So my LR3 came with a hitch. Like many, I think it's seized, which I would be okay with however, I think it's on backwards. After watching a few videos on YouTube, I'm pretty sure of it.

Why the heck didn't the previous owners take care of this thing? A little love and care, and this would be such a perfect car. But nooooo..... previous owners treated it like cow dung! Grrrrrr...... Car ownership should be like adoption. Sometimes the owners are undeserving of the car and therefore should not have it!

I digress.....

What do you think? Isn't that green **** supposed to turn? And if so does it turn to the left or to the right?

 

I believe that is the early design which has since changed, the entry slot is keyed so it only goes in one direction - I believe the tow bar may have been specific to their hitch but I'm not sure. My later design one comes out back more and works with any 2" bar.

You didn't mention the keys so I'll bring it up just in case even though it may seem obvious but it needs the little orange locker key looking thing inserted and rotated first (looking at the **** side of hitch you turn it counter clockwise) - same for green ****. Once it's unlocked, pull green **** out towards you and rotate counterclockwise. It should drop out - it's heavy so get ready to catch it!

 

It is not backwards. It is impossible to install backwards. The design is good in that you don't bang your shins on it in case you forget it is installed. To mount a rack which may need more clearance towards the back of the vehicle simply buy a 12" extender.

 

Thank you guys. Yeah, I went online and saw the design. I don't plan on towing anything. I plan on using it for a bike rack. As for the key. I can't find it. However, the newer ones have the orange key, the older ones have a black handled key. I think I came across it while rummaging around looking for something. I'll keep you posted if I can find it.

 

Mine was seized and locked as well. It took a few hours to get it off the truck with a few hammers and sets of pliers and so on. Also, to make room to swing the hammer I lowered and removed the spare tire; then the winch would not wind it back up into position. I replaced the winch, in about two years or so, the new one was also deemed useless. Rather than replace it over and over again (and since I run oversize tires and a compact spare is useless), I have been running with no spare. I have a tire repair kit and will be buying a compressor shortly. I also plan to build a rear mount/swing arm off the bumper style FULL size spare tire mount this summer.

That got off topic. haha.

This is what you will find inside the guts of the hitch if you need to replace anything. I took mine apart to free up the latching pin after I had to break the lock and smash it off the truck, etc.

 

Mine stuck and used plenty of lube and dismantled it on the truck. Upon taking it to the bench, cleaned regreased and reassembled, has not been a problem since. On the key lock are numbers from hitch a new key can be made or ordered.

 

If you guys are looking for hitches to resolve these issues, drop me a pm w/email and I'll send you some info.