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- NFWP
- Member Since: 26 Sep 2017
- Location: New Forest
- Posts: 2
Ive had my D5 3Ld for a couple of weeks and towed for approx 600 miles. 2 different trailers, a triple axle 4.8m flatbed and a triple axle 4.2m 7ft high stock (cattle) trailer. Both towed empty and at near max weight.
Zero problems with towing, towed on country lanes, dual carriageways and motorways. Up to and maybe a fart over speed limit.
Ive had D3, D4 and now D5. For me the D5 is easily the most accomplished at towing. The gearbox is more refined when at max weight, as in it does not hold in 5th as D4 did, it tows in 7th and 8th.
My stock trailer is a complete sod to tow, I will only tow it with a Disco or RR. It has not swayed or pushed the D5 in any way.
I have the dealer fitted height adjustable tow bar fitted, raised to max height. I had no idea until I read this thread about min and max tow ball heights or on max nose weights on trailers.I tow approx 15k miles per year. Experience has taught me that a trailer tows best if it is heavily weighed onto the hitch.
I have no idea if my D5 has tow assist.
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- markwhitt65
- Member Since: 06 Mar 2017
- Location: Shropshire
- Posts: 16
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First tow impressed
Well having read all the problems people have had I was quite worried about using my new Disco 5 for the first time.
I needn't have worried it towed my 4 wheel Brian James car trailer loaded with our Track Mini, 50 litres of fuel and a tyre rack with 8 extra wheels and tyres magnificently !11
At one stage I was shocked at how fast I had got to without realising.
I had a quick go with the advanced tow assist which was strange but very clever need to practice more.
Disco 5 great tow car in my experience.
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- Craigp
- Member Since: 10 Nov 2016
- Location: Hull
- Posts: 690
There has been two reports on another D5 forum of the electric deployable tow bar snapping off. Quite worrying to say the least.
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- JackNorris
- Member Since: 07 Jun 2016
- Location: Beds/Bucks
- Posts: 113
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Any links at all craig? Be an interesting read
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- Craigp
- Member Since: 10 Nov 2016
- Location: Hull
- Posts: 690
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- jeb3
- Member Since: 23 Aug 2017
- Location: Monument, CO
- Posts: 33
I am in the USA, have a Discovery 5 6td with tow package and tow assist, and have been looking at travel trailers. Trailers' general specs are; about 4200 lbs dry, 600 lbs tongue weight, and 25 feet long. I have been following this thread with much interest. I noticed something from Land Rover that is giving me pause. I have the iguide for Android. The app updated the other day and now the Max Tongue weight for restricted trailers is 550 lbs, it used to be 771 lbs (which is what is listed in my manual). Has anyone seen any other communications from JLR about the max tongue weight being reduced to 550 lbs?
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- Craigp
- Member Since: 10 Nov 2016
- Location: Hull
- Posts: 690
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Checked my iguide (it did inform me of a upgrade which I declined ) As you say Noseweight(tongue weight) restricted trailer 350kg (771lbs).
It won't offer me an upgrade now so will see what it says tomorrow and check for changes.
And no not been alerted to any changes if that answers your question.
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- jeb3
- Member Since: 23 Aug 2017
- Location: Monument, CO
- Posts: 33
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Yes, that helps. Hoping that the 550 lbs is an error and only seen on the iguide for Android USA version.
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- JackNorris
- Member Since: 07 Jun 2016
- Location: Beds/Bucks
- Posts: 113
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Craigp wrote:
www.disco5forums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4211
As requested.
Thanks, interesting to keep an eye on how this develops
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- Sodbury D5
- Member Since: 12 Dec 2017
- Location: Bath
- Posts: 17
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So just came back from a weekend away with our new caravan. Haven’t towed a caravan before aside from taking it from shop to storage yard and having some very bizarre behaviour and cant work out if its the car or van.
When we picked it up it was almost like either the car was hesitating or the van was pulling the car back almost like the handbrake was still on but only really when the van hit bumps in the road. I assumed when picking it up that it would be because I hadn’t adjusted tyre p[ressures and the van was empty and all would be well when fully laden and proper tyre pressures. Its a bailey Pegasus Ancona 2018 with MTPLM of 1470Kg. Nose weight was 98kg and within the 7% recommended in the D5 manual which would be 103kg.
Now we just took it away for the weekend and it was worse. Feels horribly like the brakes are coming on on either the car or the van as we go over bumps in the road and the car just did not feel stable. Ive been towing a trailer tent for the last 5 years with no problems - it was only about 900kg but was towing with a Defender 110 so hardly felt it at all.
Am going to try to tow the van with the Defender so I can see if its the van or car and really only thing I can think of is that I didn’t clean enough of the paint off the tow ball when we collected it and some of the paint is left on the friction pads causing the Stabiliser to activate and pulling the car back. I had to clean the toes ball again after collecting the van as there was still some paint on and it is now as bald as can be! when I took the security ball out with the hitch there was a little paint on that so suspect the pads might need a clean but surely can these pads cause this?
Or is there something else I need to check? Any ideas please? Love this car without a caravan but this was just no fun!!
By the way I have a detachable tow ball (which I’m not overly impressed with as get none of the towing aids without the full suround cameras), 3.0 TD6 HSE, reg’d December 2017.
James
Last edited by Sodbury D5 on 11th Mar 2018 9:00 pm. Edited 1 time in total
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- JackNorris
- Member Since: 07 Jun 2016
- Location: Beds/Bucks
- Posts: 113
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I don't own a D5... yet... so can't comment from that perspective however.
While it is important to clean the paint off of your towball, that stabiliser is only to reduce sway in the van and in turn will not cause the brakes to come on.
If you have ATC stability control then this is a separate 'stabiliser' and works by applying one or both brakes iirc when required to stabilise the caravan. Now it is possible this could be misconfigured but is something i am not too familiar with as i never bother with it when towing with a Discovery.
I do not know if you could remove a fuse from the ATC and see if that helps? Disclaimer: You may need to be careful with insurance implications if you do this and be aware that you are disabiling a safety feature.
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- Craigp
- Member Since: 10 Nov 2016
- Location: Hull
- Posts: 690
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Hi James certainly doesn't sound right. It does seem that your anti snake unit is coming in. Obviously paint on the ball cant help. But i would check your nose weight this is crucial I would imagine yours is around 100kg then caravan tyre pressures. I personally dont think it tows as good as the D4 but others think its better. However my experience are not based on anything major. Please keep us informed.
craig
ok just read again see you have checked nose weight.
Last edited by Craigp on 11th Mar 2018 9:04 pm. Edited 1 time in total
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- Sodbury D5
- Member Since: 12 Dec 2017
- Location: Bath
- Posts: 17
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Thanks Jack - appreciate the response.
I’ll try with the Defender first so can eliminate van/car being the issue then can narrow down to the cause. Have read up on the stabilise and seems the pads just get noisy if dirty/worn so probably not the issue.
Jamesd
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- Peterl
- Member Since: 29 May 2017
- Location: Essex
- Posts: 5
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Towing disappointment
We have a caravan of similar weight. Tow a lot with our disco 5 including long trips in France and very pleased.. I tend to use a slightly heavy nose weight and make sure as much as possible the load in the caravan is close to the axle. I keep awning bbq etc in the boot. I have also turned off lane control which helps when taking bends on smaller roads.Do you have ATC and is it adjusted correctly. Did have an issue with one new caravan where they did not adjust brakes correctly on the PDI and one brake shoe was worn out after 6 months and replaced under warranty.
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- Sodbury D5
- Member Since: 12 Dec 2017
- Location: Bath
- Posts: 17
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HI Peter,
We had awning in the van on outward trip but in the car on way back and didn’t make any difference. Tyre pressures are spot on at 60psi as per the Bailey handbook and nose weight was same on both outward and return trips at 98kg - still within the 103kg.
Effect was exactly the same as towing it when empty though although probably worse when laden,
James
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