chicken george wrote:

ad210358 wrote:

he will have been p g up the side of it

Did you notice I gave your wheels an extra 'clean' at Halewood, that weak LR coffee ensured I was able to powerwash all the wheels and the drivers door handle

yes but you missed my Arches

chicken george wrote:

ad210358 wrote:

he will have been p g up the side of it

Did you notice I gave your wheels an extra 'clean' at Halewood, that weak LR coffee ensured I was able to powerwash all the wheels and the drivers door handle

Powerwash not with what Mrs CG says you have, not posible, you only use two fingers and one of them gets wet.

if you are buying private see if you can look at what its been towing if from a dealer ask if you can have the previous owners contact details and ring them and ask what it been towing size weight etc it may only tow twice a year less than a 1000kg in total you should be ok but for piece of mind do the checks , as for the gearbox the auto is not bomb proof it can have faults that can be very expensive to repair been a few members on here had complete failures at 3k plus to repair ( manuals some on here have had problems with clutches not all though cheaper to replace a clutch than a auto box less road tax, better mpg ) anyway auto is a lazy way of driving i was down cornwall last year got 38mpg towing a soft caravan at just under 1000kg and the manual coped perfectley on the hills  rainy-city
xs

As others have said, see if you can find out what they have used the Towbar for, some just have a Towbar to mount a Cycle Carrier, may just be a garden trailer, wouldn't worry if it is a caravan, it can pull two tonnes, most of the caravans are around the 1500kg mark with a nose weight of around the 80kg mark which is well under the 150kg limit. The only trailer pulling that may concern me is if it has been pulling a Plant Trailer or an Iffor Williams Horse Box as they can sometimes be a bit over tha limit and get abused.
I haven't heard of any rear suspension wear down to towing, front suspension will not have been under a lot of pressure if it has been towing as the front will go lighter with anything on the tow ball. If the Towbar is a detachable one, make sure it is complete and when you fit it in there should be no play whatsoever when you tug on the ball. Also check the tow all it's self, if it is dry with not any trace of lubricant it more than likely has been pulling a caravan or used as a bike carrier. Wouldn't be concerned so much about the gearbox if it has been towing as it is an Auto. As Bigalf has said if it has been pulling a caravan it probably won't have spent much time pulling it 1 to 2k a year, maybe even less and even much less with a garden trailer.

chicken george wrote:

if it has done an amount of towing especially high sided wind steered box type 'trailers' then the rear suspension will have taken a beating, If so the the front suspension ,

Doubtful on the rear suspension CG, as the noseweight on most caravans can't go higher than 100kg which is the same as 'Mr slightly more than average' who likes an occasional mixed grill sat in the rear seats.
Ref your comments on the front suspension (More load on the rear = less load on the front)

Suspect you've increased just your anti vanning campaign for 2012

towing will increase suspension wear, its more than the actually static weight on the tow bar there will be more side forces, vibrations etc the brakes are having to control a larger weight, and guess what the brake discs are on the ends of the suspension.

It not possible that towing will not wear a car out faster, front suspension too as its all interconectted At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

chicken george wrote:

towing will increase suspension wear, its more than the actually static weight on the tow bar there will be more side forces, vibrations etc the brakes are having to control a larger weight, and guess what the brake discs are on the ends of the suspension.

It not possible that towing will not wear a car out faster, front suspension too as its all interconectted

twaddle

LR will have tested the vehicle to achieve recommened towing capability, bear in mind they would still have to deal with any warranty within 3 years even if the vehicle towed 2 tons all the time.

so the towed 'item' just floats on the back of the car and exerts no extra forces on the car and its components?

Everything involved with moving and stopping objects involves forces, forces wear out components. The greater the force the faster the wear. At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

Dealers are pretty coy disclosing previous owner details. I suppose they are within their rights. Data protection and all that crap.

From the general consensus, i shouldnt fear the tow bar, after all i do need one for a cycle carrier.

ammer wrote:

Dealers are pretty coy disclosing previous owner details. I suppose they are within their rights. Data protection and all that crap.

From the general consensus, i shouldnt fear the tow bar, after all i do need one for a cycle carrier.

Maybe, but you always quite legitimately ask to see the reg doc to confirm the number of previous owners.  John
07 HSE Narvick Black
Land Rover Series One
Triumph Rocket 111 (sadly gone!)

chicken george wrote:

so the towed 'item' just floats on the back of the car and exerts no extra forces on the car and its components?

Everything involved with moving and stopping objects involves forces, forces wear out components. The greater the force the faster the wear.

Yes your right off roaded cars should be devalued just as much as towbar cars. It all a matter of usage vs price I guess.


Also with a towbar car, did the previous owner know how to reverse his ' trailer' or did he cook the clutch many times attempting to park up, who knows that answer?


So basically if you have a choice between two cars identical bar the towbar it makes sense to want to pay less for the towbar one.
Certainly dont pay extra because its got one and you want one, Its better to put your own bar on the virgin car At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

So when toeknee wants to sell Freely it will be worthless, manual, Towbar (for his bike carrier) and it's B
I still think your over reacting over the Towbar, unless it has been owned by someone who was using it day day out for towing his Kubota it shouldn't have done a lot of towing, clutch will be a week point anyway, if you can put the failure of the clutch down to towing or the flaky nature of the Freely clutch is debatable. You still can be led astray on the Towbar issue, if you see the amount of Freely towbars on the bay that have been removed prior to the selling of, you are still taking pot luck.

Didn't he say it was an auto? Good job she hit the (dwarf) barrier and not the (dwarf) - could have joined the English Rugby team if so................ Ours - 2008 Stornoway Grey HSE Auto
Tricia's - 2006 Royal Blue Beetle Cabriolet Auto
Mine - 2014 Vespa GTS 300 Super Sport Matt Black
Ours - 2007 White Bailey Pageant Champagne