Discovery 2017

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  • Andy
    Member Since: 15 Mar 2019
    Location: Manchester
    Posts: 4
    United Kingdom 
    2019 Discovery SDV6 HSE Lux Loire Blue

    Tow Bar weights and Bike Carrier

    Hi,

    I recently received my Disco 5 with the deployable tow bar, and noticed a problem when I went to use it to fix my bike carrier onto it.

    Depsite the car being advertised as a 350kg nose weight, there is a section in the manual saying that no bike carrier (or tow bar mounted accessory) above 66.8kg can be used. This is number is the same for all tow bars, wether the 350kg, or the 190kg nose weight versions.

    My bike carrier and bikes weighs just under 80kg and was used for 6 years on previous cars.

    I asked my dealer about this, and they came back week later saying and that it was fine and that the manual was being over cautious. When I went into the dealer for the usual list of glitches to be corrected I asked them to email that statement to me.

    They refused, but stated verbally again it would be fine. I pushed for a written response, and after three weeks of conversations they are now saying that large bike carriers are not to be used on the Disco 5 and their solution is to take the car back as they knew I would be using a 4 bike carier prior to purchase.

    Has anyone else had experience of this, as I can't beleive the Disco has a weaker towbar than my previous Audi A6 Allroads had.

    Thanks,

    Andy.
    15th Mar 2019 11:22 am
  • MalithS
    Member Since: 16 Aug 2018
    Location: Warwickshire
    Posts: 140
    United Kingdom 
    2019 Discovery Td6 HSE Santorini Black

    I dont think its the nose weight but the moment caused by hanging 4 bikes which is the problem. This is why the LR bike carrier only goes upto 3 bikes. They do not do a 4 bike carrier.
    15th Mar 2019 11:39 am
  • Andy
    Member Since: 15 Mar 2019
    Location: Manchester
    Posts: 4
    United Kingdom 
    2019 Discovery SDV6 HSE Lux Loire Blue

    Tow Bar weights and Bike Carrier

    They had drawings of the tow bar assembly in the user manual, and from there I calculated the moments to the CoG (centre of gravity) of the bike carrier and compared that to the plain towbar moment.

    THe 350kg weight limit would suggest a bike carrier limit of over 170Kg.

    But if you did the sums using the distances for the fixed towbar, and used the certified limit of 150Kg rather than the advertised 350kg you get almost exactly 66.8kg.

    I also called several other SuV brands, and all of them said they were fine with an up to 100kg bike carrier on the towball.

    So it looks like LR are calculating using 150kg, not their advertised number of 350kg!

    Andy.
    15th Mar 2019 12:46 pm
  • Russell
    Member Since: 26 Jun 2016
    Location: Lydd
    Posts: 1102
    United Kingdom 
    2017 Discovery Td6 First Edition Namib Orange

    So what are you going to do, return the car or just carry on with the four bikes?
    Namib Orange 1st Edition with black roof and wheels.
    Privacy, tow bar, drive pack, surround camera, heated front & rear seats, auto dim door mirrors, side steps, remote Pro, RSE, arm rest fridge dash cam front and rear.
    15th Mar 2019 8:29 pm
  • harrythespider
    Member Since: 19 Jul 2018
    Location: cumbria
    Posts: 416
    United Kingdom 
    2017 Discovery TDV6 HSE Aintree Green

    Get some lighter bikes Whistle
    3.0 HSE. climate HUD active diff. elec towbar. FBH and timed climate.Capability plus pack.split TV. surround sound. Intelligent seating. adaptive lights, wade sensing. 360 cameras.pro pack.cooler.advanced tow, auto park,activity key+ more!!!!
    15th Mar 2019 9:26 pm
  • Craigp
    Member Since: 09 Nov 2016
    Location: Hull
    Posts: 690
    England 

    Could be missing the point here. But with a perfectly good car. Why would you want a push bike. Rolling Eyes Or 4 for that matter Laughing
    16th Mar 2019 9:58 am
  • Chatuge
    Member Since: 08 Mar 2019
    Location: Surrey
    Posts: 16
    United Kingdom 

    This is v strange. I honestly hadn’t ever thought I could take 4 bikes! What would happen if I do as that’s my plan! Thule 4 bike tow hitch carrier!!
    16th Mar 2019 10:59 pm
  • MalithS
    Member Since: 16 Aug 2018
    Location: Warwickshire
    Posts: 140
    United Kingdom 
    2019 Discovery Td6 HSE Santorini Black

    The 66.8kg figure seems to come from the fact that it is the weight of the 3 bike carrier that LR sell. The vehicle has been tested and approved using this weight therefore they can only certify upto that point. They do not sell a 4 bike carrier. This weight figure is the same across all the models (I checked the manuals and all contain the same text). So I cant see you getting any statement from LR saying that anything above that weight is ok to use as they will not be able to confirm this. I'm sure that the 350kg nose load towbar would be ok if your bikes were ok on the previous Audi A6 given that the Disco towbar seems a lot stronger but its at your own risk, There is a huge difference between nose load and bike rack load, nose load acts vertically on the tow ball. The bike rack is effectively a large lever that sits 350 mm rearward and further back for a 4 bike carrier, this increases the loads and how they are applied to the vehicle





    Even Audi state on the Q5 literature that max weight is 75kg. Most OEMs only seem to offer upto 3 bike carriers.
    From Audi:
    "The total weight of the rear carrier system and load must not exceed 75 kg for this vehicle. However it is also important to observe the maximum permissible load for the rear carrier system. The greater the distance from the towing bracket, the smaller the maximum permissible load on the rear carrier system. For this reason you should secure heavy objects as near as possible to the towing bracket."
    "WARNING: The use of an unsuitable rear carrier system could cause damage to the towing bracket. The towing bracket could then break and cause an accident."
    20th Mar 2019 11:03 am
  • Arslanoff
    Member Since: 03 Aug 2017
    Location: Prague
    Posts: 140
    Czech Republic 
    2017 Discovery Td6 HSE Lux Carpathian Grey

    I always check the allowed weight for the bike carrier itself only.
    I have Thule VeloSpace XT 3 and extra VeloSpace XT Bike Adapter. works well for me, just place the heavier bikes closer to the car and children bikes outside.
    For example in this setup, I did about 2000km from Czech Rep to Italy and back with speeds around 130 km/h without any problems at all.
    Set up is even a little more than allowed by Thule 60kg
    - 20 kg Thule VeloSpace XT 3 (allowed 60 kg on it)
    - 10kg - Thule BackSpace XT box (allowed 50 kg inside)
    - about 35-40 kg inside the box
    - about 15 kg - bike
    about 3 kg - VeloSpace XT Bike Adapter.
    So I was around 65 kg weight + 20 kg bike carrier




    Land Rover Discovery 5 HSE Luxury Td6 in Carpathian Grey
    20th Mar 2019 1:31 pm
  • harrythespider
    Member Since: 19 Jul 2018
    Location: cumbria
    Posts: 416
    United Kingdom 
    2017 Discovery TDV6 HSE Aintree Green

    Buy a trailer, then you can put in however many bikes you want, Just watch the nose weight Whistle
    3.0 HSE. climate HUD active diff. elec towbar. FBH and timed climate.Capability plus pack.split TV. surround sound. Intelligent seating. adaptive lights, wade sensing. 360 cameras.pro pack.cooler.advanced tow, auto park,activity key+ more!!!!
    20th Mar 2019 10:04 pm
  • Andy
    Member Since: 15 Mar 2019
    Location: Manchester
    Posts: 4
    United Kingdom 
    2019 Discovery SDV6 HSE Lux Loire Blue

    Tow Bar weights and Bike Carrier

    Hi Arslanoff,

    Which towbar do you have? It's reassuring to see that you had no issues with that amount of weight.

    I have the Atera 4 bike carrier which weighs in at 17.5kg - I got it as it's light. I have that on the electrically deployable tow bar.

    Land Rover have now sent me an email stating that I am safe as long as I am under 80kg, but they are trying to work out where the 66.8 came from and get a better answer with a more sensible limit.

    Thanks,

    Andy.
    D5 SDV6 HSE Lux in Loire Blue
    26th Mar 2019 1:55 pm
  • Arslanoff
    Member Since: 03 Aug 2017
    Location: Prague
    Posts: 140
    Czech Republic 
    2017 Discovery Td6 HSE Lux Carpathian Grey

    Also the electrically deployable tow bar
    Land Rover Discovery 5 HSE Luxury Td6 in Carpathian Grey
    26th Mar 2019 4:42 pm
  • Andy
    Member Since: 15 Mar 2019
    Location: Manchester
    Posts: 4
    United Kingdom 
    2019 Discovery SDV6 HSE Lux Loire Blue

    Tow Bar weights and Bike Carrier

    Thanks Arslanoff,

    I'll post back if I ever get any more info from JLR.

    Andy.
    D5 SDV6 HSE Lux in Loire Blue
    26th Mar 2019 5:00 pm
  • mjwatling
    Member Since: 27 Aug 2020
    Location: Silverstone
    Posts: 2
    United Kingdom 
    2017 Discovery TDV6 HSE Waitomo Grey

    Did you hear back form LR on the 80kg? Taking four bikes to Wales on a 4 bike rack on a detachable tower so interested in their response.

    Saying that I've seen lots of us using 4 bikes on the towbar across the internet with no reported problems so I'm going ahead any how!

    Thx
    M
    27th Aug 2020 9:53 am
  • Sw1gs
    Member Since: 28 Aug 2017
    Location: Argyll
    Posts: 41
    Scotland 
    2017 Discovery Td6 HSE Lux Kaikoura Stone

    Hi, I use an Atera 4 bike rack on the back of my Disco5 TDV6 with electric deplorable tow bar for the past 3 years, no problems with it at all, although I do tend to put the heaviest bikes (sons Canyon Spectral full sus MTB - 14.5kg) closet to the car and my gravel bike (8.5kg) at the farthest point From the car.

    27th Aug 2020 10:58 am
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