Towing a caravan from Brisbane to Geelong.

[willem]

I just bought an off road caravan at Pickles Auctions in Brisbane, so I had to go and collect it. Went in the Disco Sport (2016 TD4 2.2 HSE). A Goldstream Sapphire. 16 foot, single axle, (actually independent suspension, with chassis mounted swingarms and leaf springs) about 1100 kgs unladen. Towed it back from Brisbane without difficulty.

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Very impressed with the Disco Sport's ability!

[PRicho]

I just bought an off road caravan at Pickles Auctions in Brisbane, so I had to go and collect it. Went in the Disco Sport (2016 TD4 2.2 HSE). A Goldstream Sapphire. 16 foot, single axle, (actually independent suspension, with chassis mounted swingarms and leaf springs) about 1100 kgs unladen. Towed it back from Brisbane without difficulty.


Hi Willem

Did you have any kind of weight distribution kit on the car? According to the manual it is not recommended, but I'm not sure why?

Thanks

Peter

[willem]

Hi Willem

Did you have any kind of weight distribution kit on the car? According to the manual it is not recommended, but I'm not sure why?

Thanks

Peter

G'day Peter,

No, just hitched it on the towbar and off we went. Since then I have put on a different tow hitch which lifts up the ball by about 80 mm. but the van towed neatly and wasn't a problem at all. But it's not a heavy van - tare is 1040 kgs, so well within the limits of the Disco's towing capacity.

[BobD]

G'day Peter,

No, just hitched it on the towbar and off we went. Since then I have put on a different tow hitch which lifts up the ball by about 80 mm. but the van towed neatly and wasn't a problem at all. But it's not a heavy van - tare is 1040 kgs, so well within the limits of the Disco's towing capacity.

Hi Willem. Glad to see that you have raised the hitch. Best to have the van level. I was hoping you weren't going to leave it like it was in the photo.

Did you fit a brake controller? I assume you would have fitted one for your old camper anyway.

[cripesamighty]

Peter, WDH's aren't recommended by Land Rover on their air suspension vehicles (D3/4, RRS, FFRR, etc). The cars sensors will fight the WDH and it won't be a pleasant ride. Best to get the weight distribution correct on the van and let the car do its magic.

[willem]

Hi Willem. Glad to see that you have raised the hitch. Best to have the van level. I was hoping you weren't going to leave it like it was in the photo.

Did you fit a brake controller? I assume you would have fitted one for your old camper anyway.

G'day Bob,

Yep, already had an electric brake controller fitted - see a previous post of mine.

BTW if you're not using the higher tow ball on the D3 it would be very useful for raising the height even more. I don't have air suspension to adjust it! I'm happy to pay for a standard height replacement plus postage.

[BobD]

Peter, WDH's aren't recommended by Land Rover on their air suspension vehicles (D3/4, RRS, FFRR, etc). The cars sensors will fight the WDH and it won't be a pleasant ride. Best to get the weight distribution correct on the van and let the car do its magic.

No air suspension on a DS!!

Still better not to have a WDH, especially when off road when it will just damage stuff due to the vertical articulation that occurs.

[cripesamighty]

Ah my bad, I was thinking RRS not DS. I was under the impression that Land Rover weren't keen on them at all on their vehicles though. Maybe give them a call and ask?

[PRicho]

Thanks everybody. i have asked the service guys at my dealer (Lance Dixon Melbourne) and they basically said the same thing. Even though no air suspension, they said the WDK can still play havoc with the various car sensors.

I am towing from Melbourne to Kangaroo Island in the next couple of weeks so will see how it all goes. May end up getting new rear suspension if required, maybe the Eibach lift springs that TB has spoken of in a different thread.
Cheers

Peter

[Mamil]

Had the first trip with my new caravan last weekend. It's 15.5ft long and weighs in at 1600kg fully laden, and made in Slovenia.

The DS coped very well with towing it. The maiden trip was 500km and we cruised at 100 km/h and got an average fuel consumption of 12 L/100km.

Looking forward to many more adventures with out European compact 4WD and caravan [bigsmile]

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