Towing experience with the LR3
 

Hey All,

When I was thinking about towing with my LR3 there was some hit and miss info about its effectiveness as a tow vehicle.

Thought I'd share a little bit of first hand info with the forum about my recent vacation towing our travel trailer using an 06 LR3 SE (with rear seats, nav).

Some simple faqs:
• 3800 miles from Southern California to Idaho (Sawtooth mountains), Yellowstone, Cody and Tetons in Wyoming.
• trailer is a hardsided fleetwood 18 ft fiberglass box (total trailer is about 21ft) and weighs 4200ish with nothing...almost 5400 loaded with my family's gear (just the four of us (two little kids)). Its a light trailer because it has no sliders and it has a couch that converts to a bed in the front.
• Three bikes on Thule roof-mount plus a fairing to cut out the wind noise
• Tongue weight is about 300lbs on this trailer loaded...
• Did not attach any kind of left or right rearview mirror extenders to see around the trailer...I should have though...the LR3 mirrors don't reach around enough on their own to safely see anything directly behind you.
• Did not use any kind of equalizer/anti-sway bar system...just a 2 5/16 ball on the tongue.
• Using a genuine Land rover wiring harness I installed (it was quite simple--even for me!)

The Ballmount and Ball:
The real trick is configuring a 2 5/16 ball so that the height of the ball is roughly at the same height as the electrics box so as not to make the trailer front dip. I purchased a ball mount with a 10 inch drop that I reversed. A warning on this: the manual clearly says that the hitch can only drop 2 inches or so below or above the adapter...I am violating this directive in the manual and have had an LR dealer, (what do they know right?) a trailer hitch install specialist and an engineer all look at the setup and basically give their blessing. Of course they are not driving it...

Suspension:
If you think you are an expert at the suspension system, you'll learn quite a bit more once you put a trailer in the mix. The air-suspension notices you've attached a weight and automatically (assuming you have the doors closed---not the hatch though) raises the back of the vehicle to adjust. Sometimes I open one of the doors just so I don't have any surprises---if you get my drift). I've custom-configured (the manual taught me) my remote control to raise and lower the trailer by remote/blinkers on. Its handy for doing the attachment part...

Gas:
• Averaged 11.9 miles per gallon of premium (counted at least 14 serious grades---crossed the continental divide at least five times going back and forth)...
• Most tanks averaged 230-250 miles from full to a little below 1/4 left.

Drivability:
• Cross winds weren't a problem....even some of the really gusty ones.
• Trucks pushing hard in the lane next to me did push the trailer around some...but I saw other trailers on trucks (Fords/Chevys/Dodges) facing the same issues--and most of them had equalizer bars.
• Pulled well on all but the nastiest grades (there is a solid 10% grade coming out of Jackson Hole west (I think its 22). The toughest grade I had to handle by far...actually put the selectable transmission into 1st gear (about 25mph) just to make it up...there were no fifth wheels on that grade that I saw and no semi trucks...everybody who was up there was moving slowly.
• Most of the time on flats, the truck was in the 3rd to 4th gear and averaging about 3500-4000 rpms.
• I found that 55 was a great speed---very controllable...faster speeds made things progressively more complex. I did run some solid 75mph session but would not recommend it for the trailer we have.
• I noticed that with my cruise control on and in sport mode, the truck was always happily in a torque-y gear that worked well.
• It was important to me to select a trailer that came no where close to pushing the 550 tongue weight limit...wanted to be conservative on that...also, I think that 23-24 ft total is probably the longest I'd want to go...

• During the last 150 mile sprint home through hot vegas (110 degrees on the ground during midday, we had two passenger side trailer tires blow--each about 50-75 miles between each other). The cabin on the LR3 is so quiet, the only way I knew anything was wrong was a slight fish in the steering control and a look back to see tire pieces flaking off!

Rover reliability:
We had zero mechanical, electrical, power, transmission, overheating or otherwise issues during our trip. Turning radius was a total dream...Very happy indeed with this as a tow vehicle.

• Not to be different, but in all that trailering and traveling we never saw any other Land Rovers towing anything!

Hope this helps,

Reply with any questions/comments!

sworks4ken

Images in order are:
• Just the LR3 in Yellowstone
• Tow vehicle and trailer in Eagle Lake, California (near Susanville)
• Towing a family fishing boat around (felt like nothing was there)
• At the top of a gigantic mountain pass on the way into Sawtooth Mountains
• Set up in an Idaho RV park near Tetons

LR3 Towing
 

I tow a similar weight/length with my LR3 and found your information to match my previous experiences.

My fuel economy was a little lower than your since I replaced the factory GY's with larger Nitto's.

Looks like a fun trip! Thanks for sharing! :)

Great info

I pull a 16' Airstream with my 2008 LR3. The trailer weighs about 3500 lbs. No issues at all. I use just the ball - no weight distribution / sway - with no issues. I also flipped a hitch over to get the right height for the trailer tongue (but only needed 2").

I used to pull the same trailer with a Discovery II - with a weight distribution hitch. Towing with LR3 is night and day - it is a huge improvement.

Good to see other Land Rovers towing.

sworksken-Thanks for the excellent review. Am looking at getting a Keystone Bullet 180 that is about the same specs as your trailer. When towing a demo trailer experienced a fair amount of jouncing in Lr3 on highway and county roads. Any suggestions? Have you done any more trailering since your last post? Anyone done any towing lately? Any suggestions on type or brand of trailer to buy?

Thank you for the detailed towing report. I just purchased an LR3 and I am excited to be confident about towing my boat. Its a little heavier at 6700 lbs but the Discovery II i had before was able to do it, meaning this thing will have no problem.

I got 8-10mpg towing a 8x14 enclosed trailer with 2 harleys and 7pass in the vehicle from Michigan to Chattinooga TN and back running 65-75mph with 285 tires. Command shift works best and you can only run 50-55 in overdrive so you will stay in 3rd to 4th and 5th at times. The LR tows good if your used to a disco2 or similar but compaired to my 1/2ton GMC truck it is just ok. I usually tow with the truck unless we need the LR for extra passangers going along. If I remember correctly I bought a 3 1/2 drop and flipped it over seems just about perfect.Lines the ball up to just above the bumper.
The mirrors are way to small everytime a tow any distance I swear I am getting extenders for next time.

Recommendation for at tow hitch and electrical connections
 

I'm looking at purchasing a 2006 HSE LR3 and need to get a tow hitch with power connections. Can I get this done at a trailer service and supply (aftermarket)or do I need to order a specific one. -Thanks

Just had my LR3 converted to a regular 2" drawbar receiver and 7 pin trailer electrical installed in the bumper. The shop, located in dunn, nc took only 30 minutes and I spent only 220.00! Amazing right! I also had them put some bolts in that would allow easy removal of the drawbar prior to off road excursions. Towed my 7000 on boat like a champ! The stability made my jaw drop and somehow I got 10 mpg, I still have not figure out how.

What mirror extensions work well with the LR3? I just hate those useless little things on such a large vehicle. They seem about half the size of my third-gen 4Runner's mirrors! I would swap them out for larger mirrors if any were available (I did that on an old Dodge for the same reason).

I had discussed the mirror extender issue with one of our customers who owns a LR4 and tows a larger box trailer.
His concern was finding a mirror extender that was approved/sold by Land Rover.
My suggestion to him was to consider using a dual rear view camera setup instead of mirror extenders.
Just a thought....