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Thread: Towing questions

  1. #1
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    Towing questions

    Hi F2 world, I am coming from RRC and L322TDV8 world. I have had classics for about 25 years and a fling with an 07 TDV8, which I lost to a deep creek crossing, the tears are still there.
    I am looking at LR alternatives at present, RRS, L322 and a Freelander 2, opposite ends of the scale…..
    My question…. How does the SD4 handle towing a van? We dont need a huge 3.5t behemoth, just enough for 2 people to get around this amazing country. What are your thoughts on long term touring with a F2, including some outback tracks etc?
    Any information will be appreciated.
    TIA,Phil.

  2. #2
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    LGM is offline Master Silver Subscriber
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    Towing with the runt of the litter......

    Hi bikeman,
    I read your post with interest and it started me wondering, just a little, about using our 2014 2.2L diesel Freelander 2 for towing a van.

    We have a D4 3.0L which we use as our tow tug. It does a mighty job towing our 3.2t van.

    The only towing we have done with our 2014 2.2 diesel Freelander is really with a loaded tandem trailer to our major regional centre for hardware items. Its a 120km km highway round trip that the Freelander has proven to have ample grunt for what I reckon is around an 1800kg payload. It does not seem to fussed with the load on the rear and runs smoothly. That said I would not want to run it with a full towing load. Which from memory is 2t.

    Forgive me if I am wrong with this figure but I don't feel like a walk to the shed to get the manual out.

    My view is it would be fine for a camper trailer or small van that are below the allowable towing limits for the vehicle. Equally Our Freelander2 is at quite at home on tracks, quite surprising when we first got it, but in fairness it's not meant for the real rough stuff.

    if your picking a vehicle for rough stuff and a good payload in towing then the D4 would, in my opinion, be a better pick. Mind you, if we still had our TVan I think the Freelander would have handled it quite well!

    Strange thing is despite having a Caravan with all the goodies both myself and SWMBO miss the camper trailer!

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    Hi we have a 20011 facelift model diesel LX i.e lower powered engine, and a Jayco slightly off road modified 13' starcraft, which would weigh ~ 1300kg fully loaded. have towed quite extensively over past few years, even on out back roads and the Freo does it easily. Some of our favourite places are the deserts in northern Victoria and have towed it along the sandy 4wd tracks in them, again with no issues.

  4. #4
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    Towing with D5 SD4

    Check out my NWGG post at Getting an SD4.

    I tow a large van that weighs less than 3000kg loaded. Car tows the van with ease. We have done Clyde mountain, brown mountain and all of Tasmania including a challenging roadworks detour ( single lane dirt - 4 wheel drive in the rain) with no problem whatsoever. The suspension raise/lower buttons located near the rear hatch make hitching a breeze. I have also found low range gearing excellent for reversing.

  5. #5
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    I don't own a FL2, but given that the SD4 has the same power and almost the same torque as my D3 TDV6 (but weighing a lot less), by those numbers it should tow just fine. During the FL2's model run, it was considered to be the most capable soft roader on the market. As for touring with a FL2, some plucky fellows on AULRO several years ago took two across the Simpson desert, with only a few issues. There is also the option of putting in a 2" lift, which combined with the terrain response fitted vehicles makes for a very capable tourer. For the more remote stuff (ie challenging, rough stuff) you may need a dedicated 4WD vehicle, but I would first check out the AULRO trip reports section to see how they handled the Simpson and get an idea of what it feasible. Good luck with it.
    Life is just a series of obstacles preventing you from taking a nap.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by bikeman View Post
    Hi F2 world, I am coming from RRC and L322TDV8 world. I have had classics for about 25 years and a fling with an 07 TDV8, which I lost to a deep creek crossing, the tears are still there.
    I am looking at LR alternatives at present, RRS, L322 and a Freelander 2, opposite ends of the scale…..
    My question…. How does the SD4 handle towing a van? We dont need a huge 3.5t behemoth, just enough for 2 people to get around this amazing country. What are your thoughts on long term touring with a F2, including some outback tracks etc?
    Any information will be appreciated.
    TIA,Phil.
    Hi this reply might be a little late but I tow our 18 foot tandem axle caravan with our fl2 diesel. It weighs about 1800kg fully loaded including water but I don’t usually have full water tanks when towing. It tows pretty much effortlessly and I feel very comfortable doing so. I just let the car do its thing and basically just steer it.

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