Anyone out there fitted a front ‘Push’ towbar to a FL2. Just looked on Watling’s website and was wondering how unobtrusive they were and how / were they fitted.
The Brother -in-law had one made for his Disco Mk1. Apparently they are really easy to fit on that model because of the separate chassis.

Just browsing some of the older posts

I use to have one on my old Discovery 50th Anniversary (300Tdi/manual)

It was an 'off-centre' as it slid into one of the 'High-Lift Jack'/towing-eye brackets that I had fitted

Whilst the visibility factor was great, it was an odd sensation reversing the 'BWSOW' with it at first!


Whether it was mine (can't remember the manufacturer), it was only a high-tensile bolt through the tubing holding the drop-plate/hitch in situ
(then again, the loads won't be the same as in normal towing)

Sorry. not the best views

Click image to enlarge

Eurolandy wrote:

Anyone out there fitted a front �Push� towbar to a FL2. Just looked on Watling�s website and was wondering how unobtrusive they were and how / were they fitted.
The Brother -in-law had one made for his Disco Mk1. Apparently they are really easy to fit on that model because of the separate chassis.

From memory it came as part of the deal with the 2 towing-eyes/high-lift sockets

'Back in the day' when most long distance was with 8x4 wagons, some of those that also towed a trailer had a front mounted hitch too for the visibility aspect
Then again, mirrors were a lot smaller, power-steering was essentially unknown, so anything to make manoeuvring easier was used

That must have been hard work
The farmers boys are usually good at backing up trailers!

During my RAF Days I took an Aircraft Towing Licence. (mainly to help speed up moving our Canberra Bombers at the end of the Nightshift so we could go home to bed)

To push the aircraft backwards into the tight confines of its position in the hanger we always attached the tow bar to the front of the tractor. This gives better control of the towbar (and its direction) as it is very near the steerable front wheels.

I think that most Lorry and Trailer combinations use the front hitch to move trailer into position on a loading ramp. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 79k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

Maybe the not so good ones!

You see very few turntable trailers now, mostly the easy fixed A frame type.
As easy as backing up your caravan

[quote="Richard A Thackeray"]Just browsing some of the older posts

I use to have one on my old Discovery 50th Anniversary (300Tdi/manual)

It was an 'off-centre' as it slid into one of the 'High-Lift Jack'/towing-eye brackets that I had fitted

Whilst the visibility factor was great, it was an odd sensation reversing the 'BWSOW' with it at first!


Whether it was mine (can't remember the manufacturer), it was only a high-tensile bolt through the tubing holding the drop-plate/hitch in situ
(then again, the loads won't be the same as in normal towing)

Sorry. not the best views

Click image to enlarge

Dave47

I possibly got mine, via the Discovery Owners Club??
There was (& still is!!) a good stockist of high-tensile nuts/bolts in Wakefield, so something appropriate was probably sourced from there?

The tube (not visible on my pic) for the front-hitch, was of an appropriate diameter, to allow a high-lift jack to be used