lightweight landy- nato to ball hitch?

[shillo]

does anyone know how easy it is to remove the standard Nato hitch and replace it with a ball hitch? I am pretty sure its not going to be as simple as just unbolting it and bolting on the ball hitch it would be nice though!

[tommer9]

Is it not just held on with four bolts through the rear x-member?

[armchairarborist]

the nato has four mounting bolt holes and the ball has two, i'll measure mine tomorrow to see if the bolthole centres are similar, unless someone knows off hand..

[ecolojim]

it's pretty much that simple in that the holes for both nato hitches and ball hitches are in my experience spaced the same.

 

however it would be too high for a ball hitch so you would need some manner of drop plate.

 

during my time on lr4x4.com I remember some instances of drop plates for ball hitches that were custom made to hang from the nato hitch and then tie back into bolt holes in the chassis. This is where I would say the ideal solution is!

[Paul honeybun]

You should be able to remove your nato hitch and go to your local landy specialist and get a drop plate for an ordinary series landrover and use that. I'm pretty sure that they fit on a lightweight this will drop the ordinary ball hitch low enough to tow with unless you have jacked up the suspension and got oversize tyres !!

[penfold]

you could try getting a quick change receiver which would allow you to use either a nato hitch or a ball hitch. although i have seen a hitch in lro which is a combination ball and nato hitch.

[mikecotterill]

the bolts are a different diameter, so it wont go in the same holes