Vans for towing ???

[W.olly]

iveco daily , ran for 30 years everything from 35c models to 65 c, If you can sort your licence either 5 tonne , or if poss 6.5 tonne as this has a much bigger heavier back axle n brakes and rims so towing would be even easier , also they have a thicker heavier chassis , go fo three litre model, If you cant get license sorted go for 5 tonne and down rate to 3.5 ton gross , still be able to tow 3500kg , brilliant trucks , strong engines but rubbish wiring , check water resovoir in engine bay if its clear plastic and antifreeze can be seen to be bright colour blue or red probably ok, if its brown plastic head gasket /head gone or previously gone , be aware they run pretty darn good even with gasket going/gone.
most of all dont skimp on servicing , and do brake calipers(sliders) as they sieze for fun. only use genuine gearbox oil ...it makes a staggering differance. good luck with your seach , nice looking boat that .Enjoy !

You little beauty , never even thought to down plate one. And its easier nowadays i seem to remember, just paper work involved.
And to be honest, i have driven just a couple of 35`s in the past and found them the best vans to drive, i have driven Ford, VW, Merc Fiat Peugeot and Iveo just felt, driven better of the lot. Thanks for the info aswell

 

[arther dailey]

there is a firm that specialise in down plating , cant remember their name, they do everything up to the real heavy stuff , if your going to buy be prepared to view ten to twenty and put a lot of mileage in to find the right one , as a lot of commercials dont get serviced but do get abused , factor on cost of new cam chain (spendy) and full service , brake overhaul . better to buy high mileage fully serviced than a low miles one that has just chugged around town, they will normally be kerry packhard , my 3 litre chassis cab, ran as sweet as a nut .525k miles on it . ( got the mot test then laid up due to othe comitments ) no its not for sale sorry .keeper.

 

[James1979]

do brake calipers(sliders) as they sieze for fun. .Enjoy !

100%

I was a expert on re conning them when we had the camper vans. Both daily, one after the other!

The calipers and pads are massive on that age. The new ones are tiny.

Recon kits are pence on eBay. Try to park in gear with handbrake off. It’s the handbrake that does all the problems.

There is a good forum on them.

The older (early ‘00s) 35s are nice to drive. More like a lorry. The new ones are more car / can like.

 

[arther dailey]

agree 100% , I was on the forum for years , untill a new member joined who really didnt know what he was on about , just kept posting links to my threads and bits straight from a workshop manual,a lot of the time incorrect relationship to the op,s fault... that and when I was looking to buy one , the guy actually quted my name of the forum and told me its all easy enough to fix...realised being helpfull to others in need I had actually shot myself in the foot..

 

[Migmac]

I once assisted a very panicked man trying to pull out a small yacht on a rising tide. His little car wasnt making it on the slimy wet slip. Obviously an academic as he had no common sense. And the face plus body languageof his Mrs clear said they had a row mid fiasco too.

A 10 ton ratchet strap got me onto dry slipway

My friend has a bolt on extension draw bar. He puts it on the trailer before we launch his boat. It helps greatly. His car wheels never get wet and you get the trailer in deeper water making launching and getting the boat back on the trailer a breeze( normally)

 

[armalites]

A £3k Discovery 3 is going to be heartache.

Personally I would have no issues buying a £3k Disco 3. If you can do your own work and are prepared to spend some proper money on a diagnostic tool like an IID then no issues. An IID gives above dealer level options, it can enable thing that LR tell you aren't possible. Also buy an Altox FBH controller so you have no issues with glowplugs, it means you can preheat the car and also track it.

Pre March 2006 puts one in the low tax bracket

Just resist the temptation to buy a show pony that's done low mileage, make sure you buy one without sunroofs.Sat Nav has been out of date for years don't worry about having that.

Don't drive it around low on fuel.

You be hard pushed to find something that pulls a 3.5t trailer as well a Discovery 3 Auto does for £3K.

Ours has done 205K and tows a loaded 16' trailer on a regular basis, it one of the most reliable vehicles we have ever owned. Yes we've spent money on it but it has never once let us down. I change the oil between 4-5K.

If you are towing the V8 brake upgrade is worth doing, all you need is V8 discs and V8 caliper carriers, the calipers are the same.

Everyone I know who has one absolutely love them and to be totally honest in my experience a massive chunk of the people who are scared of them or slag them off have never owned one.

They are getting ridiculously cheap now given their capability. I cannot sit here and say they are cheap to run but they can genuinely do everything. It will sit above motorway speeds all day with 7 people or tow 3.5t out the woods. We were at a funeral on the West Coast of Scotland a few years back, we had breakfast fuelled up and drove all the way home without stopping, we were in convey with my cousin who was also in a D3 and they did exactly the same and we were pressing on a bit too.

Ours is a 55 plate S Auto and even at that level it has 4 heated seats, if you like heated seats they get hotter in these thing than any car I've ever driven.

 

[W.olly]

Just had a though today, if i down rate say a 50c to 35 then i would only have 900kg payload, is that correct ? I work it as they are 5200kg so down rated to 3500kg, payload as a 50c is 2600kg so give 900kg payload when down rated to 3500kg.

To get more payload i would need to swap C axles to S etc

there is a firm that specialise in down plating , cant remember their name, they do everything up to the real heavy stuff , if your going to buy be prepared to view ten to twenty and put a lot of mileage in to find the right one , as a lot of commercials dont get serviced but do get abused , factor on cost of new cam chain (spendy) and full service , brake overhaul . better to buy high mileage fully serviced than a low miles one that has just chugged around town, they will normally be kerry packhard , my 3 litre chassis cab, ran as sweet as a nut .525k miles on it . ( got the mot test then laid up due to othe comitments ) no its not for sale sorry .keeper.

 

[W.olly]

Personally I would have no issues buying a £3k Disco 3. If you can do your own work and are prepared to spend some proper money on a diagnostic tool like an IID then no issues. An IID gives above dealer level options, it can enable thing that LR tell you aren't possible. Also buy an Altox FBH controller so you have no issues with glowplugs, it means you can preheat the car and also track it.

Pre March 2006 puts one in the low tax bracket

Just resist the temptation to buy a show pony that's done low mileage, make sure you buy one without sunroofs.Sat Nav has been out of date for years don't worry about having that.

Don't drive it around low on fuel.

You be hard pushed to find something that pulls a 3.5t trailer as well a Discovery 3 Auto does for £3K.

Ours has done 205K and tows a loaded 16' trailer on a regular basis, it one of the most reliable vehicles we have ever owned. Yes we've spent money on it but it has never once let us down. I change the oil between 4-5K.

If you are towing the V8 brake upgrade is worth doing, all you need is V8 discs and V8 caliper carriers, the calipers are the same.

Everyone I know who has one absolutely love them and to be totally honest in my experience a massive chunk of the people who are scared of them or slag them off have never owned one.

They are getting ridiculously cheap now given their capability. I cannot sit here and say they are cheap to run but they can genuinely do everything. It will sit above motorway speeds all day with 7 people or tow 3.5t out the woods. We were at a funeral on the West Coast of Scotland a few years back, we had breakfast fuelled up and drove all the way home without stopping, we were in convey with my cousin who was also in a D3 and they did exactly the same and we were pressing on a bit too.

Ours is a 55 plate S Auto and even at that level it has 4 heated seats, if you like heated seats they get hotter in these thing than any car I've ever driven.

That is how i usually think but for a while now i have been reading on post on forums and FB pages about them and so many buy these older TDV6 and have many problems it has put me off a bit. I do like them and can do most work myself but now i need to spend another say £700 on new tools to keep it running.
Fricking modern stuff is OTT. a £20 set of spanners worked back then ha ha

 

[arther dailey]

Just had a though today, if i down rate say a 50c to 35 then i would only have 900kg payload, is that correct ? I work it as they are 5200kg so down rated to 3500kg, payload as a 50c is 2600kg so give 900kg payload when down rated to 3500kg.

To get more payload i would need to swap C axles to S etc

correct payload is sacraficed , but stability for towing if you went to change to single wheel axle would be also sacraficed, I believe chassis legs are differant width for single wheel models . I used a 50c down rated for many years , it handles the weight it was designed for irrelivant if you have it down plated...I would go for 50c to tow with or with licence etc 65 c .

 

[W.olly]

correct payload is sacraficed , but stability for towing if you went to change to single wheel axle would be also sacraficed, I believe chassis legs are differant width for single wheel models . I used a 50c down rated for many years , it handles the weight it was designed for irrelivant if you have it down plated...I would go for 50c to tow with or with licence etc 65 c .

I was working on once the van is fitted as a camper and loaded it would be over MGVW . So you are saying i can still carry the 2600lg ? sorry if sounding dim, had a bad day and carrying on now.

 

[W.olly]

@arther dailey

keep seeing stuff like this, seems good even no MOT, think most are 45C though in minibus ?

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[arther dailey]

@arther dailey

keep seeing stuff like this, seems good even no MOT, think most are 45C though in minibus ?

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pm sent.

 

[arther dailey]

from the little I could find on the mot gov web site it only had minor advisories last time , if its local go have a look , nothing to lose just check it out and get a idea if it would be suitable for you , then go from there , price wise with economy the way it is very much a buyers market .

 

[8ob]

4x4 iveco is not a bad wagon, not so sure dunking one in the sea would do it much good.

Bob

 

[armalites]

That is how i usually think but for a while now i have been reading on post on forums and FB pages about them and so many buy these older TDV6 and have many problems it has put me off a bit. I do like them and can do most work myself but now i need to spend another say £700 on new tools to keep it running.
Fricking modern stuff is OTT. a £20 set of spanners worked back then ha ha

If you join any vehicle specific forum or group then you will see stuff that will scare you. Everyone has this idea that all jap stuff is invisible yet many jap pickups have had common problems and they cannot tow the same weight anyway(unless you buy a newer one). Navara had an issue with engines around 2005, proper failures with rods through blocks and engine failures were far more common than LR, then they had the chassis issues. Mitsubishi suffer with cooling and head gaskets. Join an BMW M3 group and search for E92 M3 rod bearings. Some of them have knackered bearings at 60K

The problem with Land Rovers is for many people they are an aspirational vehicle, they eventually get to the point where they are so cheap anyone can buy one but many people can't accept buying £5K car costs the same to run as it did when it was new. They often will want the highest possible spec/bling and often choose low mileage. Often they will only get minimal use then things start going wrong, they will always get stuff done on the cheap and it's a downward spiral. The internet will have you believe every TDV6 will blow up but it's nonsense, sure there are failures but the big issue is when they go normally it's curtains for the engine and it's a big job to swap it. I've seen multiple threads with engine failures due to people not fitting oil filters correctly(you'd think that was a simple thing).That said there are many out there with big miles that really work for a living. There was a bloke on the D3 forum who used a D3 for transporting cars, when he stopped using it it had over 700K mile on it. He had it from new and had his first engine replacement at 400K.

They are almost throw away money now, my eldest is 18 and is talking about getting one, bizarrely the insurance is actually not bad on them.

I would upgrade to a newer one, we had the chance to buy a one owner D4 from a friend before it was traded in but my wife just won't spend £500 on road tax.

I've had the trailer ours three times in the last week, firstly went to Tamworth to collect a car for friend,took it to Reading and then home and collected a Defender this week and picked up a mini digger yesterday. All done with no dramas. It's the little things that make all the difference, Hitching a trailer you can just lower the suspension and reverse under the hitch. You can even raise/lower it from the keyfob, that is standard on all air suspension D3 but not many people know. If you are shunting trailers around Lo-range is mere press of a button away, no excuse for not using it. You can even do it while on the move. Secondary electrics standard too. The seats go totally flat and into the floor.

Sometimes little things that are cheap to fix get left and escalate, the air compressors have a desiccant in them, when it gets old it slows the compressor down and the suspension will be slow to activate. If you swap that desiccant as soon as you have an issue then it will be fine for years, let's not forget those compressors are used on many other vehicles not just LR.

I saw a post a few years back where bloke got tugged on the motorway towing a boat with a Range Rover Sport which is basically the same platform as the D3. The boat and trailer was 5 tonnes! He was a boat dealer so you know for sure that wasn't the first time he'd done that.

 

[arther dailey]

4x4 iveco is not a bad wagon, not so sure dunking one in the sea would do it much good.

Bob

agree but scarce now

 

[fizzy]

The problems with vans for towing is many of them have very low rear ends - to make van loading easier. Of course that means your tow bar almost ends up on the floor!
My old Disco 300tdi would tow anything. My boat on it's trailer was bang on 3500kg - towed it easily.
I now have a very heavy duty trailer I have almost finished building. Going to get a Ford Ranger on lease as it has a proper tow hitch nice and high up. Would rather a Defender but silly money

 

[Robbie260]

If you join any vehicle specific forum or group then you will see stuff that will scare you. Everyone has this idea that all jap stuff is invisible yet many jap pickups have had common problems and they cannot tow the same weight anyway(unless you buy a newer one). Navara had an issue with engines around 2005, proper failures with rods through blocks and engine failures were far more common than LR, then they had the chassis issues. Mitsubishi suffer with cooling and head gaskets. Join an BMW M3 group and search for E92 M3 rod bearings. Some of them have knackered bearings at 60K

The problem with Land Rovers is for many people they are an aspirational vehicle, they eventually get to the point where they are so cheap anyone can buy one but many people can't accept buying £5K car costs the same to run as it did when it was new. They often will want the highest possible spec/bling and often choose low mileage. Often they will only get minimal use then things start going wrong, they will always get stuff done on the cheap and it's a downward spiral. The internet will have you believe every TDV6 will blow up but it's nonsense, sure there are failures but the big issue is when they go normally it's curtains for the engine and it's a big job to swap it. I've seen multiple threads with engine failures due to people not fitting oil filters correctly(you'd think that was a simple thing).That said there are many out there with big miles that really work for a living. There was a bloke on the D3 forum who used a D3 for transporting cars, when he stopped using it it had over 700K mile on it. He had it from new and had his first engine replacement at 400K.

They are almost throw away money now, my eldest is 18 and is talking about getting one, bizarrely the insurance is actually not bad on them.

I would upgrade to a newer one, we had the chance to buy a one owner D4 from a friend before it was traded in but my wife just won't spend £500 on road tax.

I've had the trailer ours three times in the last week, firstly went to Tamworth to collect a car for friend,took it to Reading and then home and collected a Defender this week and picked up a mini digger yesterday. All done with no dramas. It's the little things that make all the difference, Hitching a trailer you can just lower the suspension and reverse under the hitch. You can even raise/lower it from the keyfob, that is standard on all air suspension D3 but not many people know. If you are shunting trailers around Lo-range is mere press of a button away, no excuse for not using it. You can even do it while on the move. Secondary electrics standard too. The seats go totally flat and into the floor.

Sometimes little things that are cheap to fix get left and escalate, the air compressors have a desiccant in them, when it gets old it slows the compressor down and the suspension will be slow to activate. If you swap that desiccant as soon as you have an issue then it will be fine for years, let's not forget those compressors are used on many other vehicles not just LR.

I saw a post a few years back where bloke got tugged on the motorway towing a boat with a Range Rover Sport which is basically the same platform as the D3. The boat and trailer was 5 tonnes! He was a boat dealer so you know for sure that wasn't the first time he'd done that.

The D3 is an amazing vehicle don’t get me wrong and I do love mine but a good one at 3k would be hard to get.

I bought one at 3.3k and I’m not shy on the work but honestly it’s been so problematic since I bought it in January and now with it cooking (blew a coolant hose on Loch Lomond side on Sunday night) itself just after spending the a bit over a grand on it I think I personally ain’t going that way again and could not recommend. Lovely superb 4x4 probably the best when it works but it dosent work often. Admittedly my gripe is with a 18 year old 207500 mile vehicle original engine but you know was using mine for work and it just can’t be down as often as it was.

Admittedly I do seem to be jinxed when it comes to buying Lemmon cars.

 

[fizzy]

The D3 is an amazing vehicle don’t get me wrong and I do love mine but a good one at 3k would be hard to get.

I bought one at 3.3k and I’m not shy on the work but honestly it’s been so problematic since I bought it in January and now with it cooking (blew a coolant hose on Loch Lomond side on Sunday night) itself just after spending the a bit over a grand on it I think I personally ain’t going that way again and could not recommend. Lovely superb 4x4 probably the best when it works but it dosent work often. Admittedly my gripe is with a 18 year old 207500 mile vehicle original engine but you know was using mine for work and it just can’t be down as often as it was.

Admittedly I do seem to be jinxed when it comes to buying Lemmon cars.

I think the same can be said of all modern cars. Imagine a Tesla at 18 years old and 207500 miles

 

[W.olly]

I think the same can be said of all modern cars. Imagine a Tesla at 18 years old and 207500 miles

I got more chance of hitting 90.