D40 towbar mounts broken

I've got a 2006 D40 on which I have towed a jayco eagle rarely over the past 2years mainly on sealed roads last 2 trips covered approx 3000 kms all sealed roads
Half way home we stopped for some lunch when my son said what's wrong with the camper?
The towbar was hanging on by 2 bolts of the 6 the rear bolts had completely broken off the 2 middle were just hanging on and the front 2 were not to bad
Any one else with this issue??? Btw it's fitted with a factory bar
Going to ring Nissan tomorrow see what response I get.

Sounds like they haven't use 8.8 high tensile bolts to mount the thing.

Monkeys wielding spanners.

We've towed our van a LOT - over 30,000km in the 2.5 years we've had the Navara - I was under the back just the other day and all of the mounting bolts were solidly in place.

Hi Coski
We used to have a 2006 D40 which had the same problem. After a lot of hassles with Mr Nissan in which Fair trading bacame involved they offered to replace the towbar and reimburse us the cost of repairing the chassi rail where it had broken. The later bars were changed so that they could be bolted on through the sides as well as from underneath. I presume this modification was done due to the poor mounting of the earlier bars.

Have since sold the D40 because of other stress problems causing body cracks.

Cheers Dave

Sounds like the same bar as mine. They changed the design for later models to have support on the sides of the chassis rails as well as the bottom.
As Tony says sounds like crappy Nissan Bolts.
I know the kit came with bolts as I fitted my own bar

Bolts were locked up fine that's why 2 are still attached the towbar with a piece of the chassis.

I'd love to see photos of this.

coski said:

Bolts were locked up fine that's why 2 are still attached the towbar with a piece of the chassis.

Click to expand...

So to clarify, the bolts didn't shear or break, the chassis tore away?

I had to approve the post with the photo in it.

Wow. Just wow. It looks to me like a considerable amount of strain had been placed on the mount, drawing the rear downwards - like an excessive ball weight. The rust along the edge would imply that it's been cracked like that for some time too.

The factory bar pre 2010 used to just have the mounting bolts that you can see in the photo and no horizontal bracing which is why we had the Hayman Reese bar fitted (HR make the bar for Nissan, but before 2010 they supplied an inferior product for the Nissan label making their own label 'superior' - this labelling bullshit has ceased, thank goodness).

If you've only had this thing for two years and only towed a Jayco Eagle on sealed roads then I'd have to question what the previous owner towed with it, because that's where I'd guess the damage was caused.

When ours cracked (and we had the vehicle from new) we towed a camper trailer with a downball weight of only 103 kg. These bars were rated at up to 300kg download depending on vehicle load. Trailer all up only weighed 1100kg so was well within the specs. These weights were convirmed after we used N.T Transports weighbridge. I believe the problem was totally due to the fact that it was only bolted on from underneath with no side support. I dont believe it has anything to do with what has been towed as with the down rating being suffient and also the fact that the D40 is capable of towing 3000kg

Cheers

Look I have done some unsealed roads in the past but not that extreme
My jayco eagle was not overloaded or ever has been, only thing to add weight on the draw bar is an extra gas bottle.
It concerns me that my camper is small/light compared to some this could have ended far worse than it has.
Booked in to Nissan tomorrow see what happens next.....

Holy Shit ! I have towed my Golf very similar to the jayco all up through the NT , Made me go and have another look at mine !

yeah mine did the same thing 06 rx tore the chassis so i pulled it off repaired the chassis on both sides then welded a side brace on the tow bar and put two bolts through on either side been good ever since.

Update - had to get quotes on repairs and will go in on Monday for repairs.....see how it goes ?????

All fixed new towbar with 5 bolts per side in Place
Chassis reinforced plus towbar welded to chassis
Don't think it's going anywhere now!
Have to thank nissan for fixing it overall quite happy with outcome
But I do have to stress to everyone check your towbar mounts periodically I know I will and if you only have the three bolts per side holding your towbar I would upgrade to the new towbar with 5 bolts per side.