LR3 Lee
New Member
The last couple of months I've been engrossed in researching travel trailers, the RV lifestyle, and towing with an LR3. The travel trailer I purchased is 4,700 lbs unloaded, with a dry hitch weight of 490 lbs, 2 axles, and 24' 9" overall length. I've scanned many forums and saw people who were towing larger and heavier travel trailers. I've also read many examples of people using different hitches, some using weight distribution, etc. It's all very confusing, but here are some details on my first experience.
I wasn't 100% sure if I was going to buy the RV until I inspected it, and I left the hitch setup as the big unknown. I have the Land Rover hitch (with the 770lb rating), trailer wiring, and I installed a brake controller (very easy to do). I had a receiver with a 2" drop, and figured with where that ends up on the LR3, that it would be too low, and we were correct. The RV guys and I discussed getting a receiver with a taller riser, but they had the heads to some used weight distribution hitches around which set the height well. By using this though, it will put the ball further away from the rear axle of the vehicle by roughly 10 inches or so. With the LR3 running, we set the trailer on the ball and the vehicle leveled back out. Because I had this big WD head, I could now add sway control, so we put on a Husky dual friction unit on one side.
Driving back was my first experience towing at speed. The highway has a 70mph speed limit and it was an extremely windy day - gusts up to 45mph. Let me just say that it was completely white knuckle. After the first 20 minutes I pulled off just to peel my hands off the wheel and inspect everything. I've towed a lot of super sketchy things in my days of working on a farm, but I was really surprised by this experience.
The second half of the trip was much better. The winds calmed down and I was able to relax my grip and almost drive normal. I think it was mainly due to the winds subsiding, but also getting used to the feel of being pushed around.
Obviously I would like to improve this situation. The options I'm thinking of are:
1. Crank the adjustment on the sway bar to see if that improves sway control. I didn't have a wrench with me at the time to do that
2. Add a second sway bar
3. Add tongue weight
4. ? - don't say get a different vehicle because that's not happening
Suggestions?
I wasn't 100% sure if I was going to buy the RV until I inspected it, and I left the hitch setup as the big unknown. I have the Land Rover hitch (with the 770lb rating), trailer wiring, and I installed a brake controller (very easy to do). I had a receiver with a 2" drop, and figured with where that ends up on the LR3, that it would be too low, and we were correct. The RV guys and I discussed getting a receiver with a taller riser, but they had the heads to some used weight distribution hitches around which set the height well. By using this though, it will put the ball further away from the rear axle of the vehicle by roughly 10 inches or so. With the LR3 running, we set the trailer on the ball and the vehicle leveled back out. Because I had this big WD head, I could now add sway control, so we put on a Husky dual friction unit on one side.
Driving back was my first experience towing at speed. The highway has a 70mph speed limit and it was an extremely windy day - gusts up to 45mph. Let me just say that it was completely white knuckle. After the first 20 minutes I pulled off just to peel my hands off the wheel and inspect everything. I've towed a lot of super sketchy things in my days of working on a farm, but I was really surprised by this experience.
The second half of the trip was much better. The winds calmed down and I was able to relax my grip and almost drive normal. I think it was mainly due to the winds subsiding, but also getting used to the feel of being pushed around.
Obviously I would like to improve this situation. The options I'm thinking of are:
1. Crank the adjustment on the sway bar to see if that improves sway control. I didn't have a wrench with me at the time to do that
2. Add a second sway bar
3. Add tongue weight
4. ? - don't say get a different vehicle because that's not happening
Suggestions?