Towing advice.

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Adrian88

Adrian88

New Member
Posts
8
Location
Huddersfield
Evening all.

Just after a little bit of advice, I’ve tried doing a search and not really found anything, apologies if this has been asked before.
We have a Disco’ 2 W Reg, that has been converted to coil springs by the previous owner.
I bought it for towing my race car, for which it does a beautiful job.

I’m not sure if this is an actual issue, but it bugs me a little bit.

We get a decent amount of reverse rake when towing, at the moment we haven’t really loaded it that heavy either, tried the best possible to get an even weight distribution on the trailer. As much stuff in the limited boot space etc.
But at the moment we are only testing. Come race season, the Disco will have a full top box, spare gearbox, shafts, fuel, etc etc in the back, so a good few hundred KG at a guess.
Now I think it’ll be on its ass then.

Is there any way to get around this?

The two idea’s ive had are converting back to air. But I have no idea what is left of the system or if what is left works. Could be as simple as £140 for new bags, or lots lots more.
Or
If there is some form of air bag that you can run in conjunction with the coil that you manually pump up with a foot pump.

Thanks in advance.
Adrian.
 
Yeah thats high up on my to-do list, upuntill this weekend I've been busy with work and building the car so not had time.
I'll try and get 10 min to check it out tomorrow.
Any easy way to test it (presuming it's still there)?

Cheers.
 
Never heard of reverse rake before but a little googlin suggests its same as snaking check the nose weight before towing n see how it performs.
 
Heavy duty range rover springs will cure all your problems !!
They're much thicker and are super strong !!
Good shocks also help !!
Some of the coil over air kits are cheap springs and dampers !!
We tow a large car trailer loaded no probs at all!!
It also helps if your trailer brakes are working efficiently !!
 
I'd try HDsprings. You can also get rubber spacers which slide inside 1 coil of the spring to reduce sag. Can't remember what they're called.

Mark
 
brian47 said:
Being a motoring type yourself, I apologise if it's teaching your granny to suck eggs but it could be something as simple as incorrect tyre pressures:

Unladen: Front 30 psi. Rear 38 psi.
Fully loaded: Front 30 psi. Rear 46 psi.
Click to expand...

That's good info, I tow a couple of large horses, in a trailer of course, will I need to keep letting air out and filling dash time or is there an incremental calculation I can do to take into account the weight of the trailer etc?
 
As a side note, Rake is the angle of a vehicle when comparing the front height with the rear height ( the nose is lower than the tail, it doesn't sit level) Reverse rake is the opposite, yep you guessed it, where the tail sits lower than the nose...
 
Thanks for the information, seems like some sound advice!

Trailer wise, seen as with the 4 cars we have, we don’t have room for a trailer so have to rent one each time, so there’s nothing much we can do for the condition of it. But it’s a twin axle, the car we’ve been using for testing is about 1200kg, my race car (although in theory is the same car) is circa 1000kg. With both being FWD have a high percentage of the weight over the front axle. So to counteract this, been putting the spare wheels, fuel, tools, in the boot.
I’ve always been told (not sure on its validility) that with a twin axle, if it’s loaded perfectly you should be able (on flat ground) to wind the jockey wheel up and it to remain horizontal. Never as yet tried it. But it seems like a good theory.

Pressures, I think I read in the handbook when we first got it that when fully loaded to run 40psi front 50psi rear or somewhere close to that, so I have been doing.

At the moment we can cope with how it is, but in the future I plan on entering some European events, which could involve a lot of mileage so want to get it set up perfect.

When my other half returns I’ll investigate the air system. But I have a feeling ill be going for the HD springs as mentioned. Any good place to obtain a set, or is ebay as good as any?

Thanks for all your assistance so far!
 
Adrian88 said:
I’ve always been told (not sure on its validility) that with a twin axle, if it’s loaded perfectly you should be able (on flat ground) to wind the jockey wheel up and it to remain horizontal. Never as yet tried it. But it seems like a good theory.
Click to expand...

Yeah, sounds like a theory, but since I don't do any towing these days I'll bow to those with a greater knowledge.
If that is the case though, it could be that the tow hitch could be too high for the trailer. But I'm sure you will have checked that too.
Looks like you're in the realms of HD rear springs tbh.
 
The hitch may or may not be at the correct height, it looks ok to me though, but I'm no master at these things. Trying out a drop plate wouldn't be a bad idea if i can borrow one, but I dont think it would sove it.

Are these the springs that you mention?
Item number: 220914078365
 
Tow ball should be about 440mm top to floor, nose weight of the trailer should be about 6% of the laden trailer weight (as a guide but not a strict rule)
 
Most tow bars are rated at 120kg for weight, balancing on the 2 axles has always been my theory as well. Some say if you can lift the towbar by hand then it's about right, but 100kg is no small weight. You will get a feel for loading if you hire the trailer from the same place it is normally the same or similar trailer, roll the car back and forth on the trailer, a couple of inches can make a huge difference.
 
stutab said:
Most tow bars are rated at 120kg for weight, balancing on the 2 axles has always been my theory as well. Some say if you can lift the towbar by hand then it's about right, but 100kg is no small weight. You will get a feel for loading if you hire the trailer from the same place it is normally the same or similar trailer, roll the car back and forth on the trailer, a couple of inches can make a huge difference.
Click to expand...

agree with the rolling it back or forward a bit
 
A twin axle caravan (around 1700 kgs ) is generally around 100kgs nose weight ..

And yes moving the car on trailer will give you a good idea of where the weight is as nose will rais and lower.. But getting the balance wrong can be frightening ,, I've had a snake with a car on a trailer. At 45 mph on a 3 lane motorway at night , I thought the trailer was going over it was snaking that bad.. Across 2 almost 3 lanes. The trailer wheels off the ground..
The trailer was hired, turned out the indespension legs were fooked and that was what started the snake and kept it going...
Never had it happen sinse.. Thank fook..
 
neiltce said:
A twin axle caravan (around 1700 kgs ) is generally around 100kgs nose weight ..

And yes moving the car on trailer will give you a good idea of where the weight is as nose will rais and lower.. But getting the balance wrong can be frightening ,, I've had a snake with a car on a trailer. At 45 mph on a 3 lane motorway at night , I thought the trailer was going over it was snaking that bad.. Across 2 almost 3 lanes. The trailer wheels off the ground..
The trailer was hired, turned out the indespension legs were fooked and that was what started the snake and kept it going...
Never had it happen sinse.. Thank fook..
Click to expand...

lost concentration once towing caravan used three lanes of m4 by swansea. **** myself luck it was a sunday nothing on road and wagon behind pulled into middle of lanes to give me space
 
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