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Would you tow 9,000 lbs with a D90?

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7K views 27 replies 19 participants last post by  brettm 
#1 ·
According to the owners manual for the 1997 NAS - the max towed weight is 7,716 lbs.

I have a 25' boat on a triple-axle trailer that comes in about 8,800 lbs; which I've been pulling happily with a neighbors Toyota Tundra.

I'm curious what limits the towing rating - is it mostly engine-ability?

I have a 4.6 engine in my NAS, and a very short tow ~ 3 miles from boat ramp to my place. Max legal road speed is 35 mph - and it's out in the boonies enough that I could putter along at 15 or 20 if i wanted to.

Given my scenario of - bigger engine, don't need to go fast or far, triple-axle trailer with really good disc-brakes - how foolish would it be to try this with the Landy?

The trailer is mechanical brake - so requires downhill grade to apply. I'm most nervous of the idea of having to stop pointing up a hill and the Landy brakes being the only thing holding.

Oh - and the boat is Arles Blue if that is an important factor ;)
 
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#2 ·
the short wheel base makes it too squirmy when towing, the weight of the trailer compresses the back end of the 90 and your front end goes to the sky.
also too easy to jackknife in panic brake mode.. I drive 18 wheelers, pulled many cars with various rovers. in my experience nothing less than a 110 wheel base makes me comfortable when towing.
pulling is half the battle, stopping the other half. play it safe.

not preaching just offering my .02 based on personal experience.
 
#8 ·
A 90 is awesome for backing a boat trailer. The longer the wheel base of the tow vehicle the more of a pita it is to back a boat down the ramp. I used to pull my 24ft baja speed boat on two axle trailer also with surge brakes for that reason. I had to back the boat 50 yards back into my driveway which had some compound turns with shrubs right up to the driveway and the 90 was the only way to get it done. A classic or 110 were both too long.
 
#10 ·
I towed a 12k mini excavator and trailer with my 200tdi 110, stock brakes disc/drum.

Don't do that, was sketchy as ****.

You can seriously upgrade your brakes for little money, that's the first step. Even the lowly 200 has the balls to tow big loads, juts not up hills or at highway speed.... Local only
 
#11 ·
Towing is about controlling the load and getting it all stopped when necessary. If you're just going around the corner to the neighborhood boat ramp no biggie, but if you're hitting the road and getting up to speed then you probably need tell the wife you have to buy a new 4x4 F250 6.7 liter Power Stroke King Ranch Superduty. To keep the children safe of course, it's all for the kids.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Exactly. Even a light load can throw you off the road in a 90, but if the trailer has brakes of any kind, I wouldn't worry much about such a short and slow run.

I've towed all sorts of braked trailers (lifts and bobcats) with my 90, but my freewheeling seadoo boat trailer nearly tossed me because of an idiot that crossed three lanes to make an exit. Thank God for that hard shoulder and dirt run off I used every inch of.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I'd do it esp if there aren't any traffic lights or hills.
That said, I bought a dually diesel crew f350 for hauling. Really nice to be able to accelerate up the pennsylvania hills from 75 mph with a 8000 load in tow.
 
#16 ·
Appreciate all the input - given the feedback I'm leaning towards not trying. It's certainly not flat - and there are some medium hills over the 3-miles. Narrow roads would make it impossible to turn around if I chicken out :)

While a shiny new F350 is tempting - I only need to trailer in/out twice a year to get out of the big storms in the winter.

Boat is an Arles Blue Defender. SAFE Boat Defender - not Landrover Defender ;)

At the risk of being too matchy-matchy - I kind of like the idea of the Defender towing the Defender, but I like the idea of not crashing both of them even more.

 
#18 ·
Yeah. The first generation was a 10-year platform for them - so there are a bunch of 2005-2006 hulls getting auctioned off. Often they sell them hull-only with electronics and engines stripped, occasionally you can find them included. There's a great guy (Todd Reger) in LA who buys and fixes them up Link: RHIB Unlimited, which is how I sourced this one. It's a fun ride.
 
#20 ·
Brakes and wheelbase are your enemy. I towed a 110 on my 24' car trailer with a 4.3 V6 powered 88" at highway speeds over about 20 miles. I can only say it was nerve racking and stupid dangerous. I'd never attempt it again. In your situation I would consider the tow at well less than 35mph (even if it starts to feel comfortable) assuming there are no issues you've failed to mention and there is a brake controller in the vehicle.
 
#22 ·
Well... I did it... but I'm not sure I'd be chomping at the bit to do it again.

Here's my experience:

At the boat ramp, I chocked both axles and I'm sure glad I did - didn't quite get the boat on right the first attempt and so had to power-off the trailer and make another run. Given how much the rover rocked back and forth I'm pretty sure it would have sucked it into the ocean if the wheels weren't wedged.

I needed diff-locked 4-low to get off the ramp, 4-low was just spinning on me. Once I got to the parking lot, I switched to regular 4-low for the ride home.

Seemed to pull OK - but I wish I knew a little more about how my auto-transmission worked before attempting it - I tried a couple of times to manually shift down to 2nd gear on steep hills and unlike the automatic shift it was not smooth at all - engine revved like throttle in neutral even though my foot was off the gas for a second or two before what I imagine was a clunk in the prop-shaft. A little nerve-wrecking. Probably should have just left it in drive. Was down to max 14-mph on some of the steeper hills.

I'll stick to using my friends F-350, that thing didn't bat an eyelid, although sure was a lot easier to back it up and maneuver with the 90.

 
#25 ·
Just to add to the discussion, I knew an ex-copper from the Metropolitan Police. He was a huge advocate for the Defender and its towing ability. He cited occasions where he used his police-issue 110 to pull a broken 38-tonne truck off the motorway, and another time he pulled a double decker bus up the hill at Crystal Palace.
As discussed in this thread, these were relatively short distances where cornering weren't an issue and speeds were low but never underestimate what these vehicles can move.
 
#28 ·
Yeah - USCG boat, they sell them off every 10 years to get their newer toys. They are generally well looked after, but like anything 13 years old - needs maintenance. I'm currently redoing a bunch of electrical and rebuilding the fuel lines. Super fun boat to have - and ideal for the PNW crappy weather. They took off the blue lights and machine guns.
 
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