Towing with a lr3

[yellow2.5yj]

I just bought a new LR3 and was wondering about towing with it , if anybody has one and tows with it. i have a jeep with a 6.0 and 60s and 39 reds. i will not be towing with it all the time ,i have a duramax i use, just wondering if the LR3 would pull it

[jymmiek]

I tow with an '05 fullsize Range Rover (BMW motor) and it tows great. I am towing an '89 RRC with FZJ80 axles and 36" iroks on an 18' open trailer 10k gvwr. It pulls great in the hills and doesn't hunt for gears. I have brakes on both axles on my trailer so it also stops really well. All in all I couldn't ask for a better tow rig for pulling one rig, now all I need to do is get one for my self because I've been using my moms.

[yellow2.5yj]

my real concern was the air suspenion? just dont no a lot about it.

[Buckon37s]

Originally Posted by yellow2.5yj

my real concern was the air suspenion? just dont no a lot about it.

Tow rating is 7700 so yes, it could do it depending on your trailer. I wouldn't even consider it for a split second.

[yellow2.5yj]

i fig.jeep and trailer 6000 so i think i will be good also

[wilsby]

Make sure your air springs aren't cracked and leaking and you will find them a real asset when towing. Always level and adaptive spring rate. On a new truck you shouldn't need to worry for a while.

Air springs are pretty much standard on big rigs these days.

[jymmiek]

Originally Posted by Buckon37s

Tow rating is 7700 so yes, it could do it depending on your trailer. I wouldn't even consider it for a split second.

Why? Its not like it is a 20 year old RRC with air suspension. We really don't have too many problems with the air suspension on them. You don't need a one ton truck to pull a jetski, Lol.

[PTSchram]

Originally Posted by jymmiek

We really don't have too many problems with the air suspension on them.

Just wait. The compressors don't last long.

[Buckon37s]

Originally Posted by jymmiek

Why? Its not like it is a 20 year old RRC with air suspension. We really don't have too many problems with the air suspension on them. You don't need a one ton truck to pull a jetski, Lol.

Simple, your pulling 7k with a truck that weighs 5,800lb, has a 113in wheel base, brakes and frame not meant for towing, only 300hp, and 12mpg without towing. Expect 6 to 7 towing. Add all that to the fact that its a Land Rover and I would never do it. Yes, you probably won't kill anyone, but you will piss off everyone behind you.

I'm all for towing with 1/2 tons if the weight works, at 1/4 ton I draw the line.

[mightymg1]

I used to tow my disco with a 97 half ton chev with a 350, and it towed fine on the flats, in the hills I was killed, plus i only got 7-9 mpg.. now i have a dmax, and i wouldnt turn back..

[XtremeMarine]

Originally Posted by Buckon37s

Simple, your pulling 7k with a truck that weighs 5,800lb, has a 113in wheel base, brakes and frame not meant for towing, only 300hp, and 12mpg without towing. Expect 6 to 7 towing. Add all that to the fact that its a Land Rover and I would never do it. Yes, you probably won't kill anyone, but you will piss off everyone behind you.

I'm all for towing with 1/2 tons if the weight works, at 1/4 ton I draw the line.

X2! Agreed.

I got an 2007 Tundra CrewCab 5.7 for my first Rover tow vehicle. 10,800 tow capacity. 400 hp. Over 400 torque. Long wheelbase. And heavy as molasses. Towed beautifully with a loaded out DII on a dual axle trailer behind it. And would pull to 100+ mph all day long while towing. Without towing, it would do 300+ ft burnouts if I held down and left foot braked.
But all in all, still not a great tow vehicle, and 1/2 ton drivetrain. 16 mpg on highway, 14 mixed driving. But towing the DII, 8-9 at 70, 6.5 at 75, and 4.5 at 80 mph. Just can't tow long distances like that unless you get a bed made fuel tank.
Now I tow with an 01' Dodge 2500 4x4. Won't ever off-road it, but it tows like a pissed off moose pulling a kid on a skateboard.

[jymmiek]

Originally Posted by Buckon37s

Simple, your pulling 7k with a truck that weighs 5,800lb, has a 113in wheel base, brakes and frame not meant for towing, only 300hp, and 12mpg without towing. Expect 6 to 7 towing. Add all that to the fact that its a Land Rover and I would never do it. Yes, you probably won't kill anyone, but you will piss off everyone behind you.

I'm all for towing with 1/2 tons if the weight works, at 1/4 ton I draw the line.

I get between 12-13 mpg towing with the Range Rover (BMW motor), but I can't imagine that an LR3 would be much worse. My trailer has brakes on both axles and I have my brake controller set at about 50-60% (cheap timed controller). I can say that it has no problem keeping up with my friends CTD towing a similar load, even in the hills. In Va we don't have that many mountains, but over the biggest mountain I've seen in Va the Range Rover towing struggles less than my DII with a mild lift an larger tires.

After a quick google search I found the heaviest 2005 F150 you can buy is 5,800lbs and only has 300 Hp, assuming it has the 5.4L triton V8. Honestly I think a Range Rover or an LR3 brakes much better than any F150 I have driven.

Obviously I'd rather tow with a 3/4 ton diesel, but there is certainly nothing wrong with towing within the vehicles capabilities.

[Buckon37s]

Originally Posted by jymmiek

Obviously I'd rather tow with a 3/4 ton diesel, but there is certainly nothing wrong with towing within the vehicles capabilities.

Why!? I mean, you have a RR that gets 13mpg and can keep up with any CTD pulling almost 8k! It clearly has alien technology that envelopes the truck and trailer in a frictionless vortex. I would keep that truck for evar!!

[evilfij]

Originally Posted by Buckon37s

Simple, your pulling 7k with a truck that weighs 5,800lb, has a 113in wheel base, brakes and frame not meant for towing, only 300hp, and 12mpg without towing. Expect 6 to 7 towing. Add all that to the fact that its a Land Rover and I would never do it. Yes, you probably won't kill anyone, but you will piss off everyone behind you.

I'm all for towing with 1/2 tons if the weight works, at 1/4 ton I draw the line.

I disagree. Maybe in the mountains out west it is an issue, but I have towed a RRC, a D90 and about 4500lbs of series parts on U-haul trailers (not at the same time) and a SII 88" on a tow bar (no additional brakes) behind my LWB, disco Is and D90 and have been able to keep up a frankly unsafe speed, even over east coast mountains. I have also done the same with a 1500 4x4 1998 suburban and I prefer the rovers because the brakes are better. I had an 04 and then an 05 RR but never towed with them but would not hesitate in the least to use the LR3 for that load.

[Buckon37s]

Originally Posted by evilfij

I disagree. Maybe in the mountains out west it is an issue, but I have towed a RRC, a D90 and about 4500lbs of series parts on U-haul trailers (not at the same time) and a SII 88" on a tow bar (no additional brakes) behind my LWB, disco Is and D90 and have been able to keep up a frankly unsafe speed, even over east coast mountains. I have also done the same with a 1500 4x4 1998 suburban and I prefer the rovers because the brakes are better. I had an 04 and then an 05 RR but never towed with them but would not hesitate in the least to use the LR3 for that load.

The brake drum is now $50 again for disagreeing with me.

[BigBlueToy]

Tow rating is not just about being able to maintain speed up hills! you could put a Duramax in a Range Rover and it still wouldnt be a safe tow rig. I have towed everything from 10 cords of maple to a Kubota tractor with all kinds of different tow rigs. And I once watched a grand cherokee towing a TJ trail rig on a 16 foot flatbed. When the cross winds gusted to 45 mph and he started swaying out of control I decided I would never tow anything over 3000 pounds with any thing less than a fullsize pickup. SUVs arent made to tow big loads. Pickups are. A Ford Excursion or a suburban is fine, but a Range Rover or Creep grand Cherokee just wont cut it. you need a long wheel base and weight for stability. And Dual wheels work beautifully to control sway!
Just my 2 cents.

[Dougal]

Originally Posted by BigBlueToy

Tow rating is not just about being able to maintain speed up hills! you could put a Duramax in a Range Rover and it still wouldnt be a safe tow rig. I have towed everything from 10 cords of maple to a Kubota tractor with all kinds of different tow rigs. And I once watched a grand cherokee towing a TJ trail rig on a 16 foot flatbed. When the cross winds gusted to 45 mph and he started swaying out of control I decided I would never tow anything over 3000 pounds with any thing less than a fullsize pickup. SUVs arent made to tow big loads. Pickups are. A Ford Excursion or a suburban is fine, but a Range Rover or Creep grand Cherokee just wont cut it. you need a long wheel base and weight for stability. And Dual wheels work beautifully to control sway!
Just my 2 cents.

It's funny how in the US a pickup is considered a tow vehicle.
In the rest of the world, RRC's, discos etc received a 4,000kg tow rating. If you can't tow it with a 4wd like that, then you get a real truck.

A real truck is not a pickup truck.

[yellow2.5yj]

like i said i have a duramax crew cab 4x4 that i normaly tow with,and i only get like 10 mpg.with it and it is chiped out with intake and exhaust, i just realy bought the LR3 , to have to drive and let the wife drive, been looking at them for about a year and finaly found the right one,just realy wanted to no who all is towing with one.

[Buckon37s]

Originally Posted by yellow2.5yj

just realy wanted to no who all is towing with one.

Everyone who has towed with one is dead. The rest of us are just speculating.

[Micka]

I towed this 45 series with my old TD5 Defender. Held 100km/hr(62mph) with no problems at all and fuel consumption was 17litres/100km(~14mpg).



This same Defender also towed our rock crawling buggy around with heaps of junk including spares for the buggy, a 5kva generator, extra fuel, camping equipment and enough beer for 4 drunk Aussies.

This was a 110" model with a remapped ECU, 3" mandrel exhaust from the turbo and 33" tyres. Rovers are awesome tow rigs.

You yanks are just too used to towing with F-trucks and Chevs.

[TGFather]

As someone stated before it isn't that you can't tow with the LR3 it comes down to the wheelbase. Yes the frame may be strong enough and if you don't give a shit about fuel consumption it will work, but if you are doing a long haul and want to be safe you should have a longer wheelbase. It helps to settle out the snaking effect plus the added mass of the large vehicle helps. Hence the reason why you typically see that a F-150 with an 8' bed can tow more than one with a 6.5' bed.

If you are just towing a boat or a rover short distances I'd say you're fine if you are planning on going cross country with it I'd say ship it or buy a bigger truck. Preferably one with a diesel.

I can't praise F-250's and their powerstroke engines enough. I used to drive them in 100+mph winds and some of the worst conditions imaginable towing 12000lb-15000lb trailers and never had issues with stability.

S-P

[Buckon37s]

Originally Posted by Micka

Rovers are awesome tow rigs.

Okay. I have tried to be totally reasonable but this comment I can't take. Although the 110 is not that bad.

You guys can tow anything you want with anything you want. You can pull it with a Honda Civic if you want. It will probably physically move the load. Does that mean its a good idea? I mean, it works right?

There is a hell of a lot more too this than power. Compare the drivetrain of the LR3 to even the 1/2 ton Toyota or even F150. You have a what 8in r+p on the LR3? You have an engine that doesn't even have a torque rating and gets to max HP at over 5K rpm? You have independent front and rear suspension (I actually think thats good for towing but you need a powerfull load leveler or you will toast tires). What size brakes? A frame made of what? How?

What you have is a rig that was never meant to tow anything and has a tow rating as an after-thought and is probably over what is safe.

Will you live? Most likely. Will you destroy your tow rig quickly? Most likely.
But can you, yes. Should you? Hell no. And before people jump in and say 'Well I did it pulling 10k across Africa", congrats all of you, there was a guy in Russia who jumped out a 7 story window twice and lived.

I am not a tow Nazi or a guy who thinks you need a 3/4ton or 1 ton or a Diesel, but you need a rig that was designed with towing in mind. If your well under the load limit and take your time, and don't make a habit of it, it's fine. Otherwise, it's dumb.

Oh, and everyone thinks they get 13-14mpg towing. Very, very few actually do.

[nicks90]

by god there are some obnoxious replies on this thread!

towing weight limits assigned to vehicles in Europe are soooooooo anally retentive and bordering on the clinicly conservative its a joke!
Except for the freelander - all landrovers have a 3500kg towing limit and all are happy to manage this without smashing axles to bits, tearing chunks off the chassis or blowing away in slight gusts killing 200 baby orphans and the next mother Teresa.

ok, our speed limit when towing is 56mph - but even my crappy tdi defender will happily lug 2.5ton about the motorways at those speeds. Have to drop into 4th on steeper hills, but no great trauma! Might struggle with the full 3.5ton, but if i was towing those weights arounf regularly i'd go for a more powerful vehicle like the RR or LR3, both have lots more torque than a tdi. I have an anti-snake bar fitted and have yet to experience any snaking issues whilst towing, even when going over the M62 in a storm (those from the north of england will definitely know what i'm talking about!). As long as the trailer is in good condition and is loaded properly with the correct nose weights - then landrovers make very good stable towing vehicles.

We dont have these rediculously large american pickups in europe - but if people need to tow more than 3.5t, they generally get a lorry!
I'm sure a ma-hooosive pick up truck will tow better than a LR3, but thats comparing apples and pears. A LR3 weighs significantly less and has less power. but that doesnt make it a bad tow vehicle for the limits its allowed to tow.

the whole world (bar the US) has been using toyota, nissan and landrover 4x4's as very competant tow vehicles since the came out and we havent all died. Its only the US that thinks 30 foot long pick ups are required.

[HandBuilt]

All - Calm the hell down before this turns into a gawd damn chest beating festival again.

Here is the rule.

If you have ever towed in the Rockies or currently reside in the rockies or anywhere near some big ass mountains, high altitude, or long ass passes, your towing experience is not applicable to anywhere else in the country or the world.

If you live anywhere but the mountainous area surrounding the rockies or the coastal mountain range, your towing experience is not applicable to anything resembling mountains.

It's that simple. Quit the bitchfest.

A turned up TDi in the rockies pulling 3500 KGs would explode, in a matter of minutes, and would be doing 25 mph in second gear with a mile of cars behind until that point.

An LR3 pulling on the east coast or middle US would do absolutely fine, the question was about occasional towing, the OEM rates it for the weight, end of story. WTF is the point to comparing it to a big american POS? Of course it is going to tow better. Does a Duramax tow better than a LR? Yes. Does a Peterbilt conventional tow better than a Duramax? Yes. Does the Land-Rover forum has a pre-disposition for stupid ass flaming threads and chest beating? Not sure yet.

[hoggyn]

When I worked at Rover I borrowed my boss's new Disco 1 to trailer my RRC. I got a snake on going down a hill and ended up spinning the whole rig twice before crashing on a bridge. I hit the parapet sideways so hard that it ripped the body off the frame. Ironically the £33k Disco was scrap but my £250 barn find RRC was completely undamaged. The guy I'd borrowed the trailer from neglected to mention that the brakes didn't work. Cost me a grand in salvage fees and fines, not to mention the three points on my licence.

A couple of years before that I'd trailered my Series 1 down from Scotland behind a 90 tdi. Over 500 miles with absolutely no problems at all. Solid as a rock

YouTube - Land Rover Discovery Td5 EBD Brake Test