Thread: More towing confusion and legalities.

First, I would do is check what a P plater can tow. Here in NSW there are restrictions.
Most towbars on a D1 are rated to 3500kg. That is 3500kg braked, 750kg unbraked. If you're unsure of the hitch, replace it with a rated one. I am not sure I'd want to tow that much behind a 300 Tdi, most I ever did with mine when I had it was somewhere between 2000 and 2500, towing a car trailer with my brothers Skyline wagon on it

On my Disco1 it can tow 4000kg and a max ball weight of 150kg. It has a proper heavy duty square hitch receiver

Towing works on the lowest rated part though (including the trailer and its components), and a standard 50mm ball is rated to tow 3500kg max

Originally Posted by Nathan Bradley

.....

I don't know if its a factory tow bar or anything as its obviously not a factory tongue.

I'm on my p plates so I cant afford to take any major risks (mostly). So I just need details I can use as a guide and details to hand to whoever pulls me over for towing something heavy.

P.S Some of the trailers I intend on using have the flexible pin and lock type and separately Polly block type off-road couplers so I wont always be using a standard ball if that makes any difference.

Thanks in advance!

Nathan

According to SA gov, there's no restriction for p platers on towing

Can I tow a trailer, caravan or boat on my L's or P's?
If your permit or licence was issued in South Australia, you may drive a vehicle of no more than 4.5 tonne and tow a trailer, caravan, boat or horse float as SA does not restrict learner's permit or provisional licence drivers from towing such vehicles.

Owners manual says that the D1 has a max towing weight of 3490kg(seriously!) for the trailer and as already said 150kg max tow ball weight. Also note that the maximum hitch length allowed is also specified at 229mm(from the hitch pin) and tow ball weight is affected by hitch length.

Also noted in the handbook is a specific off road tow limit of 995kg.
Doesn't list any limit in low range .. so it's a general off road tow limit.
Unbraked trailer max is listed at 750kg both on and off road. This is the strange part.

This could be important for example insurance purposes .. I'm not a lawyer, just speculating.

Note also that just stating the weight limits isn't helpful either, you need to know what maximum combination you can legally drive.

Some car makers specify a maximum combination mass that a model is allowed to tow.
That is some a particular vehicle can tow a max of 3500 kg, but the max GCM(combo max!) may only be 6000kg. So if the tow vehicle is at max weight(GVM), eg, 2800kg, 6000-2800 = 3200kg ... NOT! 3500kg.

This is something to be mindful of. Good to know max trailer weight, but more important to know maximum GCM if you plan on towing such heavy loads.
GCM isn't specified in the owners book in a D1, so you have to assume it will be GVM(2720) + max trailer weight(3490).

Doesn't really matter if towbar or hitch is genuine LR parts, LR don't make the genuine ones anyhow! ... more important is as long it's not some home made bodge job. If it looks dodgy(or wayy too long) should be easy enough to find one at your local pick-a-part type wrecker for cheap.

FYI

D1Tow1.jpg D1Tow2.jpg

As previously stated, towing at the max is not advisable (in any passenger type vehicle). My opinion is 3000kg for a 300Tdi D1, tops.
I did once move a 4 tonne-ish boat from the hard to the briney, via a ramp, with no issues.

Originally Posted by AK83

According to SA gov, there's no restriction for p platers on towing



Owners manual says that the D1 has a max towing weight of 3490kg(seriously!) for the trailer and as already said 150kg max tow ball weight. Also note that the maximum hitch length allowed is also specified at 229mm(from the hitch pin) and tow ball weight is affected by hitch length.

Also noted in the handbook is a specific off road tow limit of 995kg.
Doesn't list any limit in low range .. so it's a general off road tow limit.
Unbraked trailer max is listed at 750kg both on and off road. This is the strange part.

This could be important for example insurance purposes .. I'm not a lawyer, just speculating.

Note also that just stating the weight limits isn't helpful either, you need to know what maximum combination you can legally drive.

Some car makers specify a maximum combination mass that a model is allowed to tow.
That is some a particular vehicle can tow a max of 3500 kg, but the max GCM(combo max!) may only be 6000kg. So if the tow vehicle is at max weight(GVM), eg, 2800kg, 6000-2800 = 3200kg ... NOT! 3500kg.

This is something to be mindful of. Good to know max trailer weight, but more important to know maximum GCM if you plan on towing such heavy loads.
GCM isn't specified in the owners book in a D1, so you have to assume it will be GVM(2720) + max trailer weight(3490).

Doesn't really matter if towbar or hitch is genuine LR parts, LR don't make the genuine ones anyhow! ... more important is as long it's not some home made bodge job. If it looks dodgy(or wayy too long) should be easy enough to find one at your local pick-a-part type wrecker for cheap.

My first D1, a 1991 v8 3 door said it was rated to 4000kg, but then I replaced it with an update 1994 v8, which was rated to 3500kg as was my 1996 300tdi. No one spoke of GCM in those days, so I doubt there would be a figure

I was under the impression that it was 4000kg without ABS, 3500kg with ABS.
I have nothing I particular to back it up.

Tony

Cheers everyone for the reply's

I was aware there were not any particular restrictions for p-platers however I would hate to be doing something too dodgey because the cops in my local area seem to pull over every 4WD with P plates (:

But this still seems weird that so many people say 3.5 ton and so many others say 4. Not that I really plan on towing anything that heavy but I may occasionally need to move one of my GQ patrols on the car trailer until I can afford to get them to drive themselves. If the official specs aren't anywhere physically on the vehicle and only in the manuals Its extra difficult to be certain and more to the point, confident if anyone of authority asks.

Thankyou Saitch for those photos, are the from official documents and if so where could I obtain them. I am planning on doing a trip down to U-Pulit In Adelaide this weekend (to try and find a head and a uni-joint model driveshaft) so I will see if I can find a owners manual in one of the cars down there. Assuming that is what the photos are taken from. (still want an owners manual anyway.)

And Ak83 Thankyou for the long response I have been very pleasantly surprised by how helpful people seem to be on this forum.

P.S. slight side topic but if anyone reading this knows what I should expect 0-100kmph on 31s (warn 265/75 r16) it would be appreciated. Currently getting 32 seconds but that could be because of the munted and cracked piston and the slightly bent/ no-longer sealing valve I found when I took the head (I accidently overheated and warped) off.
P.P.S. the piston crack must be from before my time and has gone un noticed, in-fact clearly all exhaust valves touched but one with a lot more force than the others. But I changed the timing belt a week before cooking and it is still in good nick, and the old one I took off was still in correct time so the piston-valve kissing must have been a while ago. Kind of lucky I warped the head and discovered the cracked piston before something to catastrophic happened IMO.

Ok that's my rant over.
Cheers

Nathan

Originally Posted by TonyC

I was under the impression that it was 4000kg without ABS, 3500kg with ABS.
I have nothing I particular to back it up.

Tony

Yes I had heard the same and mine is a non-abs model.