[bearcat]

Okay so I finally bit the bullet and got this done. I did it over the weekend, in about 4 hours. The time consuming part was refitting the rear bumper, and of course cutting the fairing and bumper.

Curt sent me two sets of pictures.. one of a white Disco with what appeared to be a photoshopped hitch. And one of a black disco, that showed the hitch minus the 5"x1/2" slits in the bumper. The slits ARE needed.

You'll notice the slits on mine are rough cut and look like ****. I will end up making them looked finished and square.

Overall quality of the hitch is excellent, especially for $150. And made in the USA! I got mine on Amazon with free shipping. I needed to touch up the paint on the hitch a bit, no big deal... Glossy black.

Also, you need to cut a lot more of the heat shield fairing off than Curt specs. Or at least I had to... otherwise the fairing and the bumper do not align correctly. I did not want to cut the exhaust part of the fairing lengthwise (as they call out 5"x8" taped off section).. as I think it would look silly. So I lopped the whole thing off. You are seeing some "dust" in the pictures from the rotary tool. Definitely do not use aviation sheers to cut the bottom fairing... it is fiberglass and splinters. Rotary tool, and a dust respirator there.

I'm happy I saved 1200 bucks, and feel good about the install overall.

 

[bearcat]

Also note, this is on a 2016 Lux, with NO third row seating. Mine was one of the vehicles with the big hole already cut out on the bottom.

 

[jsyteng]

Thanks for posting this. Based on your experience, I just ordered the hitch off Amazon (what a great deal!). Unlike you I am not handy and will not be doing the install myself. I've reached out to a local body shop who has done work for me in the past and they said they can easily handle it. Will keep you all posted!

thanks, JT

 

[surffl]

Any tips for getting the tail lights out. The springs on the plastic compression screws inside the inner panels seem impossible to release. Thanks

 

[surffl]

Very stuck trying to get these to release. The compression springs seem far too strong. Any help or tips appreciated. Thanks

 

[bearcat]

The compression springs get completely unscrewed and removed. They are regular threaded. There is then a small clip that has to be raised and then the light should pop right out.

Other trouble areas... getting the rear bumper back on. I started from the wheel well / fender clips and got those on first. One side and then the other. Its a pain in the ass. Then work the heat shield plate and bumper together. Finally end with the screws near the tail lights.

The clip for the sensor (left side) on the metal bumper is a pain in the ass. I suggest a lot of profanity.

The connection for the rest of the rear bumpers stuff (on the right, the one that is purple and does the proximity sensors) needs to be reconnected before you attached the heat shield, and after you get the rear bumper on.

For the exhaust hangers, attached a vise grip about 1/8 inch away from the rubber, and use a pickle fork or a small crow bar to pry them off. I use a little slickoliem to get them back on.

 

[surffl]

Thanks, bearcat. I'll take a look at that this evening. All I saw was the spring and bayonet style release and and assumed that the spring had to be compressed in order to get the bayonet release to work. I guess I just need to grip the entire piece to keep it from rotating and unscrew it. Thanks for the tips!

 

[surffl]

Like Bearcat, I also just finished doing this install myself and am happy with how it came out. It is not necessarily a super technical install, but it is a bit time consuming and took me well over 4 hours. Here are my notes based on the Curt instructions...


2. The two top bolts are slightly shorter than the others.

3. Getting the rubber exhaust hangers off without lubrication and a pair of vise grips is very difficult. I opted to leave the rubber hangers in place and remove the metal exhaust hangers from the frame instead. This was very easy and only required removing one bolt on either side.

4. I had 8 nuts securing my heat shield, no bolts.

7. Don't over think this step like I did. These are not bayonet style fasteners as they appear, simply unscrew them.

10. CAREFUL. There is a connector for the tail lights on the right side of the bumper fascia that does not have much extra wire. Carefully unplug this before pulling the fascia away.

11. In addition to unplugging the sensor be sure to remove the two cable ties securing the sensor wire to the frame before removing the bumper.

14. The holes in my Curt hitch did not line up perfectly with the mounting holes in the frame. A friend and I were able to pull the hitch apart just enough to get one bolt in on each side, but ultimately I had to use a Dremel to grind out a few of the holes in order to get the bolts in.

16. I used a Dremel with a cutting disk (use a respirator) and did not cut the underbody panel as dimensionally specified in the instructions (I don't think that way will actually work). I cut it transversely like Bearcat's pictures show and that seems to have worked well. I just put the underbody panel as close to in place as possible and made small cuts until I had it right.

17. I placed the bumper fascia in place for this step and taped out the area to be cut. I found that 3.75 x 0.5 inches is sufficient for the cut area. Again, I used a Dremel with a cutting disk for this step.


Hope this helps anyone thinking of doing this themselves.

 

[bearcat]

14. The holes in my Curt hitch did not line up perfectly with the mounting holes in the frame. A friend and I were able to pull the hitch apart just enough to get one bolt in on each side, but ultimately I had to use a Dremel to grind out a few of the holes in order to get the bolts in.

I had the same problem... it was only about .050 off on one of the holes. If I was Curt, I would make those holes just a little bigger. To get mine on, I mounted the hitch with the top bolts (the fish wire ones) first, and then worked a few threads of each of the six bolts in, slowly. Then just tightened each bolt and let the hitch stretch a bit.

Glad your hitch got installed, Surffl!

 

[jsyteng]

DONE! Generally speaking, quite happy . . esp. about the total price. $140 from Amazon plus $150 installation from a local body shop. Just sprung for a $20 Land Rover hitch cap from ebay.

some notes:
- while infinitely cheaper than getting it done for >1K with OEM equipment from the dealer, it definitely won't look as integrated. That will probably be a more than fine tradeoff for most folks.
- the ridiculous gaping hole under the silver panel is now essentially covered over. However, I remember when I was first curious about the hole, the way it was explained to me from the dealer was the hole was to make room for the hitch. This may be true for the OEM hitch but certainly has NOTHING to do with anything aftermarket. The Curt cross bar still sits in front of the hole, not inside it. Quite frankly I think something fishy is going on, and Land Rover won't admit it. There is NO reason why that hole should be there. If it's to make way for an OEM hitch, then the hole should be cut out during the installation. Regardless, I am glad to not have to see it anymore.
- there is a Curt sticker on the crossbar. It is easily peeled off. Be aware, though, that another sticker which is white (see picture) with the serial number is visible after installation. It is NOT removal friendly at all, esp. since most of it is inside the panel cut which is almost inaccessible. Make sure you have the installer remove the sticker first. I got around this by spraying Goo Gone up inside the slot, waiting 15 minutes, and then taking a flexible paint spatula and scraping it off. Came off pretty easily but before the idea hit me, I had considered bringing it back to the body shop, and have them remove the bumper so I could remove the sticker that way. Thankfully a trip was saved.
- all in all, glad to have done it. Thanks to all who posted picts of their experiences as well, which helped cement my decision. For me, it was paramount I still could use my hitch mount Thule bike rack, instead of resorting to roof rails and ruining the pano roof!!
- and yes, Cocteau Twins is my absolute favorite band of all time!

 

[namzaj]

Great to hear it worked out for you @jsyteng - that job looks pretty good. Do you think the body shop would do the install for me, since they already have experience with yours? Let me know if you can pass on some contact info, as I am in the area.

 

[jsyteng]

I'm sure they'd love to do the job for you:

ask for Kevin Brown at Brown Body and Paint in Maynard, MA

Phone number (978) 897-6697

 

[jsyteng]

with bike rack

 

[KevLR]

Hi J

 

[KevLR]

Hi jsyteng,
Did this CURT hitch work for you?

I see that you have a Disco with 3rd row seats; I am in the process of fitting this and have found that the hitch rests on the silencer/muffler boxes on both sides of the vehicle, which will not work.

Also I cannot refit the spare wheel below the car

How did you fitters get this to work?

Thanks,
KevLR

 

[KevLR]

CURT tRaioler hitch on a Disco Sport with 3rd seats

Anybody get this CURT hitch to work on a Discovery Sport with 3rd row seats?

I am in the process of fitting this and have found that the hitch rests on the silencer/muffler boxes on both sides of the vehicle, which will not work.

Also I cannot refit the spare wheel below the car

Anybody tried this successfully?

Thanks,
KevLR

 

[eastsacbrian]

If you have an HSE or Lux, than you have access to the side camera options that mine lacked ;(

Curious if this requires the harness + soft coding after you've installed the hitch or if it was included on the HSE + models.

BTW I have an SE with an OEM installed hitch + harness. I made the dealer include it in the lease since it's theres when I give it back

Harness is $161 if you don't want to cut and is a direct plug-in + works with the trailer brake harness under the dash.

 

[jsyteng]

I don't have the Disco with the 3rd row seats . . .so the hitch has worked out perfectly for me.

 

[DiscoDisco]

with bike rack

Very nice!

 

[agarabaghi]

what are you guys doing about electrical hooks up ? I bit the bullet and got the LR hitch and lighting from the dealer when i bought mine.