Towing
 

I know some here towed other cars with their Disco or towed their Disco with another similar truck.

I just bought a parts truck and it has to be towed because the front axle is missing , so towing it with a dolly is not an option. I know the towing capacity of the Disco is 7500 pounds according to the owner's manual but the combined weight of the rental trailer and the Disco will be around 6500 pounds. U-haul advised against it, but I would like to know if anyone attempted this and how did it go?

It would depend on how far and terrain if I were to contemplate it. And posted speed limits of roads travelling. I tow a small-ish utility trailer w/a lawn tractor or 4-wheeler, and it does fine(1,000lb range). As soon as I hook up my boat(aprox 3500lbs), it sucks all life out of her.

Any uphill and I loose speed, semi-steep grades only see about 45mph, and I avoid steep grades all together.

But if conditions were good, I would def try it.

I towed a 2001 Discovery on a dolly with our 1999 Jeep Cherokee 4.0L almost 400 miles from the furthest eastern tip of West Virginia to Central Ohio. There were sections going uphill where I had my foot all the way to the floor with my hazard lights on in the right lane, but it did it just fine. I think you'd be alright.

U-Haul would have balked at me if I told them what I was doing, so I told them I was towing a Taurus. Just go to a different U-Haul, and tell them you're towing a Stratus or something.

You have to lie to U-Haul and tell them its for a Geo Metro.

If I say it's for a Geo they will ask me why I rent a platform instead of a dolly. But I'd say I'll be fine, my father towed a 1962 Mercedes 200D with his Grand Cherokee on the most steep roads of the province and it was fine.

Since the truck has no front diff it may be 300 pounds less anyways....

They wont care why you want to flatbed it instead of dolly it, a flatbed costs more than a dolly which means more $$$ for them.
When I towed the race for for my friend from Austin to Grand Rapids with my Montero I told them it was for a Geo.
When I dollied my sons 1985 3/4 ton Dodge pickup to the scrap yard I told them it was for a Geo.

Wouldn't it be a Firefly up there in Canada anyway? ;) LOL

They won't know why you're using a flatbed, maybe there is something wrong with whatever you're towing that necessitates using a flat bed. In this case, it's a missing front axle, but they won't know that.

Which leads me to this: How on earth do you plan on getting the truck up onto the trailer with no front axle?

U-Haul shouldn't give two bits how close you are to your vehicle's towing capacity, as long as you're within the listed limits. If you have to drive 40 the whole way, so be it. Any big corporation will make error on the side which may limit their liabilities, though. They also won't rent any trailer to you if you tell them you're towing it with a soft-topped vehicle.

Have fun towing that Geo!

But the problem is that U-Haul lists the towing capacity of the Disco as 3,000 lbs.
When I tried to rent the dolly and I told then what I was towing with and what I was towing they said no because it exceeded the limit of my truck.

Crazy U-Haul.

We have both, in fact we have 4 cars that are exactly the same : Pontiac Firefly, Chevrolet Sprint, Geo Metro and Suzuki Swift.

And to answer your last question; the guy I'm buying it from has a 10 ton forklift.

It's a 150 km drive, I'll take my time and everything should be fine.

So, about 90 miles? Not bad. And you said it, just take your time, and you everything will be ok. Good luck!

I just came back from my trip! It took the whole day and it was a 430km round trip but it was worth it. Now I KNOW a Disco can tow 6000 pounds. I'll post pictures of the truck tomorrow. Lots of good parts will be available, I will part the truck out.

Sweet.

Towing concerns for heavy loads
 

IMO there would never be a question about the D1 towing (pulling) a heavy load.
My concern is stopping and trailer sway control.
I’m happy to hear that you had a successful trip, but I would add these thoughts for others who want to tow heavy loads.
1) U haul car trailers are excellent for towing with a good load on them. Uhaul I believe recommends the 80% rule -- 5500 pound trailer pull for a 4400 pound truck. The D1-SD is 4465 pounds. The D1 manual recommends 5500 lb high range and 7700 lb low range.
2) Towing more than these maximums may void your insurance. Check with your insurance company.
3) The D2’s have trailer sway control as an option --- D1 does not.
4) Ok you need to tow the heavy load – be careful and stay out of trouble.
5) Stopping distances are probably twice of what the other cars are – leave lots of room between you and the car ahead.
6) Brake in a straight line, not in the middle of a sharp corner like on an off ramp.
7) Make gentle lane changes and don’t swerve to miss things --- think ahead.
8) Watch your speed going done long steep hills – the extra weight leads you to increased speeds if not watched.
9) Take lots of breaks, and check the rig. I find that I’m much more intent on driving and watching that it is tiresome. You make mistakes when you are tired.
The D1 is a good truck, it does real stuff.

I was aware of those, and it was not my first use of a trailer. If I respected the U-Haul 80% rule I would have had to use a 3/4 ton truck to tow the trailer due to the heavy weight of the trailer which is 2100 pounds. The total weight of the trailer and the truck was 5500 - 6000 pounds. I knew stopping would take a lot longer, I was driving slowly, no more than 50mph. Plus the trailer I rented had hydraulic brakes, there was no way I would have attempted this with a trailer without brakes.
All of the trip was on secondary roads, with steep hills at some points. I took 3 breaks during the trip, to let the truck cool down a bit (even though the temp gauge didn't budge from it's usual reading) and to ensure the truck was still solid on the trailer.
But that being said, I won't do it again with my Disco. It's too underpowered, and that kind of trip is somewhat nerveracking.
I'm sorry I forgot my camera so no pictures until next week.

As promised.

Attachment 46367

Unfortunately the brush guard will need a lot of work to be put on my truck... but it's doable. And the body panels are way cleaner than on my truck.

How much for the wooden "rock sliders"? :cool:

I used that piece of wood to keep the front end on the trailer, otherwise it would have fallen between the rails of the trailer.

Sweet find.

Is there a steel spare on back...?

No steel spare wheel, in fact no spare at all. But I have the 4 wheels, I'll use them to mount winter tires. Interior parts are surprisingly clean, except the front seats which are torn in some places. It has manual seats.

My concern with lying to Uhaul is the liability.

When I was moving about 900 miles a few years ago, I had some idiot hit ME going down the highway. He actually hit the trailer, not my tow vehicle, but if I was towing a Disco with a Disco, and I had lied on the paperwork, both Uhaul and my insurance carrier might decide to use that to not pay out.

So nowadays, I'm worried about the other idiots much more than I am, and I've realized you can drive better than perfect, they will still hit you, and if your ducks aren't in a row, you are now a bad guy, too.

Then I'm responsible for the other guy, AND the Uhaul trailers, which are overvalued in terms of replacement cost...not to mention whatever I lost on the trailer.

I dealt with them a week ago, and the tow rating for a Disco I is now at 5500lbs, but the problem is that that 80% is not a suggestion (in terms of gross weight). Your tow vehicle had better damn well weigh more than 20% of the total weight of what you are pulling, or they don't rent to you.

That, and they have the hitch rated at only 5000lbs or so, not the 7700lbs from the low gear tow rating.

So, I thought about lying to them, but if something goes wrong, it's going to cost a lot more for that lie than if I just used another towing vehicle. I rented one of their 14' trucks to tow with. It braked very well, and had plenty of power. Got 7.5mpg in it, though. :-/