Towing with a Freelander - advice/experiences

JunoXV said:
There are far more factors that affect a cars ability to tow safely. The two main ones so often over looked are wheelbase and distance between centre of rear axle and tow hitch. The longer the wheel base the more stable the car will be. The shorter the distance betwee axle and hitch the more stable (less prone to snaking) the car will be.
After that you get in to track, tyre contact area etc.
The max towing figure quoted for a car is when towing a braked trailer. Question is, could the car stop the load if the trailers brakes failed. lets be honest, most of the horse trailers on the road have less than perfectly maintained brakes.

Having towed a huge variety of loads with numerous different cars I can honestly say I would rather tow with an Audi A4 coupe than a freelander.
If you look at the tow limits and the wheelbase / hitch distance the audi wins hands down.
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Very good points :D You can tow with vehicles other than 4x4s but you need to do your research.

There is also the torque of the vehicle... for example I tow with a Mondeo, I could have a 115 hatchback or mine which is a 130 estate... there is a huge difference between the two engine sizes when it comes to pulling power. My estate is also self levelling when towing which gives a smoother ride all round and can tow up to 1,800kg MAM.
I tow a Fautras Provan which weighs in at 920kg with equipment and normally have a 382kg pony who I tow (yes, I weighed him on a weighbridge). I would not be hapy towing anything on board that weighs more than 550kg (15.2 tb type), but would take my friends 600kg cob for a short trip to the vets if needed in an emergency.

The other reason I use a Mondeo is the kerb weight is 1582kg and therefore I can tow my pony without exceeding the weight of the car or the 3.5t limit (my license was downgraded due to a medical condition and I can no longer drive lorries :( , miss my 9.5t box).
 
i have in the past had a freelander 2L TD and had no problem towing one 14.2hh pony. BUT i would NEVER have another as the repair bills and general 'crapness' of the thing was awful!! My advise would be to advise her to get an anti snake bar fitted.
 
I used to tow my 15.3hh in an IW505 behind my TD4 quite happily, I wouldn't have tried two horses in it but it was perfectly fine for just towing my one beasty around the local shows.

I didn't ever go on the motorway with it due to all the warnings about snaking, but then I never really had the need. I think for local journeys they are fine, I was surprised at how good mine was at 'getting me out of trouble' - i.e. getting out of very muddy show fields/having to pull over onto verges to get past lorries etc.

The clutch did used to complain a bit when reversing uphill though, so tried to keep that to a minimum! Mine was my only car and it worked well as an allrounder as they don't drink as much diesel as the bigger 4x4s.
 
I tow with a freelander 2.5 turbo and it seems to do the job pretty well. I have a 505 ifor williams and a 16.2 warmblood. With the trailer and my horse I am legal but if I take another horse then i will be over weight. My car can tow 2oookg. Trailer is 1200kg and horse is 550-600kg therefore total is 1800kg. but you have to remember that your tack, water people will all be included in the total weight.

Had a Jeep Cheroke (spelling) and it drove like a dream but then it broke :mad::(

Hope this helps
 
JenTaz said:
my mum tows with her freelander all the time, only one horse at a time or the two ponies, all within legal limits and it is fine, doesnt bother at all havent had any bother with it, however we are looking for a bigger car once the snow is away, but theres a lady at my yard that tows with a freelander all year for hunting and competing hers is the 3 door freelander dont know if the engine is smaller though, but she seems to like it aswell, tbh it depends how confident you feel as well, as long as you can stop your fine
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It is NOT legal to tow a 2 horse ifor trailer with a freelander as the plate states 2340kg - and therefore as the freelander can tow 2000kg - not legal even if the trailer empty.


Now I have a single ifor that weighs 700kg and plate states 1600kg - i tow it with an auto 55 plate 3 door freelander and have no issues at all. it is legal and pulls perfectly.
 
kezimac said:
It is NOT legal to tow a 2 horse ifor trailer with a freelander as the plate states 2340kg - and therefore as the freelander can tow 2000kg - not legal even if the trailer empty.
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sorry that is crap about weights, you must not exceed the towing capacity or the max weight of the trailer, you can tow a horse trailer with one horse in it with something rated to tow 2000kg the only way VOSA or the police can do you is to prove your combination over loaded is by weighing you... small trailer are not plated they only show design weights this down plateing is a urban myth it only applies trailers over 3.5 ton gross,,, totaly different rules apply to hgv trailers...
 
I havent read the reply as this came up in a search as im looking to get a trialer and start towing with my partners transit.

My friend had a freelander ( i was shocked to find out it was only a 1.8 ) and she towed a new 511 with her light 16 fine horse in it. It got her about and my heavier warmblood ( NOT together obv ) on many occasions but you could always feel the trialer on the back and going down hills she said it felt like it was pushing the car along.

She now had a lovely 05 reg discovery and is kind enough to take me to parties with her.

I did think about getting one and towing just mine but reasearching more its the weight of the vehicle as well.

A read a quote of " the tail wagging the dog" which i think best suits the description.
 
clairencappelli said:
I havent read the reply as this came up in a search as im looking to get a trialer and start towing with my partners transit.

My friend had a freelander ( i was shocked to find out it was only a 1.8 ) and she towed a new 511 with her light 16 fine horse in it. It got her about and my heavier warmblood ( NOT together obv ) on many occasions but you could always feel the trialer on the back and going down hills she said it felt like it was pushing the car along.

She now had a lovely 05 reg discovery and is kind enough to take me to parties with her.

I did think about getting one and towing just mine but reasearching more its the weight of the vehicle as well.

A read a quote of " the tail wagging the dog" which i think best suits the description.
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If your Transit is a 300 or 350 with rear wheel drive you should be ok but the smaller 260, 280 s only have a GTW of 3500 kg so will only tow about 1800kg !!!!
 
Why can't she just change her car? She could get an older Landrover Discovery for the same price and then she wouldn't be limited with what trailer she could buy or how many horses she could tow.
 
We have towed with ours for 2 years and never had a problem touch wood! I have an older rice so quite a sturdy box and it manages fine, would only ever take one horse with it though.
 
canteron said:
Advice needed, and please don't just sat "don't do it" that would just be annoying!!
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Well I am going to say "don't do it". Once you've tried towing with one you'll see why. I'd tell the girl to change her vehicle and then think about a trailer.
 
I have a TD4 Freelander and tow my Wessex Olympian (large trailer) and 16.2hh horse everywhere. It a brilliant trailer to tow and the ar also drives fabulously. Its a manual car and i don't ever find that it is hard on the gears. I have also towed a smaller horse (15hh) and yes, you can feel the weight towing more but no more added pressure on the car. I realise that I am over when I have towed this way though so don't make a habit of it! I borrowed a friends Grand Cherokee Jeep and towed the same journeys as my husband needed my car and I found that it didn't tow as well - swayed at the same speed - 50mph. I can't fault my Freelander for towing. Yes - I would want a bigger car, maybe a DISCO, however, my Freelander is also my day to day run around so I couldn't aford the additional diesel. Good luck but make sure whatever you do you get a diesel.
 
For those suggesting her to buy a bigger car are you offering to pay the higher disel costs, tyre costs and everything that goes along with haveing a bigger car???

Obviously not. It is easy to sit there and tell people to buy big thirsty towing machines but for people (like me) who have a limited budget they can spend each month on things then this isnt practical advice at all.

Cripes a friend has a disco and she spends over 100 quid now to fill the tank to the brim. My little Xtrail is 65 quid and my mums free lander was the same and we get twice the miles out of the little cars than my firned does with the bigger one.

OP if your sensible then I would say go for it. Have ben doing it for years and the proof is in the pudding not wat the number crunchers say :)
 
It depends on what model it is. They have got larger over the years and the current model will tow a trailer with one horse.
Not sure about the earlier ones. I once drove one of the first production models (know the designer) and thought the engine wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding, but they next lot they put in a stronger engine, and have improved it model by model. Typical Land Rover - you need to know exactly which model you have and its engine size, etc.
 
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