I have just driven 900 miles through France towing a light caravan (Eriba Troll). When, for example I am in a town, and engage one of the lower gears 2 or 3 to accelerate up a steep hill from a standing start I am getting a lot of vibration?!! I jacked the caravan up and both wheels don't show any signs of restriction. When I came to take off the tow hitch off the car I noticed there is quite a bit of slack 'rattle' that could be the cause of the problem? Anyone had this experience or can think what the problem might be. Andrew Kennedy

There's a recall for this issue. The tow bar insert can become loose in the housing. There have been a small.number of failures and LR should look at it for you. If they think it's a problem they will fit a "heavy duty" tow bar ( the big plough type). In extreme cases they have, I believe, replaced the rear cross member too.

Alternatively, get an aftermarket bar which has a more secure bolt system e.g. TowTrust. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

The tow bar issue as RRSTDV8 explains above, is a known problem and what he says is spot on. I had the same problem with a loose fitting removeable tow bar, every time I unhitched the caravan, it was loose in the socket again after being a good tight fit before towing. LR had previously passed it on inspection, but I didn’t trust it so had a fixed tow bar fitted.
You may have another problem though. Vibration under load whilst accelerating could be a torque converter fault. Have a gearbox flush done to see if that helps initially. Otherwise you might be looking at a new TC

Hi,
I would Not think the vibes are from the towbar, once it is under load any slight movement would have been took up
if you were on the flat with load coming on and off, then again doubt any vibes more a knocking noise possible

think more investigation required

 Porsche Cayenne 2022
gone Porsche Cayenne 2020
gone Corris Grey HSE Dynamic 2016
gone Ipanema HSE lux 2010
gone Rimini HSE 2005
!!

Thanks for all the feed back! The toe hitch certainly has more movement than I would say it should have - has anyone out any tricks as to how to rectify the situation? Perhaps using some form of shim when offering up the toe hitch to its home?!? Andrew Kennedy

I don’t tow much but when I saw your thought I was a bit concerned. If the existing tow hitch is not up to it, doesn’t this become a risk. And shoring it up with shims or the like just hides the original problem doesn’t it? Sounds like a more permenant fix is needed. You don’t want to be overtaken by your tin tent whilst going down a hill😊.
Of course I could be talking out of the back of my head. Robin
2008 Range Rover Sport TDV8
Gone:
Jaguar S-Type V8 4.2 Sport
MGZTT 190 2.5

Agreed. Shims is not the way forward. Look at one of the more permanent bars if you tow a lot. I have the TowTrust bar and it's very solid and not so "in your face" as the LR version. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

I wonder why this issue is just a UK issue and not a world issue as the method of inserting and retaining the tow bar in the rear cross member is the same all over the world and the Aussie ball weight rating at 350kg is much higher than the UK - and we do not have any recall (yes the towbar may be different around the world but how it connects is the same).

Garry 07MY RRS TDV6
Arctic Frost
Aspen Interior

Hi,
as said above ^ if you have that much movement you need to get it checked/replaced

If it has not had the recall try that route first as it has been known for the receiver to be worn and a new rear cross member needed

Garry, think it stems from owners leaving the bar in place and rust/seizing taking its toll or regular towing with it causes wear,
although this is not just a L/R issue its true for all makes occasional use removable regular use fixed

we had a company car Mondeo that for some reason dealer fitted removable even though fixed was specified, think it was about a year later they had to remove it due to excessive wear/movement and fit a fixed one FOC
Although that was used for towing nearly EVER day Porsche Cayenne 2022
gone Porsche Cayenne 2020
gone Corris Grey HSE Dynamic 2016
gone Ipanema HSE lux 2010
gone Rimini HSE 2005
!!

Last edited by riverblanche on Fri Dec 01 2017 11:04pm. Edited 1 time in total

To sum up, the design is complete crap. The tow bar will happily fix into the socket with the spring loaded lock snapping into place giving a really secure fit. Tow anything substantial and the repeated pushing and pulling through acceleration and braking, creates wear in both the blade and the socket on the cross member. Unhitch whatever has been towed and the bar feels loose.
Remove the bar and refit, again the mechanism snaps into place and feels tight again but each time this is done, the handle finishes up a little tiny bit further clockwise.
This is what the dealer will measure, using a tool with a red and green portion. If the handle spins on locking and remains in the green portion, all good, but if it finishes up in the red section, they’ll condemn it.
With enough use, all tow bars will wear to the point they’ll fail this test, the dealers will only condemn those that have worn enough at the time of testing.
I tried applying lots of grease to the blade to try and minimise the wear occurring during towing, but it made little difference. In the end, I didn’t trust it enough to continue using it and fitted a fixed bar. Yes it’s ugly, but not as ugly as the caravan scattered across three lanes of motorway.
As a comparison, the Westaflia detachable on the Touareg was faultless, very secure and always tight. A completely different design using spring loaded ball bearings in a tapered socket.

The same practices are used by owners all over the world and while the UK might have damp issues elswhere there are dirt and dust issues that could result in wear - dust certainly gums up the locking mechanism resulting in broken keys etc. This seems to be solely a UK issue and does not seem to impact the same tow bar arrangement anywhere else in the world and we certainly tow more and heavier loads with high ball weights than you do in the UK.

Garry 07MY RRS TDV6
Arctic Frost
Aspen Interior

I complained to JLR about 8mm of free play in my detachable tow bar, below is the reply that I received.

Dear Mr Burnside,

Thank you for contacting Jaguar Land Rover.

I am unable to provide the charts used to assess the tolerance of your towbar.

As previously advised, your towbar is within tolerance and safe to use. As a manufacturer we are unable to support on this occasion as the detachable tow bar is only meant for occasional and light use.

I understand your decision to contact the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency for their assistance regarding the matter.

--
Yours Sincerely,

Olamide Omisore
Customer Experience Support Coordinator
UK Customer Relationship Centre Michael
2013 RRS diesel Autobiography Dynamic

It could also be that your towball is not a matching size for the standard ALKO hitch. Yes, really, towballs can be different sizes?????

Possibly, but as they checked it and supplied it with the car it should still be down to them to fix. Michael
2013 RRS diesel Autobiography Dynamic

Apologies for highjacking your thread folks.
Just about to order a new MY18 Today and it does not have a towbar.
As I need one and can't find a car in stock with the factory fit one I wonder if it's posssible to retrofit.
I was told by the dealer I bought my previous evoque and disco off that it wasn't but I just bought a witter removable one locally with no issues.
I have tried searching but nothing on MY18 on here I can find
Help please!