Stillhere

[stillhere]

Hi all, New member to the forum. Am considering the purchase of a D4 2.7litre to tow a caravan up to 3 tonne.
Has anyone had any experience towing this weight with a D4/D3. 2.7 Would it struggle with this weight on board?
I'm sure the 3.0 litre diesel would eat it with its high torque figures but Oh so much more expensive.

[CaverD3]

The 2.7 is up to the task but you could always have a re-map. :D
Torque is over a broad band and is available in all gears (unlike the LC200)

3.0 is better but IMHO not necessary.

[roamer]

Hi Stillhere,
I have towed a van of similar weight with a D3 2.7 and it tows it OK,then remapped it with a BAS tuned to tow, and improved mileage by 1.75L\100km, more torque to pull up those long slight up hills ( over a 25,000 km trip)
Now have D4 3.0L pulls van effortlessly only done about 750km towing and 200k of them was gravel \off road, fuel about same as remapped (15L\100km)
Hence if you are going to tow alot of km's remap does pay for it's self.
Remapped does blow some smoke when you stcik it into it though,
Any combination will tow that wieght van with plenty to spare.,
u won't be dissapointed
Cheers Ken.

[discojools]

G'day stillhere,
Towed a boat well over 3 tons with my standard 2.7 absolutely no trouble with the weight. Owner of boat said it pulled much better than anything he had towed with including 4.2 td Landcruiser.

[peterpam]

Hi Stillhere,

I have been towing a 3 tonne caravan with a D3 for a couple of years now and I couldn't be happier. It goes up most hills quite easily and it's a pleaseure to drive. My only advice is to take Landrovers recommendation and do not use a leveling device as the car has this built in to it.

Regards

Peter

[stillhere]

Thanks for all your thoughts on capabilities of the D3/D4 2.7Litre towing 3 tonne etc.
Many vehicles that are rated to tow 3 tonne have ridiculously low max ball weight restrictions. As the ball weight rises the GVM must be reduced correspondingly.
Question- As the D3/D4 has a 3.5t tow capability and a maximum ball load of 350kg does the above scenario apply where the GVM has to be reduced as the ball weight creeps up to max. of 350kg. The generally accepted standard is that about 10% of the max. weight of the trailer/caravan should be on the tow ball.

Also can you enlighten me as to what remap entails. I assume it is a retune of the ecu with software upgrade?? What cost is involved in that?

[TDV6]

I agree with all the comments re capacity of 2.7TDV6 to tow a heavy van. there are few things that will stop it, just take it a bit slower, we recently went up the Toowoomba range (QLD) the old girl was working but not exclessivly so. Our van is a three ton off road job, which I usually stuff too many tools into, just because I may need that, so three tons is conservative.

You are right about the remap, there are two main types available that I am aware of, one is a software rewrite, which may be overwritten be an update by the dealer and the other is a plug in chip which can be removed prior to sale or visit to the dealer.

In another thread on chipping Tombie has suggested there is another alternative, I dont have any details on that.

Ryall

[CaverD3]

For the D3 the re-map is the best way to go.
They are hidden from dealer but can be overwritten with a software update though. If you get one installed installer should put it back for free. Or use the BAS box or faultmate and DIY.