Discovery Detachable Tow Bars

srtgray · Jul 13, 2014

yellow90 said:
id hazard a guess at yes , cant think why else?

you can understand more on the range rover , evoques and freelanders

but on a disco that's just stupid !

I rarely tow with mine (maybe two or three times a year), and I'd rather keep the overhang as small as possible, which is why I fitted the low profile "swan neck" plate and a detachable hook (which lives inside the vehicle when not in use).

yellow90 · Jul 13, 2014

srtgray said:
I rarely tow with mine (maybe two or three times a year), and I'd rather keep the overhang as small as possible, which is why I fitted the low profile "swan neck" plate and a detachable hook (which lives inside the vehicle when not in use).

that's down to personal use , the vehicle was designed as a load lugger and tow vehicle , has a good reputation through every model of discovery for doing so

id say once a week would be more than occasional use ! id say that's close to commercial use

occasional would be ( in my eyes) once or twice a month at the moest

blue beasty · Jul 13, 2014

srtgray said:
It depends how the word "occasional" is defined. I'd say once a week was occasional, as opposed to a work vehicle pulling a loaded trailer every day.

That said if I were towing horses I'd want something permanent, if only because they were living creatures.

I agree but fitting something that's basically not fit for purpose is madness

srtgray · Jul 13, 2014

blue beasty said:
I agree but fitting something that's basically not fit for purpose is madness

Well, again, it depends on the purpose. It would be perfectly fine for towing a caravan on your holidays, or a trailer with garden rubbish in it, or for attaching a bike rack. I'd say that a horse box, or a plant trailer used daily would be a case where a permanent bar would be better. In the same way that trying to do some serious off-roading with the factory fitted road tyres would be "not fit for purpose".

yellow90 · Jul 13, 2014

srtgray said:
Well, again, it depends on the purpose. It would be perfectly fine for towing a caravan on your holidays, or a trailer with garden rubbish in it, or for attaching a bike rack. I'd say that a horse box, or a plant trailer used daily would be a case where a permanent bar would be better. In the same way that trying to do some serious off-roading with the factory fitted road tyres would be "not fit for purpose".

its purpose is for heavy towing , its rated at 3500kg , its not fit for that

if its not for heavy towing it should not be rated at 3500kg

simple really?

srtgray · Jul 13, 2014

It IS rated for 3500kg, just not every day. There's a difference between heavy towing (i.e. large weight) and heavy duty (frequent). The detachable is not intended for frequent use.

Silverlandy · Jul 13, 2014

srtgray said:
It IS rated for 3500kg, just not every day. There's a difference between heavy towing (i.e. large weight) and heavy duty (frequent). The detachable is not intended for frequent use.

But this detachable came off whilst towing an ifor with two horses in it. That's heavy towing.

srtgray · Jul 13, 2014

It depends also how it failed. Ultimately though, if your horses lives depend on a solid tow hitch - fit a solid tow hitch.

Silverlandy · Jul 13, 2014

I agree. However, if not towing horses but something else a detachable is still **** in the eyes of the poor sod driving along minding their own business behind your load

srtgray · Jul 13, 2014

Silverlandy said:
But this detachable came off whilst towing an ifor with two horses in it. That's heavy towing.

Again, how FREQUENT was the use? How often was the hook removed? When was the last time it was greased? Without that information we can't really say.

Unless the hook or receiver snapped, it didn't fail on the towed weight.

yellow90 · Jul 13, 2014

srtgray said:
Again, how FREQUENT was the use? How often was the hook removed? When was the last time it was greased? Without that information we can't really say.

Unless the hook or receiver snapped, it didn't fail on the towed weight.

I think ultimately now matter how much its glossed over land rover at fault for this crap design which is unsafe

does land rover say you cannot tow more than once a week with this hitch? I think "occasional" use will not cut it when it goes to court or trading standards , there are no definitive terms of use for this hitch

Silverlandy · Jul 13, 2014

srtgray said:
Again, how FREQUENT was the use? How often was the hook removed? When was the last time it was greased? Without that information we can't really say.

Unless the hook or receiver snapped, it didn't fail on the towed weight.

That's too many variables to be a safe towbar. HEre is the pic of the said tow bar....could give some clues??

srtgray · Jul 13, 2014

Doesn't look particularly well-maintained to me.

My feeling is that the unfortunate owners were just using the wrong tool for the job.

yellow90 · Jul 13, 2014

srtgray said:
Doesn't look particularly well-maintained to me.

My feeling is that the unfortunate owners were just using the wrong tool for the job.

that will be the land rover I think

suew · Jul 14, 2014

srtgray said:
Doesn't look particularly well-maintained to me.

My feeling is that the unfortunate owners were just using the wrong tool for the job.

Do you work for Land Rover

Horse trailers would normally be classed as occasional use, perhaps a day a week in summer, very few are used daily.

If there is the slightest chance of something failing it shouldn't have been fitted. There is no acceptable level of failure for something like this. How many people could it have killed if it had happened on a busy motorway.

jamesmartin · Jul 14, 2014

disco147 said:
jlr do state, and sales should specify, that those detachable tow bars are not meant for regular towing and a proper un-detachable tow pack should be fitted to the car!

not meant for towing full stop in that case ,how does one know if its been used too many times , should never be fitted or an option

yellow90 · Jul 14, 2014

suew said:
Do you work for Land Rover

Horse trailers would normally be classed as occasional use, perhaps a day a week in summer, very few are used daily.

If there is the slightest chance of something failing it shouldn't have been fitted. There is no acceptable level of failure for something like this. How many people could it have killed if it had happened on a busy motorway.

I was thinking that , seems very defencive of land rover in this thread

well said JM

srtgray · Jul 14, 2014

yellow90 said:
I was thinking that , seems very defencive of land rover in this thread

well said JM

No I don't - and you agreed with me on another thread when I criticised Land Rover. But the point in this case is that the tow hitch as supplied needs regular maintenance and thought over its use, which is made abundantly clear by Land Rover in their literature. From the picture posted, it would seem that the hitch has not been well maintained, and possibly overloaded (I don't know the nose weight of an Ifor Williams horse trailer with two nags inside, but I can imagine it was over 150kg).

People here have accused the hitch of not being able to tow 3500kg, when it clearly did not break from the towed weight. If I am doing anything in this thread, it is trying to get people to realise the difference between towed weight and towing duty, and to ensure that people think about regular maintenance on a vital component of the towing train. How about a bit of personal responsibility, rather than simply blaming a tool that was incorrectly used?

Or to put it another way: what would the response be if someone got trapped under a Land Rover that was only held up with a Hi-Lift jack? Would we blame the tool, or the user? We might be very sympathetic to the person, but we would lay the blame fair and square on them for misuse of a tool - especially if the jack had not been lubricated properly, or the handle had been allowed to fall by itself.

srtgray · Jul 14, 2014

suew said:
If there is the slightest chance of something failing it shouldn't have been fitted.

Don't drive a car then.

SteveD · Jul 14, 2014

srtgray said:
Or to put it another way: what would the response be if someone got trapped under a Land Rover that was only held up with a Hi-Lift jack? Would we blame the tool, or the user? We might be very sympathetic to the person, but we would lay the blame fair and square on them for misuse of a tool - especially if the jack had not been lubricated properly, or the handle had been allowed to fall by itself.

Any car handbook will tell you not to get under a vehicle supported by a jack alone so unless the LR handbook says "Do not tow with this towbar" your analogy is flawed.

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