Freelander Prep for towing a Caravan

Gents

Looking to start towing a 1300kg single axle caravan behind the Mrs`s 05 TD4 freelander.

Sorry if its a daft question but what should I be checking - it has all the necessary tow bar etc.

My question is more around the fact it has 95,000 miles on the clock , its regularly serviced etc and to be fair its running the best it ever has.

Any pointers would be greatly received

cheers Dave

The mileage is of no relevance, providing it's working as it should.

If you have never towed before. It's a wise investment to go on a training course. This will show you how to load up the caravan, adjust nose weighs and manoeuvre it with confidence.

What @Nodge68 said ..

We tow a similar size caravan with the wifes' Nissan X-trail (2.0 petrol) and just carry out proper and regular servicing and checking of tyre pressures and tread depths. Only thing I'd like is a lower gear range!!

Good advise guys Ta

Dave Stubbs said:

Good advise guys Ta

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Also make sure your license is correct to allow you to tow the weight.

Hi Guys
Thanks for your assistance to date

I do have one last fundamental question, the caravan I am looking to buy has the following on the chassis plate in relation to weight

MTPLM = 1500kg MIRO = 1312kg

Will my 05 freelander TD4 HSE be legal to pull this ? Which is the weight you go by ?

Any help will be greatly appreciated

regards Dave

I would be more concerned about aspects of the caravan (assuming it is second hand?) rather than the vehicle.
Breakaway cable present and in good nick? Age and condition of tyres? Jockey wheel usable and able to be secured in raised position? Electrics ok? Handbrake serviceable? to mention a few......

Have a look here for how you can work out what's recommended ..

Caravan weights

Beneagles said:

I would be more concerned about aspects of the caravan (assuming it is second hand?) rather than the vehicle.
Breakaway cable present and in good nick? Age and condition of tyres? Jockey wheel usable and able to be secured in raised position? Electrics ok? Handbrake serviceable? to mention a few......

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Agree with this 100%, check tyres, wheel bearings, brakes, lights - and know the law. You must have a brake away cable which attaches to the car and operates the caravan brakes in the event they part company. Some DVSA inspectors can get quite 5h1tty about how the break away cable is attached to the car (I have read about them issuing prohibition notices for this even though they cannot) - ideally it should be clipped onto a bracket that is not attached via the towball, rather than looped over the towball itself. Know your weights, read the article above and see this:

It's not rocket science - just make sure you know what you are doing and enjoy your holiday....

As above. Check everything on the caravan carefully as brakes and other important items are often neglected.

The official LR tow bar has a breakaway cable eyelet.

The FL1 will legally tow a caravan of that weight.

Dave Stubbs said:

I do have one last fundamental question, the caravan I am looking to buy has the following on the chassis plate in relation to weight

MTPLM = 1500kg MIRO = 1312kg

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MIRO=Mass In Running Order. This is the mass of the caravan as it left the manufacturers. It includes the original sized battery, gas tank and anything else the van was supplied with. In this case 1312 Kgs.

MTPLM = Maximum Technically Permissible Laden Mass, also known as User payload.

This is the maximum the van can weigh, which in this case gives user payload of 188 Kgs. So you can add up to 188 Kgs of luggage, crockery, food and so on into the van.

The other consideration is the car itself. You must not exceed it's total authorised mass when loaded (MAM) and the car's mass plus the caravan mass must not exceed the maximum train weight of the car. I'll use my 05 TD4 SE as an example here. My SE has a plated MAM (Maximum Authorized Mass) of 2080 Kgs and a maximum train weight (car + caravan) of 4080 Kgs.

Just to add to the confusion. The recommended maximum trailer (caravan) weight shouldn't exceed 85% of the kerb weight of the tow vehicle.

My TD4 has a kerb weight of 1640 Kgs. So 85% of 1640 works out as 1394 kgs.
So the recommended trailer weight for my FL1 is 82 Kgs greater than the 1312 Kgs MIRO if the caravan in question. So it would be perfectly acceptable to tow this with my FL1, even if the Freelander is fully loaded to its MAM.
You're FL1 might have a slightly different kerb weight, but you'll need to check that. This 85% is only a recommendation, published by the Caravan Club. However as you're new to towing, it's advisable to stick to it as closely as possible.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for the advise all, this is really useful

Some DVSA inspectors can get quite 5h1tty about how the break away cable is attached to the car (I have read about them issuing prohibitionnotices for this even though they cannot) -


it’s an old thread I know however thought I’d make a quick point. Where do you get your information from that the inspectors cannot issue a prohibition for this?
Yes some DVSA inspectors get annoyed at that and so they rightly should. If it is deemed that a breakaway cable is not adequately attached to the towing vehicle then absolutely an immediate prohibition notice should be issued preventing the vehicle from being moved until the fault is rectified (Which I’m sure it would be so the notice would be removed). Looping a breakaway cable around the tow ball is NOT adequately secured to the towing vehicle. If there is a dedicated point on the towbar then use it. These inspectors often get called out by the police to determine the causes of incidents on the roads networks and all too often it is user error to blame. For such a simple thing to have the potential to cause injury or death on the roads then wouldn’t you get annoyed if they weren’t used correctly and caused harm to someone in your family or circle of friends?

The break away chains are important.

My cousin, who's a pretty responsible sort of guy and wouldn't intentionally not take the necessary measures to make sure his van was hooked up safely, had his van separate from his Land Cruiser.

Dunno why the safety chain didn't do its job, but it made quite a mess!

Dunno if the tow bar failed and so van took tow ball and eye for the D bolt thingie with it.

Nodge68 said:

Also make sure your license is correct to allow you to tow the weight.

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I think they changed all the licences in December to allow 3.5kg to be towed on B licence.

Kevm said:

I think they changed all the licences in December to allow 3.5kg to be towed on B licence.

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I posted that over 4 years ago.

Nodge68 said:

I posted that over 4 years ago.

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Lol......my bad.....

It’s always been the case that you can tow up to a max gross weight of 3500kg on a B cat licence as long as the trailer doesn’t exceed the weight of the towing vehicle.

Kevm said:

I think they changed all the licences in December to allow 3.5kg to be towed on B licence.

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Put the heaviest items over the axle of the caravan.
Put the next heaviest stuff in front of the axle.
Put nothing heavy at all behind the rear axle.
I don't know what the max noseweight allowed on a FL1 is, but in my opinion I always want to max it as it adds stability. On my caravan I used run at about 85kg noseweight but that was behind a Peugeot 806, and it was always as stable as a rock, even at 70mph (legal on French motorways). You don't want less than 5% of caravan weight on the nose as an absolute minimum.
Rear tyre pressures will need increasing to suit.
Check all caravan lights on every journey.
Make sure that you can see what's behind you, I guess that you will need towing mirrors for this.
You didn't say whether your TD4 is manual or automatic. What kills automatic transmissions is torque and heat, not revs. When I towed with an automatic I always put them in sports mode to encourage higher revs and less torque. I would only use top gear at motorway speeds.
Caravan tyres never wear out, but they do get old, crack and go rotten. Watch out for that.

pscan.eu said:

Put the heaviest items over the axle of the caravan.
Put the next heaviest stuff in front of the axle.
Put nothing heavy at all behind the rear axle.
I don't know what the max noseweight allowed on a FL1 is, but in my opinion I always want to max it as it adds stability. On my caravan I used run at about 85kg noseweight but that was behind a Peugeot 806, and it was always as stable as a rock, even at 70mph (legal on French motorways). You don't want less than 5% of caravan weight on the nose as an absolute minimum.
Rear tyre pressures will need increasing to suit.
Check all caravan lights on every journey.
Make sure that you can see what's behind you, I guess that you will need towing mirrors for this.
You didn't say whether your TD4 is manual or automatic. What kills automatic transmissions is torque and heat, not revs. When I towed with an automatic I always put them in sports mode to encourage higher revs and less torque. I would only use top gear at motorway speeds.
Caravan tyres never wear out, but they do get old, crack and go rotten. Watch out for that.

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When I used to tow the boat, the heaviest bit was the motor and that was stuck on the back

However, boat trailers have the axle quite a way back to compensate for that.

When we went on holiday, the boat got used as a trailer for all the gear, it was all just loaded into it. I always put the heaviest (movable!) bit in the back of the Freelander - ie the tent. It probably weighs getting on for 100kg, dunno if I was right to put it in the back of the car rather than up front in the boat, but it seemed the sensible thing to do.

They absolute best way to load, is to fold down the rear seats if you don't need them, and put heavy stuff in the car, ahead of the rear axle of the car. Heavy car, lighter caravan. However, heavy stuff right over a caravan / trailer axle has very little impact on trailer stability as well.

I once lost a car trailer due to not enough nose weight. I made sure that it was something I understood because it's not an experience that I ever want to repeat.