Hi all,I have done a search but cant find exactly wha im looking for.
I want to fit a towbar to my freelander but not paying the stupid dealer prices.Should have got one fitted from new really.
Anyone done one here themselves?. Fitted one to my freelander 1 in about an hour,8 bolts and the electric socket just plugged straight in.Is the FL2 the same?
Cheers Harry

I think it's similar. Not sure if you have to cut some of the back bit under the bumper away though. I think you have to get the software updated to make the car swutch off the rear parking sensors when you have the electrics plugged in tho. Then again, I haven't done it so. 09MY FL2 Td4 XS, Style Pack, Privacy Glass, Martinique Blue.. oh so very blue..

as Froibus said if it is detachble you have to cut the bumper the fixed ones are quite straight forward if you fitted one to the f1 basicly the same you have to remove panel on left inside the boot space to mount deadicated wire loom and software update 07my Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Baltic Blue,Privacy Glass,Ebony black leather,Land rover detachable towbar,S/S Side bars,Climair wind deflectors,Bramble Rash,

I have the the Brink detachable fitted on mine (Same as the Landrover Bar) and I am absolutly positive nothing was cut on mine to make it fit if it was it is definatly cannot be seen and I also looked at the Witter Bar and nothing is cut to fit that also. I have just checked Witters site again and they show the fitting instructions for both bars and nowhere does it mention the cutting of panels. As I understand it the only time a a panel would need to be cut is if you have the HST or have the bodykit fitted but then there is a panel the LR sell to cover the hole when the detachable bar is not in use. p****d off with a Digital Keyboard Warrior

I have a LR/Brink detachable and there an area of plastic cut out

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Thanks to e-bay, I've fitted a Witter flange-type towbar and Land Rover twin socket electrics, all brand new and genuine, for the grand total of £159.14, rather better than the £550 the dealer quoted at order time. I just need to put the fuses in and get the software activated, hopefully FOC when it goes in for some minor snagging. Interestingly, a well-known local independant specialist quoted £48, where the most I've heard a dealer quote is £35. The only cutting needed for the towbar was to drill a couple of holes in the bumper behind the lh reflector to access a couple of nuts.

Lamby,

I fitted mine myself. The towbar is a landrover detachable. Basically you take the bumper off. Undo the two bolts on the rear of the rear wheel arch and undo the nut that holds the bumber in place, undo the four or five screws on the bottom of the bumper lip and pull up the plastic strip on the top of the bumper and remove the plastic clips. Remove the rear lights and undo the two screws and pull the bumper off. It sounds alot of work, but will take about 15 mins of logical and methodical work.

You will then see a big metal bar which is held on by 8 bolts. Take this out and put the bar in its place as per the instructions. The landrover bar comes with a template to cut out the bumper. I ignored this and cut just enough to allow the towbar to go through (about 5 mm gap). I achieved this as I modified the location of the 13 pin plug so that it sits behind and under the bumper. In order to make the cut look really neat I moulded a thin door protection strip over the cut.

If you buy the westphalia detachable towbar it doesn't need cutting else the bumper will.

The bumper goes back on as simply as it comes off. The electrical set just plugs in and may or may not require the deasler to plug the laptop in and tell the car it now has a towbar. There are other threads about this at the moment on this forum.

I will take some picture this w/end, but it really is very simple.  Freelander 2.2e HSE , Privacy, Fully debadged, 19" Chrome SHadow alloys

I stand corrected on the Brink one, when I get it back I will investigate it. Wifes gone out in it again, cannot get her out of it, well i can but thats only when it needs fuel. p****d off with a Digital Keyboard Warrior

Thanks very much all of you! Your help is greatly apreciated.If i fit one i will go for a fixed flange as it sounds a tad eaiser and i will need a dixon bate ball/pin hitch on too.

The software update is that a main dealer only thing? Also the specific wiring kit does that just plug in to a socket behind the inside rear quater panel?
On my FL1 i removed the right hand side rear panel and there was a plug waiting so i was thinking it must be a simular set up.
Cheers Harry

Lamby,

The wiring is on the left. Take the boot tray, spare wheel etc out and taske out the little carpet tray on the left. The instruction said take oyut the whole left plastic boot lining panel, but I just prised it away by the tailgate. All the wires from under the car come up in the well at the back left corner. YOu clip up a couple of connectors and then place fuses in the appropriate slots in the fuse box in the boot well. If you are lucky then you won't need the dealer to programme the car. I think mine didn't as it is not the LR part (www.kupplung.de) if you can understand German. It bought from here as it was cheaper than LR and for various reasons got it tax free. It is made by Jaeger, who make the kits that the manufactures rebrand and put in their own box and charge a healthy mark up for (rant over).

Honestly it isn't difficult, it just sounds so when trying to write it down. I had bar and electrics fitted ion under two hours, mainly the time taken to cut the bumper properly.  Freelander 2.2e HSE , Privacy, Fully debadged, 19" Chrome SHadow alloys

http://www.towbarservices.com/ if you feel like a trip to Hampshire.

Witter, no bumper cut and trailer electrics for bike rack (not caravan), £215 fitted in an hour.

Rear sensors work as normal with the tow bar on its own.

Click image to enlarge

Watch out for those witter towbars, the one one my pickup is as rust as....., after only two and a half years  At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

My LR towbar sounds just as bad

Thinking of cleaning it down with my Dremmel and painting or spraying a coat of Hammerite on it Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

I fitted myself a Witter detachable. Towbar bits easy enough, but wiring needs a lot of investigation if you are not fitting the plug in Landrover adapter.

No bumper cuts required.

Mine had a good selection of surface rust too when I removed it after 2 years and sold it on this forum.
Still solid though, so nothing a coat of hamerite wouldn't sort out.

Now without FL2 and missing it!!

Mark Freelander 2
TD4 GS
Shiney fantastic Baltic Blue
Detachable Witter Towbar

I'll post in for sale section in the future but while this threads is going I'll mention it here.

My car is fitted with the 'dealer fit' fixed swan neck tow bar and factory twin electrics. The car is being returned to the leasing company early July, I'm happy to have the towbar and electrics removed and sell them on for a very modest cost if anyone is interested .... Stornoway Grey GS ... What a fine motor ... but not any more ... ... psst look at my gallery!
Company cars ... a thing of the past - May 2013.