Max carrying load of 2.5 estate?

[endorfin]

I need to do a 160 mile round trip (80 miles laden) in my 2.5 TD estate and a small trailer to collect between 740 and 900 litres of waste vegetable oil. The trailer will be able to take 240 litres with another 500 - 700 going in the estate. 1 litre of oil weights approx 0.92kg so there would be a max of 644kg in the estate plus 300kg in the trailer (including trailer weight)

Will the car be able to take it? I've carried 500 litres on 3 occasions before with no problems or any noticeable performance drop.

[marc61]

Not sure this answers your question, but the rear suspension cylinders on a D Safari were tested at 3 tonnes each, so even allowing for some cost engineering since the 1950s I'd think the XM rear suspension is man enough for the task. The problem area may be the wheel bearings. In the 1980s I overloaded a D Safari with over a tonne of free offcuts from a sawmill that was closing down, packed it to the roof brim full with some long lengths strapped to the roof rack. Got home ok about 6 miles, drove slow, had to brake early, but I knackered the rear wheel bearings and had to change them the following weekend as noise was too much. Not a bad deal seeing I got through the winter that year with free heating fuel

The rear wheel bearings on a DS are not very meaty, unlike the front ones which will probably last a century before they fail, but I'm not sure whether the XM rear ones are bigger? The front ones can probably handle it.

I'd give it a go, travel on a wet cold day and take a couple of long breaks on the way back to let things cool down. it will make the rear brakes work better too!

Marc

[robertmnorton]

Hi endorfin, this should be in the handbook but the tech spec shows max payload 550kg, surpisingly, 30kg less than the 2.1, but probably due to the 90kg weight penalty. The max unbraked trailer is given as 630kg.
robertm
edited: i've just compared the tech spec with the handbook and there are differences. The handbook gives max rear axle weight 1150kg, max payload 600kg

[endorfin]

Well I ended getting 300 litres in the trailer and 600 litres in the boot of the car, 900 litres in total. There was no noticeable performance loss and it didn't make the car overheat at all.