Hi all. I recently bought a 2009, face lift, 3.6tdv8. Which doesn't have a towbar. I've decided i need the (now very diffucult to get hold of) westfalia removable towbar

My question is, has anyone fitted any american style 2inch hitch products in their westfalia armature? Is there anything stopping you from doing so? I don't recall ever seeing anyone using anything but the farmers hitch and the wierd removable swan neck tow bar?

Links below showing the sort of products i'd like to use, hence me not looking at other towbar alternatives during these strange times of low stock and social distancing.

https://nsmb.com/articles/4075-the-story-of-north-shore-racks/ - these are the best mountain bike racks you can buy, and require an american style, two inch receiver (aka, what i think the westfalia one is?)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trailer-Receiver-...B07WDS64RJ - these are a damn sight cheaper than the official farmers towbar or the removable swan neck towbar (which wierdly is removable from the westfalia armature - im not sure why anyone needs double removable towbar)
https://www.manomano.co.uk/car-trailer-acc..._id=686945 (handy thing to have for pullling stumps, people out of ditches, off road recovery etc)

edit to add, i've found a thread showing people using motorbike carriers and a guy with a hot air balloon basket on a rack which makes me worry less. but does make me wonder why people use the expensive hitches bought from land rover.

I stand to be corrected but, as I understand it, the North American tow hitches are not homologated in the Uk and are therefore, strictly speaking, illegal.

In relation to the Westfalia tow bars, they are much cheaper bought from someone like P.F Jones rather than from Land Rover. John
2008 Stornoway Grey 3.6 Tdv8 Vogue
2005 TD6 Java Black Vogue - Written off!!
GAP iiD BT
2003 Discovery TD5 Auto, Nanocom Evolution - gone to a new home!
MasseyFerguson 152 - No electronics!! - Sold

I have one and its great. Towed a twin axle with a sports car loaded on and it was fine. Didn’t know it was hitched. 👍 I’ll have to check the illegal bit though 🤔

Regards

John

I have used us 2" receiver components & they work just fine - I'm fairly certain the Westfalla receiver is basically the US one used in the UK.

As above though not legal as not EU type approved.

I used mine as I have a US boat trailer - complete with 2" hitch - which is 52mm - now I could use an EU standard 50mm tow ball, but I decided I was actually safer with a 2" ball on a US hitch, than a 50mm ball on an EU approved hitch.

My trailer is also not EU legal, despite having hydraulic disc brakes, which are in every way superior to the EU standard of cable operated drum brakes.

On my L405 I have a 50mm ball, but I only tow the trailer short distances these days - to and from local storage to the lake.

This is the only photo I have of the car fitted with one of the shackles in your third link, even though that was the one that spent the majority of the time fitted to the car

I've got a Tow-Trust detachable towbar on my L322 and a NAS receiver on my D2.

The NAS hitch works, it's locked in place with a lockable pin and it's no worse than towing with a Dixon-Bate adjustable towbar but the detachable setup on the L322 is so much better.

Dunc. The life you have is the only one you'll get; make the most of it.
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2012 4.4 TDV8 L322 Autobiography
2003 TD5 Oslo Blue D2 ES Premium Auto (with mods!)

Weegie wrote:

I stand to be corrected but, as I understand it, the North American tow hitches are not homologated in the Uk and are therefore, strictly speaking, illegal.

In relation to the Westfalia tow bars, they are much cheaper bought from someone like P.F Jones rather than from Land Rover.

If you want a detachable towbar at a reasonable price have a word with these guys.

https://www.towbarandtrailercentre.com/about-us

Mine had never had any sort of towing equipment fitted before and they fitted a detachable for £690 including vehicle specific 13 pin electrics.

Dunc. The life you have is the only one you'll get; make the most of it.
--------‐--‐-----------------‐------------------‐---------------------------------------------------
2012 4.4 TDV8 L322 Autobiography
2003 TD5 Oslo Blue D2 ES Premium Auto (with mods!)

Here In Oz my car came with the Westfalia hitch as in Alistairs post pictures. A a fair bit of my towing is off-road like most Ozzies I use a Tregg Hitch. I picked up a random 2" tongue of suitable length and use that. The only thing I can see different is the Westfalia tongue and receiver have a male on the car and female key on the tongue end which I had to replicate on my new tongue. I have done many 1000`s of km with no issues

Thanks lads.

Ordered the cheapest Westfalia armature i could find (irritatingly its £100 cheaper on older models) , PF Jones say they don't have stock any more and the said Westfalia have discontinued it.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LR-RANGE-ROVER-...2749.l2649

Ordered this wiring kit

https://www.pfjones.co.uk/land-rover-range...506pf.html

and I've not ordered any hitch yet but will probably try get one of the legal ones, £90 is the cheapest I've seen.

I bought the farmers hitch for mine. The original detachable one is still in the boot unused and I didn’t want to risk it as it might have seized up. I prefer the farmers hitch though. 2010 MY Vogue SE TDV8 3.6 Stornoway Grey- fully loaded