Tow or carrry?

[carlosbeldia]

What of these two options cause less stress on road? off road I suppose it's better to take everything in the car, the tow is a very "death weight" option, right? During towing do the transmision takes a lot of work, more than carrying?

[Retroanaconda]

As far as the engine and transmission are concerned the workload is the same. Weight is weight at the end of the day. I imagine there would be a bit more with the weight and rolling resistance of the trailer itself, but that should be negligible for a Defender.

The rear axle is the one that takes the load, whether you're towing or loading the rear, but when towing the trailer's axle(s) also take some of the load. So it could be argued that there is less strain on the rear springs if you tow.

But then there is more strain on the rear crossmember if towing.

So weigh it up

[Aragorn]

The additional weight of the trailer (and the aerodynamic drag) will cost you in more fuel, so if it can fit inside safely, then i would do that.

[Off Road Toad]

I tow regularly a large trailer down to the south of france and ive noted that i'm nearly always better off taking a trailer than trying to cram everything in/on the truck. the trailer is a rolling load at the end of the day, once it's moving you shoudn't really notice it. keep an eye on your rear trailing arm bushes, these wear quickly if tow hard regularly. I found the suspension to work alot harder when putting the weight in/on the car and fuel consumtion to be worse as your tempted to try and go faster as you don't have the trailer. Fuel consumtion shouldn't be that much worse when towing if you stick to the legal speed limit, it must be an F big trailer to have worse "aerodynamics" than a landrover

Steve

[plasticbadger]

I run my Disco both loaded and tow with it. I've found that generally if you just think about a flat road then the additional rolling resistance, aerodynamic drag and physical weight of the trailer make the truck work harder to maintain a speed. Uphill the additional weight is also going to work against you and mean that you need to work the truck harder.

However down hill and braking the trailer will be helping more than just a load, the additional weight pushing you harder and the added braking effect saving the truck's brakes. Also off road loading the truck will work the suspension more and wear the bushes etc faster than towing.

I would say over all it depends on the shape and weight of what you're carrying. I always like the trailer as you can un-hitch it at your destination and drive around in your un-laden car.