Matthew Storrs

Except his father! Sure, it'll have all the money in the world thrown at him to try as a compromise but it will always be just that. Even a young father can die when the kid is young and that is an unfortunate but in this case it's a given.

If a woman managed to have a kid at this age then everyone would be saying it's a selfish and unfair on the kid- personally I think the same in this instance. But there we go.

Yes, that is a shame. There is the 3.0l TDv6 option, which I assume is what they also put on the disco.. I dunno, seems nothing is an ideal vehicle. I just want a beastly tow vehiclcle that is reliable. Everything else plays second fiddle to this.

Yes, a nice example, on the face of it it looks like cheap power with comfort thrown in, depends on reliability I guess- that's where it could all become hideously expensive.

Ah, screw that idea then!Dont want the hassle or expense, And I was just starting to think I was getting somewhere...

Ok, so new line of thought, I'll keep my current defender for general rough and tough pickup work etc, towing 1.5t digger. Then have a seperate vehicle for towing my 3 tonner, but also that is more family friendly too. Plenty on hear seem to be running discos but what about the Range Rover, looking on eBay and the like you can pick up a mid 2000's RR vogues with V8 lump for quite keen money, that'd be good for towing 3.5t right? I know they are thirsty but as I said before most of the time it's 10 mile journeys to work so shouldn't be too much of a killer if it only does 10 MPG? Cheers for all your input- all helpful

Could be unfortunate for any unsuspecting sun bathers down below:laugh1:

Not keen on the new defenders really, it's not just that they have a small engine, but IMO the new defenders are almost the worst of both worlds, they still have all the dated land Rover 'features' and no improvement in fit and finish yet they have added a modern electrickery engine which I won't be able to work on myself. Plus if I'm getting something that new I must as well get new and get the benefits of having warranty and I can look after it from new etc. Jon, which areas did you think the LC was beefier? I really couldn't see much in it when looking at axles/propshafts steering rods etc. The back end was better than Landys dreadful rot attracting rear crossmember. A new land cruiser is 200kg heavier than equivalent single cab 110 defender. Considering the LC has bigger engine and steel bodywork as opposed to aluminium, there can't be much more metal to it than the defender?

That was what I thought too. I know I had a trailer for my old tracked chipper. The handbrake was excellent when forward but once I unhitched it on a backwards slope and it ran away with itself. Ever since even with my new Ifors I always chock now if I have to unhitch on a slope.

This is what I love about my defender, if I need a part it's down to my local Land Rover parts place and they have it on the shelf, it doesn't usually cost the earth and I can nearly alwAys fit it myself and I don't consider myself a mechanical whizz. The LC no doubt has a fantastic engine but when I looked under one at the APF I didn't really think the chassis or running gear looked any heavier duty really than my defender. So it would have to last at least twice as long as a defender to justify the price tag and the rust would get to it even if it could.

I was under the impression though that the trailer handbrake is not entirely effective if the trailer is going backwards? In which a brakeaway cable isn't really a fail safe. I'd have though a suitably rated chain between the trailer and vehicle chassis would be a safer bet, even if it's not in the 'rulebook'!

Is that a spring lock quick hitch? The springs lose their 'spring' after a while and can cause sloppiness too? Is imagine you could get a new spring from Geith. That and building it up with weld should give a fair few years of life. Mine is in a similar state- it's now a poor mans tilting hitch!

We don't give each other anything at Christmas, so no chance of getting it wrong:thumbup1: We both reckon we have enough stuff in the house, don't need any more and would sooner put the money towards a holiday or something Waiting for the Scrooge comments now!

And on hard standing it's nice and easily to manoeuvre about by hand. On mine I have the separate ramps but the lights were really badly positioned and ended up cracking on the ground when I drove the digger on- other than that they are fanatastc well built trailers and the beaver tail is a nice touch.

Lovely tidy setup- nice one. Those trailers are really good, I got a new one before Christmas last year and I like the larger tyres with good tread, decent payload and plenty of tie down points.

Not sure about the smaller engines expiring- but doubt they have really been around long enough to know long term- it seems like they have really been getting smaller in the last 5 years or so. And off course what they are subjected to. Just normal driving and towing a ton or two every now and again they may go on because no doubt manufacturing design has improved too(? Much like a Volkswagen Golf (for example) may easily go into 200k miles plus. But I'd think if a 4.2 vs 2.2 towing 3.5ton on a regular basis I'd know where my money would be on.

This was definitely NA and certain it was 2.8 too, I remember he said when he got it it was a choice between a used turbocharged one or a brand new NA

Yeah that must of been it, it was 2.8 I think- probably would have gone on forever if it hadn't been overheated, I expect the 4.2 would have a fair bit more poke.

My Dad put a 6 cylinder Nissan engine (new engine but not sure what they were originally designed to go in) into his 110. It was a non turbo and frankly pretty slow going uphill compared to my 300tdi. But way better down low pulling off on a hill etc. Trouble with 300tdi is it really relies on the turbo too much, crap at hill starts with a trailer. Anyway It was all great until it overheated and he couldn't get the parts having to buy a Used donor engine.

'If you want to go into the outback go in a land rover, if you want to come back again go in a land cruiser' or so the saying goes! Their bulletproofness is legendary in countries like South Africa Australia etc Seriously though, I think you have answered your own question, it seems modern pickups generate high horsepower from tiny engines, the land cruiser has a 6cylinder 4.2 chugging away and it's not uncommon apparently for them to achieve half a million miles etc. That aside for me though it is the utilitarian nature of them, somewhat similar to a Landy but without all the niggles landies are famous for. Also one of the few pickups with full time 4wd and solid beam axles. I wouldn't pay 40k for one but I'd happily pay more than a Landy for one too.

Yes, as I thought it, GVW over 3.5t requires o licence and max 7.5t GTW. Does this mean if you had a 3 t towing vehicle you could tow 4.5t trailer assuming you had the electric trailer brakes etc. I think I would still get caught out. I'm a post 97 license but I have E entitlement but think this is still limited to a 3.5t trailer.

Yes sure. An Artic tug is designed to have 50%(of whatever) of its trailer then placed on its own rear wheels in effect placeing the weight on to the tow truck whereas a standard hilux type truck towing 4.5ton still shouldn't have more than 150kg nose weight regardless of braking system (unless it was a fifth wheel setup). A hilux would never tow a dead 4.5t up a steep llane without a serious bit of weight in the pickup, not necessarily through lack of power but lack of traction. My tractor weighs a shade under 4 tons but I have towed 8 tons with it up steep hills purely because probably 3 ton of the trailer is on the tractors rear wheels.

Just been reading on another forum (caravanning) about electric brakes, they mention that in Aus and US they commonly have fifth wheel arrangements for pickups and this has capacity for a lot higher trailer loads, the overrun system we have is rated at 3500kg because there is extra force in the pushing and 'snatching' involved. A fifth wheel is rigid. I must say it sounds like a fantastic setup (electric brakes). Apparently you have dash controls to set how much braking force to be applied etc, and they are relative fail safe in that should the vehicle itself have braking issues the trailer is totally independent. Again overrun brakes really on the vehicle stopping in the first place ( more I think about in surprised they are still allowed up to 3.5t even!) However all this is fine and dandy and not an unrealistic investment cost either. But I seriously doubt any of these small pickups and I think I would include LC in this too, are they really quite up to coping with 4 ton plus as a daily grind- I'm not so sure, yank pickups are a different ball game. I still think a Mog would suit me down to the ground but Jon, your putting me off! Actually, I used to work for a chap who had a 1980s U1000 and in the 5 years I worked with him it only had 1 big time expense recon engine to a tune of 8k. But other than that just welding and general wear and tear!

Interested to hear how he does it, to me it sounds like their could be complications with the system. For example, IW trailers themselves are only played at 3500kg. And with tri axles your payload is reduced, that aside I imagine you would need to upgrade the knott hitch as again that is only 3500kg. Of course there is the license thing too, a tri axle trailer with 3t digger and bits will be all of 4 tons so I doubt the 'E' entitlement on the license will be valid. Defenders are rated to tow 3500kg but I'm sure I read this can increase to 4ton will powered brakes? Even so, I wouldn't want to subject it to 4 ton, and if I did for traction you'd need to have a fair bit of weight in the truck itself. It's obviously a system that works well for your mate though Jon so he must think it is all worth it over running a 7.5tonner beaver tai? I can see the added safety factor of it but ultimately you are increasing the general strain on the towing vehicle with the added weight etc. I wouldn't have thought that if a Hilux is rated at 2250 towing then suddenly with powered brakes it can jump to 4ton, surely there rating has other factors such as chassis strength etc which braking would have no effect on. Like I say I'd be keen to see how he does it legally but to me it seems like a lot of factors and upgrades for possibly little advantage?

Ooo- that's a beaut. Would do me nicely, nimble round the lanes too.