Alistair wrote:

Mines a U.S. trailer - 2" ball, hydraulic brakes and no handbrake

Yours actually looks like it was modified to sit higher - mine just runs straight from the horizontal trailer box section.

The Boston Whalier trailer I pulled for my boss had a ratchet hand brake added to apply the hydraulic brakes and the breakaway was attached to this If everything is under control you are not going fast enough.

MY 16 Discovery 4 Commercial Workshop and Escort Vehicle
MY 12 Full Fat TDV8
1952 Series 1 80" 3ltr 6cyl

Just out of curiosity, is it not the case that where a break-away cable cannot be fitted for whatever reason it is acceptable to fit a chain that links car and trailer with enough strength to keep the two joined should the worst happen?

That just sounds like recipe for getting run over by your trailer. For me its a risk not worth taking, especially as the bulk of what I tow are Mobile Toilets, would you want to make an insurance claim that begins with "I was going down the road and I got run over by a toilet" . Some how I think that the insurance company would have me down as nuts, and try and wriggle out

And thinking about it a chain is only acceptable on a trailer with no brakes, which means that its total mass cannot exceed 750 kg. If a trailer is over 750 kg, it must be fitted with brakes and have a breakaway device fitted and working. And I think you will find that, that is the law, no excuses.
I'm not trying to be a kill joy, I'm trying to save you from a nasty fine, and possible prohibition. Which would result in either the trailer being impounded or it having to totally lifted for removal. And unfortunately trailers do not like going on the back of a normal recovery truck, most cases end up with a low loader and a hefty bill. Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

Thanks - mine lives in France - secure storage is about 4 miles from the lake on which we use it.

IMHO the US spec trailers are much better than the European ones - I'd rather have crossover chains than a breakaway handbrake - it's likely to cause far less collateral damage should the worst happen. The brakes are also much better than any cable brakes - but totally understand what you're saying with regards to legality, insurance etc.

DVLA specify "Caravans and trailers fitted with a braking system are required to be stopped automatically if the coupling separates while the trailer is in motion." I guess it's a bit of a grey area as to whether chains would qualify as part of the 'coupling'......

My 2" coupling is also rated for 50mm balls - not sure if the wheel chocks would hold on an 18% gradient....

Full spec here

That Department for Transport document is an interesting read but unfortunately finishes in a typically UK style

How on earth can the Department for Transport be in the situation where the advice they give is "only their interpretation" of the legislation and that they advise the reader to seek independent advice??

If the government body responsible for Transport can't give definitive advice about transport matters then it is not fit for purpose IMHO.

RiccartonRR wrote:

Once you've used the tow bar you'll notice you can move it up / down / sideway a few mm and it hammers something awful in the car

when I bought my FF it was a non runner, it had a farmers hitch, (trencing plough) and car was low, ie the bags had gone down. when trying to recover the car, it wouldn't go on the truck, as it was trying to pull out a kerbstone, ie ploughing. no amount of hammering would free it (hitch) . and planks were used eventually, to raise wheels. what a mess! I had to bottle jack out that hitch, against the armature. that's why no-one had nicked it! got hold of a westfalia one and all now good. whatever the lower holes were for I don't know!
if you have 'built ' yours up make sure you have some copperslip on the thing!

For some time now all tow bars must be type approved for the vehicle and any modification to the tow bar is not permitted.

For those with the farmer's hitch LR introduced a mod where the pin is replaced by a nut and bolt which is torqued up very high and actually squeezes the outer against the inner, stops all movement and is very quiet.

Ian

They did 3 different versions - I have 2 of them I leave one in Bordraux after having driven there to find I'd left mine on the garage floor

The first ones has a hole through and a retaining pin - this was then changed for a bolt with a locking pin as well - the final version has the hole in the tow bar piece threaded as well.

I like the pin version as I tend to leave mine off the car when not in use and then don't tow very far - but the threaded version is quieter

RiccartonRR wrote:

That Department for Transport document is an interesting read but unfortunately finishes in a typically UK style

How on earth can the Department for Transport be in the situation where the advice they give is "only their interpretation" of the legislation and that they advise the reader to seek independent advice??

If the government body responsible for Transport can't give definitive advice about transport matters then it is not fit for purpose IMHO.

IanV8 wrote:

For those with the farmer's hitch LR introduced a mod where the pin is replaced by a nut and bolt which is torqued up very high and actually squeezes the outer against the inner, stops all movement and is very quiet.

Ian

I have to say I'm amazed at this fact.

Please forgive me but all these figures are from memory so don't shoot me if I'm out a tad.....but.....the bolt which is used to secure the hitch is an M16 (Metric Coarse??) and to attain a 90% preload a torque value of approx'' 210 Nm (??) is required. This, should therefore generate a preload of 7te (?? again - could be out).

The receiver has a pretty heavy wall and has a brace welded around the opening to prevent the RHS from splitting.

I am amazed that LR would consider it plausible to collapse such a section / structure with just 7te (??) of load. I know mine is torqued up fully and at no point did the receiver tighten onto the hitch..

Having said that, despite years of experience, LR can still put the exhaust from the FBH in a position on a £100+k car which has the potential to give the occupants a decent dose of CO Surely nothing should surprise me!

I don't want to point out the obvious way around your height issues, but...........

has anyone tried putting the Flange receiver hitch in upside down? And turning the ball the other way around, would give you a load of holes going up, not down

I've been towing with a Dixon Bate combi hitch up side down, when towing a trailer with an eye, for donkeys years, to gain height. and as my FFRR has the receiver hitch and I've got a small ladder hitch, bolted to that, I have to option of multiple heights up or down  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!





This is very similar to what I have, and cheap too

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOW-BALL-HEIGHT-...43bd526268

I did have to re-drill a couple of the holes, which I did using a 16mm hole saw, through a lot of experience I have found hole saws much better that drill bits for re-aligning offset holes. I actually use an arbor that has a broken drill bit, so that there is no guide drill to get in the way

Oh and sorry for not showing it on the FFRR, it's in hospital for another gearbox , but on a lighter note its a warranty job :D

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Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

miggit wrote:

That just sounds like recipe for getting run over by your trailer. For me its a risk not worth taking, especially as the bulk of what I tow are Mobile Toilets, would you want to make an insurance claim that ..................................................