during last week i started to notice that when braking, i had a car that braked as if it had brake fade, basically breaking but doesn't seem as keen as before. With it having 11k miles on the clock i doubt its brake pads it brakes in a straight line, no vibration or anything, maybe its all in my head or i picked up a little oil or something on the pads. But towing the caravan seem to make this more noticeable

the other side is, my car seem to lack power under 2000rpm, again more noticeable when towing
, and seemed to labour until the revs picked up, or in nearly all cases i pressed the pedle down more causing it to drop gears to get the extra power i was requesting.

I think it was changing gears more often too when cruising at 60mph and 6th gear was near useless unless going down hill, when unhitched the car seamed perkyier (sp?) but I often think that when i just unhitched

no smoke, no dashboard lights/signs, no screaching sounds for anything, strange going ons


one thing i couldn't see is a resevior for brake fluid, do we have one?  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

reduced performance and braking ability when towing hmm most odd something to do with the big white box on the back maybe?

never heard of such a thing before????


maybe you glazed the brake pads a little what with your car been an auto, do a few severe emergency stops see if that de-glazes the pads 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

Having just towed from Manchester to Conway and back one of the things I did notice was that I had to force the box to change up to 6th, she would sit at 58mph, 2200rpm in 5th uphill and back down again using cruise control.

Brakes were/are fine - supprised mine have lasted 22K - I usually get 10-15K from a set of pads.

Our van MGW is 1090kg Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

CG thought it might be down to the discs/pads becoming smooth due to the short trips i do, i shall strap everything down and get a few sharps stops in to see how it goes  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

do it with the van on,, cutlery everywhere  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

npinks,
With the extra weight of the van on the back the brake have to work harder, plus the engine Are you sure the van brake are working ok ??

I towed for the first time this weekend and found every with the brakes seemed OK, But boy did I have to use the gear box a lot more, once freelader was up to speed it was ok, But hit a long climb and down the the box we went 4th pulled well, I found all the other under powered cars a pain, because the freelander did pull well if you worked the gear box.
Avg 28mpg over 300 miles 220 towing ( not to bad)
All the best

I have had problems with a binding caravan break( or atleast I think it's binding as the wheel is getting hot), infact I have rebooked the caravan in on Saturday to get it double checked.

But the symtoms are there without the caravan too

in for a service in a couple of weeks so will let them look at it too Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Im guessing that your caravan has trailer brakes and are working properly ? AS you brake the damper in the draw bar will push in and draw the trailer brakes on. Perhapes there not working correctly. Have the brake cables been ajusted as they will stretch over time. Vans that have stood for some time will rust up and will not give full braking capacity for the first few activations. The other problem may be that your trailer or car might be leaking hydrolic fluid on one or more discs or drums. worth checking it out for peace of mind.
It will be a lot harder to stop with trailer brakes not working properly.

Ok I noticed this before towing the caravan, The brake fade feeling was there without the caravan....

Towing 1500kg made the fade feeling a little worse, obviously , but nothing that would cause me to stop and call LRA but noticible, I'm sure the garage will be asking me for £300 to replace the brakes

Btw the caravan is serviced yearly and had it's brakes checked at last service at the end of February. It might have had a little part in the towing aspect due to an incorrect adjustment and the caravan garage is going to look at it again (after a blow out last year I play it safe/ over causous due to having kids in the car) Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Ok thats fine then. Then there could be a problem with the servo assistance on your car, maybe theres an air leak on a hose or a union not been tightened up properly, this will make braking so much harder is some of the servo asistance is lot.
There could be a small leak on a brake hose and its getting on to one or more discs.
Check you brake fluid resivour to see if its on the low side.
Your car is still under warranty is it not? Get land rover to put it on a rolling road to test the braking force of each wheel. they will know right away if there is a problem. Its worth checking if not for peice of mind.

The brake fluid reservoir is hidden! With the bonnet open and looking under the bonnet, there is a small plastic cover on the bulkhead, near the bonnet hinge. On the left as you look under the bonnet, or would be on the right if you were sat in the drivers seat. The battery is hidden under a much larger plastic cover on the opposite side.

You'll find that it's marked as 'FoMoCo', as it's a Ford part. Happened to be looking under the back of my FL2 at the weekend and the rubber support mount for the rear exhaust silencer is clearly marked 'Volvo'! I don;t know, PSA Ford engine, Ford bits, Volvo bits... is there much LR in there...?!

Cheers Moo

I'll check tomorrow, could only see the obvious ones

Superspark, never thought about rolling roads, do they have them at all dealers?

Sorry for the over use of mention a caravan and it seem to be fixated on been the cause  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Hi npinks, not all dealers will have them only the ones who do in house mots as its part of the mot that all braked wheels must pass a certain braking presure. they can test each wheel independant of the other three.If the dealers dont have one then then perhaps they take the cars to a mot station that they use.