Afternoon all,
Just bought a 2012 4.4 tdv8, first time I've ventured into LR ownership after owning Shogun, ML & Q7. Loving it so far!!
I'm after a detachable tow-bar but have been told that they don't do them for this model? Hopefully someone will tell me otherwise, along with pricing, etc.
I don't do much towing, hence I want it all hidden.
Any advice gratefully received, thanks.
Cheers,
McFly309.

Well I have one on mine.....

Look for a Westfalia one. They make the Land Rover ones. But are much cheaper as not in a Land Rover box.....

 2011 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8

Previous cars :
2003 Range Rover Vogue TD6
1999 Discovery Td5 ES
1995 BMW M5 3.8 6 speed
1992 Range Rover 3.9 Efi Vogue
1992 BMW M5 3.8
1988 BMW 735i SE
1989 Ford Sierra XR4x4 2.9i
1981 Ford Fiesta Supersport

Definately do. I had one fitted to mine with OE harness for around £600.

McFly, could I suggest you are maybe a little more general with your location ?
Enjoy the car, they are lovely things !  The best 4.4 x far

Sorted, thanks for pointing it out.

The best tower is the Westfalia one - that is the one that was original equipment on the car.

The cheapest place to get one from, by a long way is PF Jones - though you may be able to pick up a used on from eBay.

It comes in 3 parts - the subframe armature, the towball mount and the electrics.

Subframe is here - that is largely hidden and has a 50mm square receiver very similar to the american system if you're familiar with that.

Next is the mount - you have a choice here of either the 'detachable' one or the 'flange' - here you need to think a bit the detachable one still leaves quite a lot visible when detached - but is easy to detach - and the detached bit fits in a specific under floor bin in the boot. The flange one bolts into the armature - it too can be removed by undoing 1 bolt - it looks a lot neater when its removed (almost invisible) but it doesn't have a storage spot in the boot - it's also a bit more ugly when it's in place and you're not towing.

Finally the electrics - they plug into the wiring loom, so a dedicated kit is a must if you want it to behave - don't skimp and get a generic kit - your call whether you want single or twin 7 pin or a 13 pin fitting.

Pretty good video here

That shows the flange with the removable pin - I had one of those - it can be a little rattly when towing - didn't bother me, but others have complained about it. There is also a version of the flange where the neck is half threaded - this is eliminates the rattling, but means it needs to be attached with a bolt.

Hi have to say I spent a lot of time looking at detachable towbars before making the jump. PFJones were in actual fact less than helpful and still quite expensive.

Clearly the LR boxed main-dealer stuff is insultingly priced but to be honest IMO so is the OEM stuff from PF Jones.

In the end I went with this supplier:http://www.gdwtowbars.com/en

and this installer: http://www.pandjtowbars.co.uk/

The quality of the German made bar, armature and gen fittings is excellent. The detachable operation is virtually identical to the OEM stuff and to date there has been no issue at all. When detached the armature is barely visible and it fits nicely in the stowage area.

Oh and there is the price.... Fully installed on my drive inc vehicle dedicated vehicle twin electrics £391.00 inc vat!!!!! 405 AB exec seats Baltic and Cirrus
93 RR Classic efi

Remember it's easier to get forgiveness than permission!

Gone in order:
4.4 TDV8 SE - gone to a good home
93 Classic hard dash Plymouth Blue
03 L322 Oslo Blue
2000 Disco TD5 ES Epsom Green
98 P38 Rioja Red
89 Classic Cairngorm Brown

Having just had to resolve a related issue myself, think about what you plan to tow, and the required ball height. The 'drop plate' type hitch allows for the towball to be higher than the 'whale cock' type. If you tow a caravan then the latter is probably ideal, if you to larger 'commercial' type trailers then you will probably need the extra hitch height afforded by the drop plate type in order to tow level.

HTSH

Chris

Thanks gents, much appreciated!! Quality information to peruse.
Will contact a few places up north to see if they can get Westfalia, and also price match.

Quick update (and hopefully helping someone in the same position as me):

After hours trawling the internet, and making a thousand phone-calls I'm all booked in to have the Westfalia subframe fitted with the flange type removable hitch, and 13 pin dedicated electrics.

In my eyes, once the flange is removed it looks a lot tidier than the vertical detachable type where you're left with the upside down bean can showing. Granted it's heavier, and the lack of storage may annoy.

Prices ranged from £750 at John Coopers, Scunthorpe to £556 at Towone, Hull.

PF Jones was easily the cheapest to buy and fit myself, but by the time the RR has been reprogrammed, etc I felt it was worth getting it all done in a oner.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

If you buy the Westfalia wiring kit from PF Jones it does not need to be programmed, it is the same as the Land Rover kit only a third of the price. The only kits that have to be programmed are the after market kits, which are priced around £50 as opposed to £84 for the westfalia kit, when you add the cost of a trip to L/R to have the CCF programmed, the £84 Westfalia kit is the cheapest Factory Standard and only differs from the genuine L/R kit by not having the L/R stickers on it You might save £30 on the equipment but you'll have to spend another £160 getting it to work, or you could fit the genuine L/R stuff @ £160+ .... I'd rather forgo the stickers and the dealer programming and just plug and play.........

WESTFAILA MAKE ALL THE TOWING GEAR FOR LANDROVER FOR THE L322and most of the subframes that hold the engine in, wheels on, bumpers on...... does Land Rover actually make any of the Range Rover?  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!

And now having looked at PF Jones, it would appear that all that I have said is true for 2002-2009........
and then it all sort of goes out the window....... there is no plug and play option for the 2010-2012 Range Rover... it has to be coded..... Land Rover were obviously not making enough money  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!

My PF Jones kit was plug and play on MY11.5

All the trailer lights worked with the dedicated 13pin socket.

I had to use my IID tool to turn off the parking sensors and fog lights when a trailer is connected.
If you can live with the car fogs being on with a trailer connected and pushing the parking sensor button when you reverse then it is the cheaper option.

Am I wrong thinking 'plug & play' means that no coding is required?

If you had to use your IID tool to turn off sensors and fog light, surely that is 'reprogramming'?