Hello, I'm looking for some help installing a towbar that I've just bought from PF Jones for my 2007 TDV8. It's the Westfalia detachable flange type one and just having a quick look at what's involved in fitting I need to remove the rear bumper and then the towing eye bracket but this is where the problem comes.... There should be 4 bolts each side on the back that I remove to take the towing eye bracket off but looking under the bumper it seems there's a slam panel infront of this bracket and the 'bolts' that hold it in are more like round flat studs with spot welds on. See the photo below for what I mean.

So my question is, has anyone else come across this before when fitting a towbar? If so how do I remove these and will the rear subframe be tapped/threaded to take new bolts?

Click image to enlarge

The other bar is the bumper crash bar from memory, I am sure there are nuts that are accessible from the spare wheel compartment that you can undo to remove the crash bar and towing eye.

You will need to remove the bumper first I would say

^ as above. The bolts you are seeing have the nuts on the other end inside the boot area. The slam panel needs to come off as there are flanges on the tow bar armature. The set bolts on the slam panel go through pre-drilled holes in these flanges and into the boot area where the nuts are located.

There is a hole nearby which will have a rectangular grommet in it. This is to allow passage of the electrics cable. The correct electrics have a grommet moulded on to the cable to replace it. John
2008 Stornoway Grey 3.6 Tdv8 Vogue - SOLD
2005 TD6 Java Black Vogue - Written off!!
GAP iiD BT-Sold

As they said

You'll need to remove the 2 plastic strips that the boot floors sit on..i.e. the big bit and the 2 side bits, once these are out of the way you'll see the 8 nuts that have to come off, they are either side of the chassis rail.

FYI if you're fitting a westfalia towbar there is a miss print in the instructions... it says that the torque setting for the bumper iron bolts is 130Nm it isn't the LR figures are 45Nm / 33 lb.ft..... where they got that figure from I'll never know.. I bottled it when tightening up the iron, and I'm glad I did, really don't want to be snapping those  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!

Many thanks for the replies, spotted the nuts in the spare wheel bay!