What happened to your D3/D4 today?

Weighed the Disco and Caravan for an upcoming trip through to Central Australia for a GCM of 6580kgs

Without the van attached the Disco came in at 2940 which included Bullbar, battery system, full car fridge, spare tyre with no rim, half a tank of fuel and a 2kva generator with Jerry can to add weight for no kids.

With the van attached the Disco weighed 3260.

The van was 3320 which included approx. 420 litres of water. Can’t say I plan on ever carrying this much water again as 7 water tanks is a bit excessive, we usually only fill 4 or 5.

How do you envisage using the spare tyre with no rim? Or more to the point, how will you break the bead on the tyre to be replaced and how will you fit the spare tyre?

Was the van weight when not attached or not attached? I dont usually worry about weights when towing as my van is a lot lighter than the car to start with. Issues with weights quoted is that the van appears to be heavier than the car. Even with some water out the general rule I read is that the car should be about 10% heavier than the van. Also I would be checking rear axle load. Again from what I have read, any van with a ball weight anything greater than 300kg with blow rear axle load limits on just about every car, landrover D3/4 included. Most people just look at GCM and GVM, and think if below we will be fine. Have a great trip!

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Originally Posted by DieselLSE

How do you envisage using the spare tyre with no rim? Or more to the point, how will you break the bead on the tyre to be replaced and how will you fit the spare tyre?

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In my view, it’s about having a spare carcass so you can get any tyre fitter to put it on the rim. Avoids long waits for a tyre of the right size and brand too be shipped to you.

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Originally Posted by dirvine

Was the van weight when not attached or not attached? I dont usually worry about weights when towing as my van is a lot lighter than the car to start with. Issues with weights quoted is that the van appears to be heavier than the car. Even with some water out the general rule I read is that the car should be about 10% heavier than the van. Also I would be checking rear axle load. Again from what I have read, any van with a ball weight anything greater than 300kg with blow rear axle load limits on just about every car, landrover D3/4 included. Most people just look at GCM and GVM, and think if below we will be fine. Have a great trip!

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Another great myth. Can 10% be applied to anything else? Think about what you’ve said, and then think about D4 weight and it’s legal towing capacity of 3500kg. Your numbers make no sense.

About 18 months ago the bonnet sensor became intermittent. I needed it fixed that day so I removed the sensor and tapped some wood in place to hold the switch closed. It’s worked fine but it’s now time to fix it properly.

Interestingly, the new switch isn’t removable from the bonnet catch like the old one was

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Originally Posted by DieselLSE

How do you envisage using the spare tyre with no rim? Or more to the point, how will you break the bead on the tyre to be replaced and how will you fit the spare tyre?

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Same idea as DJ, it’s just in case so that I am not stuck waiting in a small town for a replacement spare.

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Originally Posted by Moggymitch

Same idea as DJ, it’s just in case so that I am not stuck waiting in a small town for a replacement spare.

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I did the same for years.

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Originally Posted by dirvine

Was the van weight when not attached or not attached? I dont usually worry about weights when towing as my van is a lot lighter than the car to start with. Issues with weights quoted is that the van appears to be heavier than the car. Even with some water out the general rule I read is that the car should be about 10% heavier than the van. Also I would be checking rear axle load. Again from what I have read, any van with a ball weight anything greater than 300kg with blow rear axle load limits on just about every car, landrover D3/4 included. Most people just look at GCM and GVM, and think if below we will be fine. Have a great trip!

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While it would be nice for the Disco to be heavier than the van it does drive very settled being a similar weigh to the van.

With the van having a maximum ball weight of 320kgs I am aware this will bring the rear axle load close to its limit, so the only item in the boot will be a tyre carcass. The car fridge will be in the middle row with the centre seat removed. If I was doing a longer trip with the van consistently near its maximum mass I would certainly remove the rear seats to reduce weight on the rear axle.

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Originally Posted by DieselLSE

How do you envisage using the spare tyre with no rim? Or more to the point, how will you break the bead on the tyre to be replaced and how will you fit the spare tyre?

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We are also about to head off to north west/south west qld for a few weeks and I am taking a case as well. While I have Tuff Ants which I can work with and I have the gear to remove and change a tyre it is there so I have a compatible replacement for a tyre shop to do it for me.
For example my little van has two different running tyres and a different spare, no big deal on the van but my point is at the time a same same replacement was not available, even in Mt Isa.

Regards
Geoff