Range rover 3200kg towing.

[cormorant]

G'day

Need to know from the Range Rover people on here how a 3 year old Range Rover will cope with 3200kg boat on the freeway and what to watch out in terms of wear and tear in it. Haven't driven the vehicle yet and won''t till day of tow but is being prepared with brake controller and a suspension check by Range rover dealer. It will be the full Toorak tractor model with all the nice bits.

Don't know if it has any air assists suspension etc etc.

I know nothing about Range Rovers but have owned disco in the past

Trailer is a fully braked triaxel and probably has 250plus kg towball weight.

Moving a boat 400km and that is the vehicle we have avaliable.

I would usually use a diahatsu light truck which is slow but we know it won't break.

Any comments appreciated

[White Pointer]

G'day

Need to know from the Range Rover people on here how a 3 year old Range Rover will cope with 3200kg boat on the freeway and what to watch out in terms of wear and tear in it. Haven't driven the vehicle yet and won''t till day of tow but is being prepared with brake controller and a suspension check by Range rover dealer. It will be the full Toorak tractor model with all the nice bits.

Don't know if it has any air assists suspension etc etc.

I know nothing about Range Rovers but have owned disco in the past

Trailer is a fully braked triaxel and probably has 250plus kg towball weight.

Moving a boat 400km and that is the vehicle we have avaliable.

I would usually use a diahatsu light truck which is slow but we know it won't break.

Any comments appreciated

G'day,

The Range Rover sounds like a 2006 model so it could be TD6 or V8 diesel or a V8 petrol and the difference may be significant to how you drive it. It could also be a monocoque Range Rover or the Range Rover "Sport" model built on the S3 Discovery platform. The difference is rear overhang and affects handling.

I expect that it has a 5 or 6-speed ZF automatic transmission. Based on 20,000KM per annum it has done 60,000KM. Make sure it is serviced before you do this trip and get a report on condition. The service is just fluid and filter strainer. If the fluid is dirty and strainer is full of muck it might indicate pending disaster. Try to get a drive of the RR before towing so you know the speeds and REVS where the transmission goes into lock-up in each of the higher gears.

Go slow when towing. Go really slow for the first 5KM until the computers calibrate the suspension and brakes or the RR. Then calibrate the trialer braking system according to the makers instructions. It doesn't take the computers this long but you have to get used to the change in how it feels up hill, down hill and around corners and fine tune the trailer brakes. If the systems can't calibrate the weight warning lights will flash and you should park it and go and get the truck.

The 400KM trip at 100Km/Hr takes 4 hours. The same trip at 80Km/Hr takes 5 hours. Traffic conditions and speed limits will narrow this further so trying to go fast will just expose risks for marginal time savings.

Drive in a low gear - not "Drive". Find out which gear is direct top (i.e. 1:1) and use it until you know that the transmission is "locked". If you can maintain that speed shift up one gear.

If you have to slow down pull back a gear and "squeeze" the brakes. ABS brakes on modern vehicles hate big towing loads. If brake calibration is not spot on the trailer will lock up brakes and shove the RR and the ABS on the RR could release the brakes. Maintain lots of distance from the car in front and be prepared to slow down to cope with these idiots.

Try to enjoy a 400KM trip with 6-tonne up by being very patient.

Regards,

White Pointer

[cormorant]

Thanks for that. I will clarify the model and the service is being done by guys who know it will be used for heavy towing.

I've done lots of towing so the rest is common sense although none been done with a vehicle so loaded with electronics. Am trying to grab a owners manual a couple of days before to see if there are any settings or procedures to get it to lock up early hold gear and for the suspension to stiffen and keep the correct ride height. Adaptive things are fine if you understand them 100% but I would just like consistancy in a tow. Wouldn't be fussed if it was a disco as I know them and they are simple but the electronics concern me after seeing guy pulled over at a freeway servo with a sagging bum on a Rangie with heavy van attached and a service guy talking him through trying to get the warning lights off the dash.

Truck will be doing other duties and am not looking forward to using such a expensive Toorak toy but it should be well capable. Truck is basic so you feel and hear every knock , engine labouring etc so it is pretty easy and never look at speedo ( speed not a issue) just keep it in the right revs and plug away.

I could tell you some stories about ABS a few years ago with Vacume brake set ups. Talk about computers getting confused under heavy braking. As as always trailer on early and easy on the towing vehicle brakes. Some with overloaded and underinflated tyres would constantly screw up due to different rolling diameters confusing computers as it was outside the range that the computer expected. Not fun driving with a ABS or Brakefail light and dealers saying all is OK.

It will be a new prodigy controller so I have some reading on that as well to set it right.

Speed and time are never a pressure when I tow.

[gr hilly]

dont go over 80 klm ph
hilly

[Noelm]

If you buy the Rangie, also buy a good toolkit and learn how to use it.

[gr hilly]

lol the tool box is a good idea

[cormorant]

Not buying thank god -haven't gone insane- still got me tools from the disco and probably a spare head and coolant tank or 2. Ha ha . Helping a inexperienced bloke out with moving his boat.

With the amount of wires and computers in the new ones you would need a multimeter and a service tecnician on call to change a bloody tyre these days. Mate does roadside assist and for them unless it is simple user error by the nut behind the wheel they simple put em on the truck to the shop. Same with some of the european ones as if they touch them and screw something up it isn't worth it and they can't reset them anyway. They were going to be getting laptops with step by step on some of the fancier vehicles but I think the company ended up just contracting more tilt trays

[Chimo]

Hi Cormorant

Good luck with the tow, hope all goes well.

Dont forget to share the details when its over, I reckon it could make for either a boring story, hopefully, or maybe a best seller given the electrics and computors involved.

hope all goes well anyhow.

Cheers
Chimo

[cormorant]

Rover boys tell me I won't even notice it on-- cough cough

It will just be a safe tow in a unknown vehicle that's all. Was just asking the brains trust in case someone owned one and towed with it regularly

[White Pointer]

Rover boys tell me I won't even notice it on-- cough cough

It will just be a safe tow in a unknown vehicle that's all. Was just asking teh brains trust in case someone owned one and towed with it regularly

G'day again.

If the RR is well maintained and the trailer is set up right it will be a doddle.

I have a Discovery 2 TD5 Auto that struggles with my 2-tonne BMT until the electronics sort out what's going on. Living in Scarborough and launching in Scarborough most of the time it was painful. Also, with the spare on the rear door fouling the winch post it was such a pain that I bought a Rodeo to be the boat tractor. Haven't regretted it.

Enjoy the trip.

Regards,

White Pointer

[wrxhoon]

I would be more concerned with the boat trailer brakes tha the R/R. I hope she has hydraulic and not electric at least with hydraulic they may still work , electric will not unless its a new trailer.
If she has hydraulics you will have some form of actuator , Hydrastar , dexter, brakerite, etc.. make sure the callipers are not seized and the actuator works then ajust the cabin controller .
if set up correct you should be able to sit on 80-100 kmh ,a WDH would be nice but I don't think you will have that luxury. The RR should be able to cope with that weight without any problems I would think, I know my LC200 TTD would make light work of that .

[cormorant]

Fully braked electric over hydraulic breakaway so no worries there and they are well maintained.
Havent used the prodigy before so need to have a quick read up on it.

[White Pointer]

G'day,

When the date we should be looking out for you and giving you a wide berth?

Regards,

White Pointer

[ozscott]

Mate my 02 Discovery V8 manual tows my Vagabond very nicely...so the RR with fair whack more power and torque should have no issues. They are still a relatively short wheelbase vehicle however they are very heavy and well sorted with air suspension to stop pitching. The power or either TD or V8 is pretty amazing and they consistently win the tow tests in the offroad mags.

Cheers

PS. My tailgate hits my post too but I can get it wide enough to get stuff (including the spare tyre for the boat trailer) in and out...the RR has a split gate so no problems there.

[cormorant]

Ended up using the truck instead of the RR and had no hassles as expected - just slower on the big hills