Do any of you use your Disco to tow? I am thinking about getting a Disco, but it would have to replace the towing duties of my 5.0 Liter V8 Mountaineer with a towing capacity of 6,500 lbs. I regularly pull a 20' I/O boat (not sure what the weight is) for frequent short distances (<100 miles) and cross country on very rare occasions. Should I consider a Disco or should I stick with a mountaineer/explorer?

 

My Disco tows quite well. I tow an old pop-up trailer through the mountians of Nevada, Utah, California, Arizona, at least once a month. The sortest distance has been 250 miles. Unless there is a strong wind, I don't even know the trailer is there. Empty the trailer is like 3000 lbs, we load it up with a few hundred pounds of fire wood, gear and we normally have 4 moutian bikes strapped to the top. In two weeks I'll be towing that trailer up to Lake Tahoe for a bike race. That's a 9 hour drive. I'm not worried.

According to my users manual the '03 Disco (4.6L V8) is capable of towing 7700 lbs with a tongue weight of 400 lbs. That veries with number of axels and breaking style and things like that, but I've had NO problem towing.

Brian

 

I tow a 25 foot boat that loaded, with the trailer comes to about 7000lbs, I only tow it short distances and you want to make sure the trailer has good brakes. If you get an '03 or '04 with the 4.6 you will have no issues and it is suprisingly stable for a vehicle with such a short wheelbase. It will outperform the the Mercury many times over offroad and do just as well on road. Go for it!

 

Well, Folks, I read all the posts from every RV forum, including this one, and came away with a feeling that the only way to know what truly was fact and what was fiction was to find out myself.
I have a 2004 Disco II with the towing package. Based on advice from this forum, I got the Trailer lighting conversion box from Atlantic British. Works excellent. Simple plug and play. Based on advice from the other forums, fitted a Reese Dual Cam Sway control with 1000 lb bars with a weight distributing hitch. I am towing a 4200lb loaded 23 foot trailer. After 1000 miles of towing on interstates and back roads, here are my results:
When the WDH is correctly set up with the Disco level, and the dual cam correctly adjusted, the vehicle is quite well composed and tracks very well. Crosswinds over 15 mph are best to avoid (i.e park and wait), but I have heard this from almost every other RV'er. On backroads under 60 mph, the trailer behaves very well and the Disco feels loaded, but very capable. On the interstates, speeds can be comfortably increased to legal limits, but two things I found out; Large trucks passing at a high speed difference will alternately pull and push the trailer and Disco combo, not causing a great deal of sway but in order to maintain lane position (very important when alongside a truck) careful steering was required, and a subtle touch was needed. Don't over steer! I was traveling with a friend with a 30' Travel Trailer and Dodge extended cab Diesel 2500, with wdh and sway bar, and he had the same issues, so I cannot attribute this issue to the Disco alone. The second thing is power. The Disco needs to be in sport mode, and unless you have very flat roads, in third gear. We went from Northern Kentucky to Gatlinburg TN and back, and most is gentle up and down with a monster hill both ways at the TN/KY border. The best situation was 3rd gear and 2900 on the tach, which was 63 mph. This was a very comfortable cruise, where the rig felt stable and controlled. On the monster hill we needed to drop to second, which meant 3500 RPMs and 45 mph halfway up.
Some of you may think this is a bit conservative, but I like my Disco and have a personal redline at 4000 RPM.
Even on the hill climbs the temp needle never moved, and when we stopped at the top of the mountain for a scenic overlook, nothing smelled hot or abused. Couldn't say the same for some other rigs in the park.
I also installed a clever device called Airtab (www.airtabs.com) for the trip back. I averaged 8.5 mpg on the trip to Gatlinburg, and 10 mpg on the way back. Check out the website, and you will see the premise. I also had better stability around the big trucks as well.
Now, would I go cross country with this rig? Probably not. Trips of 150 miles or less, no problem. Longer than that, and I will "borrow" my son's Dodge 2500 Diesel, like my friend's, and will likely be even more comfortable, and have far better fuel economy.
But I believe I have taken all the right precautions and equipment set up to keep me and my family safe, and I am within LR's limits, so I feel fairly confident with the rig. Watch your tongue weight, limit the load (4000lbs loads trailer), keep the trailer length at 20 feet or less, don't cut corners on hitches and safety equipment, keep the air pressures at max for trailer and tow (rear Disco at 48 psi!), and set reasonable distances and speeds, and you will be proud of your Disco and it's heritage of being a tough customer.

[IMG]local://upfiles/3740/F1B42B39478F4647975AE883C6244CA4.jpg[/IMG]

 

I tow a 21' ski boat frequently, no problem. To be honest, I was quite surprised at how well it did handle on the highway.

 

Did you have to install a break controller for your trailer? if so how did you manage that. I have been to several places and they all refuse to wire it including the land rover dealership.

 

I tow a 27-foot bayliner outboard. dry weight is approx. 7000lbs. The brakes are very good on the trailer otherwise I would not use the rover to pull it.

The boat tends to push my '04 disco through corners. I would not tow my boat more than to the local marina. Has plenty of power just too short of wheel base. The all-wheel drive low-range feature is very handy for towing.

 

I tow a 14' cargo trailer nearly every working day of my life. The Disco has the power and gearing to tow very well.

More than anything, be conscerned with your trailer brakes and the tongue weight of the trailer. I frequently load and tow +4,500 pounds of tile and other construction materials. Focus on your trailer breaks and controller. People WILL do dumb things when driving near truck and trailer combos. You WILL have an emergency stop situation at some point. The outcome is proportunate to the preperation.

Loaded wellmy truck driveswithout conscern. Load slightly aft of CG and you arein for a ride (major instability).

Load Well - be concious of yourbreaks/settings and you will be pleased. Highly recommend electric breaks.

*** Is you boat trailer a single axel or tandem axel rig, and what is the tongue weight?
*** How are the boats fuel tanks set up (single center tank / two outboard tanks...)?
*** What is the boats fuel capacity? Empty vs. fullcan dramatically effect your tongue weight.

MWwG