tow vehicle

[harry w]

hi all
i am serious considering buying the latest defender as a caravan tow vehicle after a test drive. being totally new to the brand hoping to get some insight to help guide me.

[one_iota]

Welcome!

This might be helpful:

Land Rover Defender - Highway Towing Test & Weigh-In - YouTube (https://youtu.be/dkuRR_c2nZI)

[Summiitt]

Hi Mate, Ive got a D250 90. I towed a car down Mnt Ousley to Wollongong and back up to the Snowy Mountains yesterday, about 2.2ton all up, with torrential rain on the coast, it did about 650km round trip in the day and was very impressed with the vehicle, it held firm, handled the load really well, braking was fantastic and I returned 11.4l/100 which is great. I was never looking for more power and it held the speed limit up the mountains with no fuss. The D250 is a sensational engine, There is something about a straight 6 diesel for torque. Ive done a lot of towing with Defenders and Range rovers, and this new Defender is equal to the Rangie in handling a decent trailer weight, only downfall in comparison to the Rangie is it cant beat the 4.4TD V8 for straight out torque and power.

[discomatt69]

I would be checking axle limits very closely, the rear axle is very easily overloaded from what I have seen

[grey_ghost]

I would be checking axle limits very closely, the rear axle is very easily overloaded from what I have seen

I think that is true of any modern 4WD. Someone recently asked a question about upgrading the GVM on a D3.. [emoji15]

[discomatt69]

It is true all 4wds can be very easily overloaded, most can also have a simple GVM upgrade to reduce legal risk and liability , sadly not really possible with LR's

[Tombie]

It is true all 4wds can be very easily overloaded, most can also have a simple GVM upgrade to reduce legal risk and liability , sadly not really possible with LR's

Possible on D4 [emoji41] not on Monocoque Defender though.

[scarry]

Possible on D4 [emoji41]

Has that ever been done on a D3/4,in Aus?

[discomatt69]

Has that ever been done on a D3/4,in Aus?

Probably not, when I looked into it there was no easy solution, yes in theory it can be done but when you get stone walled on getting details and parts lists its much easier to walk away and do any other manufactured 4wd

[Summiitt]

Possible on D4 [emoji41] not on Monocoque Defender though.

It still blows me away with the size of the vans and the amount of crap that 2 people need to travel, personally Id be looking at culling a large part of the gear list which adds to weight, or go to a better suited vehicle. These are largely passenger vehicles(yes even the dual cab Utes)-not trucks, and are not built to be loaded at GCM

[scarry]

Probably not, when I looked into it there was no easy solution, yes in theory it can be done but when you get stone walled on getting details and parts lists its much easier to walk away and do any other manufactured 4wd

There is an armoured model,but getting those parts,etc,is probably not economical anyway.
Someone on here looked into it once,it may have been Tombie.

Most of the lower GVM upgrades,that are the most common are just new coils and shocks,plus the paperwork,plates,etc.
The higher ones also have axle strengthening,different wheels,etc.
I don’t know how you uprate an air strut?
Do they have a rating?
They must I suppose.

All Land Rovers from D5 years onwards,can’t be legally done anyway,except maybe in the US.

Some are also a bit light on to be towing the big weights.I see a few on the forums have replaced D5 with RAM,or gone back to LC200 as they tow the big weights better.

The golden rule is not to tow anything heavier than the tow vehicle if possible.
That’s where a lot of lighter duty dual cab owners get into trouble.

[Odysseyman]

Check this out -
3500kg tow wagons - what can they really tow? - YouTube (https://youtu.be/Xy1OBULKKwk)

[Odysseyman]

Sorry, posted twice.

[sharmy]

It still blows me away with the size of the vans and the amount of crap that 2 people need to travel, personally Id be looking at culling a large part of the gear list which adds to weight, or go to a better suited vehicle. These are largely passenger vehicles(yes even the dual cab Utes)-not trucks, and are not built to be loaded at GCM


Culling a large part of the gear WOW---You have to talk to my missus.

[Piddler]

Observed a very nice dark coloured Defender in Mission Beach today arriving at a caravan park. Towing a black large dual axle van. Both were pretty nice.

[Eric SDV6SE]

Thats why I chose the Carpathian Grey metallic, I've had white cars for the past 15 years, time for a change.

[zilch]

We had our MY20.5 weighed last year in preparation for our lap around Oz which was due to start
in March, but we had to delay our trip by a year and decided to sell our off road caravan.
However this week we have the green light to proceed so we will likely purchase a Zone to do the
12-18 months on the road.. Based upon the weight check last year we should easily come within limits
for the axles, GVM and GCM. Our details were as follows

P400 110 weight was 2780kg loaded but without the van attached, giving us 470kg to spare.
Vehicle had 3rd row seats, 2 adults, expedition rack with max trax, awning, ladder, side steps, RAI,
front protection plate, rear recovery loops, full tank of petrol, cargo area loaded with tools and recovery
gear. The vehicle is fitted with the e-diff which adds a fair bit of weight, but 7 seats gives you 1900kg
allowance on the rear axle.

rear axle came in at 1420kg before the van was attached, so 480kg load avail on the rear axle,
aiming for a van of 3200kg max should equal a TBW of 300kg, that will be about 405kg (1:35 ratio)
additional weight.. so some spare and within limit, GCM would be approx 6300kg vs 6750kg allowance.

the plan is to minimise load in the Defender and just store what we need in the van

[zilch]

Found an old picture of our first Zone off road van with the Defender, which handled it easily from a tow perspective. 7 seaters have that little bit more of an advantage with 1900kg available for the rear axle load.
Our new Zone is due in Feb, the Defender will be putting quite a few 1000+ k’s towing the new one around Oz

180088