120 Towbar recall

[Tar Trek Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tar Trek]

Hi Yowie,

My Toyota 150 Towbar is like the Hayman Reese, bolted to the rear cross member & both chassis rails.

The Toyota 150 bar is not too pretty, however I would imagine that it's a lot stronger than just being bolted to the rear cross member.

I have seen a bar which bolts only to the rear cross member on a 150, but I don't know who makes it.

Tar Trek

[yowie Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close yowie]

The 150 towbar is completely different, a more traditional towbar rather than the small cast one in the 120 series.

Cheers Andrew

Thank you AJ.

[yowie Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close yowie]

Hi Yowie,

My Toyota 150 Towbar is like the Hayman Reese, bolted to the rear cross member & both chassis rails.

The Toyota 150 bar is not too pretty, however I would imagine that it's a lot stronger than just being bolted to the rear cross member.

I have seen a bar which bolts only to the rear cross member on a 150, but I don't know who makes it.

Tar Trek

Thank you Tar Trek, I did have a look. Pulled off the plastic cover from the bumper bar, and found the bolts around the hitch section, and on both sides of the chassis rail. Should be strong enough if they are high tensile steel bolts, and they appear O.K. as I checked the tension of the bolts.

[zutta Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close zutta]

I heard of these situations while setting up my 120 for our oz trip, I fitted the older style H&R bar to my 120 that i picked up of ebay, Its a U shape with 8 bolts ( 2extra at back)which is now superseded by the full bar across the chassis, unlike the Toyota genuine L shape with 6 bolts, .

I'm border lining the the max 250kg ball weight with my van and once you enable the Bars there is a crapload of upward pressure on the towbar which would cause the genuine bars to fail as they wouldn't be designed for that, There is no way i would feel comfortable running the genuine bar using a WDH.

to add also you see alot of vanners not dropping their bars before reversing or driving into rough roads, watched a guy the other day nearly jack knifing his van while reversing with WDB still hooked up,hes in and out of the car wondering why he is hearing the noises of twisting metal.

[yowie Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close yowie]

I heard of these situations while setting up my 120 for our oz trip, I fitted the older style H&R bar to my 120 that i picked up of ebay, Its a U shape with 8 bolts ( 2extra at back)which is now superseded by the full bar across the chassis, unlike the Toyota genuine L shape with 6 bolts, .

I'm border lining the the max 250kg ball weight with my van and once you enable the Bars there is a crapload of upward pressure on the towbar which would cause the genuine bars to fail as they wouldn't be designed for that, There is no way i would feel comfortable running the genuine bar using a WDH.

to add also you see alot of vanners not dropping their bars before reversing or driving into rough roads, watched a guy the other day nearly jack knifing his van while reversing with WDB still hooked up,hes in and out of the car wondering why he is hearing the noises of twisting metal.

I take my WDH bars before driving into any van parks (or fit them after leaving) and certain towns with speed humps or small roundabouts. Even driving into a some service stations to refuel is not on.

[3810pault Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close 3810pault]

Hi All,
New to the forum, glad to be a member, heaps of good stuff here.

Just rang Toyota regarding this recall, only applies to certain models, Spoke to a lady at Service desk first and she said my model was not affected then i argued a bit saying my mate brought his in and his tow bar got changed and his is the same model?? she transferred me to the service manager and when he checked my vin number in the computer he said yes for sure mine is affected.

Waiting for a call now regarding this as he seems to think he will order the parts first before i come in.
Many thanks to all, would not know about this unless i read this forum.

Paul

[Guest Close Guest]

Just spoke to Toyota re: 120 towbars.
Seems letters are being sent out from toyota HQ. Mine is booked in to be inspected late this week.

[120D4D Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 120D4D]

Hi All,
New to the forum, glad to be a member, heaps of good stuff here.

Just rang Toyota regarding this recall, only applies to certain models, Spoke to a lady at Service desk first and she said my model was not affected then i argued a bit saying my mate brought his in and his tow bar got changed and his is the same model?? she transferred me to the service manager and when he checked my vin number in the computer he said yes for sure mine is affected.

Waiting for a call now regarding this as he seems to think he will order the parts first before i come in.
Many thanks to all, would not know about this unless i read this forum.

Paul

Lucky you Paul.
Mine is book in for a 'check' on monday. - Apparently my dealer doesn't order the parts till they know they'll need them (this after admitting that they're 2 for 2 with needing parts.....)

[Guest Close Guest]

Apparently my dealer doesn't order the parts till they know they'll need them (this after admitting that they're 2 for 2 with needing parts.....)

Why waste a customer's booking when you can order extra units in being so early in the 'recall' stage. Surely there would be more affected Prados coming in soon. This way a new towbar can be installed while the plastic bumper is already off.

[120D4D Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 120D4D]

I hear you Andrew, I might call them back...

The suggestion was that 'parts' will be required - doesnt sound like the whole bar is being replaced...

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Why waste a customer's booking when you can order extra units in being so early in the 'recall' stage. Surely there would be more affected Prados coming in soon. This way a new towbar can be installed while the plastic bumper is already off.

The local dealers up here did the same thing though with the ball joint recall on the 90s. I tried three different dealerships. Book in for a look then oh you are affected, please come back when we have parts and don't do any serious 4wd'ing in the interim.

[CaLLaN 52 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close CaLLaN 52]

Hi All,

After seeing this thread, i checked my tow bar, which is Genuine Toyota, bit it only has 2 bolts, they look ok, but i have'nt towed anything yet, so i will wait & see if i get the letter soon.

Cheers

Steve J

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Hi All,

i checked my tow bar, which is Genuine Toyota, bit it only has 2 bolts,

Cheers

Steve J

It has six bolts, but you can only see 2 of them without removing the rear bumper.

Cheers Andrew

[CaLLaN 52 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close CaLLaN 52]

Thanks for that info Andrew, I thought 2 bolts seemed a bit wierd. So that means Toyota will have to remove rear bumper to check/ replace??

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Removal of the rear bumper would be needed, that's only a 5 minute job though.

2 of the bolts are dome headed cap screws (Allen key head) if anyone wants to check their own.

Cheers Andrew