defender 2.2 towing

[beefy]

hi

over the last week I have been towing a large tandem axle trailer behind the fender. it weighted in at about 2.3t. I used 11.5lts per 100kms. it was very stable and I was quiet happy with the speed.

very impressed much better then the Nissan navara it replaced and much much better then the d2 td5.

[uninformed]

There is a whole lot more than engine power that goes into towing. Glad it went well for you, I wish my Tdi had the gearing of the Tdci

[quaddrive]

You must have been going slowly!!! Mine tows a similar weight but on a 300km run with max speed of 100km/h and some hills it uses 14.5l/100 average. Mine is a 2.4 2009

Cheers

[debruiser]

I'm going to tow a car trailer roughly 700kms all at 100km/hr so I'll let you know how I go fuel wise. I've towed a car before (was a series 3 Land rover) with my 2013 D90 it went pretty good; only went about 60kms with it + the D90 was only about 2000kms old and not worn in so the fuel consumption and performance wasn't accurate. Biggest thing was I don't think I had the wieght distribution right, too much weight on the back of the shorty.

Has anyone had this trouble? Going to tow a series 3 swb, would it be a good idea to load it backwards to get the wieght of the engine over the trailer axles? or just put it on forwards, just far enough to get the wieght looking about right?

[uninformed]

there is no correct answer as there is no one standard car trailer. I will say I have seen photos of a bad accident when a car was loaded backwards on a car trailer. It sent the tow vehicle into the **** due to poor weight distribution.

Draw length, and how the S3 will actually sit weight wise on the trailer will determine what you can do. There may be another reason you had some issues and id say it could be wheelbase and weight of the 90. Im sure plenty will chime in with 90s and say they have no problems what so ever towing 3t, but again it depends on the individual trailer and weight distribution.

[quaddrive]

Before I got my Puma 110 I had a TD5 90.

The 90 towed fine for me as long as I set it up right. I often towed 3t and up to 3.5t if needed. I always try to have minimal ball weight and often that needs a dropped tow hitch on the back of a defender. I have found that if it is a well set up trailer then I position the load to sit neutral on the trailer. Not all trailers are good however and I have towed with some that just were not able to be set up well with regards to axle position relative to draw bar and overall deck.

The 90 will be a bit pitchy with a car trailer due to its short length but a bit of time spent loading the trailer well and the right height hitch make all the difference.

[beefy]

You must have been going slowly!!! Mine tows a similar weight but on a 300km run with max speed of 100km/h and some hills it uses 14.5l/100 average. Mine is a 2.4 2009

Cheers

I sat at 100 or the speed limit. I drive road trains so towing at speed is not a problem.

[quaddrive]

All I was getting at is that fact that most Pumas are lucky to get 11.5 unloaded and not towing so I was sceptical of getting that towing 2.3t is all.


Thanks

[Tikka7mm08]

My 2.4 Puma 90 tows the boat unbelievably better than what my 2007 Hilux SR5 double-cab 3.0TD chipped did. On the Hilux the single axle trailer would become scary at anything over 90 km/h. The Puma can go over 100km/h. The 6th gear really makes a difference too and fuel wise a lot better than the 'lux which was always hunting for top gear as an auto.

[uninformed]

My 2.4 Puma 90 tows the boat unbelievably better than what my 2007 Hilux SR5 double-cab 3.0TD chipped did. On the Hilux the single axle trailer would become scary at anything over 90 km/h. The Puma can go over 100km/h. The 6th gear really makes a difference too and fuel wise a lot better than the 'lux which was always hunting for top gear as an auto.

please explain what you mean by scarry? Where both attached via standard ball?

[quaddrive]

All I can say is the importance of correct ball height is critical.

I have a mate that had a navara that 'towed the boat terribly'.

We weighed the ball load one day and looked at a neutral position for the trailer, I got him an adjustable hitch to lower the ball and the towing was transformed.

My defender with the standard 50mm step down reese hitch was terrible to tow one particular work trailer(my car is lifted and has 255/85 tyres)
Added a 150mm dropped hitch and perfect... dont even know the trailer is there now.

Think of it like this. Towing a tandem trailer with a hitch too high or low makes the front or rear trailer axle wheels light or off the ground, this increases ball load and pitching and also promotes sway in the trailer.

Cheers

[beefy]

I get 10.5 with mine normally. I have a shell card and it gives me a read out on each statement. I don't rush my defender and drive only on torque so I very rarely go over 2200 rpm. a mate has one and he can't get below 11.

the puma is almost as good as the td5 on fuel.

[ATH]

Our Puma does around 10 - 10.5 unladen and 13/100 when pulling the van which loaded with the Cooks cooking/cleaning gear probably weighs 1.75t.
Tows it better than the 3ltr Prado did and I put that down to a better spread of gears.
AlanH.

[quaddrive]

Thanks for the clarification Beefy. You do drive slowly:D and keeping it below 2200rpm must cause you to hold up traffic a lot.

If I drive at that sort of rate then I return 11l/100km. Usual driving to keep up with traffic and general mix of highway and 60 zones gives me 11.9/100.

Driving the same way as I usually do my old TD5 would give me 9.5l/100.

[uninformed]

All I can say is the importance of correct ball height is critical.

I have a mate that had a navara that 'towed the boat terribly'.

We weighed the ball load one day and looked at a neutral position for the trailer, I got him an adjustable hitch to lower the ball and the towing was transformed.

My defender with the standard 50mm step down reese hitch was terrible to tow one particular work trailer(my car is lifted and has 255/85 tyres)
Added a 150mm dropped hitch and perfect... dont even know the trailer is there now.

Think of it like this. Towing a tandem trailer with a hitch too high or low makes the front or rear trailer axle wheels light or off the ground, this increases ball load and pitching and also promotes sway in the trailer.

Cheers

if you can not adjust the ball height, similar can be achieved with weight distribution on the trailer. Sometimes you cant do that either....

Saying a hilux tows crap and a 90 excellent can be missleading when there are so many variables. Im sure the toyota could have been set up better for that given trailer.

Power is power and only helps accerlation and speed.

Wheelbase, COG, weight (total, front/rear) distance from tow ball to rear axle, etc all affect the perfromance of the tow vehicle.

[beefy]

I don't drive slow I keep up with the traffic. and driving it well helps. my td5 has 460k never had the head off and nothing but a starter and radiator. and the radiator was my fault.

[uninformed]

ive never driven a td5 or Tdci, but I feel that if I changed from 3rd to 4th at only 2200 rpm while towing in my 2.8tgv (Tdi), that it would bog down so bad I would be forced to drop back to 3rd. I guess that is one of the positives of modern technology.

[quaddrive]

Hi Uninformed,

I have had both and you are correct. The TDCi is better but towing anything over 1 tonne and on anything other than flat roads changes at or around the 2000rmp mark lead to only one thing.... loss of speed and bogging down and then a down change again. The cubic capacity is not there and the boost on the turbo is not either.

I have had both motors and the on the TD5 after 70000km I had it chipped and other bits done an then it would hold 3t uphill easy without the need to change that was driven hard and had no issues at all and was sold at 300k to make way for the 110.

Thanks Beefy
The traffic must be mighty slow armadale way Beefy as driving anywhere north of the river the TDCi is no where near brisk and to keep up with traffic needs more speed than your style would offer

Cheers

Giles

[debruiser]

Ok, so i filled up from Wednesday's drive. 710kms on 105L. So that would be.... 14.8L/100kms. That was 1/2 towing an empty car trailer into a significant head wind and the other 1/2 towing same trailer with a 75 series 3 swb on, and a swb roof strapped to the roof of the D90 BUT I was going with the wind then.

Break down is
1st half (empty trailer with headwind) 13.8L/100kms
2nd half (loaded) 15.7L/100km.

Didn't exceed 100km/hr. Mostly sat around the 95-100 range and didn't push too hard up any hills.