Land Rover Discovery Connectors and Towing

[mustard1972]

Evening all,

Following our purchase of our first caravan in January we have now decided to buy a more capable towcar, so last week i invested in a used Discovery 2 Land Rover, this comes with a Land Rover towing bar and has 2 sockets for the unit (our van has 1 x 13 pin),i bought an adaptor today from my local (10 mile away) caravan shop and opened it up to test the sockets on the van to find that the Towcar has one socket either side of the towbar and my cable isnt long enough to reach both at the same time!!!!...

Does anyone know of a place that sells longish 7 pin to 13 pin adaptors , or have any other suggestions, we are due to go away on 21st August and although not crucial, i can still plug my 13 pin to 7 pin cable) into one of the sockets for the lights to be effective etc

Secondly i have read the car manual and although the Land rover (with air suspension) can tow 3.5 tonnes am i right in thinking that i have to limit the nose-wheel weight to 150kg (elsewhere on the net it says 250kg??).

Ah the life of caravanning eh, i have made all the mistakes in the first year (too short a EHU lead - 10 mtrs instead of 25), (failing to put the steadies down), but with each trip i am nearer to complete relaxation

Thanks

 

[Sproket]

It would be far easier to get the sockets converted to a 13pin one..... if you can't do it yourself get someone to do it for you..... it will only take an hour or so at the most .....

You could use one of these and remake your connections in the boot of the car....far easier than struggling with possible short cables.

Secondly i have read the car manual and although the Land rover (with air suspension) can tow 3.5 tonnes am i right in thinking that i have to limit the nose-wheel weight to 150kg (elsewhere on the net it says 250kg??).

Your MAX ALLOWED nose weight will be 100kg not 150kg check your coupling

 

[mustard1972]

Thanks sproket, i hadnt even thought about the aLko site, 100kg it is then...

I shall also look into rewiring - again, didnt even cross my mind.

Many thanks

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Mustard.

With regards the nose load, most Alko caravan chassis are only rated to 100kg, but that that is the MAX load limit the trailer coupling is designed for.

You only need to have enough nose load to keep the outfit stable. In practice most caravanners will find 75kg or less is quite acceptable, but it may also depend on how you load the caravan.

For your information, the EU regulations require the vehicle hitch vertical coupling to be capable of carrying a minimum of 4% of the towed trailers weight. as nose load. so the LR's 3500kg braked trailer weight means the hitch should be designed to carry at least 3500 x 4% = 140kg

 

[mustard1972]

Cheers Prof

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello again Mustard,

It occurred to me that from the question you posted you might find it useful to read some of the other threads on the forum regarding nose load (Nose weight etc). There are may threads about nose weight but can I draw your attention to those that relate to how to measure nose weight.

Use the forum search function.

Heres one recent one
http://www.practicalcaravan.com/forum/technical/50444-nose-weight#394114

I do find it very strange that many caravanners choose to ignore the legal aspects they should be adhering too yet work their socks off to conform to recommendations which have no legal basis.

As always do remember that good towing is not just about getting one factor right, it has to be a balance of several factors of which nose load just one.

On another point, you have told us you have just got the Disco. Can I just point out that the Disco starts with a Mass in running order of about 2.5Tonnes, and will probably have a maximum authorised mass (MAM) of over 3 Tonnes. I mention this because, with your caravans MTPLM the combined MAM will be over 3500kg, and you must have cat BE or B+E on your driving licence to be legal to tow your outfit. Please check your licence. If you only have cat B without the extension you will be illegal.

 

[mustard1972]

Prof, will look at the weights, normally with my other car i would look for a 65kg nose weight , however the disco numbers confused me hence the question, and thankfully i have B+E and an LGV licence so all legal on the tow weights

 

[TimM]

Hi. I've towed with a Discovery 2 for quite a while. A few years ago I changed from the twin sockets you have to a single 13 pin socket. I bought a genuine Land Rover 13 pin full electric kit and fitted it. Not a difficult job for a competent DIYer. My only surprise was that when I took the tow ball off, to remove one of the twin socket brackets, the fixing bolts were wasted from corrosion so replaced them at the same time. One advantage of the Land Rover genuine 13 pin kit is that it includes a relay that cuts out the vehicles rear fog lights when the caravan is attached. The twin socket set up fitted by Land Rover from new didn't do this. Personally I really like the 13 pin socket although it is personal choice; so much so that I converted our current caravan from two 7 pin plugs to a 13 pin plug.

 

[Woodentop]

If the OP does not have time before travelling to get the 12N/S sockets changed to 13pin, the simple answer - if the cable is long enough - is to remove the ball, remove the socket plate, and replace said plate with a double single sided plate. There should be a slot in each of the socket mounts to allow the cable to be slid out without having to disconnect everything. Then refit as the reverse of the above.

It is a good idea to get a set of socket bolts beforehand just in case any of them sheer during unfastening, and wipe the new bolts with either Waxoyl or copper grease to help preserve them. Personally I would also fit new towball bolts.nuts, and star washers - high tensile bolts should only be used once.

 

[mustard1972]

perfect, sockets can move to one side, just need to find a twin plate with cut grooves now

 

[mustard1972]

Towing bar?.... i have found that i have a Dixon- Bate Discovery 2 Adjustable towbar, i have fitted a new ALKO ball (minus the paint) and torque'd it up to 210Nm as per the instruction, however i am concerned that i have a standard Dixon-Bate pin holding the adjustable plate onto the car....does it really have the strength to tow a van or should i move the ball onto the plate face.....i have attached a similar photo from the web

 

[Sproket]

Some of the plates that attach to the Dixon Bate adjustable plate have the facility to fit two pin's through I have a shock link that attaches to the back of my truck that uses two pins but at the same time i use a locking pin to secure it to the adaptor plate as it makes it less stealable, it only take's a min to remove the 'R' clip & pin and your tow ball has gone.....

Regarding the pin ..... yes it's strong enough to tow the van.....

 

[mustard1972]

Sproket, didnt give that a thought, thanks i'll get a locking bar and hopefully double up on the pins, i cannot believe that it is the only thing holding the caravan to the car and can theoretically hold a noseweight of 100kg

 

[Sproket]

Halfway down is the locking pin