Detachable towbar removal

Not one to miss a bargain, I came across a towbar still on a jimny in my local scrappy. Matey wanted 30quid for it if I took it off myself - bargain I thought

Having returned home i set about freeing up the mechanism that allows the quick release of the swan neck. Large amounts of WD40 have washed out most of the sand and grit from the mechanism (judging by the state of the underside of the one it came off, it must have been used to launch a dingy or jet ski), but it still wont detach.

Trying to find instructions on how to detach it have resulted in me discovering that its a geniune Suzuki one costing £239, good job matey down the scrappy didnt realise

Does anybody know how to detach the swan neck from the socket it sits? The mechanisim is freeing up slowly with more oil, but I think the red slider (under the cover) has something to do with it. The website says refer to the manual but there isnt anything in there

www.suzuki-shop.co.uk/index.cfm/fa/shopd...Category_Brand_ID/18


Cheers

Nelson

I have the Suzuki tow bar on my Jimny you release the locking lever then pull it right out it has a sort of locking pin attached to it, then rotate the swan neck 180 deg then pull it out.

I knew somebody on here would have the answer!!! :-D I'll give it a try tomorrow

We have a similar bar, and had similar issues.
In the end, after soaking with WD40, we were able to slide the red locking slider towards the ball, and at the same time, squeeze the locking lever in to retract the locking mechanism.
It took some persuading, even at one point, shocking it to move with a lump hammer.
However, after repeatedly refitting it now moved freely and can be removed in seconds.
Having said that, we tend to leave ours on as it provides a useful deterrent to anyone parking too close

I think i need more WD40 and an even bigger hammer!!! My sledgey has failed to shift it I'm keen on having it detachable so not to affect the departure angle too much, but failing that, i'll get my fitter to weld it solid just to be sure it wont budge

to be honest,m even though it sticks out, it doesnt affect the departure angle that much .. sure it digs in and scrapes, but weve never been stuck on ours and weve done som epretty extreme stuff in ours.

The reason the swan neck detaches is so that the ANPR cameras can read the number plate, and you don't get pulled by the police.

not sure how much of the numberplate is obscured by the towbar to make it attractive to the Bib, or the inability of ANPR to not beable to see it .... looking at ours, it is visible from a steep angle, and the thickness of the shaft isnt too obstructive.

Ill ask a mate to pop around with the local Area Car next time he is on shift and see if their ANPR can hit the plate and read it. IMHO the non removable ones are the worst for plate visability as they have the electrics and sometimes deflectors that sit quite close to the vehicle.

Incidently, my MOT tester is quite strict (wouldnet even pass the Jeep on non standard tyres, dispite knowing the legal road tures were in the rear, and insisted they were fitted to the vehicle first ... he hasnt failed or even mentioned the towbar obscuring the Numberplate and its been though 2x MOT's with him

From the MOT Testers manual section 6.3

Reason for rejection:

1. A registration plate:
a. missing or incorrect

b. so insecure that it is likely to fall off

c. letter or figure missing or incomplete

d. faded, dirty, deteriorated or obscured, (for example by a towbar so that it is likely to be misread or is not easily legible by a person standing approximately 20 metres to the front/rear of the vehicle)

dont get me wrong, im not saying that a towbar or any other item obscuring the MOT isnt a failure point, what im saying is on the two occasiona ours has gone for its mot the positionp of the Number Plate and the towbar has not been deemed to be in breech of point D that you have posted there.
with a standard removable bar fitted, the Reg Plate can be read easily

I bought my Jimny new with a new tow bar so I have all the originally paperwork that came with it and it comes with a warning about number plate obstruction and states something along the lines of you must remove it if you are driving without a trailer attached as the tow ball is in front of the number plate its OK with the trailer as it has its own number plate