loose towbar?? bad or normal

[steve.zissou]

Hi Guys,

Thought i'd check befor heading to a towbar place.

My ute has a 1600 kg flat towbar fitted and it was a bit loose (3 years and 160,000kms) so i went to tighten it and the front bold tightened up about 1 turn but the rear on wont budge (i have a habit of snapping bolts when tightening them, so i mean it really wont budge).

as a result there is about 4-5 mm between the flat bar and the bracket it bolts onto which causes a bit of movement. is this normal?
I have had a lot of max loads on it (1600kg) and i am worried that it may have either elongated the bolt (load are always ballanced) or the bold has undone itself a bit and then seized due to the movement.

I just cant remember if its been that way since day one