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We tow with a Land Rover Disco and seem to have a problem on the motorway. When in lane 1 and travelling on a section where the HGV tyre ruts are present the car will drift sharply and rather dangerously into lane 2 or onto the hard shoulder.

Now is this a 4X4 problem or do saloons/hatchbacks have the same instability?

My weight % is around 70%, I load well and although I wouldn't class my self as an experienced tower I do have 3000 miles towing experience over the last 2 years. and I have regularly done 100,000 miles per year with my job. I keep between 55 - 60 MPH when towing and other than the rut problem have no other instability problems & therefore do not use a stabiliser. 

We have had a Shogun and a Mondeo before the Disco and I dont remember it being such a huge problem with them. However we were towing a much lighter van with the 2 previous cars. Also I dont think it has anything to do with the caravan as we were on the M6 this afternoon without the caravan and the ruts still caused a drift or two.

I guess I am looking for tips on what to do to avoid the drifting, is there a way to drive in the ruts correctly, is it a 4X4/discovery thing and I just have to live with it (scary as it is) and do other cars suffer the same issues? Would a stabiliser help or just mask the problem?

Thanks.

Im an HGV driver aswell as a caravaner, this rut problem is a pain and there is nothing that be done to avoid it really. This is a problem for me in the wagon now and then but the wagon wheels fit nicely in these ruts so not a big problem, for you in your disco the problem is your wheel base is to narrow to miss the ruts, just wide enough to keep falling into them but also not wide enough to sit in them nicely.

You need to try and keep one side of your outfit in one of the ruts, but when your disco wheels are in your van tyres are just on the edge of it so still a problem. Or try to stagger them.

Sorry I know this dont help you much but on the other hand you are doing nothing wrong eithier.

Marc

We get the same problem and thought we'd got the camper loaded wrong for a while. We have a Toyota Previa so maybe it's a length thing. I have wondered about writing to the big 2 camping clubs to see if it was just me! We now have a stabilizer but the best way to drive is with one set (left or right) of wheels in the rut and the the other on the side of the other rut. You do go along on the slope slightly but you don't get the drift. Are junctions a bit like railway points for you as well?

I had a BMW 320D coupe. It had very low profile and wide tyres (almost rubber bands). It used to suffer really bad with tram lines and speaking to the dealer it was a common problem with wide tyres. I drive exactly the same route but this time in a 2008 CRV with no problems. I think you are just unlucky with the width of  your track and width of your tyres in that they follow the tram lines

Quote: Originally posted by arc systems on 31/5/2009

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I was talking to a guy who mostly towed heavy cars on a trailer for a living, he used a Disco with no problems at all.

The reason was he had standard steel wheels which narrowed the track, alloy wheels being slightly wider caused the problem he said

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Quote: Originally posted by craig+sam on 31/5/2009

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Susie69 - Do you use a stabiliser at all?

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We used to find them a nightmare with the terrano, only have noticed it a few times with the bus we have now.

We have come across this on the M5 with our freelander (even when not towing!) but ours does have alloys and wider tyres.  In some places on the M5 the ruts in the road are quite deep and I think any car could be affected. 

NB we also use an Alko stabiliser and keep well within the speed limits.