Disco 2 as a tow car

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CompassVL

New Member
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Evening. I`m a newbie to Landyzone, and LR in general, so go easy on me!

I`ve recently bought a Disco 2 to use as a towcar. It will be towing almost everyday, although mostly on the motorway. A couple of days ago, the O/S rear suspension was right down onto the stopper, so i presume this is an airbag leak, as it rises within 30 seconds of the engine strating, but drops down over night again.

Anyway, what i was wanting to know is if anyone has used a Disco 2 purely for towing, and whather this will cause the rear suspension set up (airbags aswel as compressor) more stress and in turn mean I might need to change parts quite often? I`ve ordered a new airbag from Paddocks this time, and would really like to keep this set up, as I really like it. However, if it will fail more often due to the stress the car, especially the rear, is under, then I would consider the coil spring coversion.

If anyone has any info on this, it would be appreciated. I`ve read up on all the airbag issues, so I am aware it`s a weak point on this car, but don`t know whether towing all the time will cause excessive wear on the airbags.

Sorry for the long winded first post, i`m sure i`ll be on here more often now I`ve got around to registering!

Thanks,

Rob
 
Ha, Cheers for the reply.

I was expecting a few answers like this after reading up on this. The reason I don`t want to change to coils is because I`d lose the self levelling capabilities. I know quite a few people arn`t fussed about this, but as 95% of the time it`s on the road, it is pulling between 2-3 tonnes, its pretty handy for me. It makes a big difference to the drive, looks better when level too to keep VOSA off my back!

I used to use Troopers as tow cars, but got sick of the injectors failing.:mad:

A resident of Donny too? i`m only a spit from you in Chesterfield!
 
Might regret this by putting a curse on mine but

Had the Disco 6 years (51 plate) only problem so far with the suspension was a new compressor and latterly a height sensor. less than £300 all in.

Tow a large boat during the summer - Launch and recovery, use the remote control to lower the rear when unhitching

Wouldn't be without the air suspension and would not contemplate changing to coils, same as wouldn't bodge repairs to falsely save money -just my opinion
 
I use my TD5 for towing, ( not all the time ), between 2 and 3 and 1/2 tons.

I wouldnt be without it.

My bags just let go, ( leaked ), and they were the originals, ( 2002 ), and after 90000 miles, I thought that was pretty good.

The maximum hitch load for the D2, ( coil or air ), is 250 kg,s.

If you look at the permissible axle loads youll see that tha D2 with SLS is permitted to carry 128 kg,s more than the coil srung one. ( if speed is limited to 62 mph ).

Logic would say that this would make the air springs more capable than coils !.

I think that the SLS system on the D2 has got a bad rap.
Its not the " complex mystery " that many think it is.

The fact is that it is very easy and cheap to ditch it when problems occur, by putting coils on, and this tends to be a lot of folks answer.

Bags go, after a few years, hieght sensors go, ( look at where they live ! ), and the valve block can go wrong. Compressors that burn out will usually be because it has been working to hard due to a neglected leak issue.

Just my thoughts.

Del.
 
CompassVL said:
Evening. I`m a newbie to Landyzone, and LR in general, so go easy on me!

I`ve recently bought a Disco 2 to use as a towcar. It will be towing almost everyday, although mostly on the motorway. A couple of days ago, the O/S rear suspension was right down onto the stopper, so i presume this is an airbag leak, as it rises within 30 seconds of the engine strating, but drops down over night again.

Anyway, what i was wanting to know is if anyone has used a Disco 2 purely for towing, and whather this will cause the rear suspension set up (airbags aswel as compressor) more stress and in turn mean I might need to change parts quite often? I`ve ordered a new airbag from Paddocks this time, and would really like to keep this set up, as I really like it. However, if it will fail more often due to the stress the car, especially the rear, is under, then I would consider the coil spring coversion.

If anyone has any info on this, it would be appreciated. I`ve read up on all the airbag issues, so I am aware it`s a weak point on this car, but don`t know whether towing all the time will cause excessive wear on the airbags.

Sorry for the long winded first post, i`m sure i`ll be on here more often now I`ve got around to registering!

Thanks,

Rob
Click to expand...


Hi Rob, my advice is to keep the sls because it is so good when towing, change both air springs at the same time, otherwise you'll just end up with trouble.
 
Keep the sls.......touch wood I haven't had any trouble with mine either. But saying that I keep them very clean too, put it to full height mode and hose all the crappy road grime that builds up on them very often. I even put a squirt of WD40 on them now & again to stop the bags perishing. They are the originals 147,000 on the clock 2002 model & they look as good as new.
 
Keep the SLS great for towing, had to do both my bags after 5 years, no other issues, but landrover consider the air bags to be service items.

Also do both bags you should always do them in pairs.
 
Keep the SLS

The main problem is that you need to start thinking of the Airbags and Sensors as Service Items that need replacing at a fixed point in time, seems to be around 100,000 miles. Once this is done you should have no problems.

The compressors go to either overwork or water ingress - it is impornat to keep an eye on the Filter behind the rear N/S lamp unit
 
Landybandy said:
Keep the sls.......touch wood I haven't had any trouble with mine either. But saying that I keep them very clean too, put it to full height mode and hose all the crappy road grime that builds up on them very often. I even put a squirt of WD40 on them now & again to stop the bags perishing. They are the originals 147,000 on the clock 2002 model & they look as good as new.
Click to expand...

I agree with keeping them clean as a good idea, but surely WD40 will degrade them, rather than stop them perishing, and also cause more crap to stick to them?

MW
 
I use my TD5 Disco 2 for towing... horse box and also boats including launching.... The airbags are wonderful, obviously though they will be under more pressure when towing heavy loads so this will soon show up any weaknesses your SLS may have. As others have said replace both bags at the same time, the other one will be on its way out... sooner rather than later.
 
Just returned from another days towing......and noticed all these responses! Thanks a lot for the info. What the majority have said is what I was thinking, the SLS is well worth keeping due to the fact it`s a tow car. I`m sure, if it rarely towed, I`d look at coils.

A pair of airbags it is then. I`m taking a trip to Paddocks on Saturday, as I only live 10 minutes from them, and at £75 each, you can`t go wrong.

As a side note, when I got to the car this morning, for some reaon it hadn`t dropped at all at the back over night! This is the first time this has happened since I first notice dthe dropping, and it just happened that I left the trailer hitched overnight. Odd, but i`m still swapping the bags......for the sake of £150, it`s peice of mind.
 
50 pence said:
Have you had a squirt around all the components with soapy water spray ?.

Del.
Click to expand...

Not yet Del, that`s my plan for Saturday morning. I generally leave the house when dark, and don`t return until it`s dark, so lack of daylight makes it hard.
 
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