How much will a 1970 SWB landrover tow?

ProDave

ProDave

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I've come across a 1970 SWB landrover for sale. 2.25L petrol, completely re built on a new galvanised chassis, at a price I believe to be a bargain.

Having always fancied one such rebuilt Landy with a galvanised chassis I'm sort of tempted with the zero road tax, cheap insurance, and basic mechanics that anyone can work on, and lack of electronic gizmo's to go wrong.

But before I take the plunge, how much will it tow? I know it won't tow anything fast (it won't go fast even without a trailer) but how much can it legally tow?
 
According to the manuals that I have for a 1980 Series II (88" and 109" wheelbase) the weights are as follows:

Max. Permissible Towing Weights On-road Off -road
kg lb kg lb
Trailers without brakes 500 1100 500 1100
Trailers with over-run brakes 2000 4400 1000 2200
4-wheel trailers with continuous 3500 7700 1000 2200
or semi-continuous brakes, i.e.
coupled brakes

NOTE: The weights above do not authorise outside the legislation enforced by the territory in which the vehicle and trailer combination are being operated.


The column layouts have been lost when I submitted this but you should be able to work them out. They are on and off road with weights in lg and lbs for each.
 
Thanks.

Code: 
Max. Permissible Towing Weights    On-road     Off -road
                                    kg    lb    kg     lb
Trailers without brakes             500   1100   500  1100
Trailers with over-run brakes       2000  4400  1000  2200
4-wheel trailers with continuous    3500  7700  1000  2200
or semi-continuous brakes, i.e.
coupled brakes

That's neater.

I can't imagine if you hooked a 3.5 ton trailer on that it would ever get out of second gear!!!
 
I dont know about the legal aspect, I owned a series 2a petrol landy 1968 vintage. It towed a trident 24 around 30, miles no probs pulling, a little effort was required to stop it!
 
Thanks.

I've previously owned (a long time ago) a 1960's series 2A LWB ex military. I know it was a slow, uncomfortable and noisy thing, but I never towed with it.

So I'm interested to hear how hanging 1.5 tonnes of boat and trailer on the back really slows it down, or not.

I'm tempted by this one, but i'm hesitating as this one is a truck cab, and to be of any use to me it needs a full length hard top, and full length roof rack, so the cost of those may make it not so much of a bargain.

Yes I remember the brakes on my 2A, emergency stop meant standing up and pulling on the steering wheel. Even worse trying to stop going backwards down hill.
 
I have a Disco 1 (300tdi) and it towed a 2.5 ton truck as if it did not exist. I have also towed a a 2 ton trailor with it with very little problems (apart from I had miss loaded the trailer so was getting a nice sailing motion)
 
I've also got a Disco 1 which will tow anything - the official limit is, I think, 3.5 tonnes. I previously had a Series 3 SWB diesel Landy which was great fun to drive, but, noisy, very heavy steering and very, very slow (0-60 in 6 months downhill with a following wind) :D For practical everyday use, the Disco is perfect. It's comfortable, fast enough and will go anywhere the series would. You pays your money and takes your choice.
N
 
I have 2.25 swb series 3 petrol that comfortably will pull about 2 ton, I would not wish to ruin the car by trying to pull anyhting over two ton. Let alone trying to stop the rig.
 
ProDave said:
I'm tempted by this one, but i'm hesitating as this one is a truck cab, and to be of any use to me it needs a full length hard top, and full length roof rack, so the cost of those may make it not so much of a bargain.
Click to expand...

If the landie is that much of a bargain, might be worth sourcing a hardtop, sides and roofrack. i did just that, its a couple of hours work to change it around is all.
Makes it far more practical.
 
I had a 1973 Series 3 as a toy for a while, they only developed about 60bhp in standard trim. Even after a lot of tinkering i still only got 90bhp and I really couldnt imagine towing anything of decent size with it.

Knowing Landies I would guess your biggest issue would be cooling especially on long slow hills, budget for an aftermarket electric fan kit to be safe.
 
markju said:
If the landie is that much of a bargain, might be worth sourcing a hardtop, sides and roofrack. i did just that, its a couple of hours work to change it around is all.
Makes it far more practical.
Click to expand...

Interesting range of answers coming.

Yes if I buy it, I would need to source and fit a hard top, and the cost of that can be partly offset by selling the surplus truck cab.

Can I turn this around and ask what you would expect to pay for this vehicle, then I will know if it's really a bargain or not.

All I know about it so far is it's a 1970 civilian SWB series 3 landie with a 2.25L petrol engine. It was recently rebuilt on a new galvanised chassis. I'm not aware of any other restoration carried out at the same time, but a brief look underneath reveals everything to be clean and tidy. Obviously I would have a closer look before buying.

The engine is reported to have had a top end rebuild with hardened valve seats so it can cope with unleaded petrol.

No fancy extras so no overdrive and not even free wheeling hubs. I would fit an overdrive if I buy it, as I did to my last one. I don't rate FWH as anything other than a source of unreliability (having had them break on my last one)

The present owner, who bought it on a whim (he's not the one that renovated it) says there's difficulty engaging 3rd gear. Obviously I would want to drive it to see for myself, but it may just be a typical old landie gearbox, that will feel somewhat agricultural to someone only used to driving modern cars.

The price (that I will reveal later) seemed cheap to me. I'm working on my usual principle that the best time to buy a car is like this, when something comes along at the right price. The time NOT to be buying a car, is when you have to, and have to settle for whatever you can get at any price.

I know how gutless the old Landies are, that's why I'm interested to hear how much slower they are with a load on the hook. I have to confess my biggest worry would be the poor braking in reverse, when reversing boat and trailer down the slipway. Can anyone confirm what brakes were on a Series 3? I'm more familliar with the series 2, but I assume it's drum brakes all round. However I suspect I would solve that issue with a front mounted towball for slipway use.
 
Last edited:
Davy_S said:
I dont know about the legal aspect, I owned a series 2a petrol landy 1968 vintage. It towed a trident 24 around 30, miles no probs pulling, a little effort was required to stop it!
Click to expand...

Similar story
Hunter Delta on a twin axled trailer.
Pulled it fine to and from the Clyde to NW England.

30 mph along the M74 certainly beats 4knots upwind in the Irish Sea for 3 days
 
I know for a fact that a SWB land rover of about that vintage will tow a Nicholson 32 on a converted bomb trailer from Brighton to Shoreham along the sea front at 2 in the morning, but I suspect it wasn't entirely legal.:)
 
Hmmmmm you're more likely to find an honest politician than see 50 from a S3 with a trailer :confused: The overdrive will be invaluable in getting a (slightly) better top speed and economy. They are getting rarer and more expensive. Reversing down a slip is no problem - simply use low range. You will need to anticipate braking at road speeds as the brakes are pretty poor by modern standards.
N
 
I have a servo on the brakes.
I also have a towhitch offset on the front bumper which is very handy.
We probably did 35 - 40 but you need to drive conservatively - the 2a is not a modern vehicle!
 
Yes, the front bumper hitch is very useful for being able to get your trailer into tight spaces. It would be ideal for launching a boat. I had a brake servo, but the drum brakes are still very poor by any sort of modern standard. That's not a problem as long as you know and make allowances in your driving style.
N
 
My Series III 2.5 petrol would do 70 mph but was very noisy at this speed. The comfortable cruising speed was 40 mph. I cannot comment on performance with heavy trailers but fulyy laden with a small trailer was not a problem.

You say that the one you are considering has been rebuilt on a galvanised chassis. The other area to check is the main bulkhead below the corners of the windscreen.
 
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