Towing with a xantia 1.9td

miggy24 · Post by **miggy24** » 26 Jan 2010, 15:47

Does anyone know if the 1.9td are any good for towing a 8x4 trailer and a caravan as i will be using the caravan soon,Are they good for towing up hills etc

lurchy666 · Post by **lurchy666** » 26 Jan 2010, 16:16

best advice i'd give you is as follows

make sure your accumulator and lhm pump and your lhm fluid is ok before towing anything because the pump/accumulator have to work harder with a caravan on the back (ie more presure in the rear suspension and brakes) also a clean of the lhm filters might help,

my 1.9 was a lovely car to drive on its own and with a box trailer, but put a caravan behind it and mine decided to make the clutch slip in the higher gears (third , forth and fifth) and the brakes were next to useless or they was putting you through the windowscreen , but as i have been told on here the xantia is a great tow car easily should pull another xantia behind one on a trailer, so it could just have been mine playing up and every car is different,

best advice is just take the caravan out for a 20-30 mile run on your own and see how it reacts to having it on the back, by 20-30 mile i mean country roads, a roads, a motorway (if you got one near) and some hills, just so you know what it is like,

also dont go over your weight limits , i'm not sure what weight can be towed by a 1.9 maybe someone will come along and tell you, if you've got the xantia handbooks it should tell you in there also it should tell you on the vin plate

Old-Guy · Post by **Old-Guy** » 26 Jan 2010, 18:02

I would say that a properly maintained Xantia 1.9TD is an ideal towcar within its weight limits (see handbook).

Xantia 1.9td VSx Caravan Club's 1994 Towcar of the Year

I moved several tonnes of builders rubble (20 sq m of wall) to the tip last summer in my 5' x 3'6" ½T box trailer behind our 1.9TD. Outbound is up an 18% gradient up onto the Cotswolds. Never any problems, though a full trailer (a good ½T) did take the 'edge'

off the performance. Never had any worries about the brakes either.

All 6 spheres and LHM replaced September 2008. New front discs and pads April 2009.

mark21td · Post by **mark21td** » 26 Jan 2010, 19:42

When you have a look in the hand book make sure you get the right body type (saloon/estate) and engine/gearbox as the weights are differant.

handyman · Post by **handyman** » 26 Jan 2010, 20:30

And you cannot tow a trailer with another Xantia on it, as you are way over your weight limits.

Handyman

lurchy666 · Post by **lurchy666** » 26 Jan 2010, 20:49

handyman wrote:And you cannot tow a trailer with another Xantia on it, as you are way over your weight limits.

Handyman

i know that but i've seen the pics on here of xantias with xantias on trailers there are a few pics on the xantias in snow thread,

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 26 Jan 2010, 21:55

handyman wrote:And you cannot tow a trailer with another Xantia on it, as you are way over your weight limits.

Handyman

You CAN but shouldn't - IF you behave plod SHOULD leave you alone! IM NOT saying they WILL, but they have with me!

I have towed an XM V6 with an XM V6 on a trailer, twice, and passed a few plods with NO PROBLEMS because I was behaving!

Unless your being REALLY stupid or the weight looks stupidly over, normall they will leave you alone as they have more important things to worry about.

Paul

handyman · Post by **handyman** » 26 Jan 2010, 22:11

Hi Paul, I wasn't thinking so much about the rozzers, as they only get officious and narky in the big towns, not in the sticks like round here or where you are, or that your car insurance would be void.

More like a case of the tail wagging the dog, if you get my drift.

I don't mind if others wish to drive irresponsibly, I just do not want to be anywhere near them when they lose control.

Handyman

XMX · Post by **XMX** » 26 Jan 2010, 23:09

Hi Paul,

citroenxm wrote: Unless your being REALLY stupid or the weight looks stupidly over, normally they will leave you alone as they have more important things to worry about.

Paul

How about Towing a Helicopter

on a trailer with a BX Estate

Picture (Courtesy Mr P. Chidlow) as posted recently on the BXC site .

XMX

Post by **Peter.N.** » 26 Jan 2010, 23:55

In snow as well.

fifth_cit · Post by **fifth_cit** » 27 Jan 2010, 09:11

My first Citroen was a 1.9 TD LX and it was an excellent tow car. I towed a Bailey Imperial on holiday to France and went over the bridge at St Nazaire with no problems at all albeit in second gear going up and third going down. Just watch your weights and it will be fine.

xmexclusive · Post by **xmexclusive** » 27 Jan 2010, 09:42

On overweight towing the risk of being picked up is currently low but that is changing quite quickly.
To deal with the general problem of overweight lorries a research project to load weigh each axle of passing traffic using sensors embedded in the road got ANPR added to its side on photo of the offending vehicle. It proved so successful that it became a permanent check site. It must have been over a year ago I saw the technical report that said they had just put a further 10 sites into use with plans for further expansion.

John

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 27 Jan 2010, 10:07

Thats fair enough John, but how would sensors know if the car pulling is a car or a 4x4.. ? I guess weight of the first two axles might tell them..

Paul

It'd detect a Xantia followed very closely by a heavier Xantia (Xantia + trailer), assuming the numberplates are still on the trailered car.
Vehicle type and towing limits would be found via looking up the number plate.

I would imagine it works by matching a number plate with a lorry, finding how many axles it has, then recording that number of weight measurements over the road sensor.
If the number plate is not for a lorry, then it just does the usual ANPR stuff.

So assuming it's interested in cars, the first Xantia goes over, gets detected as a Xantia with 2 axles, weighed, checked for MoT/Tax/Insurance, and ignored if all is well. The towed Xantia goes over, may be detected if number plate is visible, ANPR'd (that could be the interesting bit!), and weighed (which could confuse it if your trailer has more than 2 axles).
If ANPR fails as you're towing it because it has no MoT/tax/insurance, the photo will show it was being towed, so you can argue the case.
If it's over weight due to the trailer, it's being towed so you can argue the case.
The photographic evidence will concentrate on the front of the towed car.
The towing car will not have it's details recorded (unless it failed ANPR and even then it'd be some work to match the times up) as that was one of the conditions of ANPR, not to track the movement of vehicles by recording their number plate, unless something is illegal about the vehicle.

Post by **CitroJim** » 27 Jan 2010, 10:10

xmexclusive wrote:I saw the technical report that said they had just put a further 10 sites into use with plans for further expansion.

Is there no end to this? They'll soon have enforcement cameras to nab you for smiling in a car

Shame they do not spend the money on repairing all the potholes. I wonder how much one Gatso is worth in pothole repairs? A great many I suspect...

Back on-topic, I used a 1.9TD Xantia for years to tow our 14 foot caravan and it was supreme. Best towcar I've ever had and I've had a few. Apart from the lack of urge, it was so good you were barely aware the 'vcan was on the back and being able to raise and lower the suspension makes hitching up, especially if on a sloping site, an absolute breeze...

KP · Post by KP » 27 Jan 2010, 10:20

If you put a hydro citroen on a trailer and tow it the best thing to do, if it is possible, is set it to its lowest hieght. Makes the car more stable and less likely to move up and down on its suspension over undulations