Can a Disco 4 tow a van with 350kg ball weight... I think not fit for purpose..

**rocket rod** · 15th April 2019, 12:47 AM

Have you put your concerns to Land Rover Australia?

**cripesamighty** · 15th April 2019, 01:00 AM

I took the link below from the Land Rover website. Point number 1 in the fine print at the bottom of the page says Unladen weight includes a 75kg driver, full fluids and 90% fuel.
I'm assuming of course that Unladen weight is equivalent to the Tare weight! Happy to stand corrected though as these things have a habit of meaning different things in different markets at different times.

Discovery - Off Road SUV Specifications - Land Rover

Originally Posted by tapda01

That may be kerbside weight, but I am not convinced... do you documentary evidence of this please? These weights are too important in all countries to slot in an arbitary weight for a driver...

Cheers

David

**Pedro_The_Swift** · 15th April 2019, 06:09 AM

Originally Posted by Eevo

lighter isnt better from a stability point of view.

total bull**** Evo,, nothing is built to those dimensions,, towball to axle = X,, behind axle to end of van = X ..

its just a sales gimmick..

**Eevo** · 15th April 2019, 06:16 AM

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

total bull**** Evo,, nothing is built to those dimensions,, towball to axle = X,, behind axle to end of van = X ..

its just a sales gimmick..

you sure convinced me.

**Pedro_The_Swift** · 15th April 2019, 06:33 AM

dont care Evo,,

all I know is I saw this contraption at least 30 years ago at some camping show in Brizzy,,
and they were flogging swaybars,,

the 10% thing is an urban legend,, NO scientific testing has EVER been done to prove it,, ( dont show me the Bath tests, its conclusion makes no sense) but literally millions of Europeans disprove it every day..

Build it and they will come---

max weight vans with a 350kg tow ball weight?,, sure, my engineers will plate our biggest most expensive car to that level,, did they build a bigger better car to tow that van? no,, just plated one that was already built..

I bet the new owners of a 380Nm Isuzu got a shock when they hitched up a 3.5T van...

DiscoMick · 15th April 2019, 06:52 AM

Originally Posted by tapda01

Mick, we all have the same problem...

3.5-tonne tow ratings: Busting the great 3500kg myths | CarsGuide

In that link the Discovery has a payload of 824kg, which is excellent.

DiscoMick · 15th April 2019, 06:58 AM

I also notice it said towball of 10-15% of the caravan.

**Disco-tastic** · 15th April 2019, 07:12 AM

Originally Posted by tapda01

...
The manual states the CGM of 3,240 is only valid with a ball weight of 150kgs or less. For every kilogram of ball weight over the 150, the CGM decreases by 1 kg. This means that the CGM if towing a 3,500kg van with a ball weight of 350KG will reduce to 3,040kgs.
This gives us a legal payload of 3,040 minus the kerb weight of 2,606 minus the ball weight of 350 equalling 84kgs!!!!

Hi David, just noting in your first post that youve subtracted an extra 350kg from your payload. Your reduced GVM of 3040kg already accounts for the 350kg ball weight.

You will need to check the rear axle weight is not above the limit.

Cheers

Dan

DiscoMick · 15th April 2019, 08:08 AM

That's what I understood - 3500kg and 350kg towball weight. But this stuff confuses me no end, so I waited to see what others said.

**roverrescue** · 15th April 2019, 08:21 AM

Assuming this is the wording in the book

"Australia only: The nose weight must be a minimum of 7% of the gross caravan/trailer weight, up to a maximum of 250 kg. When using the detachable trailer hitch receiver, see FITTING THE DETACHABLE TRAILER HITCH RECEIVER (Australia only), the nose weight can be increased to 350 kg if the GVW is reduced by 200 kg."

Now I’m not a lawyer but those that are working under the premise that reducing GVW by 200kg “includes” the whole 350kg are dreaming.

GVW - loaded to the gills equals X
GVW - with trailer at 250kg ball weight equals x
GVW - with trailer at 350kg ball weight equals x-200kg

So you have your GVW which is a stipulated mass
Now you need to actually measure **** - calculations are estimates, scalies don’t estimate they measure

So whack-a-do the big arse trailer on with 300kg ball weight, have vehicle on four wheel scales
The sum of the four scales (with trailer attached) MUST be less than x-200kg

As said axle loads must also be in spec.
It’s simple. Nothing is included in changing the GVW or is just a hard limit once ball weight >250kg.

It’s the same as nothing is included such as driver/ fuel whatever in GVW
That’s a hard limit measured by scales under the wheels

Sure those figures are important for “estimating” payload but the only sure fireway to measure payload is to measure your Tare with whatever you deem as “not luggage”

Just like caravan Tares are somewhat rubbery vehicle manufacturer stated tares are rubbery

What matters is the final mass on each tyre - not what you think it should be.

Anyways

Steve

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