G4 Discovery 2 NAS Towbar

Author	Message
TC	TC posted 16 Years Ago Topic Details
Group: Forum Member Posts: 7, Visits: 24	Hi G4'ers I've taken the liberty of joining your forum to ask a technical question. I want to fit a NAS tow hitch to my (sadly) not G4 Discovery 2. On reading the rules any towbar fitted to a car manufactured after 1998 has to be Type Approved (TA) and stamped with the approval etc. My dealer has the part in but I won't buy as it doesn't have the TA on it. This makes it 1) illegal to have on the vehicle 2) I'm told this will form part of future MOT's so will fail if fitted. I have been told all G4 D2's had these hitches fitted. When LR sold these off then technically, unless the hitch has TA then they were selling a defective vehicle, and owners may fail MOT's or have problems if their insurer found out etc etc. Does anyone know if the NAS bar is Type Approved or have LR contacts to find out? I'd love to fit the NAS hitch but if I fell foul of this ruling I'd lose my job as well as the car related issues! The best bit, in true EC style, is that it is perfectly legal to fit this hitch to a D2 Commercial but not a normal D2 - vans/commercials/crewcabs etc are specfically excluded. Same vehicle, different rules!:exclamation: Thanks in advance. I only wish I had the £40k to buy one of the G4 D3's dealers have been selling recently. Tony Tony
	Reply Like 67
AntV8	AntV8 posted 16 Years Ago Post Details
Group: Administrators Posts: 816, Visits: 17K	I was reading this on the LRO forums last night! I hope this does not effect mine or any of the G4 D2's. Looks like another crazy EU ruling!! Why is it an issue when pretty much every 4x4 or pickup in the US uses them! Have to look into this! Ant G4 Ownersclub Internet / Membership Officer ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2002 G4 Discovery II V8i ES - 2003 Event Stage 2 [Film Crew] FleetNo. G4SAF12 / Vehicle No. 92 / Reg No. CA490.008 2008 G4 Freelander 2 TD4 HSE - 2008 Mongolia Reece Reg No. 4759 YbP 1994 Range Rover Classic V8 3.9i (Soft Dash) 1998 Freelander 1.8 XEi 3Dr 1983 (Rebuilding) Series 88" 2.25 County Station Wagon
	Reply Like 59
TC	TC posted 16 Years Ago Post Details
Group: Forum Member Posts: 7, Visits: 24	that was me on the LRO forum! makes no sense whatsoever but if LR fitted the G4 vehicles with them and then sold then post 98 them LR are at fault, so I guess you guys might have a claim. I am hoping, although getting any sort of answer is proving difficult, that they are type approved but LR have not bothered to put this on the bar at manufacture since they are primarily US items. Then all that is required is a sticker! Tony Tony
	Reply Like 47
TC	TC posted 16 Years Ago Post Details
Group: Forum Member Posts: 7, Visits: 24	Ant88 (5/30/2009) I was reading this on the LRO forums last night! I hope this does not effect mine or any of the G4 D2's. Looks like another crazy EU ruling!! Why is it an issue when pretty much every 4x4 or pickup in the US uses them! Have to look into this! Ant I was hoping you guys might have a contact at LR who could sort it out. If you bought from a main dealer then you could have fun taking the car back and asking what they are going to do about it!:P Tony
	Reply Like 60
camel_landy	camel_landy posted 16 Years Ago Post Details
Group: Forum Member Posts: 264, Visits: 2.9K	TC (5/30/2009) makes no sense whatsoever but if LR fitted the G4 vehicles with them and then sold then post 98 them LR are at fault, so I guess you guys might have a claim. Not quite... LR stripped all D2s of their kit prior to selling into the EU market, the cars were then put through an SVA test prior to release. This was all done because of the type approval issue. (Note: I'm deliberately mentioning EU market as IIRC there were some supplied with the kit but they were intended for non-EU markets.) M __________________________________________ The box said: "Windows 11 or better...." ...So I used a Macintosh. :D __________________________________________
	Reply Like 59
roymck	roymck posted 16 Years Ago Post Details
Group: G4 Member Posts: 6, Visits: 118	Yes i was on the LRO forum suggesting you fit a sticker from emarked Disco towbar to it to make it legal . However i have had more thoughts on it . The North American style hitch has never really been used on any Uk car as far as i am aware . If this tow bar is fitted and it does not have a tow hitch on it and its only there to bolt the mantec fuel tank guard to, then as far as i am concerned its not a tow bar , it is being utilised for another purpose. It does not have a lable to say its a tow bar and if used as it was designed for on a G4 then its a recovery point . As far as i am concerned it will only become illegal if you fit the reciever hitch with ball to it, then it becomes a tow bar . If you bolt a recovery point onto your D2 chassis it does not become a Tow Bar , so keep the recovery eye on your NAS tow bar and its a legal recovery point . Any views or am i talking rubbish?
	Reply Like 53
CraigS-L	CraigS-L posted 16 Years Ago Post Details
Group: G4 Member Posts: 479, Visits: 2.6K	PM Erasmus, we went through this saga on the DOC forum a couple of years ago - IIRC it is not legal in the EU as a towbar/hitch unless you get it specifically SVA'd, however it is fine as a recovery point Craig Steger-Lewis 2006 D3 Thailand Media Vehicle Stages 1 & 2 2004 D2 Landmark Auto (much missed already!)
	Reply Like 53
TC	TC posted 16 Years Ago Post Details
Group: Forum Member Posts: 7, Visits: 24	Craig & Roy That makes a lot of sense, thanks. Would you know if getting it SVA'd as a towbar a nightmare or can it be (relatively!) painless. Any ideas where I might get a Mantec tank guard as they don't do them anymore? Ta. Tony Tony
	Reply Like 55