Have recently fitted a Westfalia armature & farmers hitch (after reading many stories of the "detachable ones- detaching) with pin & clip.

All good except for the awful clunking noise on anything remotely bumpy. It seems strange that they designed a towbar with such a lot of slack in it that the serenity of the RR ride is so compromised.

Can anything be done about it? I'm seriously thinking of throwing it away and fitting a Witter fixed jobby!

Tighten the retaining bolt to the correct torque which will pull the sides of the socket in a little and remove any play. I had the same thing and when I checked the torque figure it resulted in almost a superhuman effort to get it tight enough. All quiet after that.

There are 3 slightly different versions - one has a pin, one has a bolt and the third has a bolt and is partially threaded too.

Do a search, someone recently added some plastic wedges that seemed to do the trick.

Depends on whether you're leaving it permanently fitted or whether you want it easy to remove

Thanks for replies.

As stated in OP I have the pin & clip and would like to retain the ability to remove the ball when tin tent absent.

Found the thread mentioned here:
http://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic2805.h...ch+plastic

A few potential workarounds which I'll try over the next few trips out.

Thanks again.

The threaded one is the quietest, but clearly the more painful to remove -

elandri wrote:

Have recently fitted a Westfalia armature & farmers hitch
It seems strange that they designed a towbar with such a lot of slack in it that the serenity of the RR ride is so compromised.

Or get the removable ball and socket set. Which fit into the same hole in the armature.  There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
KIA E-Niro 4+
2021 Discovery 5 D300 MHEV commercial

Alistair - Great pics. I've googled to try to find a threaded version for sale but come up short. Perhaps I'll give Westfalia a ring.

Short term I can try the gaffer tape/plastic workarounds. Towing weekend after next so not long to wait to see how they go.

NMJ see OP re detachable version.

Thanks to all for help.

northernmonkeyjones wrote:

Or get the removable ball and socket set. Which fit into the same hole in the armature.

Actually if you wanted to leave it in there permanently, you could just slather the thing in silicone sealant and push it in, before doing the same with the pin. I would imagine that'll do it.

Took mine off today I didn't realise how much noise it made rattling about. Maybe that's why it's so easy to take off when not in use, I might do it more often  Geoff

Never read anything about them detaching personally. or had a problem personally. Agree though the by left in can be a bit ugly from the back. There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
KIA E-Niro 4+
2021 Discovery 5 D300 MHEV commercial

http://landroverhell.com/article/4193/

Ahh, yes. The disco tow bar is completely different in design to the one on the ff. to be honest knowing how they work I can't see how either could fail if properly engaged.

The one on the disco is located in position by a 20mm pin (see the pic) which fits into a cast receiver which is part of the rear subframe of the car and if properly engaged can't fail there is a small actuator on the bar itself which fires the pin into place. If this gets knocked early it can feel like it's in place but isn't!



The one on the ff is held in position with a spring loaded pin and ball bearings so a completely different mechanism, again if properly located it can't just fall off! It is possible to partially disengage it when it is locked but you physically have to do that and it still won't come all the way out. Have towed full loaded 3500kg trailers and thousands of miles with a caravan on the back with no problems whatsoever.

elandri wrote:

http://landroverhell.com/article/4193/