just a bit of advice needed

bloat · 19-01-2010, 18:37

off to tow a car on a trailer with the mav tomorrow, couldnt belive how heavy the trailer was on its own!! anyway my question is should i tow in 2wd or 4wd??
cheers in advance

tezzer · 19-01-2010, 18:40

2 wheel drive, unless roads are slippery etc.

bloat · 19-01-2010, 20:08

ok cheers

danielj · 19-01-2010, 23:04

Would tend to agree with tezzer. Haven't done a huge amount of towing but unless surface is slippery I would stick with 2wd. Should have plenty of towing power.

MudLifeCrisis · 19-01-2010, 23:24

I do a lot of towing and would agree with 2wd. Towed nearly 2.5 tonne behind mine, no probs.

tezzer · 19-01-2010, 23:43

if you use 4 wheel drive on tarmac/concrete roads you wont get far, you will wind up the transmission, unles the wheels can slip ie mud,snow,ice, etc

DEE · 20-01-2010, 15:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedMavTaj

I do a lot of towing and would agree with 2wd. Towed nearly 2.5 tonne behind mine, no probs.

Towed 4.5 tonne in mine

. Wow if i had been pulled by the old bill

would of had the book chucked at me. But it pulled it great. One great work horse. And all standard.

bloat · 22-01-2010, 22:32

Well this was it being towed in 2wd

lacroupade · 23-01-2010, 14:36

Just my humble opinion but NO WAY would I ever tow a car loaded like that scooby, i.e. arse about face with the engine effectively hanging off the back of the trailer.

There isn't a better way to destabilise the trailer and induce snaking (unless vatco knows one?) - I did it once and wrote my mates car off as a result, while towing on a similar trailer at no more than 45mph...in that case it was a Beetle that we stupidly drove on the trailer FORWARDS..

(RIP) PLANK · 23-01-2010, 21:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by lacroupade

Just my humble opinion but NO WAY would I ever tow a car loaded like that scooby, i.e. arse about face with the engine effectively hanging off the back of the trailer.

There isn't a better way to destabilise the trailer and induce snaking (unless vatco knows one?) - I did it once and wrote my mates car off as a result, while towing on a similar trailer at no more than 45mph...in that case it was a Beetle that we stupidly drove on the trailer FORWARDS..

I agree mate, i tried it once and it was a very unpleasant towing experience, I supose unlesss the car has a rear or mid engine?

a trailer should be nose heavy, and making maximum use of the permited nose weght makes it more stable!

vatco · 24-01-2010, 07:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by lacroupade

Just my humble opinion but NO WAY would I ever tow a car loaded like that scooby, i.e. arse about face with the engine effectively hanging off the back of the trailer.

There isn't a better way to destabilise the trailer and induce snaking (unless vatco knows one?) - I did it once and wrote my mates car off as a result, while towing on a similar trailer at no more than 45mph...in that case it was a Beetle that we stupidly drove on the trailer FORWARDS..

I would tend to agree

In an ideal world the weight should be on the axles or slightly forward of them. But it is not an ideal world. Sometimes this is just not possible . Also I do not know the weight distro of a Scooby. And I did, once, have to reload a car on a trailer because it was better balanced the Wrong ways round.

Maybe we should, as a club, have a 'tractor' style pull one day Just for a bit of fun and see what will pull what weight on what terrain

I'd enter the black top section (and I won't cheat........... Honest

)

bloat · 24-01-2010, 10:00

yep i agree completely but we unfortunaly had no choice he ha lost the keys for the scoob thats why we had to trailer it to subaru, and it was parked forward on his drive with the steering lock on plus we only had to go across town so didnt venture ove about 25mph, we tried to get the front wheels/engine as far over the trailer axle as we could. then the rover went off to the scrappy.

Thomas-the-Terrano2 · 24-01-2010, 10:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by vatco

I would tend to agree

In an ideal world the weight should be on the axles or slightly forward of them. But it is not an ideal world. Sometimes this is just not possible . Also I do not know the weight distro of a Scooby. And I did, once, have to reload a car on a trailer because it was better balanced the Wrong ways round.

Maybe we should, as a club, have a 'tractor' style pull one day Just for a bit of fun and see what will pull what weight on what terrain

I'd enter the black top section (and I won't cheat........... Honest

)

certanly up for this, having seen a d21 2wd pull a 4.5 tonne bus i reckon the troll would
be up for quite a bit more. maybe recreating those police rangeys dragging 32 ton wagons
or that vw tourag that moved a jumbo jet. mind the vdub was ballastted to about 7 ton
itself, one of those v10 td models.

jims-terrano · 24-01-2010, 11:07

Just out of interest, on Christmas Eve I tugged a truck that was stuck at an acute angle on a hill and he kept sliding on snow (sliding whilst parked as he'd given up trying to drive at that point). We both attached my tow strop to our vehicles and low box 1st gear no problem just set off on the snow and towed him up hill to the main road.
The truck was a flatbed, bigger than a transit but not as big as a 7 1/2 ton ford cargo type. Sort of thing a coal man might use. Hope you can imagine the type of motor. I've been guessing it was a 4 1/2 ton vehicle, what does anyone think am I right.

What ever weight motor it was the bloke was mighty impressed

Jim T

19-01-2010, 18:37	#1
bloat Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: shrewsbury(shropshire) Vehicle: Nissan terrano ll 2.7 tdi Posts: 288	just a bit of advice needed off to tow a car on a trailer with the mav tomorrow, couldnt belive how heavy the trailer was on its own!! anyway my question is should i tow in 2wd or 4wd?? cheers in advance

19-01-2010, 18:40	#2
tezzer Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: basildon essex Vehicle: transit camper van 1987 Posts: 2,829	2 wheel drive, unless roads are slippery etc.

19-01-2010, 20:08	#3
bloat Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: shrewsbury(shropshire) Vehicle: Nissan terrano ll 2.7 tdi Posts: 288	ok cheers

19-01-2010, 23:04	#4
danielj Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Ireland Vehicle: Terrano 2.7TDI 03 LWB Posts: 695	Would tend to agree with tezzer. Haven't done a huge amount of towing but unless surface is slippery I would stick with 2wd. Should have plenty of towing power.

19-01-2010, 23:24	#5
MudLifeCrisis Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: St Albans Herts Vehicle: 1997 Mav 2.7tdi lwb Posts: 1,377	I do a lot of towing and would agree with 2wd. Towed nearly 2.5 tonne behind mine, no probs.

19-01-2010, 23:43	#6
tezzer Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: basildon essex Vehicle: transit camper van 1987 Posts: 2,829	if you use 4 wheel drive on tarmac/concrete roads you wont get far, you will wind up the transmission, unles the wheels can slip ie mud,snow,ice, etc

22-01-2010, 22:32	#8
bloat Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: shrewsbury(shropshire) Vehicle: Nissan terrano ll 2.7 tdi Posts: 288	Well this was it being towed in 2wd

23-01-2010, 14:36	#9
lacroupade Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: All hail to the Glove of Love... Posts: 9,212	Just my humble opinion but NO WAY would I ever tow a car loaded like that scooby, i.e. arse about face with the engine effectively hanging off the back of the trailer. There isn't a better way to destabilise the trailer and induce snaking (unless vatco knows one?) - I did it once and wrote my mates car off as a result, while towing on a similar trailer at no more than 45mph...in that case it was a Beetle that we stupidly drove on the trailer FORWARDS..

24-01-2010, 10:00	#12
bloat Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: shrewsbury(shropshire) Vehicle: Nissan terrano ll 2.7 tdi Posts: 288	yep i agree completely but we unfortunaly had no choice he ha lost the keys for the scoob thats why we had to trailer it to subaru, and it was parked forward on his drive with the steering lock on plus we only had to go across town so didnt venture ove about 25mph, we tried to get the front wheels/engine as far over the trailer axle as we could. then the rover went off to the scrappy.

24-01-2010, 11:07	#14
jims-terrano Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: UK Posts: 12,965	Just out of interest, on Christmas Eve I tugged a truck that was stuck at an acute angle on a hill and he kept sliding on snow (sliding whilst parked as he'd given up trying to drive at that point). We both attached my tow strop to our vehicles and low box 1st gear no problem just set off on the snow and towed him up hill to the main road. The truck was a flatbed, bigger than a transit but not as big as a 7 1/2 ton ford cargo type. Sort of thing a coal man might use. Hope you can imagine the type of motor. I've been guessing it was a 4 1/2 ton vehicle, what does anyone think am I right. What ever weight motor it was the bloke was mighty impressed Jim T