Hopefully someone will be able to help more directly, as I've no experience of the TD engine and don't know the weight of a series 3, but if you know how much the trailer weighs that might help. With my breathed-on 300TDi, 50MPH was very easy, I had to keep an eye on the speedo to stop myself going too fast, one of the reasons I stuck behind lorries in fact.
On or around 15 Feb 2007 05:49:55 -0800, "Greg" enlightened us thusly:
the MOT refusal cert. has a section for "the following faults render the vehicle dangerous for use on the road". I imagine that the insurance would fail to cough if you had a claim after a test where anything got written there.
I think you're allowed to travel to a place where remedial work is to be carried out, as well, but maybe not if you get a "dangerous" fail.
given that the law allows you to travel without tax under the circumstances specified, I think the insurers would need to prove that you were in contravention of those conditions to avoid paying out.
On or around Thu, 15 Feb 2007 10:33:52 +0000, Tom Woods enlightened us thusly:
done that in the past. furthest one was from London back to Wales. However, I think they've tightened up on it a bit since then.
On or around Thu, 15 Feb 2007 10:19:36 +0000, beamendsltd enlightened us thusly:
up to 3.5T gross trailer weight, of course.
On or around 15 Feb 2007 02:51:30 -0800, "Sean" enlightened us thusly:
Looks tidy enough, and the price is not silly. It's the corrosion that will be the bugbear, if any, but series motors are easy to work on.
On or around 15 Feb 2007 07:07:54 -0800, "Sean" enlightened us thusly:
SWB SIII isn't a lot over a ton unladen, less than a ton and a half, anyway. Your all-up weight with a decent trailer ain't gonna be over 2.5T. Get the trailer balanced nicely, with something around 50Kg noseweight once laden (much more and the handling can get interesting), and make sure your tyre pressures are good, both on the tug and the trailer.
On or around Thu, 15 Feb 2007 13:29:24 +0000, Geoff enlightened us thusly:
good point. mind you, if the brakes are stuck on, it's not going to go anywhere :-)
All it means is you are going to work up a sweat on the winch ;-)
It should easily move it at 50+. Like i said in another post - have done a saab straight down the M6 from lancaster behind a 2.25 petrol series 3 and we were even able to use the overdrive for a lot of the trip..
It sits nicely - always a good sign for Series motor. And the moneys right.
Richard
I love the bit where the seller says ... and I quote from the FleaBay ad:
"Post to: N. and S. America, Europe, Asia, Australia"
Can't really see how the seller would have got it up onto the post office counter to be weighed! ...and it would have needed a shed load of stamps! ;-)
Looks quite nice for a 25 year old Landie.
Steve
Much good advice so far, but may I add a few more thoughts?
Do you have the right licence for towing a big trailer? Anyone who passed their driving test after 1/1/97 would need to have passed the extra trailer driving test.
If you've never towed anything before, a car transporter trailer can be a bit daunting to some folk. Sod's law dictates that you always seem to pick up cars from housing estates with cul-de-sacs, parked cars, and neighbours making helpful suggestions.
Getting a vehicle with locked brakes onto a trailer is never easy. Trailer winches are rarely generously rated, so it can be hard enough work winching a vehicle that rolls freely. It isn't always easy to get a vehicle with stuck brakes out of a driveway, even, and a multi-point turn to position it dead in line with the trailer (which it needs to be, to load it) can be a problem if you're having to use your tow vehicle to pull it, run round it, and pull it back again. It sometimes helps to take along a couple of bottles of cheap washing-up liquid to squirt around to help the stuck wheels to slide. I suppose oil would be even better, but neither trailer hirers nor owners of smart driveways like their pride and joy to be left slathered in Asda finest 20/50. You can get wheel skates, but they don't always fit onto trailer ramps.
Allow plenty of time to check over any trailer you hire. People mis-treat hired trailers, so hirers tend to retaliate by putting out ill-maintained rubbish with flat, inadequately-rated tyres and non-working lights. They're unlikely to hire out securing straps - they often come back damaged, though very neatly folded to hide it. Secure it only by bits below the suspension - wheels or axles. If you strap the chassis, it will bounce and either loosen your straps so they fall off, or snap them. On second thoughts, it's a Series Landy that's been standing, so the suspension is probably as near solid as makes no odds.
Austin warns about too much nose load: too little is probably even worse, as it can lead to violent snaking. If this happens, or even if you start to sense that it's about to, the only thing to do is to ease off the accelerator and pray. Don't believe the nonsense about "accelerating through it".
You'll find it slow going with a 2.5 diesel. I struggle to keep up
45-50 mile/h on some motorway gradients even with only a ton and a bit on my trailer, using a 300tdi Rangey.As others have said, you're taking a risk of having the book thrown at you if you stick it on an A-frame, even assuming you can get the brakes released. The 150 mile-away MoT may just seem as a piss-take if you're stopped - and traffic police are (usually) only human, so may react to having the piss taken as we all would.
Get it rolling, and I could give you a price for delivering it (as a favour for a friend, of course), but I'll pass on quoting to shift a lump of immobile metal, thanks.
That's a very important point. Don't try it with a car trailer that has standard car tyres fitted, (max load about 350Kgs at 35psi things) they _will_ burst if you load a heavy vehicle on and travel at speed for any distance, BTDT, NGTDT ever again!. Make sure you have proper trailer tyres fitted that are about 6 ply and good for around 800Kgs @ 80 psi. Also blow then up to the correct pressure!
So many plant trailers have the wrong tyres fitted, the reason why is easy - circa £30 v £70 each.
Julian.
On or around Thu, 15 Feb 2007 19:44:49 -0000, "Autolycus" enlightened us thusly:
Oh yes...
snaking is only cured by slowing down gently. don't try to "catch" it with the steering unless you're a fighter pilot, and very-don't put your toe down. Also don't stand on the anchors.
I've found too much noseweight can cause snaking as well. Should've said don't have too little...
rule of thumb - if you can lift the trailer hitch easily onto the ball, it's too light. If you can't lift the trailer hitch *level* with the ball, it's too much. With a laden twin-wheeler, the noseweight goes up very quickly as you lift it - I still reckon you want about 50Kg with the hitch level with the ball - but with a laden twin-wheeler I rather doubt that I could actually lift the thing high enough to connect or disconnect it.
Some people seem to run huge noseweight on landies, but that's not what rover say, and IME too much also makes it unstable.
The ball coupling is not designed to work without noseweight, either.
Austin Shackles uttered summat worrerz funny about:
Formby (sp?) to Stoke.... I give you...
Never made it for the MOT mind as I was too late...perhaphs as well as I was also deaf for three days.
Lee D
I drove the young un's 90 from London to Greater Manchester last month having booked it in at *my* local garage beforehand for mot without tax. Pushing it I suppose but I don't know any garages down there and it passed ok and then taxed it from 1st January after mot just in case the specs cameras saw it on the motorway. Still not been used on the road since though. For sale now with (almost) full tax & mot. M reg 300Tdi. Only for sale now as he's moved and can't get it in his garage. :-)
Martin
Nor have I, but the small print is a gold mine of copouts for them and they aren't all spelt out in the application 8-(. I had a good one, many new policies say 'not covered air-side at airfields' which is a sod for anyone interested in flying either full size or models, but of course they don't tell you until you've paid up 8-(. Greg
Don't worry, it's only major airfields with 'proper' security that have an airside. To drive airside requires special airside driving licences, vehicle permits, security passes,amber beacons and correct insurance - planes (not including puddle jumpers) cost many millions, hitting one is expensive! BTW it happens all the time.
Airfields and aerodromes, rather than airports, that cater for modellers and puddle jumpers don't have airside and landside as such, just a perimeter fence as a rule.
Julian.
Thanks for the excellent advise - the seller has "promised" to get it rolling by the time i arrive so getting it loaded shouldnt be so much of an issue - i'll bring a big hammer just in case.
The place i'm hiring the trailer from is
I didnt serioulsy consider the rigid tow option for very long after seeing that they are rated at 10% over the weight of the LR isnt enough in my books - fine for pulling a Fiat 126 perhaps.
Can I say sorry for the delay in advance if any of you get stuck behind me en route.
Is'nt that section of the M6 all downhill?
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