. That would make it fit easily. You could also change the factory awning. The earlier ones don't have the awning but having an awning is handy.

They have just released a mark6. It's larger inside and at the front and it's also taller. I believe it's maybe 10cm taller but I haven't seen one in the flesh so you might want to consider that.

I think the Ultimate is similar in height.

I was watching a caravan review of an offroad cub last night. It was over 3m tall. It shows how tiny these campers are.

You can see the awning height in this photo.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-no?authuser=0

Yesterday I saw an ARB bullbar on a D2 with a square hitch receptacle in place of the winch hidden by the number plate.

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Originally Posted by RANDLOVER

Yesterday I saw an ARB bullbar on a D2 with a square hitch receptacle in place of the winch hidden by the number plate.

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You're still pushing blind if its center mounted... You want it heavily offset to the passenger side, so your looking down the side of what your pushing.... Well for big box trailers/caravans where you can't see down the sides of them.

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Originally Posted by RANDLOVER

Yesterday I saw an ARB bullbar on a D2 with a square hitch receptacle in place of the winch hidden by the number plate.

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Properly built it would be ok for a recovery point. My OKA has a winch mounted in a cradle that can go in the hitch receiver front or rear. Stupid idea. Try carrying a winch from one end to the other when you’re up to your armpits in mud. And it doesn’t solve the problem of not being able to see to move the trailer. In fact it makes it worse. At least when you are reversing you are going to see the trailer in the mirrors eventually. In the middle you will be blind. OKA has it in the middle, at least I can see over the top of both my trailers because I sit so high. Caravan, not so much. I am removing the bar to mount the winch permanently.

But maybe that’s why the D2 had it there. My Oka was bloody great Anderson plugs front and back. Full of mud when I needed them. Sigh.