LR3 Custom Tow Hitch

[bsa_m21]

I recently moved into the 21st century with the purchase of an 05 LR3 V8 HSE.
I know they are great for towing and it came with the LR "long" removable trailer hitch.

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This thing hangs down 1/2 way to the ground! I've heard it called the LR3 Plow attachment by many LR3 owners.
I've also heard horror stories of not being able to remove it when you want to offroad and I go offroad regularly.
There was no way I could take the chance of not being able to remove it when needed.
(Anyone want to buy a stock hitch, cheap?)

After looking online for an alternative hitch online I bought a no-name hitch via Amazon.

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Sigh... It hung down as far as the stock LR one and bolted on, so would also be a pain to remove when desired.

So, back online and searched a bit more, and found pics of the LR3/4 Rhino Hitch. Sweet!

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Well, I have welding equipment. Maybe I could modify my no-name one to look and mount similar to the Rhino hitch.
Here is my result.

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I'm quite pleased with the outcome and no worries about having to remove it or it being a "plow" when offroading. :bounce:
Hmmm. Now to figure out the trailer wiring.
Strange thing -the truck came with a hitch, but no trailer wiring. Typical Land Rover oddity I guess.

[oldgravy]

It's for a bike rack, I'm sure. 😅

[scraig]

Nice job Martin. Looks solid enough now to use as the recovery point too :thumbright:

[bsa_m21]

Well after a lot of skinned knuckles, the trailer wiring is done and the winch mounted. :roll:
The manual says there are two connectors that are required for the trailer wiring, clipped to a bracket behind the rear LH side panel where the production winch is stored.
Well they didn't appear to be there when I first looked. My HSE has the rear A/C which is also situated in the cubby hole, and it takes up most of the space.
Looking online, I read about someone with the same issue and he found that they were stuffed up and behind the A/C unit. So with a mirror, I looked.
Sure enough, there they were. But, how to get them out and accessible? I tried bent wire, screwdrivers, etc., with no luck.
So I forced my hand (size large) through the gap (size not large and many sharp edges) and managed to grab and pull them down a bit.
Then, some careful hammering to bend an internal joint, made just enough room to slip the wires and connectors around to the front where they were supposed to be clipped to a bracket.
Here they are:

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I bought a combo 7 way/4 way trailer wiring harness with 4 feet of wires and figured out what wires I needed to join to which LR3 connector.

The 7way unit screwed straight into the standard LH side mount point and I routed the 4way around to the RH side and clipped it to the bumper.
The trailer wires run along the top of the rear bumper, up behind the LH tail light and through two existing grommets.
Naturally, 4 feet of wire was too short. I needed 4-1/2 feet of wire to get to the connectors (seriously). Typical. :(
A browse through my stash of old vehicle wires (never throw old wiring and connectors out) found some suitable colours and lengths, and my soldering iron got it sorted out.
I then tested the wiring with a portable set of trailer lights (4 way only) and it was correct. Now that was a first. :D Hopefully the 7way will be the same.
Here is the finished product:

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I also trimmed the plastic cover plate to fit.

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Overall I am quite pleased.

[GeorgeLR]

The final result looks great. The plastic cover back on is a nice touch 👌

[kndrewa]

Martin, this was a fun read. Great photos, thanks for sharing. I got the Atlantic British kit to add the wiring to my LR3. Did you need to configure any files to change the ECUs for trailer package? I've done that with my parking sensors using the GAP Integrated Interface Diagnostics tool, but unsure what settings to switch for trailer wiring?

[bsa_m21]

Martin, this was a fun read. Great photos, thanks for sharing. I got the Atlantic British kit to add the wiring to my LR3. Did you need to configure any files to change the ECUs for trailer package? I've done that with my parking sensors using the GAP Integrated Interface Diagnostics tool, but unsure what settings to switch for trailer wiring?

Thanks. You don’t need to change anything in the ecu. M.

[kndrewa]

Hi Martin, I went ahead and installed the wiring loom on my LR3. I made a video about that. There is an option to update the Body Control Module ECU for "towing ball" to fitted, which was an option from the factory. As I understand it, this will change some of the shift points and traction control settings (like turning off cruise control when the height sensors feel the body shift on corners at speed). These behaviour changes only occur when there is a trailer loom connected. A minor thing, but some newfound knowledge which I wanted to share. Here's the video:

[bsa_m21]

That’s one heck of a video. You should be in the business!! Thanks for posting.

[kndrewa]

Thank you Martin, I enjoy making the videos! Maybe we could make one about all the cool custom things you've done to your LR3? I was reading over this thread tonight and agree that you've done some nice touches, like the clean plastic cover.