hayman reece load levers and nissan tow bar

If it is a genuine 3500kg bar manufactured for the particular vehicle, with a 50mm square socket to match the Reece adjustable head, you should have no problem with the bar twisting. I have a Reece hitch on a Toyota but the same would apply to other vehicles, as long as vehicle’s the towing capacity, the vans weight and the hitch weight are all within the specified limits.

I had a Patrol with a Nissan factory towbar and had no trouble at all.

It was either the Pathfinder or another model that had problems but not the Patrol .

There are thousands of Patrols running around with these and no reported problems.

PS a friendly word There is a button marked SPELL CHECK next to the submit button.
Would be a good idea to use it as your post is a bit hard to read with all the spelling mistakes.

Yep Graham is spot on with the pathfinders. I bought a haymen reece for my Pathfinder because when i was researching there were a number cases where the genuine tow bar stretched or twisted, ( generally in middle near the tow ball). Haven't heard of it happening to any other models though.

Litte known fact I came across one day when researching Hayman Reece Product from one of their distributors (The only honest one, out of the 3 or 4 I spoke too).

Back when all this started with rating tow bars etc, Hayman Reece were contracted by Both Toyota AND NISSAN to manufactuire and supply the tow bars with the 2 inch square draw bar receiver and the 2 inch RHS drawbars that went in them.

The Receiver parts are identicle to each other.

It's only the draw bar with pin that varies.

Toyota had specified the rolled hollow section draw bars - and the Toyota engineers specified the whole system as capable of towing 2500 kilos on the early 80 series wagons up to somewhere around 1995/6? model.

Nissan came out with the Nissan PAROLS wagons (and the badge engineered Ford Mavericks) after what- 1994/5? and at that time Toyota had the lions share of the market.

Nissan very cleverly specified the identicle / same receivers from hayman reece as Toyota were beng supplied, BUT they specified a 2 inch solid bar stock steel draw bar insert, and the Nissan Engineers specified/rated their vehicles with 3500 kilos towing capacity. (1000 kilos MORE than the Toyota's could tow).

Now Nissan had the market share - because their vehicle was substantially cheaper AND could tow a tonne MORE than the Toyota!

Toyota were idiots and took until about the 1996/7? models or so before they realised what a good trick Nissan had played on them and they then specified the 2 inch solid steel barstock drawbar and their toyota engineers then re-rated their hitches at 3500 kilos thereon.

Nissan made a killing in those interim few years.

At the end of the day most likely you have a genuine nissan tow receiver probably made & supplied by Hayman Reece - exactly the same as the recommended REPLACEMENT Hayman Reece that has been recommended to you, in every way, to the point I can just about guarantee, that if you check - you'll find the two part numbers for the tow receivers are identicle.

When I spoke with a couple Hayman Reece agents I was told the same, i.e. "you need to get rid of that towbar, and we will sell and install a genuine Hayman Reece etc thats rated to 3500 kilos yada yada yada".

Then the last guy (who was my local agent) - spilled the above beans to me and even showed me the part number on mine and how it matched exactly the NEW bars the other guys wanted to sell me on his computer inventory order list.

He told me its a great 'workshop staff Friday Booze club money spinner' to sell worried newbys a NEW replacement thats identical to the one taken off - they keep your old one, wire wheel and re paint it, and sell it as NEW at full price to the next numnuts and the $ go to buying slabs for the friday night workshop staff knockoff drinks.

The ONLY difference which he again showed me on his computer is in making sure you have the 3500 kilo 2 inch solid steel drawbar/receiver insert, with a 2 inch ball rated to 3500 kilos.

With such a 2 inch solid steel draw bar, those load levelers haven't got a hope in hades of bending the draw bar, heck I had mine drilled out at an engineering shop and put a 3 inch ball on as well as the load levelers - and attached a 4.25 tonnes boat with the load levelers, no sign of bending anything at all. (towed probably more than 10,000 km's so far with that combo and no problems at all).

I did once make the mistake of reversing the boat & trailer uphill backwards, without first releasing the pressure on the load levelers (newby at it) and far from bending the hitch - I DID bend the 100 x 100 RHS of the trailer draw bar behind the coupling - my own stoopid fault, BUT I got it plate boxed welded at an engineering shop in Denham using 10mm plate steel (instead of the 3 mm the original drawbar was made of) AND I added an internal 90 x 90 heavey walled RHS inside the drawbar to strengthen that whole drawbar section of the trailer against any future such failure.

Check the part numbers of the receiver hitch you have now and you'll likely find it is original Hayman Reece already and all you need is the 2 x 2 Solid Barstock drawbar & 2 inch 3500kilo rated ball and your good to go.

If your in WA your welcome to come look at mine for how it is setup.

IF your original receiver and hitch was supplied with ony the rolled hollow section drawbar insert - then the tow bar receiver MIGHT have an attached " load limits plaque" that states max 2500 kilos, BECAUSE of the lower rated rolled hollow section drawbar insert.

Once you replace the rolled hollow section drawbar with the solid barstock one and have the right ball etc THEN Hayman Reece SHOULD be able to supply you with the uprated 3500 kilo plaque.

One word of warning tho - for those with the older Toyotas wagons (to whome the above advice also applies), there WERE other minor specifications differences to the brakes on the later models Toyota 80 series that allowed the toyotas to then tow 3500 kilos like the Nissans.

From memory the weels went from 15 inches to 16's and the disc rotors / calipers were slightly bigger - you CAN replace the older ones with the newer larger and change the rims to suit etc and THEN you could have the tow capacity re-rated by an engineer for a new compliance plate to tow 3500 kilos.

That may or may not be an issue with your Nissan, I have no way of knowing.

Cheers!

Hi nicko,

My first reaction is one of anger. Some fool shooting off his uninformed mouth when his only intention may be to bignote himself, frighten you, and try and sell you his stuff. But hey, we have to learn to sort the wheat from the chaff.

If you have a genuine Nissan "hitch receiver" tow bar fitted, and it receives the Hayman Reese towball assembly, you should have no more worries than any-one else with this setup. No large car maker is going to take the risk of a class action for selling faulty or under specified equipment. Check the maker's label to ensure you don't exceed specifications. Every "genuine" towbar has a specification label factory fitted.

I have a genuine Mitsubishi "hitch receiver" tow bar fitted to my Paj, and I have the Hayman Reese load leveller system for the 'van. An investment worth far more than the cost. Mate, when those crosswinds whack the van and it shimmies only once or twice, you hardly even sweat. And I'm talking virgin caravanner here.

For peace of mind, and insurance purposes, I believe I have satisfied all requirements. What more can one do? We have to trust the experts! But - Always read the fine print/labels/disclaimers.

Don't forget to have fun and enjoy the experience.

The early tow bars for the 2005 on Nissan Pathfinder did have a BIG problem when used with a WDH . I don't know that they still supply that type of bar for the Pathy, but .. those tow bars were just a little short bit of steel bolted to the rear cross member, not one of the usual tow bars we see fitted to the chassis on either side of the vehicles.

Your Patrol bar should be one of those bolted to the chassis on eoither side of the vehciel, proably fitted similar to the HR one so should not when used with a WDH be a problem if it is.