4 Wheel Drive & Caravan Electrics

from one "service industry" to another!

Before becoming a vicar I spent 30 years in the motor industry...

Can I deduce from your avatar that you are more 'happy clappy' than 'bells and smells'? 

Before becoming a vicar I spent 30 years in the motor industry...

Can I deduce from your avatar that you are more 'happy clappy' than 'bells and smells'? 

Write your comments here...from my what?

somewhere in the middle I'd say. I keep meaning to ask cyberyacht, your face is familiar, did you go to Portchester School?

See my post on the previous page, Geoff. I guess there will always be disagreements even between those who know what they're talking about. Above all, I believe you should follow the manufacturer's instructions, especially if the vehicle is within its warranty period. If Mitsi place a sticker in the car saying to use 4wd when towing, then it surely makes sense to do so.

See my post on the previous page, Geoff. I guess there will always be disagreements even between those who know what they're talking about. Above all, I believe you should follow the manufacturer's instructions, especially if the vehicle is within its warranty period. If Mitsi place a sticker in the car saying to use 4wd when towing, then it surely makes sense to do so.

Write your comments here...

Fair point - I suppose it makes sense that when only one axle is pulling a van, it doesn't need the extra weight of all that 4x4 engineering to drag along with it. I'd probably do the same as you, follow the manual. (Trouble is not many ever bother to read them in the first place!)  My real beef as I've said before, is that in our case we only tow about 6 times a year, we use Club Sites which usually have tarmac drives and hard standings, we have a mover on the van, so do we need a 4x4 with all that extra engineering?  The trouble is they make vans so heavy these days a lot of us have to buy 4x4s simply to get the weight ratio right. Save the planet? Hmm

If you lived on the hill that we do, Geoff, you'd want a 4wd car regardless of towing a caravan! We still have one now even though we no longer tow. 

If you lived on the hill that we do, Geoff, you'd want a 4wd car regardless of towing a caravan! We still have one now even though we no longer tow. 

Write your comments here...

Can I deduce from your avatar that you are more 'happy clappy' than 'bells and smells'? 

Write your comments here...from my what?

somewhere in the middle I'd say. I keep meaning to ask cyberyacht, your face is familiar, did you go to Portchester School?

Good sound Calvinist eh?    Not me guv. Wrong side of the tracks - Paulsgrove although I live in Portchester now. 

We have a 2011 mitsubishi outlander and it says to tow in 4wd in all conditions.....Guess it's optional but we have the model where the selector is a dial with 2wd, 4wd and lock as options. So 4wd is not locking the centre diff on my car and not causing wind up. If I selected lock.....it would. Not sure how this relates to shogun mind.

I would have more than a few worries if I was driving about in a vehicle that I thought was going to tear its chassis apart because it was towing using one drive axle instead of two.

Perhaps with all the electronics now actually controling a vehicle now-a-days it is something other than the drive configuration that is changed when 4WD is selected? Fuel pressure, turbo boot points and pressure, throttle response spring to mind.

My Discovery 1 would drift magnificently in in its permanent four wheel drive, much to the consternation of drivers of hot hatches who could not keep up. It would also do spin turns in snow and ice.  Sadly, the electronics in the Discovery 4 block such fun.