td5 90 Towbar

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dag019

dag019

Well-Known Member
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Warwick
How is the tow bar fittted on a td5 90? Specifically the top two bolts:

upload_2021-10-1_20-27-26.png


On crawling around underneath mine the back of the bolts appear to be blocked by the tank cradle and even then feeling behind the cradle there does not seem like there is enough space for a nut. Are they captive in the crossmember like the set of four smaller ones above? i will need to remove them for whichever of te below options I end up doing.

I am looking to fit this slider to my current tow bar:

5EF34F6E-B6DA-4833-BB0B-A8813C12423F.jpeg

Unfortunately the complete slider unit and support bars are for a 110 so will not fit mine so I was looking at fitting it directly to the face of the existing tow bar similar to the photo below but at the correct height rather than lower as in the pic (from google).

upload_2021-10-1_22-42-15.png


Is there any reason bolting it to the existing plate would cause problems? How do I go about removing the top two bolts to enable fitting?
 
Last edited:
dag019 said:
How is the tow bar fittted on a td5 90? Specifically the top two bolts:

View attachment 249299

On crawling around underneath mine the back of the bolts appear to be blocked by the tank cradle and even then feeling behind the cradle there does not seem like there is enough space for a nut. Are they captive in the crossmember like the set of four smaller ones above? i will need to remove them for whichever of te below options I end up doing.

I am looking to fit this slider to my current tow bar:

View attachment 249312

Unfortunately the complete slider unit and support bars are for a 110 so will not fit mine so I was looking at fitting it directly to the face of the existing tow bar similar to the photo below but at the correct height rather than lower as in the pic (from google).

View attachment 249311

Is there any reason bolting it to the existing plate would cause problems? How do I go about removing the top two bolts to enable fitting?
Click to expand...

All of them tow bar holes should have captive nuts welded onto the chassis, on the inside of the cross member. From memory to can’t get access to them as it’s plated over, or at least my Marsland chassis was.

My tow bar is mounted as you describe. From memory, I drilled the two 16mm holes as well. So it’s fitted to the rear crossmember with 6 bolts, then the support back to the chassis on either side.
 
Well I managed to pick up the correct lower chassis brackets at newbury but the drop plate I have is an earlier model so either it or the chassis supports will need modifications so I may be back to mounting it straight to the existing towbar.

How do people mount the towing sockets if they have the full drop plate towbar installed? unlike the flay plate there is no where obviously designed for mounting tow socket brackets to? This may be the decider for which method I use.
 
dag019 said:
Well I managed to pick up the correct lower chassis brackets at newbury but the drop plate I have is an earlier model so either it or the chassis supports will need modifications so I may be back to mounting it straight to the existing towbar.

How do people mount the towing sockets if they have the full drop plate towbar installed? unlike the flay plate there is no where obviously designed for mounting tow socket brackets to? This may be the decider for which method I use.
Click to expand...

I had to make my own chassis brackets too. Mine has towed some serious loads, so I wouldn’t worry too much if you have to modify them, if your confident in your own fabrication skills that is?

I mounted my tow socket in the hole in the rear chassis cross member. It’s out the way, up high, protected, and you don’t have to bend down to plug it in.
 
mick 1986 said:
I had to make my own chassis brackets too. Mine has towed some serious loads, so I wouldn’t worry too much if you have to modify them, if your confident in your own fabrication skills that is?

I mounted my tow socket in the hole in the rear chassis cross member. It’s out the way, up high, protected, and you don’t have to bend down to plug it in.
Click to expand...
I am confindent in my fabrication skills, it is just working out which modification will be the best bet.
I have the earlier drop plate pictured above with the small tabs for the lower mounting but I have the newer (td5) lower support bracket which is designed for the drop plates with a full bar acorss the lower end with 2x m16 holes (pic from google below):
upload_2021-10-5_9-3-1.png

upload_2021-10-5_9-4-22.png


I need to work out if I am better fitting the whole thing and modifying the chassis support to accept the wider spaced and smaller diamiter lower drop plate brackets, or if I am better sticking to plan A and just bolting the whole drop plate to the existing towbar. the current towbar is fine, and has mounts for the electrical sockets. This method the modification it would require is the lower holes in angle iron under the crossmember being drilled out to m16 and two correct diameter holes being drilled for the lower bracket. Neither are large modification but trying to assess which one will be stronger, easier, and give a better finished product.
 
dag019 said:
I am confindent in my fabrication skills, it is just working out which modification will be the best bet.
I have the earlier drop plate pictured above with the small tabs for the lower mounting but I have the newer (td5) lower support bracket which is designed for the drop plates with a full bar acorss the lower end with 2x m16 holes (pic from google below):
View attachment 249582
View attachment 249583

I need to work out if I am better fitting the whole thing and modifying the chassis support to accept the wider spaced and smaller diamiter lower drop plate brackets, or if I am better sticking to plan A and just bolting the whole drop plate to the existing towbar. the current towbar is fine, and has mounts for the electrical sockets. This method the modification it would require is the lower holes in angle iron under the crossmember being drilled out to m16 and two correct diameter holes being drilled for the lower bracket. Neither are large modification but trying to assess which one will be stronger, easier, and give a better finished product.
Click to expand...

Instead of drilling the holes to 16mm, is it not easier to just weld on the plate to the rear of the tow bar? You could add a pair of M12 boots instead of the M16 to be extra sure, but if your confident in your welding, just weld it?
 
This is my td5 hitch. I just drilled and bolted the drop hitch to the original plate. There’s two large bolts at the bottom out of sight as well

E4E8C372-ACA3-434B-B612-643F10FEF8CF.jpeg
D77ADEDE-16D0-4980-8CD4-C9F994253B12.jpeg
 
Def90man said:
This is my td5 hitch. I just drilled and bolted the drop hitch to the original plate. There’s two large bolts at the bottom out of sight as well

View attachment 249602 View attachment 249603
Click to expand...
I am coming to the conclusion that that is exactly what I am going to do. The slider is due one last coat of paint and I will then fit it in this manner.

I am just hoping the cross member bolts come out and do not strip the captive nut. I have already started soaking them with penetrating fluid.
 
Well I went with bolting the drop plate to the current tow mount and that has worked well. The holes almost lined up so did not cause any problems when drilling out to the larger m16 size for the top angle bracket.

4775D408-1174-4CC4-A183-3E475A65A762.jpeg C27DB8A5-C3C0-4DB9-86BA-5EF878C707AF.jpeg

I also worked out why my towing socket was not working so have now replaced that but am yet to actually test anything.

6FAD82B0-7CD1-4532-8ADF-1B435388370D.jpeg
 
dag019 said:
Well I went with bolting the drop plate to the current tow mount and that has worked well. The holes almost lined up so did not cause any problems when drilling out to the larger m16 size for the top angle bracket.

View attachment 250099 View attachment 250101

I also worked out why my towing socket was not working so have now replaced that but am yet to actually test anything.

View attachment 250102
Click to expand...


I updated to the double pin plate too as it cuts out the constant bumping when lifting off and on the throttle :)
 
Def90man said:
I updated to the double pin plate too as it cuts out the constant bumping when lifting off and on the throttle :)
Click to expand...
That was going to be my next question having now fitted it there seems to be a fair amount of movement/slack in the system but it must be designed that way. I will keep an eye out for the double pin version if that solves the problem.
 
dag019 said:
That was going to be my next question having now fitted it there seems to be a fair amount of movement/slack in the system but it must be designed that way. I will keep an eye out for the double pin version if that solves the problem.
Click to expand...


I just ordered from here


F225E4E4-2B95-45FF-8751-888FC67AB479.png



A local mechanic said you can drill a single pin one but I thought it would be too easy to be a mm out. Not cheap but I get the vat back which helps
 
That is a very expensive option considering I need two of them, I will keep an eye out at the auto jumbles and see if anything comes up on ebay/facebook. In the mean time I will stick with what i have a put up with the clunk!
 
dag019 said:
That is a very expensive option considering I need two of them, I will keep an eye out at the auto jumbles and see if anything comes up on ebay/facebook. In the mean time I will stick with what i have a put up with the clunk!
Click to expand...
2 bits of hose pipe on the ladders/riser behind the slider bracket ;)
Depending on the gap depends on the thickness of the pipe
 
dag019 said:
That is a very expensive option considering I need two of them, I will keep an eye out at the auto jumbles and see if anything comes up on ebay/facebook. In the mean time I will stick with what i have a put up with the clunk!
Click to expand...


I’ve seen a defender with a single pin and a lump of wood hammered in behind to take up the slack :rolleyes:
 
Hicap phill said:
Have you also seen the Dixon bate shock load for towing?
Click to expand...


There’s a chap that comes here a couple of times a year pulling a cattle crush with all the hydraulics on it for turning cows over to trim their feet and he had a shock hitch for a few years until one day the crush overtook him on the road and landed in a ditch. It had sheared in two :eek:
 
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