Caravaning and a Freelander

Hi Guys,

Me and the misses are thinking of getting a caravan for weekends away but questions are in my mind....

The misses has a 2006 TD4 (running roverron) and reading a few posts and questions and Im after comments from caravaners that use a freelander.

Can you say what your experiences of towing with a Freelander is like and what van was or is please.

The last time I towed a caravan was when I had a Disco and a twin axel tourer and that towed like a dream.

Regards and thanks in advance.

towed many years with a disco and now been towing with a freelander td4 for about 8 years. At the moment i tow a bailey pageant quite a heavy van but the freelander tows very well untill you try to reverse in a field if you got a manual gear box it seems that no matter how steady you go the clutch gets hot and starts smelling. I now tow with a td4 auto and its a lot better. keep you rover ron box on setting 3 when towing and it should be ok.

Thanks for the feedback just what I wanted to hear.

Will compare your caravan specs weight etc and use that as a example of the van we may get and as a side note it is indeed a auto box.

Regards

Just an aside really, as neither of our tow vehicles are auto's, but, the next tow vehicle we get will be an Auto, as the Mondeo just cannot reverse our tintent up our driveway.
Always have to use the Defender for parking duty.

I believe your freebie should be good for any tintent up to 2 tonne

Have read that its good upto 2Ton hence all the questions.

Thanks.

Towed our caravan last week which is a Eddis 515 1500kg and our FL1 TD4 auto was great never missed a beat and got 23mpg. No tuning box and it towed better than my dads P38 DSE but not as well as his TDV8 L322 thou.

Missus and I are keen caravanners, towing a Sprite Challenger 500 (single axle, fixed bed model) with our 2001 TD4 . Absolutely brilliant combination (for us), tows like a dream. It is actually nicer (more comfortable) towing the Sprite than it used to be towing our old 'van, which was a little Elddiss 350/2.

The extra weight of the Sprite makes everything more balanced.

Whatever combo you end up with, enjoy !!

Im looking at a twin axel something with a rear bedroom 4 berth, the Elddis range look nice.

i tow a really old caravan with my td4 auto commercial, bit of a peach really. the caravan weighs 1675kg I think. First time I'd really towed a caravan, although some big trailers over the years. Was really suprised how well it tows, no dramas, just drop into d and away we go.

if you get a van with the alko stabiliser fitted to the hitch, hitching up can be fun with the spare wheel touching the hitch i replaced mine with this.
alko retro 4 x 4 stabiliser hitch handle | eBay

Never towed a caravan but I regulary tow the missus' horsebox with 2 horses in it, last time I took it over a public weigh bridge it weighed 1950KGs total.

Besides the obvious issues when climbing steep hills I think the Freelander is a decent tow car, never once felt concerned over the trailer pushing me about, even when both horses decide to start swaying together in the back (I think they're having a party).

Dont expect blistering performance, do expect to change down more than just 1 gear depending on speed, incline etc & you've got yourself something that can live with the caravan well.

I'm driving a manual TD4

I pull a 2010 Swift Challenger 570 with an MTPLM of 1600kg with my 06 Freelander TD4 and have no problems at all except up steep hills then you have to drop gears other that that it pulls great.

Realist.
Just came back from France did 1600 miles with Freelander 1 Petrol, and towed a Bailey 317

work wise very good, petrol a good job it was cheaper over there. but I knew she would be heavy on fuel, pleased with the work rate of Freelander. happy hunting.

Thanks all specially the weights of the vans cos Im reading that the max is 1500kg but as per above it pulls 1600kg just fine.

Thanks all and keep them coming.

Brian

Realist said:

Thanks all specially the weights of the vans cos Im reading that the max is 1500kg but as per above it pulls 1600kg just fine.

Thanks all and keep them coming.

Brian

Click to expand...

Hi Brian,

Re: my post above. I'm an experienced caravanner I have towed for over 30 years, my car and caravan are a 100% match, if you are new to towing you should be looking at a match of around 85%.

Your freelander has a kerb weight of 1555 - 1640kg so going on the lower figure of 1555kg 85% you should be looking at a caravan with an MTPLM of 1321kg, and at 100% 1640kg a caravan with an MTPLM of 1640kg

Hope this helps

Graham

Ps Where to in Wales are you based, I'm in Pontypridd.

Hi Graham,

Not new to towing M8 used to have a 5 berth twin axle but with a disco but as a side note I do hold a HGV licence and am aware of towing.

Not looking to max the car or van out weight wise just looking at the options and also Im not looking at a new van but there are some crackers out there 2nd hand.

Regards

PS,

Im from Bargoed.

Realist said:

Hi Graham,

Not new to towing M8 used to have a 5 berth twin axle but with a disco but as a side note I do hold a HGV licence and am aware of towing.

Not looking to max the car or van out weight wise just looking at the options and also Im not looking at a new van but there are some crackers out there 2nd hand.

Regards

PS,

Im from Bargoed.

Click to expand...

Hi Brian,

Yes there are some great caravans out there to choose from all with different MTPLM's but take a damp meter with you when you go to look and check the tyres. Tyres should be changed at 5 years old regardless of tread. You might be interested in a caravan forum I belong to as well but just incase the link below to the forum dosen't work it's caravanning 4 u .co.uk with no gaps, come along you will be more than welcome.

www.caravanning4u.co.uk

Ps on a side note I know Bargoed, very well as I used to be the photographer for the Rhymney Valley Express.

Cheers

Graham


www.caravanning4u.co.uk

LOL just tried and regged and I got this message "Registration denied, this forum runs an active policy of not allowing spammers. Please contact us via the "Contact Us" page link if you believe this is in error".

LOL

Realist said:

LOL just tried and regged and I got this message "Registration denied, this forum runs an active policy of not allowing spammers. Please contact us via the "Contact Us" page link if you believe this is in error".

LOL

Click to expand...

PM me your email address and i'll contact one of my friends who's a mod, it should be ok then.

Cheers

Graham

grayo/graham pm me your user name i will use it when i reg on caravan site cheers for the link been looking for a site like this for a while cheers rob