Towing

[Samblers]

Sorry to post such a simple/noob question… but as we know ‘all questions lead to enlightenment’...

We’re heading off with a camper trailer for a week. I’ve never towed anything, ever.

Any tips? Should I do anything with the tyre pressures front and rear? Driving style etc?

I have 2010 defender 110 with tow bar, 7-pin connector, Anderson plug. Trailer is a rented, ‘off-road’ trailer, gonna be visiting national parks mainly.

Cheers, Sam

[Mick_Marsh]

The only advice I can give is make sure the trailer is loaded correctly. It should have a fair bit of weight on the towball (10% gvm of trailer) to avoid the wobbles.
Oh, and drive carefully knowing that your vehicle is now a lot longer than it used to be.
Have a pleasant and safe trip.

[mike_ie]

Take it easy, and don't forget you have a trailer back there! Sounds silly maybe, but you wouldn't be the first who has forgotten they were towing, and pulled too tight round a corner. When taking a corner, remember to take it a bit wider than usual, and if you're not used to towing, try not to get into situations where you may need to reverse out of them.

[jasonedu]

i have no experience myself but my mate got a trailer and noticed that tracks that before he did not even need to think about he suddenly needed help. so be careful if you plan on taking it 4wding.

[Samblers]

Thanks guys.

I do not intend to take the trailer 4wd-ing but may of course need to access camping spots using off-road tracks.

How do I best judge if the trailer is loaded correctly? I guess it wants to be evenly loaded either side of the wheels with a slight bias toward the front?

Also the PO of my defender reduced the tyre pressures slightly from nameplate as he said it was less harsh over speedbumps around town etc., and i've left them that way - should I inflate them to the LR recommended pressures for, say, a moderate to fully loaded car??

Thanks for your help

[Mick_Marsh]

How do I best judge if the trailer is loaded correctly? I guess it wants to be evenly loaded either side of the wheels with a slight bias toward the front?
About 10% of the GVM should be on the ball. There are some that say 5%.
If the GVM of the trailer is 1000kg, about 100kg should be on the ball. I find it's a little bit of guesswork but you should get a good idea by looking at the car. The rear wheels should appear to be under a bit of load, not a lot (like bum dragging on the ground), and definitely not lifting.

[PAT303]

Mine tows better with 45psi in the rear,40 in the front,remember to brake earlier. Pat

[jimr1]

:) hi , I run my rear tyres at 38 and front at 35 psi on my 110. I'm sure you'll be ok . Make sure you've got a jack , plus a spare wheel for your trailer .Keep your eye on your rear mirrors . Don't forget to allow for the trailer when overtaking , have a great trip . jimr1 :)

[Samblers]

Good tips, thanks all.

I'll put a little air in the tyres i think...

[greenhornet]

Hi guys
Should he use 6th gear?
Have read some post to only use 5th?
Gav

[weeds]

Re: packing, you don't have a lot of options ESP being hire. If you can buy yourself or two of you can pick the front of the draw bar up than that's about right, if you cannot than move heavier item toward the back. If the kitchen is a swing out type off the tail gate than put your heaviest item above the axle and all should be good.

I run 40psi all round on the defer and 20psi on the trailer.....1200kg trailer un-braked shhhhh

[Blknight.aus]

double check your ability to change the trailer tyre.

correct jack type for the trailer
correct soccket/wheel brace, can you move the wheel nuts
does the jockey wheel or lifting device work all the way up and down
do you have a base plate and chocks for the trailer
does the spare ACUTALLY fit the stud pattern of the trailer?
does the jack/jockey wheel come off completely so you dont damage it or does it swing away?
If it swings away does it have a secondary restraint? does that work?

Did you take lots of photos of the trailer and all its gear BEFORE you take it anywhere, do those photos have a date time stamp?

have you waterproofed all your gear your going to put in it before you load it up (hire units normally leak like sieves.)

Are the wheel bearings actually sound? how about the lights? draw hitch bolts?

are the suspension bushings and bolts sound?

is the number plate adequately secured?

Does it have safety chains? do they reach your attachment points? are the shackles provided rated for the load they need to take?

is the trailers rego current, do you have the rego docket or proof of the trailers registration?

take it empty to a car park and have a play with the trailer on the flat, take a couple of shots at backing into parking spaces then play with the spaces near the kerbs.

practice the hook up and un hook procedur on the flat, then do it on a hill upways, downways and side ways..

DO you have a spotter?

Attempt none of the vehicle manouver things untill you have a spotter,

If you have a spotter, make sure you both know what you mean when one of you says or signals something, if you cant see your spotter, understand or hear the directions stop. Read that one twice.

IF you find you consistently cant see or hear the spotter buy a pair of .5w t ways carry spare batteries for them, they are going to become insanely usefull for you, how usefull? I have 8 of them.

From a 'all straight and forwards" position to start a normal trailer turning in reverse steer away from the direction you wish to turn then chase the trailer

DONT make big moves with the wheel in reverse for normal reversing, typically half a turn per turn of the road wheels is enough.

reverse in low range with the center diff open

DONT ride the clutch and rev the engine, if you need to go slower ride the brake and then the clutch if its threatening to stall out on you.

If you think you need to go faster you're wrong, reverse low at idle is plenty fast enough.

your stopping distance for normal driving has now increased by 50% miniimum if the trailer is unbraked and weighs 750kg, factor on it being 100% increase.

Dont be scared to ask for help on site, Theres plenty of toyota drivers that have got loads of experience from reversing their rides up on trailers behind their mates cars because their vehicle got broken.

Dont try jack turning your trailer till you can revrse normally and know intimately when the aframe or draw bar is about to hit the vehicle.

Check the spare tyre clearance over the tow hitch when its all hooked up and loaded.

Best of luck.

[JayBoRover]

I've been towing all sorts of trailers for many, many years and the most important thing to remember is keep your speed down when off-road or marginal/rough roads. Most camper trailer and small trailer accidents are because the trailer has flipped over either because that's how the speed wobble ended or because one wheel hit a hole/dip and then the trailer flipped over. Lower speed "before you even see the hole" is the key, as your slowing distance once you've seen the hole tends to be too far. The other most common demise of small trailers is a failed bearing resulting in a departed wheel. Large trailers is almost always overloading/poor weight distribution and speed. The common denominator is speed.

6'th gear is fine on bitumen flat roads with no real load on the drivetrain. Sitting on 100 or 110kph on the highway won't be too much of a problem - 100 better for fuel economy and license of course:nazilock:. Be prepared to notch it to 5'th at the slightest provocation to not stress the thin gear. Once on dirt or rough, I'd take it down to 5'th for cruising and take the speed down another notch.

Trailer towing really isn't a bother until things go pear shape. Prevent the pears shaping in the first place and you'll have no issues that some practice at reversing can't sort. Have a great trip:).

[Blknight.aus]

From memory in the fords both 5+6 are overdrive gears for maximum clutch and gearbox life overdrive gears should be avoided when trying to put high levels of torque to the ground.

remember that ball parking air resistance squares in proportion to speed, more air resistance requires more torque to overcome. you may find (depending on the trailers exact configuration) that you can go faster into a head wind than you can in a frontal quartering wind.

[justinc]

From memory in the fords both 5+6 are overdrive gears for maximum clutch and gearbox life overdrive gears should be avoided when trying to put high levels of torque to the ground.

remember that ball parking air resistance squares in proportion to speed, more air resistance requires more torque to overcome. you may find (depending on the trailers exact configuration) that you can go faster into a head wind than you can in a frontal quartering wind.

Totally correct there Dave, I have more drag on my CT behind the 110 from a quartering wind. Of course If I try and stoke it up to 110km/h then it is the frontal that takes the big hit:(

All above good advice there Samblers, most of all drive to the conditions, if in doubt SLOW DOWN. It'll save you on fuel, too if you stay below 100. I just did some towing/ touring down here with the trailer on and loaded, 11.9l/100 km and then 13.5l/100km for the 2nd tank. Second tank the vehicle got pushed a bit more down the east coast with a big wind, too. Not a Puma 110 though, so not much use those figures.

JC

[Samblers]

Again, thanks for the input, much appreciated - a lot of the above comments would not have occured to me.

The camper trailer is a nearly new Camprite (about $40k's worth) so i'm hoping that there'll be no issues regarding condition/ road-worthiness/ suitability of accessories/spares etc. But, i'll check.

Hadn't also realised speed limit reductions for towing vehicles existed :blush:

Glad i asked.

Also I checked LR handbook and recommended tyre pressures front/rear for towing are 35/65psi. 65 seems a high number... any thoughts? General Grabbers are ratedup to 83psi i note (but not for continuous usage)

Cheers, Sam

[JDNSW]

The 65 is probably intended to cover maximum towing weight, which is a lot higher than your camper trailer. But I doubt that running that high would have any adverse effect other than being a bit bumpy. And it is usually easier to let air out than add more once you are on the road. Why not start at the recommended figure and plan on reducing it by 5psi at a time if it is too rough?

John

[Samblers]

True. I'll try that

[Samblers]

Trip all done, Defender pulled like a tractor, v happy. Even reversing was a doddle. must be that Y chromosone :wasntme: (or do i mean X...?)

Cheers to everyone for their help

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