Towing with a Defender?

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Originally Posted by tolemac

and the vehicle specs rate the towball weight to be 150kg. When towing the max of 3500kg, I am told that 10% is the rule to have as a ball weight, which brings it up to 350 kg ball weight........

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It is not a rule - as in a legally binding rule but more of a rule of thumb. Also there is a range - 5 to 10%. My rule of thumb is to have a tow ball weight that will cause the back of the car to settle to about the same position as it would if two hefty blokes were sitting in the back seat - is somewhere about 1 1/2" to 2".

Also be aware of any train weight limitation - that is the total weight of vehicle, tow and load - on some vehicles this may lower the amount you can tow if the tow vehicle is also loaded up.

Garry

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Originally Posted by bee utey

Towing laws are now pretty standard across Australia. You will need driver-operable trailer brakes, e.g electric, and break-away brakes, for when your coupling fails, and proof that your tow bar and towing hitch are rated for your trailer.

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Doesn't this depend on the age of the van? I thought breakaway brakes only applied for trailers made after a certain date.

Dave.

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Originally Posted by Mr Whippy

Doesn't this depend on the age of the van? I thought breakaway brakes only applied for trailers made after a certain date.

Dave.

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Trailer braking rules were made to apply to all road-registered trailers quite some years ago. Owners of boat trailers especially kicked up a fuss and given an extended time to comply but now all trailers must comply or else. My mate got some special stainless disc brakes on his boat trailer with cable operated calipers so he is legal with his old boat. And a friend of my wife has her ancient heavy 3-horse float converted to break-away to make it legal.

A bit like the new rules for little kids in pre-seat-belt cars: there are no longer any exceptions.

The weight on the towball issue has been discussed many times on this an other forums. It is one of those rule of thumb things and I would not worry too much about applying it to tandem axle trailers. You don't want the trailer to be trying to lift the back wheels of the tow vehicle off the ground so you do want some weight on there, but for a 3500 kg van that would be 350 kg on the ball which is almost half the total load capacity of the defender, there is no way I would put that much weight on my towball.

The legality will be that whatever the lesser rating is will apply, if the manufacturer says 150 kg it will not matter that Hayman Reese say 250kg.

I realise the OPs LandRover has the stronger Salisbury rear diff, and also realise that there are many who succesfully tow 2-3 tons with Discos and RangeRovers, but what about later defenders with the light duty rear diff ? The larger tyres fitted to these vehicles compared to standard Discos etc would place a significantly greater strain on the diffs when towing similar weights. Have there been many reports of diff failures on these vehicles?
Wagoo.

I used to tow 3.5 tons or so a fair bit with my 90 and never had any issues. All 90's have the rover type rear diff. I never had any problems.

looking at the age of your rover, I would make sure the brakes are in good working order. All suspension bushes checked, including A frame ball joint.

change out the LR temp gauge and put in one that actually tells the truth. Make sure you have an EGT gauge, youll drive alot by this. If your Rad hasnt been rodded out in the last 70k do it.

Make sure you use good oil in at least the engine gearbox/t case and rear diff.... change at minimun of the schedule

Dont expect to go anywhere fast....it travelling out west in summer on ANY incline or ANY head wind expect to only maintain 95kmph to keep the vehcile in a good operating temp (coolant and EGT)

Serg

^best advice yet. Pat

X2:).

JC

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Originally Posted by cewilson

The chassis on the Defender is one of the best setups going around for towing. The vehicle will handle the weight without a problem. Especially if the rear springs are heavy duty or if it has air bags.

Brakes - if the trailer has electric brakes and you're vehicle has a brake controller then you won't have a problem. Just remember that you're weighing in at over 5 ton so you will notice the weight difference.



The downside - it's a little engine and you need to look after it. It will tow the weight but it will feel it - another words going up decent hills will take its toll. I towed approx 3.5 ton back from Tassie to Canberra a couple of years ago in my 200tDi. It handled it fine but I was back in 2nd gear on a couple of hills just outside of Gundagai.


Cheers
Chris

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Thanks for your posting Chris, it's invaluable to get this kind of advice. Can you tell me how much your fuel consumption went up on that trip? Thanks.