Thread: Tdi's and towbar downward pressure rating

I read a letter to the editor of a 4wd magazine a few years back - some overpaid retiree bought himself a fancy German Soft-roader and towed a large van far enough to almost rip the towbar out of the back. Hayman-reese replaced the bar and repaired the car for nothing, despite the downforce being about double what was plated, but the **** wanted the car replaced. The Editors told him what they thought of him!

Still, I don't understand why the downforce is so (relatively) low on Land Rovers when the in-car load capacity is close to a ton. Can anyone explain why?

Surely it is the responsibility of the purchaser to make sure their tow vehicle is capable of pulling the van they choose. Putting the onus on the seller of the van sounds a lot like dodging resposibility to me. Heading down the path of the "it can't be my fault so I better sue someone else" mentality.

BTW, I don't sell caravans but I am concerned about the "not my fault" society that seems to be breeding unchecked in Australia .

Originally Posted by scrambler

I read a letter to the editor of a 4wd magazine a few years back - some overpaid retiree bought himself a fancy German Soft-roader and towed a large van far enough to almost rip the towbar out of the back. Hayman-reese replaced the bar and repaired the car for nothing, despite the downforce being about double what was plated, but the **** wanted the car replaced. The Editors told him what they thought of him!

I think in this case the owner of the car had also fitted an extended (vertically) draw bar because the van was an off road model. In regards to the D3, LR are strict on what towbar extensions are allowed (pretty much none!).

..................sorry folks, forgot to mention above,

When i spoke to Landrover Australia directly and asked your question 'Big John', why such a low Downforce load?, they basically said that back then, during the time they were originally having the model complianced, LR had effectively under-estimated the Ball -load, as in the UK most vans etc are heaps lighter in that area, even if they have a similar Gross weight.

They went on to say that they could not do anything about it Retrospectively, even though Mitsubishi Australia were at that time attempting do do just that with their Pajero's of similar age.

Anyway, i reckon that you can still have a heap of choice within that limit as to what you can tow, and it is the responsibility of the "owner", to check everything is cosher and within those limits before they head out......at least you've got one known starting point that's not vague, and you're well and truly covered.

Happy travels,

Wayne.

Hi Guys thanks for the comments.

As many of you had noted the issue is not what the vehicle can safely tow. It is about what it can legally tow. The van salespeople said in the case of a prang you were towing the caravan illegally (if it is over 150 ball weight) and you are up for all that entails.

LR have basically admitted it was a giant paperwork stuff up back when the Tdis came out. Of course they can handle the weight.

One guy says his little Mazda farm ute can legally tow his new van (it is only the smallest possible vans that are under 150kg, the vans in both cases are not big ones btw) but he would never dream of ripping the guts out of the thing by actually doing it.

I was hoping you guys might have heard of getting some engineers certificate thingy and lodging it with the licencing dept or something like that as a work around but that is not what I'm hearing from you.

Meanwhile two owners have their beloved Landies up for sale and have to do their round trip in a Prado or something equally evil.

Disco2 is 3500kg max and 250kg ball load.The 130 is the heavyweight in the towing stakes isnt it,or is it what Ive been lead to belive???
Andrew