I'm either looking to see if anyone has one available or if they can recommend an affordable tow bar and which electrics kit is needed for the L322 2011?




In terms of brand new tow bars i've found available online, there's:

Generic / Online: Steinhof L-110 £160, Electric Kit SMP-2PE £55


Tow Trust from Wezmorrell:
Fixed TL249 £163 (i quite like this one because you can remove the bolts on the bar and stow it away in the garage so, the tow bar isn't really seen when you're not using it)

Detachable TL249VK £316

+ ECS vehicle specific kit approx £50




--------------

Are there any others out there that are available to buy online? I assume the vehicle specific kits come with the tow module so, they plug straight into the module in the spare wheel well? 2015 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 SDV8

I've had a Witter unit fitted to mine, bought from PF Jones and fitted by my local LR specialist (I couldn't be bothered and the weather wasn't very nice at the time!). Drives:
2010 FFRR TdV8 Vogue - Stornoway Grey
2010 FFRR TdV8 Vogue SE - Zermatt Silver
1998 BMW E36 M3 GTII

Have a look on eBay for a Westaflia armature. They were the LR original ones. PF Jones used to sell them for reasonable money but I think they've stopped doing them now or they've become obsolete.

Once you've got the armature you get the choice of the removable tow bar which stows in the foam insert on the right hand side under the boot floor or you can get the farmers hitch which you can remove with a pin and store in a bag in the car.

Electrics wise, personally, I'd only go for LR as they are literally plug and play without any cutting, crimping, splicing, etc.

The LR wiring loom is just over £100 (13 pin) from Rob at Duckworths (Site Sponsor).

Here's an armature with the electrics and receiver but no ball:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203446548340?_t...BMvoKw4Zxf

Here's another with the armature, receiver and ball but no electrics:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324816025694?ha...SwrDRhW2FK

Here's another one with the armature, electrics, and the blank where you'd slot in the farmers hitch:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203446544955?_t...BMvoKw4Zxf

Hope that helps.

David. 2002 4.6 Vogue SE - Alveston Red with Lightstone Leather
2012 Range Rover 5.0 SC Autobiography in Indus Silver with Jet/Ivory Interior
2012 Range Rover 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography in Baltic Blue with Sand Interior
2013 Range Rover Sport SDV6 HSE Black Edition in Santorini Black with Ebony Interior

I agree 100% with David, its the way I went.

Very straight forward one man install albeit a little heavy

Dont forget you will also need the ECU, some models had these from new I believe but I had to find one for mine.

Mind you I cant believe how much they are now, must be because of short supply.

David Range Rover 4.2 Supercharged 2006
Ford Focus EcoBoost 1.5 2017
MG TF 2003

Previous Cars of note
Land Rover Discovery 2
Jaguar Mk2 3.8 - Company car
MG Midget 1974 - Concours

I spoke to Tow Trust. They were really helpful and I've just ordered from them.

On a mild Autumn day, it will give me a job to do. 2015 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 SDV8

Another noob here - 'armature' refers to the brackets, in this context? I'm interested in a lot for my 2006 Vogue. --------
2006 Buckingham Blue/Parchment White AJV8 Vogue

The armature is as here: https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-VUB503960?s...g4QAvD_BwE

Will obviously depend on the make of towbar

BUT

The "brackets" that come with the car from new, although they are labelled as by Westfalia, have to come off if a towbar is being fitted. John
2008 Stornoway Grey 3.6 Tdv8 Vogue - SOLD
2005 TD6 Java Black Vogue - Written off!!
GAP iiD BT-Sold

The Westfalia fittings are very expensive and I'm not overly keen on the idea of the detachable tow bar - I would fear (and YouTube also suggests from the number of videos on the subject) they can get jammed or very stiff. I also wasn't keen on the wobble you get from the adjustable Westfalia also, but did like the idea of the quick release pin.

In the end I went for the Tow Trust tow bar and specific plug and play wiring loom. My car is a 2011 so, already has the ECU functions for trailers, which I've enabled through the IID tool.

The Tow Trust tow bar is very well made and the instructions are easy to follow. There is a complete mis-print on the fitting time though! It states 90 minutes. I consider myself pretty competent and broadly knew what I had to do (and I have all the right tools) but, there's no way removing half the trim in the boot, bumper, chassis rail, corroded exhaust brackets, fitting the tow bar to correct torques, electrics and plug then re-fitting, is a 90 minute job. On a driveway, done properly, the job was 9 hours. I don't think this is a reflection of the Tow Trust tow bar because, the fitment is the same for the Westfalia but why couldn't Land Rover have made the job as easy as it is for the Sport and Discovery!

One note is that due to the thickness of the steel plates, the exhaust sits a few millimetres lower than stock or with Westfalia bars. I was weary of moving the bracket between the steel plates because it's thinner and the thick steel is designed to compress together and spread the weight of the load.

I've attached some photos. What appealed with the Tow Trust bar is that it's not as cumbersome as the Witter (and the same kind of price) and is therefore more discreet. I also liked that it resembles the adjustable Westfalia but with the rigidity of a fixed bar, in that you can remove the tow extension when not in use - it's only 2 bolts and the cross bar then isn't really noticeable.

You'll see that for this reason, I also didn't really want the electrics on show and, also not attached to the hitch, if I remove it. Handily, the tow bar has pre-drilled holes for vehicles which need exhaust adaptations so, I utilised one of these holes and this is where I have fitted the plug - not visible and out the way but, easy to reach under and access.

All in, a good job but, was pretty shocked to still be working at 11pm at night. "hitches"? Well, the exhaust brackets were badly corroded. I had to remove them from the bungees to go and work on. One, I was able to free the bolt with lots of WD40, hammering and a heat gun. The other was too badly corroded, I had to angle grind the welded bolt off and fit a new bolt.