Thread: Towing

I would think your original tow bar is rated to 3500kg, braked. But check the restriction label that ought to be stuck on it somewhere.

Not sure what you mean by getting it chipped for hills, sorry.

You can use cruise control for towing on straight or even roads, say on the motorway, but it is not a good idea if you are going over uneven or hilly terrain. The cruise control will get itself confused and brake/accelerate at the wrong times (tested that one out with the boat on the back, weighs just under 3 tonnes).

You shouldn't need a transmission cooler with that weight, unless you are driving in 2nd everywhere.

Is the caravan braked?

Whether or not you need a load levelling system depends on the weight on the tow ball. From my experience, for any real van you should go that way. There is nothing wrong with the Land Rover tow bar, and the only reason why you should change it is if the size/shape is incompatible with the load levelling system that you want to fit.

Originally Posted by Grumndriva

Whether or not you need a load levelling system depends on the weight on the tow ball. From my experience, for any real van you should go that way. There is nothing wrong with the Land Rover tow bar, and the only reason why you should change it is if the size/shape is incompatible with the load levelling system that you want to fit.

The LR owners handbook specifically recommends NOT to use a load leveling system. I don't know why but it does.

My experience with towing a 2.5 Tonne off road van are that polyair springs in the rear enable the whole set up to be leveled very nicely. If you want to go the whole hog get OME heavy duty springs and shocks fitted in the rear as that also prevents a lot of movement and leads to a better ride.
Chipping the engine made a huge difference for towing uphill, very worthwhile.
Don't bother with cruise control unless on a long level road eg freeway. Otherwise it gets confused and can hang on to torque converter lock up for too long before having to suddenly drop 2 gears and rev the engine to over 3000. I try and tow in 3 and let the torque converter lock up at about 78 to 80 k/hr.
I've already fried 1 auto gearbox when towing (expensive) and I have now had fitted the trans cooler from an HSE range rover. This gives about 60% greater cooling than standard and would be worthwile if you plan to tow in the warmer parts of OZ.
Having said all of the above, once sorted the TD5 auto makes a great and economical tow vehicle.

Russell

Yes, the hanbook does say not to use level rides but both myself and my father have been using them on our Disco's for the past 4 years without a problem.

Personally I would not tow without them and the standard bar does fine. We do have a special tongue for the van which drops the towing height down a lot lower than the standard tongue.


Chipped would definately help, but it is not necessary.

You can use cruise when towing on freeways/highways without hills. Well I do anyway and can't see why you shouldnt.

The auto cooler in the D2 is definately a weak point. I have not had a problem yet but I know plenty of people who have. IMHO I think the standard cooler will be ok but I would suggest doing an auto oil change every 20k rather than every 40k .

Originally Posted by Nifty

Gentlemen
I need some advice on towing a caravan
(2000kg) with my disco auto series 2 Td5.
1/ Do I need to get rid of the original draw bar and replace with say a Hayman/Reece draw bar and weight distribution hitch. (I read that it could be a bit a dicky towing using the original disco draw bar.)

2/ Do I get it chipped for hills.

3/ Do I use cruise control for towing.

4/ Do I need a transmission cooler.


Regards.....Nifty

1. not usually but that depends on how well your van is balanced out and the downforce it puts on the rig.

2. nope, but that depends on how fast you like to tow and how you like your fuel economy

3. If you like

4. you should have one but I'd be having it cleared out, both internally and externally, or even replaced with a better one then run the best oil you can afford to put in it and watch the quality of the oil like a hawk. (but then I have a slight bias against autos) If you were really worried about it while you were getting this done you would also fit an oil temp gauge to the hot side of the oil cooler so you could keep an eye on how hard your working the rig.

Do you have SLS or Coil rear?

If SLS I see no need for a leveler.

I would get it chiped and intercooled as it will make life very nice.

Yes, get a bigger trans cooler.