Gilslandy Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Hi guys! This is my first post here! I've been following the forum for a couple of months now... I have a 1999 Defender Td5 and this weekend i had to recover a friend of mine, cos he got stuck in mud....i had to get him out of mud giving snatch pulls, couldn't do otherwise...the thing is that the TD5 cross member has in-built thread to fix the tow point with which in my case i have a NATO hook....with the pulling the thread sheered and now can't put bolts instead as behind the cross member there is the fuel tank so there isn't space to put a back plate to strenghten the cross memeber while towing and the securing nuts! any suggestions pls for a tow point without using the massive original tow point that gets you stuck everywhere lol!! Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=617 from our tech archive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 You can put a plate behind the crossmember ... you just have to take the tank out! Also to do it properly you need to weld crush tubes into the crossmember. The whole Td5 type crossmember is carp and really from a purist point of view the best thing to do would be to cut it off and weld on one of the old type ones but that's a bit drastic on a decent vehicle. I just put up with mine, snatch tows are OK as long as you don't get carried away. A reasonable tug in 2nd low on 10 metres of nylon rope is doable, but forget flat out in 2nd or doing it in 3rd or the crossmember will be seriously rearranged as might anything in the other vehicle if the pintle comes off. BTW a NATO is the weakest tow point on a Td5 x-member because of the fact it bolts on at the top and the "reinforcing kit" supplied by Land Rover is all fitted below the NATO. A hitch that fits with the 2 x M16 threads is better for off road recovery because then there are extra bolts both above (x4 if you get it right) and below (x3 on the bottom of the crossmember) which spreads the load better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilslandy Posted March 22, 2009 Author Share Posted March 22, 2009 You can put a plate behind the crossmember ... you just have to take the tank out! Also to do it properly you need to weld crush tubes into the crossmember. The whole Td5 type crossmember is carp and really from a purist point of view the best thing to do would be to cut it off and weld on one of the old type ones but that's a bit drastic on a decent vehicle. I just put up with mine, snatch tows are OK as long as you don't get carried away. A reasonable tug in 2nd low on 10 metres of nylon rope is doable, but forget flat out in 2nd or doing it in 3rd or the crossmember will be seriously rearranged as might anything in the other vehicle if the pintle comes off.BTW a NATO is the weakest tow point on a Td5 x-member because of the fact it bolts on at the top and the "reinforcing kit" supplied by Land Rover is all fitted below the NATO. A hitch that fits with the 2 x M16 threads is better for off road recovery because then there are extra bolts both above (x4 if you get it right) and below (x3 on the bottom of the crossmember) which spreads the load better. Thanks alot Bogmonster!! very usefull info! so now i just put on a normal hitch...but still i have the threads sheered in the cross member! so first have to solve that! i know its not that healthy to flat out in second low for a td5 cross member but that was the only option to get my friend out of there...wasn't healthy for his bumber too! thanks gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Not teaching anybody to suck eggs I hope but when looking at something that is "the only option" always bear in mind the consequences of something letting go on both vehicles and occupants. A NATO through the back of your head at 150mph hurts - well it doesn't because you won't know anything about it... leaving a vehicle and going for help can sometimes be a better option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilslandy Posted March 22, 2009 Author Share Posted March 22, 2009 yep ur right mate! this morning tried to remove the standard tank guard or double skin sort of and it seems that without it u can manage to put nuts between tank and cross member! then i put an aftermarket tank guiard to protect the tank! gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51bigG Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 yep ur right mate! this morning tried to remove the standard tank guard or double skin sort of and it seems that without it u can manage to put nuts between tank and cross member! then i put an aftermarket tank guiard to protect the tank! gil If you are careful with the welder you can build up some weld on the end of the bolt that is sheared then weld a nut to it while in position, leave the weld to cool a little then use a socket or spanner while its still quite hot and the broken stud usually comes out, ths is a tried and tested method I use on quarry plant and machinery that works for me. Graham. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nas90 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Hi guys!This is my first post here! I've been following the forum for a couple of months now... I have a 1999 Defender Td5 and this weekend i had to recover a friend of mine, cos he got stuck in mud....i had to get him out of mud giving snatch pulls, couldn't do otherwise...the thing is that the TD5 cross member has in-built thread to fix the tow point with which in my case i have a NATO hook....with the pulling the thread sheered and now can't put bolts instead as behind the cross member there is the fuel tank so there isn't space to put a back plate to strenghten the cross memeber while towing and the securing nuts! any suggestions pls for a tow point without using the massive original tow point that gets you stuck everywhere lol!! Gil I do a fair amount of recovery at Slindon and Boxgrove, West Sussex, with the nas and invariably I always choose to winch a vehicle out rather than a snatch. Not always possible if nothing to hold the back end of the recovery vehicle but usually winchable in 8 cases out of ten. Snatch causes so much damage to the transmission it's just not worth the aggro. Snatch can also be dangerous, I have seen so many broken bits of heavy metal come flying through the air................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilslandy Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 yes nas90 ur so right!! the problem was neither i had a winch nor the stuck landy! so we had to snatch pull the landy!! i know its not the safest way of doing it but we couldnt do otherwise!! thanks gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Have you considered fitting a detachable tow bar? I used to have the problem where my dixon bate style tow bar was grounding out on my 110 but I need a strong tow bar for towing heavy loads 2.5t plus!! I decided to go for a detachable tow bar as well as mounting to the cross member (6 bolts) it also ataches to the chassis where the original tow bar fitted, mine came with a recovery eye that I fit when off road have used it in anger and had no problems, I use a dixon bate tow bar but you could obvisouly use your NATO hitch. Cheers, Jason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilslandy Posted March 26, 2009 Author Share Posted March 26, 2009 thanks jasong4110.....by any chance do u have a pic of the setup gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 thanks jasong4110.....by any chance do u have a pic of the setupgil photo of simlar tow bar to mine attached, don't have one of mine, could take one if you wanted? Jason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilslandy Posted March 27, 2009 Author Share Posted March 27, 2009 thanks alot!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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