Freelander TD4 as a tow car for a 2000 Abbey Spectrum 540

[joyble]

Hello

We have bought the above caravan and are just about to buy the towcar. My husband has finally been dragged screaming to buying a 4x4 (he wanted to tow with a Rover 75 Tourer CDTi but checking it out on Towsafe put paid to that idea!) and we like the Freelander TD4 which seems to be ok according to towsafe. We would appreciate any comments about experiences with the Freelander pulling a twin axle. The MTPLM is plated at 1740kg but we will only load to around 1600kg as its just us and the dog.

 

[James_5040371]

Though technically legal, towing a 1600kg van with a Freelander of roughly the same weight would be inadvisable, especially as the MTLMP is 1740kg. If you already owned the car, I would have said give it a go, but being careful with loading/noseweight and tyre pressures. There is little, if any difference between a Freelander and 75 Tourer, but the 75 has more power.

I would buy something heavier - a Frontera or Santa Fe are smaller but heavier 4x4s, along with the Volvo XC70, or a Jeep Cherokee or Sorento are a class up. Alternatively, a BMW 5-series Estate, a Merc E-Class estate, a Vauxhall Omega Estate, an Audi A6 Avant/Allroad Quattro or a VW Passat 4-motion Estate would give you a bit more in reserve than a Freelander.

Cheers

James

 

[CliveV]

Joy

Are you talking about the existing Td4 (BMW) engined Freelander or the new Freelander with the TD4 (Ford/Peugeot) engine.

Confusingly - the only badge difference is to be a capital "D" rather than the lower case "d" on the BMW engine.

The new 2.2 litre TD4 engine is considerably more powerful than the BMW Td4 - 160PS (up from 112) and max Torque of 295 lb ft @ 200rpm (up from 191 lb ft).

 

[mistralse]

You will probably find it very difficult to keep the van much below its 1740 MTPLM even with 2 and the dog,it is surprising how quickly the van fills up,there are so many heavier,cheaper,more powerful cars out there you dont have to struggle with a Freelander,being as you already have the van I would opt for a better 4x4.

 

[joyble]

Joy

Are you talking about the existing Td4 (BMW) engined Freelander or the new Freelander with the TD4 (Ford/Peugeot) engine.

Confusingly - the only badge difference is to be a capital "D" rather than the lower case "d" on the BMW engine.

The new 2.2 litre TD4 engine is considerably more powerful than the BMW Td4 - 160PS (up from 112) and max Torque of 295 lb ft @ 200rpm (up from 191 lb ft).

Thanks for replying CliveV. It would be the BMW engined Tdabout a 2002-3 which is what we used to get an report from Towsafe which said it could do the job.I would prefer to have something like the Discovery but we have a budget of about

 

[joyble]

You will probably find it very difficult to keep the van much below its 1740 MTPLM even with 2 and the dog,it is surprising how quickly the van fills up,there are so many heavier,cheaper,more powerful cars out there you dont have to struggle with a Freelander,being as you already have the van I would opt for a better 4x4.

Thanks for replying Denis. Any suggestions which a husband who is anti 4x4 might be persuaded to? We test drove a Freelander and he really liked it but won't look at for example a SWB Pajero.

Joy

 

[CliveV]

Hi again Joy.

There are a lot of good 4x4's out there but if you want advice on what to look for I recommend you buy the August issue of Land Rover Monthly - (repeat MONTHLY! - as there are no less than 4 magazines for us Land Rover Anoraks!)

There is an excellent article on buying a secondhand Freelander - the article does also go on to compare a Discovery, Defender and Range Rover. The buying guide price they are using is a bit lower than you quote but they do say the Td4 is worth about

 

[DavidW1]

Joy,

If you stick with the 85% rule this equates to towcar kerbweight of not less than 2045kg. This rule has some poeple in a tis but it has expert backing and personally I would be going for a mid or full size 4x4. The Freelander however good or not it is, is too light!

PC mag have 5 recomendations in this weight class but if they are out of your price range what about older Fronteras, Shoguns, Troopers, Landcruisers or even a Disco - don't forget grey imports either as they are excelent value if chosen carefully with very low miles and all the kit.

 

[Clive-Cardiff]

I have a TD4 and tow a 1600kg van. The only problem I find is that the 1st and reverse gears are a bit leggy, so if you are trying to inch into a tight spot you have to slip the clutch. Not a good idea for clutch wear.

I am looking at the TD4 auto to overcome this problem, or the Disco with the low range box

 

[DavidW1]

PS. Iv'e just read your reply to Clive and seen your budget Joy - crikey you could have two of my Bighorns for less than

 

[RichardS1]

Couple of years ago I ran a TD4 as a company vehicle, covering high mileage with no problems from the car at all. The Freelander weighed 1665kg when I took it to our local weighbridge and for an experienced caravaner I would have no hesitation recomending making full use of the cars Kerbweight and towing to 100%. However if you have little towing experience I would follow the guideline set out by other people and look at a full size 4x4, or alternatively a large people carrier like the Seat Alhambra. Vehicles of this nature will have the sufficent kerbweight to put you nearer the 85% guideline. You may intend not to make full use of the available MTPLM of the van, but even with the best intentions it is suprising how the essentials you require will add up.

 

[wayne_5097681]

HI joy,

We tow with a freelander td4 02 reg, the Bmw engine.

The max trailer weight is 2000kg and the gross train weight is 3880kg. I was reading about the newer freelander diesels and i think it said there max trailer weight is 1800kg but i would'nt swear on this, oh a the nose weight is 140kg which is quite high.

We tow a single axle senator with ours and it tows it easy up hill and down dale. Hope this helps

 

[chelsea1]

PS. Iv'e just read your reply to Clive and seen your budget Joy - crikey you could have two of my Bighorns for less than

 

[Moderator3]

Thread returned to topic. Sorry but I have had to remove a lot of the replies as well as the abuse to get the thread readable again.

Mod3

 

[joyble]

DAVID...we too have a German Shepherd...is it true they only shed 1 coat but for 365 days of the year?!

hoover is definetly a staple requirement with a GSD!

Hello Chelsea

Ours is a Golden Retriever and they definitely shed all year round. I think we will have to look for a lightweight hoover!!!!

Joy

 

[joyble]

PS. Iv'e just read your reply to Clive and seen your budget Joy - crikey you could have two of my Bighorns for less than

 

[joyble]

Hi again Joy.

There are a lot of good 4x4's out there but if you want advice on what to look for I recommend you buy the August issue of Land Rover Monthly - (repeat MONTHLY! - as there are no less than 4 magazines for us Land Rover Anoraks!)

There is an excellent article on buying a secondhand Freelander - the article does also go on to compare a Discovery, Defender and Range Rover. The buying guide price they are using is a bit lower than you quote but they do say the Td4 is worth about

 

[joyble]

Thread returned to topic. Sorry but I have had to remove a lot of the replies as well as the abuse to get the thread readable again.

Mod3

Hello Moderator 3

Having never used a forum before I didn't realise what I was asking was likely to produce abuse! Is it because I asked about using a Landrover?

Joy

 

[joyble]

HI joy,

We tow with a freelander td4 02 reg, the Bmw engine.

The max trailer weight is 2000kg and the gross train weight is 3880kg. I was reading about the newer freelander diesels and i think it said there max trailer weight is 1800kg but i would'nt swear on this, oh a the nose weight is 140kg which is quite high.

We tow a single axle senator with ours and it tows it easy up hill and down dale. Hope this helps

Hello Wayne

All the comments we have had have been helpful as we don't want to buy the wrong towcar and have to change it quickly. Which of the Senator series is yours?

Joy

 

[wayne_5097681]

hi again Joy are caravan is a series 99 bailey regency 523 which was a special edition 50th anniversary model, basically the same size as a senator but a 3 berth.

The mtpl is 1371kg, but it does say in are hand book that a car with an engine bigger than a 1500cc should manage a caravan weighting up to 100% of the kerb weight of the tow vehicle and still give adequate performance.

 

[DavidW1]

Joy,

Sorry just got lost in a comments maze - the Bighorn is the "grey equivalent" of the Trooper not the Shogun that's a Pajero - yes Golden Retriever, definately recommend a vacumn cleaner, got ours from Asda for

 

[joyble]

Hello David

Thanks for the cleaner advice. I will have a look at the Asda one you recommend. Perhaps you could enlighten us on one thing to do with the Mitsubishis and Isuzus. I have seen some SWB Pajeros 2.5 litre TDs which one dealer says will pull the van but another one says won't. Also how can they pull so well when they seem to have low BHPs. Is it because the torque is high and they pull well but slowly?

Would appreciate any thoughts on this

Joy and Rod

 

[DavidW1]

Joy,

Will try to answer both the SWB question and power, here go's - Firstly a SWB Pajero/Shogun is probably a poor choice for you, we had one and found it too cramped for the dog unless the back seats were down and going away meant using a topbox for the extra vanning kit ; also they are a bit choppy on the ride and pitch up and down a lot when towing with a two wheel van. A LWB overcomes these problems in spades - we have removed the rear tip up seats in our LWB Bighorn and the dog can almost go for a walk, even with my tool box and various bits in there too. There is now very little pitch and the vehicles' 2.2 tonnes is indifferent to sidewind and truck deflections. I would think with a four wheeler van the pitching motion would go completely as well.

On the power front - yes the Paj 2.8 does seem to have a low BHP figure, particularly when you compare it with modern common rail designs which can get about 150 from 2 litres, but that doesn't seem to matter in practice because the torque is massive and is developed at very low revs.

Can only comment on the Isuzu as our Shogun was petrol but it is a 3.1 TD and develops only 108 bhp. However, it has such a large low down torque figure that I swear you could pull tree stumps out if you needed to. (I think the Mitsi 2.8 would be almost as good)

The way this works when towing in auto is that on most main road or motorway slopes you just get a change in engine note to a sort of deep growl and the unit just ploughs on maintaining speed with about 20200 engine rpm at steady 60 mph.

Slow it definatley aint for towing, although of course these type of vehicles are no sports cars. I find that keeping up with traffic, accelerating from roundabouts and maintaining good speeds up hills are accomplished with ease and power to spare. I leave it in overdrive and do not find switching the auto to "power" (holds gears longer) is any advantage. When it needs to chage down the Autobox just does it's stuff smoothly and I have never seen more than 3000rpm ever, even in mountainous araes.

Big Jap diesel 4x4's of this vintage are not refined compared to cars like your Rover and they are not economical on juice - whatever anyone tells you!(29 average and 25 towing at best) - but they make towing a large van a breeze.

Our solution to the big diesel bills is two cars - one for towing and taking the dog on walkies expeditions - and one mini size car for everyday use.

Because the insurance cost for both cars is low and the tax for the small car is in the lowest bracket, overall cost is probably no dearer than running one large modern car.

Hope this helps rather than confuses.

 

[CliveV]

Hi again Joy.

There are a lot of good 4x4's out there but if you want advice on what to look for I recommend you buy the August issue of Land Rover Monthly - (repeat MONTHLY! - as there are no less than 4 magazines for us Land Rover Anoraks!)

There is an excellent article on buying a secondhand Freelander - the article does also go on to compare a Discovery, Defender and Range Rover. The buying guide price they are using is a bit lower than you quote but they do say the Td4 is worth about

 

[CliveV]

Thread returned to topic. Sorry but I have had to remove a lot of the replies as well as the abuse to get the thread readable again.

Mod3

Hi Joy

A while back just one person was on here making out he was several diferent people! - All these multiple personalities he made up were "Anti 4x4" and were really quite abusive to those who do not mind who tows with what!

The silly thing is that ALL cars pollute and all cars can be dangerous in the hands of an idiot.

How on earth any sensible person can say that a vehicle like the Kia Sorento (CC Tow car of the year) with an extra propshaft, is somehow intrinsically worse than the Kia Sedonna that is about the same size, (same engines etc but is an MPV rather than a 4x4) is beyond me!

Thankfully sanity prevailed and the idiot (he is a Schoolboy) was booted of the Forum but because the Forum is a bit "creaky" - he can pop up from time to time under a new name - as you saw the other night.