freelander towing caravan

Hi all
Am new to the forum and am looking for advice please, i have a 52 plate V6
2.5 litre petrol freelander and have a 1800kg twin axle caravan with which i towed with a musso 2.9(no nasty comments please) lt which has gone to the great scrapyard in the sky
do i have to put a oil cooler in or should i downsize my caravan.? any suggestions?

many thanks in anticipation

Is it the auto ?

I have used my td4 auto (different engine I know) with no issues that would indicate I need to fit an oil cooler.

If it's just general day to day towing, I wouldn't worry too much, BUT if you do a lot of intensive towing which makes the whole thing work hard (e.g. low speed maneuvering all day such as in a yard moving caravans) or if you're planning to go touring in the alps or Pyrenees, then maybe worth a consider.

Good Luck

whats the kerbweight of your FL?? then whats the max tow weight of the FL??

oil cooler is usually if its an auto, is it??

Yogi65bear said:

Hi all
Am new to the forum and am looking for advice please, i have a 52 plate V6
2.5 litre petrol freelander and have a 1800kg twin axle caravan with which i towed with a musso 2.9(no nasty comments please) lt which has gone to the great scrapyard in the sky
do i have to put a oil cooler in or should i downsize my caravan.? any suggestions?

many thanks in anticipation

Click to expand...

Sell the Freelander and buy a proper towing car This is the automatic as standard model isn't it.

Could be wrong but I once checked one of these out for a friends horse trailer which she had downrated to about this weight. I don't think it was legal, certainly wouldn't have wanted to use it.

thanks for the replies, sorry yes its an auto and will be using it for the odd week-end
for holidays so a oil cooler is a yes then

Yogi65bear said:

thanks for the replies, sorry yes its an auto and will be using it for the odd week-end
for holidays so a oil cooler is a yes then

Click to expand...

Check the towing weights, I think it was way over the limit at 1800Kg

They do random checks on weights sometimes and of course, my favourite video when my horsey friends want to tow with something unsuitable Small Car towing caravan crashes - YouTube

suew said:

Check the towing weights, I think it was way over the limit at 1800Kg

They do random checks on weights sometimes and of course, my favourite video when my horsey friends want to tow with something unsuitable Small Car towing caravan crashes - YouTube

Click to expand...

that is brilliant :hysterically_laughi

suew said:

Check the towing weights, I think it was way over the limit at 1800Kg

They do random checks on weights sometimes and of course, my favourite video when my horsey friends want to tow with something unsuitable Small Car towing caravan crashes - YouTube

Click to expand...

ound:ound:ound:

suew said:

Check the towing weights, I think it was way over the limit at 1800Kg

They do random checks on weights sometimes and of course, my favourite video when my horsey friends want to tow with something unsuitable Small Car towing caravan crashes - YouTube

Click to expand...

now thats funny :hysterically_laughi

Tail wagging the dog

Best clip I've seen in ages

suew said:

Sell the Freelander and buy a proper towing car This is the automatic as standard model isn't it.

Could be wrong but I once checked one of these out for a friends horse trailer which she had downrated to about this weight. I don't think it was legal, certainly wouldn't have wanted to use it.

Click to expand...

Max towing capacity of all Freelanders is 2000kgs, so provided you have B+E entitlement on your driving licence, it is perfectly legal to tow a 1800kg caravan.

85% of kerbweight is recommended by caravan club but I wouldn't tow more than 1.5 tonne tbh

legal yes, sensible????

the trailer shouldn't weight more than the towcar, and whats the max train weight for the freelander, not found the actual figure, but it appears the FL weighs approx 1500 kerb.

timtheenchanteruk said:

legal yes, sensible????

the trailer shouldn't weight more than the towcar, and whats the max train weight for the freelander, not found the actual figure, but it appears the FL weighs approx 1500 kerb.

Click to expand...

Max gross weight of Freelander 1 is 2080 kg, max towing weight is 2000kg giving max train weight of 4080kg. As for trailer not weighing more than tow car, that is a caravan club guideline, and is quite on the conservative side. I regularly tow 3500kg with my 110, which is usually loaded to around 2500kg.

is that your calculated figure, or the book figure, many vehicles have a train weight less than the max tow + gross weight, hence my question.

trailer not weighing more than car is not a caravan club guideline, the 85% rule is.

the quick "what can I tow" for B+E gives the answer
"You can already tow any trailers with a car as long as the weight of the fully loaded trailer isn’t more than the unladen vehicle weight."

I think the towing weight for a freelander is 1800kg so assuming the van is acutally 1800kg and not over then legally you are fine with a B + E license. Just dont overload it as you will be in a world of ****.

I personally would keep the caravan assuming your not towing it every weekend the odd weeked shouldnt hurt the freelander too much. With our TD4 I used to tow our car transporter with vintage tractor on the back which was close to 1600kg and it was fine never had any problems.

I think the caravan club rule of 85% is really for people who do not know what they are doing and have little towing experience. If you load the caravan properly (to avoid snaking) and plan ahead while driving there is no reason you cant tow up to the full plated weight of the tow vehicle regardless of the trailer.

I am guessing your caravan is twin axle as well so will tow pretty nicely and be stable anyway.

Sorry not sure about the oil cooler.

timtheenchanteruk said:

legal yes, sensible????

the trailer shouldn't weight more than the towcar, and whats the max train weight for the freelander, not found the actual figure, but it appears the FL weighs approx 1500 kerb.

Click to expand...

Why is that my Disco is rated to tow 3500kg and only weighs about 2000kg. I would happily (and do regularly) put 3500kg behind it, its all about knowing what your doing loading the trailer properly and driving accordingly.

If its to do with the size of the caravan and getting battered by the wind, i always found when i tow my dads twin axle van (1700 kg ish) it suffers a lot less and thrown about less than my single axle (1200 kg)

timtheenchanteruk said:

legal yes, sensible????

the trailer shouldn't weight more than the towcar, and whats the max train weight for the freelander, not found the actual figure, but it appears the FL weighs approx 1500 kerb.

Click to expand...

What tow car weighs as much a a fenders towing limits?

They don't, doesn't mean its sensible to do it though. theres more than just the fender that can tow 3.5T, disco can too IRC, as can the older Kia Sedona.

Id be wary of any situation where the tail can wag the dog.
im also aware the fender can tow alot more than 3.5T if it has a different brake system installed etc, etc, thats a different ketle of fish.

I still dont know the book train weight, so the FL may be able to tow the FL, but can you then put owt in the FL?? I had a pug 406, it would pull 1.5T, but if you loaded the car to its gross, only 1.2T.