Hey guys, I do a fair amount of towing with my business and have been doing so for many years, but I've always towed with my 1/2 ton or more pickups. What I tow is never more than a single car trailer (open steel deck/ dual axle WITH Electric brake, about 17' long.) I would say I tow about twice a month, and while some are short distance trips others may be 1000 miles or more. I know the logistics of a short wheelbase vehicle, I know the towing capacities of the Disco, and I know how to tow and drive properly etc etc...SO...

I LOVE the 2003 Disco II I bought for my wife and am thinking about taking that over as my towing vehicle because...

1. It gives off a nicer impression than my big FORD pickups do pulling the classy little vintage BMW's I restore and my clients would look higher on a Land Rover rather than a Ford Diesel with stacks leaving a trail of Black smoke behind it!

2. It's extremely comfortable for me to drive longer distances and I enjoy driving it greatly.

Being new to the LR world, I'm asking the seasoned LR owners, and hopefully those who've done a bit of towing, to chime in with opinions please. If I do make the Disco my tower, I would want to set it up to be more suited for doing so, what are some things that have proven well for you?

Do you think for my towing needs I would just be better off sticking to my pickups, and keeping the Disco as our kid hauler?

Thanks everyone!!

 

What sort of weight are you talking about?

 

Trailer is approx 1,800lbs and the bimmers are between 2,500 and 3,500lbs...so 5,500lbs max ...trailer has electric brakes and I'd need to setup the Disco for its

 

Well, that seems to be OK, now it is just a matter of wheel base. If your loaded trailer is much longer then your Disco, that might cause a stability issue, or not.
Good luck and let us know what you do.

 

Thanks for the input Mike!

Loaded trailer doesn't exceed 17'...wondering what would be the most suitable upgrades if any to suspension to minimize tail end sag under load and lessen stress put on the Disco...

 

Does your disco have SLS?

 

I don't believe so, no signs of SLS are present except for the vacuum sound after startup for about 10-20 seconds...?? It's a base model 2003 with Bilstein shocks and regular springs and no sign of leveling components...I could be wrong for all I know, which is still minimal being a newbie to Land Rovers.

Here's a link to my truck...https://landroverforums.com/forum/ne...wner-nj-47341/

 

Well you'd know if you had it if you had a button for it (near fuel door button) and you were given an extra key fob to raise and lower it. Vac sound is probably either your SAI pump or the viscous fan getting moving.

 

I htink you will be just fine towing that. There is a great video somewhere from LR when they introduced the D2, it shows them towing a Defender doing some sort of a slalom and it was jst fine. Do you have ACE as well? You could always add sway control bars if you are too worried.

 

I tow my boat (4500 lbs) around with my disco with no problems, trailer is NOT equipped with brakes. We just did close to 500miles round trip from Denver out to Lake McConaughy in Nebraska and back. Fully loaded truck, 4 people and a loaded boat. Suspension squats is minimal but i am running a 2" OME Heavy Duty Lift, however we did drive cross county on the stock suspension pulling the boat and the ride was fine.

I think the most important thing is changing to heavier weight oil in the diffs and x-case and changing your engine oil and trans oil at recommended intervals.

I tow the boat regularly and this past weekend it was over 100F outside the entire way back, as a pre-caution i think i am going to add an oil cooler. From what i have read the 4.6 didnt come with an oil cooler like the 4.0 but the ports are still available for use on the 4.6.

A must - change your oils
A plus - heavy duty coils and shocks

And as per the owners manual/drivers side door: Front Tire - 30PSI/ Rear Tire - 46 PSI (or around that...double check)