Thread: 1991 3 door Disco - Towing

The braked towing capacity is 3000kg. What are you planning on towing, as long as whatever it is has the weight appropriately distributed you'll be fine. That 150kg doesn't sound right, most balls are rated to 200 kg IIRC.

I actually thought the Disco 1 ball down force rate was 120kg not 150kg. It certainly was for both my Disco 1s.

Can be got around by using load levelling devices reducing the actual downforce on the ball.

Garry

The olde can of worms is ye opened again......

Yes in the book as Garry says mine also says 120kg BUT it depends on the hitch capacity and not the vehical.

The 120kg is for the standard LR tow hitch I would guess but im not really sure on that, maybe someone connected to LRA might be better there.

Hayman reese brought out a couple of hitches with different ratings for D1's I know for sure though,

a. light duty which is basically a bar bolted to the back of the chassis with a 2 bolt tongue.

b. Normal duty (as mine has fitted) 150kg ball weight and reciever hitch and mounted with 6 HT 1/2" bolts.

c. Heavy duty reciever hitch, Im not sure of the ball weight but I know that it had long chassis braces which bolted on both sides of the chassis (as I fitted one years ago.)these were generally fitted for people who wante to tow floats or large caravans or boats etc.
It looks the same from the back as the Normal duty but get under and you see it is the normal 6 bolts + another 4 to clamp the brackets to the chassis.

As stated before, if it is a well distributed load then the ball weight isnt all that significant, the maximum load on the ball is.

could've sworn mine was rated to 4000kg,,

Towed cars boats trailers vans, never used any devices.

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

could've sworn mine was rated to 4000kg,,

Towed cars boats trailers vans, never used any devices.

Possibly, Mine is Hayman Reese but there are other brands around in other states but most in Vic are HR.

That is the SWL, it will take a lot more, normally double that but the ball wont, the ball (50mm) will most likely only be rated at 4000kg and I have seen one break (a cheap one though) pulling a van that was around the 4.5 tonne mark but with a heavy ball weight (yes it was on me in My F350 and it was in Rowville and dug up a large chunk of road which cost me a bundle).

I have towed over 3000kg's with mine as well but if I had an accident then it would be on my head and wouldnt be covered due to 3000kg's being stamped in the bar.

Originally Posted by mcrover

The olde can of worms is ye opened again......

Yes in the book as Garry says mine also says 120kg BUT it depends on the hitch capacity and not the vehical.

The 120kg is for the standard LR tow hitch I would guess but im not really sure on that, maybe someone connected to LRA might be better there.

Hayman reese brought out a couple of hitches with different ratings for D1's I know for sure though,

a. light duty which is basically a bar bolted to the back of the chassis with a 2 bolt tongue.

b. Normal duty (as mine has fitted) 150kg ball weight and reciever hitch and mounted with 6 HT 1/2" bolts.

c. Heavy duty reciever hitch, Im not sure of the ball weight but I know that it had long chassis braces which bolted on both sides of the chassis (as I fitted one years ago.)these were generally fitted for people who wante to tow floats or large caravans or boats etc.
It looks the same from the back as the Normal duty but get under and you see it is the normal 6 bolts + another 4 to clamp the brackets to the chassis.

As stated before, if it is a well distributed load then the ball weight isnt all that significant, the maximum load on the ball is.

I am not sure your are correct. It is the manufacturer who determines the relevant ball weight and it is not related to a "landrover towbar".

The D1 has a designed down force of 120kg - this means that if you have a tow bar capable of 200kg downforce you are still limited to 120kg. Likewise if the bar had a rating of 100kg then you are limited to 100kg. I believe there is a way of getting the "rating" changed by an engineer but I am not sure how it is done.

Having said that I have towed cars where the ball weight would have been around 200kg which was the rating of my bar with no issues.

Garry

Originally Posted by garrycol

I am not sure your are correct. It is the manufacturer who determines the relevant ball weight and it is not related to a "landrover towbar".

The D1 has a designed down force of 120kg - this means that if you have a tow bar capable of 200kg downforce you are still limited to 120kg. Likewise if the bar had a rating of 100kg then you are limited to 100kg. I believe there is a way of getting the "rating" changed by an engineer but I am not sure how it is done.

Having said that I have towed cars where the ball weight would have been around 200kg which was the rating of my bar with no issues.

Garry

Hayman Reese towbars are engineered for the load that is stamped on the bar and are legal (I believe) to be used to that ball load when fitted correctly by an approoved fitter of which I was working for but that was 11 years ago so things could have changed but it was on brand new Disco's as well as GQ patrols, 80 series Landcruisers etc etc that I fitted bars to as well as heaps of other commertial stuff.

Im pretty sure that they would have covered all the engineering problems with changing the ball load from LR's specified.