Thread: Heavy towing with a D4.

Hello all, we have recently purchased a lateish model Evernew caravan.
The "Royal Barge" is a tall heavy bugger and while it's all within the ball dowload and towing limits (barely), you know she is there, especially with the water tanks full.
No taps at our special spot.

We have previously owned and towed a little Ultimate, we haven't really had to think about which gear the Disco is in with the Ulti, just put her into "D", continued on useing the cruise control and not had any problems.
The Evernew van is a very different beast.
What I'm really wondering about is if I should tow in Sports mode which gives results in more revs, a lower gear( higher numerically), more fuel because of the higher revs ( I'm still not convinced about that actually, need a long trip to check), better control and engine braking because of better throttle response.
AND....auto transmission oil changes!
I've just had it done. Wow!
I wouldn't like to do that every 20K, but we did get a new metal sump pan.
What are the special areas needing attention when towing a heavy trailer?
I've read to make sure that the air bags are in good condition. Ok, how do I check that?
Thanks in advance, fabulous resource for a mug.
Regards
Steve L.

After a few trips away you'll work out what type of terrain/weather conditions it struggles in. As a rule on the flat on a calm day just leave her in D on economy mode.

Once you start getting to hills or copping head winds, don't be scared to manually change a gear earlier than normal. In particular decent downhills change down manually and let the engine do the work rather than your brakes.

Lastly a lot of us sit around 95-100km/h which is pretty much the speed most semi's and b-doubles are going anyway. I'll quite often tuck behind one and say g'day on the UHF - makes life a lot easier and you aren't in a rush anyway!