I had the removable towhitch kit fitted to the car an tried to use it for the first time today.............................. It is an exceptionally neat instalation compared to others that I have had from Land Rover. Previous removable hitches have been the drop plate adjustable type that rattle in the receiver, but the swan neck system in the Sport is very good.
It is a b****r to put the hook in the receiver and I managed to break one of the keys trying to get the key out................. the instructions are not clear and it is essential that you DO NOT try to remove the key before pushing the hook into the receiver as I did!
The receiver is normally hidden by the removable centre section of the rear bumper (you can see a red blanking piece when the receiver is not in use)
Removing the centre part of the bumper reveals a very neat and massive towing eye suitable for offroad vehicle recovery and a dual socket electrics:



The tow hook slides up a hidden angled receiver and this is where you have to be careful! It is very awkward to see what you are doing without kneeling or sitting on the ground. At the same time as fitting the hook into the receiver you have to pull out and turn anticlockwise the green locking device until you see a red plastic ring................. this allows the spring loaded retaining rod/ locking device to retract completely into the hook. When the hook is fully home and has clicked into place you can release the green knob and turn the key to lock it....................... this was where I went wrong by trying to remove the tiny and made from very soft metal, key before I had put the hook into the receiver! Fortunately there was enough key sticking out of the lock to be able to remove it with some pliers. The hook is darned heavy too!


When not in use the tow ball can be removed and stowed in a special location moulded into the polystyrene block that houses the jack and tools, there are cutouts for other things too but I haven't figured out what they might be for (aerosol of inflation foam for run flat tyres?) . You will need to add a pair of working gloves and a wide blade screwdriver for undoing the screws in the rear bumper centre plate to keep your hands from getting dirty from road muck too.
More pics!


The spring loaded retainer is the shiney bit to the right of the shaft, and the feeble key


Stowage with the jack and wheelbrace


Rear bumper and red receiver blanks in position


Ready for business, the massive cast recovery eye is between the two sockets.
I would be interested to know what is behind the centre blank on a car that hasn't got the tow gear fitted. Is most of the kit there, ready to be completed by the dealer as the cost for fitting mine was nowhere near what I was expecting......................... several hours of labour to fit a subframe and the electrics is normal, but I think that may already be insitu.
BTW, these tow hooks are very strong............ acquaintence of mine who runs a Disco3 recently had a Shogun shunt his car from the rear.......... no damage to the rear of the D3 or to the tow hook..... but the rear cross member of the rear subframe is very badly buckled when the shock was transmitted directly to the subframe, as is the front of the Shogun!

Tim,
Thanks for the post and pics, this will be one of the first things we try out on mine. My eldest has a trials bike and needs trailering around. Its out there somewhere. Second V10 Treg on the drive at the moment.

This is a different setup to the one I had on the TD6. There I had the removable drop plate hook and then I modified that to utilise my Freelander bike carrier - I now see that LR use the Freelander bike carrier modified in the same way as I did mine for all the ranges too! Now I've sold the bike I no longer need the drop plate type hook which is whay I went for the removable swan neck type - it can be stowed inside the boot unlike my modifed drop plate job from the RR.
Just DON'T force that tiny key, at least you get a spare with the hook! I don't know if the hook head is the same as the one from D3, it is certainly no the same as the swan neck hook from the pre2006 Range Rovers.

Hi

yes thats the same as the D3, i will take mine off the car then and fit it onto my RRS when it comes

thanks Neil 2010 RRS TDV8 Overfinch GTS

I have a Discovery 3 as well and was pleased to get a free tow bar on the RRS. Ok, it has not got the electrics, but for an occasional bit of shunting around the yard, it's fine; provided of course that the tow hook has been kept on neutral ground!

Bt the way, the tow hook storage in the D3 is dreadful. It is in the side of the boot and threatens to seriously damage the fuses when you remove/replace it. Price you pay for 7 seats I suppose.

Tim,

Was it an expensive retro-fit, assuming it wasn't factory fitted on yours?

I an considering whether to specify the tow pack on my order. Though at the moment I don't have a need for a tow bar but sometimes it's more expensive as a retro-fit, depending on how long it takes the garage to fit one.

Mine was dealer fitted. I was chatting to a D3 owner at the All Rover Rally in Newcastle this weekend and he says that they all leave the factory with the electric socket (I asked for single electric and got a white and a black socket) fitted as well as all the gear underneath the car, all the dealer has to do is connect up the electrics and sell you the towhook................. but I find this hard to believe! Anyone who has not specified the tow bar care to open the removeable section of rear bumper and post a pic of what they have hiding in there? There should be dual electrics and a massive recovery eye behind the plastic plate.

One problem is that stupid electrics cover. I have had two new screws made with little turnbuckles built into the heads for easy removal of the plastic cover, what a boon.

The tow setup was ordered as a factory fit on my car. (TDV6 HSE Rimini Red)

Imagine my surprise first weekend when I went to fit it, to find out it wasn't there! I had paid for it too!

Without one fitted there is just two holes in the back frame to accept the trailer and auxillary sockets. The space alongside the tooltray has no fuse box fitted either and of course no tow hook in the tray.

The towhook receptacle is there along with the tow ring, this apparently is standard on all cars.

I took it back to the dealers for a fitting. It took 3 hours and involved removing the inner left trim to access the wiring plugs.
I know because the fitter left dirty fingerprints all over the Alpaca trim
Fortunately a clean damp cloth removed them

The towhook is very heavy, I had to show my wife just in case she needed to fit it !

The dealer paid all costs involved of course and supplied a new set of number plates I needed AND completely filled the fuel tank. No mean cost it was virtually empty

I have ordered the factory fit removable tow bar assembly on mine. It is costing me £400, and they said if I wanted it afterwards it would cost me £900 for the dealer to fit it all.(That's why I ordered it)

I don't tow a caravan, just an occasional trailer in the woods and on the farm, therefore, am I better off cancelling the tow bar at £400 and all the electrics that go with it and just buy the tow hook from the parts department when I have my car?

As I understand it, the receiver is all there, just no electrics, so you can fit the tow hook but not plug anything else in?

Is that correct? It would be nice to save a few hundred quid if I can. L319 D4 HSE

1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF

1982 Series 3 SWB

Hi

I fitted the tow bar set up that was on my D3 onto my RRS the only difference is that the fuse assembly is behind the side panel instead of under the floor, no big deal you can just pop off the side panel and get to the fuses should the need arise.

i believe the tow hook is about £200 and the wiring is about £100 and thats all you need as everything else is there.

the one main differnce between the D3 and the RRS is that on the d3 the wiring loom just goes through and second grommet behind the LHS rear light but on the RRS there is only one grommet that is currently used for the light wires and the PDC's , if you buy the loom for the rrs it comes with a sub loom that allows you to take the existing grommet and the wires that connect on the inside and and connect to everything behind the rear light cluster and you just throught the old bit away, how ever the d3 does not have the bit of loom in the towbar wiring loom so all i did was noted all the wire colours to the pin numbers on the connector, only about 12 or so on the internal connector and then put them throught the D3 wiring grommet and then fitted them back into the plastic connector job done.if you get stuck you can look at the wiring on the connector in the car as the same colour codes are used on that connector both the RRS and the D3 in my experience are prefitted with the wiring installed and all you need it the last bit on the loom that goes behind the light cluster and the bit that goes behind the bumper with the towing connectors on it...and yes there are 2 types you can order...1 is 2 connectors (old style) and the 2nd is the newer style 15pin single connector that will only work with modern caravans unless you get a 15pin to old style adaptor. also the cars come with the iron work under the bumber that allows you to just install the tow hook.

and and the install is fairly easy. and takes no more than 1 hour

Hope this helps some of you

sorry for the long ramblings

Neil 2010 RRS TDV8 Overfinch GTS

Spoke to the parts dept at Sturgess here in Leics and they say that it does seem that you can buy the removable tow hook on it's own for £200 plus VAT and just plug it into any RRS.

I am asking myself is it worth saving £165 and NOT having the electrics all done in the factory...It would be just my luck if I didn't spec the electrics then I found I really neeeded to tow something on the open road legally and had to pay over the odds to have the electrics done.

I'm not a fan of trim etc being tampered with post build, it never seems to look the same after a grease monkey has had a go at it, so perhaps I'll leave the order as it is... L319 D4 HSE

1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF

1982 Series 3 SWB

RRUK,
If you think you will need the tow bar I would certainly have the factory fitted item.
I know fom retro fitting one to my old BMW, that if you dont do it right with the right parts it can cause all kinds of electrical gremlins to sneak into the system.
When I was doing the BMW almost all the aftermarket suppliers advised me to have it done at BMW. I bought all the expensive kit from them and got one of our fitters to install it onto the car (not an easy task with the simple instructions supplied) but with all the right wiring connections and looms everything worked as it should do.
Would not be surprised if the Sport could be affected in the same way as the BMW could have been. Its out there somewhere. Second V10 Treg on the drive at the moment.

I think I have managed to answer my own question and reckon it's probably for the best to stick with the factory fit order, afterall, whenever I come to sell the car it might not look good to only have half the kit fitted. L319 D4 HSE

1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF

1982 Series 3 SWB

It's an old topic but still actual for me and it proves I can use the search!


First of all Tim thanks a lot for the great explanation and the pictures!


I'd like to retro-fit the removable tow bar, too, and found some offers on ebay-UK. Can anyone please tell me whether these are the right offers and if not, show me others which will work? I found one who says "genuine" and also has the LR-logo on it but that doesn't have the wiring kit and I didn't find that kit separately. Am I just too blind? Or is there any dealer in the UK you can recommend who can sell it for a decent price (perhaps one of the sponsors?), I would prefer that anyway?

Two example-links:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DETACHABLE-TOW-BAR-F...286.c0.m14

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DETACHABLE-TOW-BAR-F...286.c0.m14


I want to to a very heavy trailer (nope, no caravan ) so I will tow the 3.5 tons the RRS and the factory fitted removable tow bar allowes, therefore I don't want to buy any crap but the correct parts. Unfortunately the stealer in Germany wants 800 Euros just for the parts (he himself said that's a shock and he wouldn't pay that since he bought the same parts from LR a few years ago for 500 and that time the pound was much more expensive in comparison to the Euro than it is now... ). RRS TDV6 HSE, 2006, bonatti grey, ebony interior, rear diff, s/c grille and vents, stormers, privacy, tasmods, iphone integration