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big diff in engines to offroad and tow?


dark-night

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On a couple of hills (Birdlip Hill and Bury hill in particular) I often had to put my 200 Tdi in to low range to keep the engine in the turbo rev range with heavy trailers. My Td5 on the other hand, maybe has to drop in to 4th High and can keep a steady speed (40 ish) up both.

My TD5's the same up Birdlip: I can drag a twin-axle Bateson loaded to 3500Kg all the way up Birdlip at 55 in 3rd with no problems. Without the trailer, it's 75+ (OK, OK, I know the limit's 60...)

Rule #1 when towing uphill: at the bottom of the hill select the gear you expect to be in when you reach the top.

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My TD5's the same up Birdlip: I can drag a twin-axle Bateson loaded to 3500Kg all the way up Birdlip at 55 in 3rd with no problems. Without the trailer, it's 75+ (OK, OK, I know the limit's 60...)

Rule #1 when towing uphill: at the bottom of the hill select the gear you expect to be in when you reach the top.

3rd is the magic gear. You can motor up hill at 50 or crawl at tick over! Just to try it, I let my TD5 (with trailer) just pull itself up a small hill the other day in third, with NO gas pedal usage! It just drove itself up!

Dave

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ok, i have 2 cars i looking at now, one would be ideal, but! its a td5 but with a 200tdi engine transplant, i has a lift, insas,under body guards/snorkel etc, so plenty of fun off road.

the other is a 99 td5 standard, i must say towing is not an everyday thing, sometimes once or twice a week, sometimes once a month or less.

nearly there guys :)

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Check the Td5s for rust!

This does seem to be a feature of some Td5's. Mine seems to be very good (having poked an endoscope into the bulkhead etc) with barely a spot of rust - but other peoples of similar age & cosmetic condition seem to be terrible! However, this has been true with Defenders from the start! My 1990 V8 90 had a perfect Bulkhead in 2005, where my 1993 200Tdi by 2005 was in need of attention.

At least now, most of the vehicles are old enough that you can see if it's going to be a problem. You can buy Chinese Endoscope cameras for very little these days. It's worth buying / borrowing one to have a look at the inside of the bulkhead before you buy. You can easily see if it's been patched & the bulkhead is made of filler!

I had a look at a customers 90 which outwardly was perfect - it had been re-sprayed and looked better than factory. He'd also paid almost as much as a new one for a 1997 vehicle! The scope showed that the top corners / windscreen hinge area of the bulkhead were entirely made of filler and the rest of the A post looked like a tea-bag! To the extent that I considered it dangerous to be on the road!

Interestingly, the filler was magnetic! You couldn't tell it was filler by testing with a magnet! Later someone told me that you can buy Atomised Iron Powder - and if you mix it with the filler, hay presto you have magnetic, covert filler!

The guy looked as if I'd just shot his dog! No prizes for guessing which 'reputable' car dealer near Horsham it came from!

Si

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how do you feel about the td5 offroad one with a 200tdi engine?

seems a bit of a downgrade really or are they a bit stronger

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330956411209?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321162014018?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

these are the 2 im looking at

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Personally, I think the 2nd is the better bet. Unless you've got a lot of time on your hands - buying someone else's 'project' isn't the best option - particularly when it's not finished. The bit about the fuel & temp dials not being wired up because they didn't have time, smells a bit! It may be totally true, but it may instead be because they had problems such as that they mis-read or don't work at all.

The 2nd one may not be a "MONSTER TRUCK" - but I suspect it will give you less problems in the long run!

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If you're new to it, or even if you're not, don't buy something that's been mucked about with. Even if it's done nicely (they never are) you'll still be up the creek when you need a spare part or when you try to get someone to fix it / service it etc.

Oh and you'll never get agreement on any forum about which engine or gearbox or car is best for anything - just buy the one you like the best.

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Rule #1 when towing uphill: at the bottom of the hill select the gear you expect to be in when you reach the top.

or learn to double clutch :) it sounds cooler aswell as pretty much no loss of momentum and no chance of missing the gear

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Have pulled a Range Rover P38 on a Trailer from Oxford to Glasgow in my TD5 manual and did not have a problem. Nice car and pulled really well. Put on cruise most of the time. Sat at 55 occasionally went to 60 but was not in a rush.

As for the torpedo tanks under the car. I had some on a classic range rover and went off roading. Dropped the tank directly on a big rock while off roading and had no problems at all. If you think that the tanks are built to withstand huge amounts of gas pressure.

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