Whilst I am new to this forum, I have had my 63plate Freelander 2 for about a year and having recently had trouble with the towbar decided to look on here to see if anyone else had experienced anything similar. I have done a google search for “has anyone had their towbar fall off” and was quite surprised at the number of incidents and the information I found concerning the Land Rover/Brink matic advance Detachable towbar. Unfortunately I experienced the loss of my towbar (swan neck part) I was 99.9% sure I had inserted the towbar correctly, I have towed a caravan many times with different vehicles with detachable towbars. I always reference the accompanying booklet and this time was no exception with it being so new. Today in agreement with the dealer who sold me the vehicle and supplied and fitted the towbar I returned to jointly check if there was a problem with the towbar. (The dealer Guy Salmon, his staff have been very understanding and helpful and I would like to thank them, however they were not aware of any SSM concerning any previous recall or replacement of certain towballs i.e. stamped 311 not 215 as mentioned elsewhere on this forum) They provided a towbar to try in the socket and allowed me to satisfy my curiousity as to whether it was possible to offer the towbar in, get the lock mechanism to click and go to green and make you think it was secure and still be able to actually pull the towbar back out by hand or as I now believe in my case fall out having driven a short distance. I was able to show this to the service manager and his staff and in my opinion view this as a possible safety issue for anyone who purchases this type of towbar with the green “safe” indicator. The Staff at Guy Salmon have advised me they have emailed/contacted Land Rover and we are awaiting their response as I have said the Detachable towbar should be replaced under warranty. I followed the instructions that were provided with the towbar. I have no idea if the towbar I had supplied and fitted was a 311 or a 215 and unfortunately neither does the dealer, the receipt says “quick release towbar” and nothing else.
I will update on the outcome when I hear back from the dealer. (sorry for the lengthy post)

Not Many of us are Perfect
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You would have had a serious amount of play for it to just fall off, a few inches at least, it goes in at an angle and locks down with a solid clonk. My guess is that someone has as removed it for you, the actual key is only security against an opportunist thief, the key only prevents the handle from turning, the handle can be removed allowing the unit to be removed if you lose the key.

Hi ad210358 Thanks for your reply and suggestion regarding the possibility of someone removing it, but unfortunately I am 100% sure it fell off because I walked the short distance I had driven and found certain parts of the towbar, these were the squashed locking mechanism and the badly damaged tow ball plastic cap. I know the lock was mine because the key code on the barrel matched my keys. Almost unbelievably I didn’t find any of the metal swan neck (I think possibly someone may have picked that up). The main reason I went back to the dealer was to borrow a towbar swan neck and check whether it was possible to shove the towbar in to the socket and make the locking handle click to green and in fact it not be engaged securely. I was able to do this with them witnessing and I believe this is what must have happened when I lost mine. I know I pushed it in and the green part was showing giving the impression it was in correctly but it may not have engaged, in fact I am convinced this is what happened having repeated the scenario at the dealers although their swan neck was brand new and the spring mechanism was presumably stronger than my one year old swan neck it was still feasible to replicate. I agree with your description of the solid “clonk” when it has engaged properly as well but the fact that the Brink booklet shows a green lock mechanism and a big tick intimating this is correct and a picture showing “don’t pull up and down or side-ways” could be misleading to some. I will have to wait and see what Land Rover say.

Thanks again ......

That tale makes me sooo pleased I swapped mine for a fixed height Witter bar!  10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

Makes me wonder if that is what I should do "swap to a fixed type) I called in the dealers today (27/09/14) for an update as to whether Land Rover had responded but apparently not (almost 5 working days) so they said they would chase them up for an answer.

I have followed the protocol of contacting/complaining directly back to the dealer who fitted and supplied the equipement, not sure what I should do if they can't get a response. I am quite dissapointed at the lack of any response I hope I don't have to keep going back to the dealer asking them to chase it up on my behalf. "come on Land Rover" I need a replacement swan neck.

Has anyone had dealings with LR customer service? is there a problem?

My original bar was a LR Brink detachable. When I found it "clunked" (car was s/hand and 4 yr old) I contacted LRCS through the forum. After inspection by Stratstones Nottingham, Mike at LRCS offered a complete replacement bar for £140 odd contribution from myself. I decided against it and fitted a Witter fixed bar myself as I had no confidence in the original bar design.

It's all recorded on here in the sticky found in "Technical"

Bob 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

While I have had the 'Witter' detachable fitted to two cars and no 'clunks', it is an option for about £80 to bolt in a fixed swan neck where the receiver goes if ever I have a problem. Probably the same option is there with your 'Brink'.

Many thanks for that information, I wasn't aware of that and will certainly consider it myself.

UPDATE:

Heard back from the dealer (workshop manager) who has informed me that Land Rover are willing to go 50/50 on the price of a replacement towbar swan neck as a gesture of good will. Under the circumstances i.e. not having the actual failed towbar part I think this is a very fair offer. So my thanks go to the staff at Guy Salmon (Sytner group) and Land Rover customer services who obviously do care about their customers. I hope the manufacturer does something about the "user manual showing the green lock mechanism and a big Tick" intimating that the bar is in and locked. The manual at that point should in my opinion then advise you to give it a good tug every which way you can, because if it is in surely you can't do any harm?

Thanks to everybody who offered their thoughts and advice.......

When I went to collect my new replacement towbar I was pleasantly surprised by the news from Guy Salmon workshop control Manager that LR had agreed to provide F.O.C.

Obviously I am very grateful, Thanks again to all concerned.

My advice would be first look for any chicken feathers.

interesting thread which due to having a witter detachable and towing a twin axle caravan was curious to the outcome, but personally when fitting the swan neck i always test its security and if i feel unsure about it locating properly i remove it and refit even when i had the RRs i always gave the tow hook a test just for piece of mind
now next time i take the van out im go anal about the security of the tow hook  200 Tdi Disco ( Gone )
300 Tdi Disco ( Gone )
Td5 Disco ( Gone )
Td5 Disco ( Gone )
RR Sport TDV6 ( SADLY GONE )
2010 Freelander 2 SD4 HSE (current )

Don't worry about your Witter bar SGB. It is only the LR/Brink/Thule bar as fitted to the FL2 that gives the problem. 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

Agree, I have used 'Witter' detachable swan necks for 5 years on two Freelanders, no clunks and no troubles. I don't know why but I always insert, remove and insert again to ensure it locates properly, silly I know but I always check the back door is locked twice before going to bed also

Thanks for the reassurance guy`s just need to see if i can find the dummy plug that fits in the tow bar when the swan neck is detached, to keep the dirt out as i did`nt get one with the car
SGB 200 Tdi Disco ( Gone )
300 Tdi Disco ( Gone )
Td5 Disco ( Gone )
Td5 Disco ( Gone )
RR Sport TDV6 ( SADLY GONE )
2010 Freelander 2 SD4 HSE (current )