Puma--what can it really tow

[kenleyfred]

Dare I admit this on an open forum. Having enjoyed our last 3 camping trips in the pouring rain we are seriously considering a full caravan. No canvas whatsoever.
Although rated to 3500kg our Puma can really feel our 750kg (no brakes so it doesn't weigh anymore:angel:) Open roads no problems but put a hill in the way and we slow up considerably. Before anyone says. I do use the gears and don't try climb in 6th.
What weights are you Puma drivers towing, and how does the Puma handle it.
At the moment I am considering that 2500kg would probably be the limit.

Kenley

[dullbird]

we pulled our Aussie swag no issues what so ever and I think thats over the 750kg...

it also pulled my discovery on a trailer 80k doing 80kph without breaking a sweat however it did feel the long hill out of picton and I think pulled at around 50 but it was pulling 3 ton. we were very happy with its performance

Would this make you feel better

YouTube- Land Rover Defender Towing a 12 Tonne Truck.

[KarlB]

I had forgotten about that video Dullbird, it really is an amazing performance:o. I would really like to know what the hitch set-up is on the back of the D90.

[kenleyfred]

Thanks Lou, Quite impressive, but we've all seen a VW Toureg tow a 747. Seriously though, thats what I thought, will tow anything, just slowly. Not really wanting to slow traffic up to much. But if you were hitting 80 with 3 tonnes thats not to bad. But we do have a lot of hills around and having to do big distances at 50km/h.
Lack of set up time will compensate for getting there slower. Will the little engine survive extended towing?

Kenley

[dullbird]

Thanks Lou, Quite impressive,
but we've all seen a VW Toureg tow a 747. Seriously though, thats what I thought, will tow anything, just slowly. Not really wanting to slow traffic up to much. But if you were hitting 80 with 3 tonnes thats not to bad. But we do have a lot of hills around and having to do big distances at 50km/h.
Lack of set up time will compensate for getting there slower. Will the little engine survive extended towing?

Kenley

yes we have all seen the tourag pull a 747...however it had the equivlant weight of a landrover in the back of concrete to be able to tow that weight...and to have that much weight in the car takes real modification with suspension setup etc....mmmmm not quite so impressive now is it;)


Will the little engine survive extended towing?This I dont know......but can let you know at the end of next year...
However defenders have never had any probs extended towing before and this probably apart from the isuzu is their torqueist engine so I don't see what the problem would be

but like I said we pulled a heavier weight then you back from melbourne and it did it effortlessly

[Blknight.aus]

From my experience

a 3.9v8 disco will push back 13.5T worth of articulated trailer. (back of the napkin math says it wont) on flat ground

the td5 deefer will pull 22T worth of truck and trailer. (back of the napkin math says it might just about do 25)

The napkin math says the puma should just about do 30t worth the video of a 13t truck is the only thing Ive seen that goes to the limit

however all of this is totally irrelivent.

as of about 2002ish you can tow 3.5T. with a stock setup in australia.

[dmdigital]

Unladen our Kimberley Kamper weighs 1.2t. Loaded its up around 1.5t. Add to that the gear in the vehicle as well which was a few hundred kilos more weight and we took that right around Australia last year.

The best gear on the open road is 5th not 6th when towing and a sensible speed of 80kph. On a good flat section you'll find you will go to 6th and if you push it you can certainly do over 100kph towing. Off road the gearing and anti-stall make it fantastic.

It will even tow 1.5t with a blown intercooler hose! Though it doesn't do it very fast, especially up hills:(

[Scallops]

JohnR pulled half of Redhill with him to Nth Qld and back in his - I'm sure he'll advice it wasn't until Laura that he remembered the trailer was even on! ;)

PS - run the engine in mate - she'll be apples.

[dmdigital]

PS - run the engine in mate - she'll be apples.
Yes we did that... we drove it from Port Melbourne to Mooroolbark then to Sunshine and hooked up our Kimberley Kamper and drove it back to Gove. All within 8 days (4500km) from new.

[Scallops]

Yes we did that... we drove it from Port Melbourne to Mooroolbark then to Sunshine and hooked up our Kimberley Kamper and drove it back to Gove. All within 8 days (4500km) from new.

Yeah - but I reckon an engine runs in for max "breathability" over more than 5 times that mileage though. I reckon fredrick will discover that.

[scarry]

Yeah - I reckon an engine runs in for max "breathability" over more than 5 times that mileage though. I reckon fredrick will discover that.

Td5's were much better once they had done around 20K

My son has pulled a trailer with a mazda race car on it a good few times with his Puma with no problems..........

[stevencam]

The best gear on the open road is 5th not 6th when towing and a sensible speed of 80kph. On a good flat section you'll find you will go to 6th and if you push it you can certainly do over 100kph towing. Off road the gearing and anti-stall make it fantastic.

:(

I agree that 5th gear is best for towing, Im regulary towing 3t plus, but blow 80 kph, no problems sitting on 100 on flat going still under 3000rpm and humming along nicely. If a hill was steep enough to reduce speed below 70/80 kph then it probably not safe to go faster regardless of how much power you have, you still have to be able to stop and negogiate corners and in this regard the defender is the best of any vehicle I have driven.

[JohnR]

Yup as Scollops said to the cape and back no dramas. I didn''t get a chance to go over a weigh bridge but I m guessing around at least 1.5T. I was easily able to cruise at 120kph, dropping back to 5th and 100kph for hills.

I'd be a little concerned if you feel it's labouring at 750kg's ??? Might be worth while getting it on a dyno?

Cheers,

[WD 130]

Defender seems to tow this boat alright fuel economy goes to 21L/100 K but our F250 does the same thing at 27L/100K. We can do the speed limit at 100kmh on the flats and slows a little on hills, sometimes have to go back to 4th but 5th is fine most of the time. Stability is the main issue as with a cross wind it does make it a little unstable, this is where the F250 shines as it wieghs 3.5 ton itself. The boat weighs 3.5ton dry is 2.8 m wide and overall 9m long, certainly gets a few looks being towed buy a Defender:)23974

[camel_landy]

I had forgotten about that video Dullbird, it really is an amazing performance:o. I would really like to know what the hitch set-up is on the back of the D90.

It's a 5 tonne dixon bate jaw.

It uses 4x bolts through the rear cross member.

M

[stig0000]

thats one hell of a tinny:D:D
and to you have to have long vehicle sign on it :o

[Disco44]

Defender seems to tow this boat alright fuel economy goes to 21L/100 K but our F250 does the same thing at 27L/100K. We can do the speed limit at 100kmh on the flats and slows a little on hills, sometimes have to go back to 4th but 5th is fine most of the time. Stability is the main issue as with a cross wind it does make it a little unstable, this is where the F250 shines as it wieghs 3.5 ton itself. The boat weighs 3.5ton dry is 2.8 m wide and overall 9m long, certainly gets a few looks being towed buy a Defender:)23974

Bloody nice set up Mate.

[KarlB]

G'day camel_landy

Others have intimated that the rear cross member (on 2007+ Defenders and as used in the video) is not strong enough for towing/recovery without tying back to the chassis rails. Is the use of a substantial backing plate enough sufficient to strengthen the rear cross member? :unsure:

Cheers
KarlB
Canberra

[KarlB]

Further to my earlier comment/question, I have just had a look under the rear of my 2010 D90 and you can't even access the back (ie front facing) of the rear cross member without removing the bashplate for the plastic fuel tank and that looks like it would be problematic and may require the fuel tank to be removed first (via the floor)! Can recall exactly what the rear cross member of a D110 looks like from the outside (ie the rear) but what the D90 has is a series of holes with 'nuts' welded or fixed in some other way (4 small above two large).:eek:

[dullbird]

I think the 4 small holes will what be get used when fitting the land rover tow bar to the back as a plate bolts to the front of the cross member as well as the tow bar going back to the chassis rails

[NQExplorers]

We tow a Jayco Eagle Outback camper with ours (around 1.2t fully loaded). Ball load (Ive actually weighed it) fully loaded is 150kg. Puma hardly even moves when you hitch it up and towing is no problem with the back full of gear. You know its there of course but does it easily. Our last truck was a 3.4 V6 Prado with the same camper and the hills would still pull you up even with that engine plus fuel consumption went through the roof, although we had 159 litres to play with. The issue with the full van is more than weight - its pulling that massive frontal area into a 30kt headwind that will test any tow vehicle.

[kenleyfred]

Thanks for all the replies, looks like we will go ahead with it. Be slow perhaps on hills, but certainly capable.
Kenley

[P38ace]

If you still have any doubts about towing ability have a look at this... :D

Car Ad: Detailed Item View (http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/showDetails.html?lang=en&id=121956315&pageNumber=6&scopeId=C&sortOption.sortBy=searchNetGrossPrice&sortOption.sortOrder=ASCENDING&makeModelVariant1.makeId=14800&makeModelVariant1.modelId=2&makeModelVariant1.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariant2.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariant3.searchInFreetext=false&vehicleCategory=Car&segment=Car&minFirstRegistrationDate=2010-01-01&siteId=GERMANY&damageUnrepaired=ALSO_DAMAGE_UNREPAIRED&export=ALSO_EXPORT&customerIdsAsString=&doorCount=FOUR_OR_FIVE&tabNumber=2)

Not sure about the approach angle though ! :eek: