Hate my NT pajero tow bar!

[Tronic72]

Have had my NT for about 12 months and I cnn't believe how terrible the placement of the tow-bar/ball is. Does anyone else have this issue where they can't remove a trailer without opening the door and/or removing the spare wheel? My NP which I had for about 5 years never has this issue because it was offset. How has Mitsi gotten away with this???

[bennyb29]

How has Mitsi gotten away with this???

They have an accessory to lift the spare wheel within the wheel cover, so it sits higher.
That is how they made amends, and got away with it.

[Yendor54]

Yes PIA. I changed hitch to this
Works great , I also have the 50mm rear tyre lift


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[erad]

It is great to have a different type of coupling for your caravan or trailer, but when you are asked to tow another trailer, you are back to square one. S simple solution is to lift the spare wheel with a kit (about $50 off EBay) and then you have total flexibility. I haven't done that mod with my Pajero and when I do tow a trailer for someone else it is a real pain.

[2bad4u]

Strange??? Most people have a problem opening the back door when a trailer is connected, but you're saying you need to open the door to remove a trailer? Can you post a photo.

[Tronic72]

Strange??? Most people have a problem opening the back door when a trailer is connected, but you're saying you need to open the door to remove a trailer? Can you post a photo.

The bottom of the tire hits the top of the trailer hitch so it can't be lifted to allow the ball to be inserted. Once the hitch is on the ball, the door can be closed ....clear as mud?

Either way and based on the other members posts this is an example of terrible design on a so-called towing vehicle.

[Tronic72]

Yes PIA. I changed hitch to this
Works great , I also have the 50mm rear tyre lift


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This isn't a viable solution for people like myself who regulariy use different trailers. But thanks anyway.

[Tronic72]

They have an accessory to lift the spare wheel within the wheel cover, so it sits higher.
That is how they made amends, and got away with it.

Good to see there's companies making up for Mitsubishi's poor design.

Does anyone have a manufacturer they'd recommend for this lift kit or are they pretty much the same????

Cheers

[jkwpajero]

Good to see there's companies making up for Mitsubishi's poor design.

Does anyone have a manufacturer they'd recommend for this lift kit or are they pretty much the same????

Firstly the lift kit is available as a genuine Mitsubishi part, this place sells them https://www.australianonlinecarparts...it-2008-14-new or there are aftermarket knock offs available through Ebay etc. The placement of the spare wheel came about through the need for the rear lights to conform with ADR's, so not all of it is due to poor design. The Gen 3 rear door had the wheel in the right place in my view, but some of the rear lights were dummies and others were added to comply. Like the Patrols.


James

[BruceandBobbi]

Good to see there's companies making up for Mitsubishi's poor design.

Does anyone have a manufacturer they'd recommend for this lift kit or are they pretty much the same????

Cheers

I have an OEM wheel lift kit brand new never used in the box for sale $50. Trouble is I'm in Sydney.

[bennyb29]

The placement of the spare wheel came about through the need for the rear lights to conform with ADR's, so not all of it is due to poor design. The Gen 3 rear door had the wheel in the right place in my view, but some of the rear lights were dummies and others were added to comply. Like the Patrols.

Thanks for the clarification, James. I had always wondered why the extra pair of lights were added, which definitely weren't pretty.

[pharb]

Centrally mounted spare wheel also allows better rear visibility.....in theory.......due to the lower mounting.

I cut and shut my shut my spare wheel mount to lift it about 30mm without the wheel getting gettimg moved rearward slightly as happens with the factory wheel lift.

The only issue I have is with the spare wheel hittling on the handle for the hand brake handle (with hydraulic brake reservoir also,in the way sometimes dependant on parking angle.

I don't have any issues getting trailer on and off standard ball type coupling with upright D handle. In fact I thnk the handle is rearward of the spare tyre.

Have you got the tow ball mounted on the original mount, or is it a shorter version, which brings the ball closer to the rear bumper?

[gaz1]

I've solved the issue by fitting an Al-Ko drop-on pin hitch and the MM spare wheel raiser kit. It would have been simpler to use an extended towbar tongue (the one that comes with the MM towbar is pretty long but I prefer to keep the ball/pin as close to the towbar as possible).
If I need to tow the box trailer, I use the original MM tongue with the standard towball - plus the hitch on a box trailer is smaller than on a heavier trailer such as a caravan or boat trailer and doesn't really present much of a problem.
Of course when I had the NM for 15 years, there was no such problem because its wheel wasn't centred on the door!

[Jasonmc73]

The bottom of the tire hits the top of the trailer hitch so it can't be lifted to allow the ball to be inserted. Once the hitch is on the ball, the door can be closed ....clear as mud?

Either way and based on the other members posts this is an example of terrible design on a so-called towing vehicle.

You can buy different length towball tongues, maybe yours is shorter than others?

I do realise the longer the more leverage

[John_Mc]

AL-KO Off Road Coupling

Hi, AL-KO have a low profile coupling that will do the trick and it uses a standard 50 mm ball unlike some others with pins etc. If not for you the DO-35V2 works as well and even if handbrake is on, the back door will still clear it. I use the DO-35 as the al-ko was not invented back then. I also could not use the spare wheel lift kit as I run 33 inch wheels even on spare and it is a tight fit in the spare carrier.