Of Interest to members, a reminder of why to inspect your tow rig.

[clo2jim]

From Jeff Lee and the "Maritme Pre-War Car Registry", which I am a member.

"I don’t think too many of our PreWar members will be out trailering a Rolls with a Land Rover. But just the same, here are some unpleasant reminders of why you need to check out your tow vehicle, trailer and trailered car. And don’t forget to insure your car when you get it. Sometimes it pays to have the auto movers move old cars instead of ourselves."


http://www.prewarcar.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qku6...ature=youtu.be

Vehicle loading and tongue weight balance can be important especially with torsion bar load levelers.


"Maritime Pre-War Car Registry" is a group of old car enthusiasts from mainly the Canadian Maritime Provinces (Nova Scotia. New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island) with a few members from North East States and Ontario, Canada, where I am from. As far as I am aware, the oldest running car in the Registry is a 1905 Cadillac and the newest that is usually on our tours is a 1940 Chevrolet Two Door.

Jim

[SeaSlugs]

im glad noone was hurt, but from thier website they speclate the air suspension of the land rover suddenly failed. when yo have airbags as spring and all of a sudden you have no springs yea doesnt take much to go outa control.

Im guessing that trailer doesnt have any brakes?

[tbirdtbird]

What a shame.

a) the driver of the Range Rover clearly did not know what he was doing.
b) The Range Rover is decidedly a very poor choice of a towing vehicle in this case. It is not heavy enough. We have worked on several Range Rovers here in this shop and frankly we feel they are engineered and built very poorly. I myself would not tow a kid's wagon with one
c) I seriously doubt the trailer had its own brakes else I doubt this would have happened.
d) I doubt tongue weight was anywhere near correct...I bet the rig was fishtailing
e) I think the most likely explanation is jack knife, from which there is no recovery

just my opinion of course

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by tbirdtbird

What a shame.

a) the driver of the Range Rover clearly did not know what he was doing.
b) The Range Rover is decidedly a very poor choice of a towing vehicle in this case. It is not heavy enough. We have worked on several Range Rovers here in this shop and frankly we feel they are engineered and built very poorly. I myself would not tow a kid's wagon with one
c) I seriously doubt the trailer had its own brakes else I doubt this would have happened.
d) I doubt tongue weight was anywhere near correct...I bet the rig was fishtailing
e) I think the most likely explanation is jack knife, from which there is no recovery

I'm with you, Tbird. My first impression was "This guy didn't know how to tow!"
Once a jackknife occurs, there is no recovery but if you know what you are doing, even a big sway can be recovered.
Wonder what his dry cleaning bill was????

[Cornishman]

Originally Posted by tbirdtbird

What a shame.

a) the driver of the Range Rover clearly did not know what he was doing.
b) The Range Rover is decidedly a very poor choice of a towing vehicle in this case. It is not heavy enough. We have worked on several Range Rovers here in this shop and frankly we feel they are engineered and built very poorly. I myself would not tow a kid's wagon with one
c) I seriously doubt the trailer had its own brakes else I doubt this would have happened.
d) I doubt tongue weight was anywhere near correct...I bet the rig was fishtailing
e) I think the most likely explanation is jack knife, from which there is no recovery

I think that you will find that rather a lot of the World's experts will disagree with your opinion of the Range Rover. The best dual purpose 4x4 by far.
In Europe the trailer will have had brakes. I suggest you stop speculating about an article's speculation and learn the facts.

[Mitch//pa]

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Originally Posted by tbirdtbird

What a shame.

a) the driver of the Range Rover clearly did not know what he was doing.
b) The Range Rover is decidedly a very poor choice of a towing vehicle in this case. It is not heavy enough. We have worked on several Range Rovers here in this shop and frankly we feel they are engineered and built very poorly. I myself would not tow a kid's wagon with one
c) I seriously doubt the trailer had its own brakes else I doubt this would have happened.
d) I doubt tongue weight was anywhere near correct...I bet the rig was fishtailing
e) I think the most likely explanation is jack knife, from which there is no recovery

just my opinion of course

Agree with Dave one of the biggest piece of craps out there. Don't even think of owning one without a bumper to bumper warranty as it will suck you dry. Just had to order a basic type tailpipe for one which was a measly 285.00.

The tie downs used are those long cargo straps not designed to tie down an axle

A good tow vehicle? I'll pass on that also

[Cornishman]

Originally Posted by Mitch//pa

Agree with Dave one of the biggest piece of craps out there. Don't even think of owning one without a bumper to bumper warranty as it will suck you dry. Just had to order a basic type tailpipe for one which was a measly 285.00.

The tie downs used are those long cargo straps not designed to tie down an axle

A good tow vehicle? I'll pass on that also

This is obviously an international arguement. The majority of Europeans look down on US vehicles and it's obvious that the opposite is also true.
Does anyone actually know what happened to cause the accident?

[Licensed to kill]

Originally Posted by Cornishman

This is obviously an international arguement. The majority of Europeans look down on US vehicles and it's obvious that the opposite is also true.

I would agree with this for the most part. However, the fact that the RR has too short of a wheel base to be a good tow vehicle for anything with substance has nothing to do with it's origin. It could very well be one of the best tow vehicles you can buy that is made in Europe.

[diomed]

Originally Posted by Cornishman

This is obviously an international arguement. The majority of Europeans look down on US vehicles and it's obvious that the opposite is also true.
Does anyone actually know what happened to cause the accident?

This guy has had the same experience as tbirdtbird and Mitch//pa

http://jalopnik.com/carmax-just-paid...ver-1746862325

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[SeaSlugs]

Originally Posted by diomed

This guy has had the same experience as tbirdtbird and Mitch//pa

http://jalopnik.com/carmax-just-paid...ver-1746862325

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Ive always heard a range rover over 3 years old to stay the heck away from. cooling problems and electrical problems out the yang ive been told...

[Mitch//pa]

Originally Posted by diomed

This guy has had the same experience as tbirdtbird and Mitch//pa

http://jalopnik.com/carmax-just-paid...ver-1746862325

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Some aftermarket warrantys have small print of the max they will pay out calculated by the percentage book value of the car. I am guessing yours does not. After three more years see if your warranty comp will renew it..... These cars are ok as long as you have a bump to bump coverage and you don't mind having to continually take it back in for service. Oh and a free rental car is a must, but before that's over dump it like a pound of rocks.. They are one of the biggest turds out there for sure
Thanks for posting your story but it is not at all surprising.

[updraught]

From the comments, that trailer could have weighed 4 tons.

Looks like it fish tailed a few times ... getting bigger and bigger each time ... whipping the Range Rover from one side of the road to another until the Range Rover flipped.

If you have ever seen this happening when it is coming towards you, you won't forget it.

[Gold Digger]

Looks to me like the Rolls should have been towing the Range Rover.

[Terry, NJ]

It leaves us with a lot to think about! I haven't done that much towing in my life but thank God none it wound up like this poor guy. The closest I ever came was with my first trailer. It was empty and it fishtailed quite a bit. I was taking it to get it welded and the hitch broke off and it wound up freewheeling into a farmer's field. I never even knew till I checked the mirror and saw it was gone. I found it about a mile back. I used every piece of chain and rope on board and didn't have far to go.
Terry

[tbirdtbird]

haha looks like someone struck a nerve. Ya have to wonder why everyone on this side of the pond is hauling with 1/2 or 3/4 ton pickups or larger...

the video speaks for itself

[Tiny]

Silverado 2500 the best tow vehicle you can buy.
I feel bad for the guy. My speculation was he was traveling to fast with too heavy a tongue load causing fishtailing as others have said. It appears to be on a long straight away. So we know he didn't hit a curve too fast. Instead of just dropping his foot off the gas he probably tried to steer out of it. Range Rovers are great dual purpose vehicles I'm sure but a short wheel base makes for tricky towing especially with an extra heavy load that's too far forward on the trailer. Always step back and asses your load before you strap it down. Its ok to move the car around to make it safer.

[Licensed to kill]

Originally Posted by Tiny

Silverado 2500 the best tow vehicle you can buy.
I feel bad for the guy. My speculation was he was traveling to fast with too heavy a tongue load causing fishtailing as others have said. It appears to be on a long straight away. So we know he didn't hit a curve too fast. Instead of just dropping his foot off the gas he probably tried to steer out of it. Range Rovers are great dual purpose vehicles I'm sure but a short wheel base makes for tricky towing especially with an extra heavy load that's too far forward on the trailer. Always step back and asses your load before you strap it down. Its ok to move the car around to make it safer.

I think you mean not enough hitch weight. I've never seen (or heard of) a trailer whipping from TOO MUCH hitch weight but too little hitch weight and it's impossible to control.

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by Licensed to kill

I think you mean not enough hitch weight. I've never seen (or heard of) a trailer whipping from TOO MUCH hitch weight but too little hitch weight and it's impossible to control.

yeah I got that backwards

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by Licensed to kill

I think you mean not enough hitch weight. I've never seen (or heard of) a trailer whipping from TOO MUCH hitch weight but too little hitch weight and it's impossible to control.

Yep, been there done that. I went to pick up a 1929 Chevy 1 1/2 ton truck, and the seller loaded the truck bed full of tires and other parts. Luckily I only had about 80 miles to drive and it was way out in the country, because I had to drive no faster than about 22 MPH all the way home.

[tbirdtbird]

too much hitch weight will take weight off the front wheels of the tow vehicle and you will have understeer

GMC has info on how to calculate what your tongue weight should be
http://www.gmc.com/gmc-life/trucks/w...fe-towing.html

You can use a bathroom scale and a length of 4x4 to calculate your tongue weight yourself. Google it