am i doing the right thing

This appears to be a big problem with a lot of 4wds as the down load on the ball is far too light for most reasonable sized vans.
Ford explorer has the download if fitted with a Ford sway bar system and modified suspension. Explorer (is the largest selling piece of bleep on the road) and Ford doesn't want to know about any problems.
The Pajero may also not have the down load you require.
The only 4wd that may be suitable is Landcruiser 350kg down load with the heavy duty towbar. Nissan Patrol, Mecedes, BMW, Range Rover, but these may be out of your price range.
220 Kg sounds high for a van as generally approximately 10% of the vans weight is on the tow ball (except for front kitchen vans) therefore the total all up weight of your van would be approximately 2200 kg which is a big van.
The caravan magazines have been running articles on your problem for some time and in QLD the police are inforcing the regulations, let alone the insurance companies not paying claims.
Regards Ted

Dear Damien the gods have spoken and my disco series s mark 1 76000 on the clock and completely spotless throughout including bull bar and h&r hitch - full service history with stewart webster of frankston has a trade in value with them from whom i purchased new in june 1999 of between $18000 and $21000. against my purchase price of $46000. plus $1200 for the bull bar . and that is as a trade in on a td5.from them. not a cash sale.
nisson offered $21000 and pajero $26000 who said some cars maintain a good trade in value. personally i feel ripped off but who am i to say.
i must change because the car i have will not do the job legally - it does a fantastic job for me but some vulture somewhere is aware of this delima ( ball weight only 120k) and is taking every advantage of the situation and may be one day i may have the same pleasure. meanwhile i dont want to make another blunder an believe some persons but rely on other people who are users of product not sellers of dreams regards peter

I would expect the TD5 to be more durable with the full chassis, and the self leveling air suspension should be suitable with or without the van on, preventing the squat bleep attitude which blinds oncoming traffic.

Good God Peter the performance will be much better than the disco!!! Far superior in economy, reliability, power etc etc but then again it doesn't matter which vehicle you change to - anything would be an improvement!!!

thanks very much everybody. feel much happier . silly me thought that i bought a disco for life and was assured that i could expect 10 years of my running ie 20000 k per year. i love my car -but then i am stupid and this by pass i have just had has not improved me. let me tell you a brief resume of my disco experiance.
day one - the headlights fell out - just plastic clips - easily fixed
day four - the exhaust collapsed internally - easily replaced
month two - water in the enjine - just a faulty gasget
month six - new stepper motor.
year two - oil leak - three days off road and needed to hire car

after three days - oil leak - faulty plug seal

after six months - still leaking and will have repaired with next service

then one at a time spark plug leads neaded replacement - up to four - four to go.

l.r sydney asked by my dealer about the leak and my answer from them was it only a little leak - if you want it fixed then it will cost you to have the gear box removed - quite an expensive job "

after some time they have agreed to fix the leak.

at purchase i was assured of A! treatment particularly if i purchased my next vehicle from them - this time i was just a buyer - next time i was part of the family - even though they have serviced the car from new they insist that i get an appraisal the same as a stranger but i am assured by their sales manager that i will get a good deal after all my model - s auto -1999 v8 - is worth between 18 to 20 thousand dollars
and after all i only paid $46000 not including the bull bar.

this dealer had all of my support - i had every service with them except one in Cairns - i had my insurance through them and bought spares to carry in the vehicle - including oil and coolant from them.

because the vehicle had so many problems from new i did write to land rover australia and asked that i be able to change over my car from a v8 to the new td5 for a reasonable figure having only had my car for six months and they responded saying that they were very sorry that my disco was not meeting my expectations.

well it goodby disco now have purchased the pajero exceed and i got $26000 from that dealer without even seeing my car.

believe that i have been through the mill and must say that in my travells i did meet two - only two dealers that i would send my grand children to to buy a car.

KEITH at peter lees mornington
JOHN BIASTIO at nissan frankston

yes i bought the pajero but that is because the press , you people and many others advised me . what i mean is that i felt i could speak honestly with each of those men and what theysaid they ment - not this stuff fiddling about and jiggling up and down like horse traders.

thanks every one for your help regards peter

I know Disco bashing is a popular pastime around here, but does anyone have any info on their quality since Ford took over and built the new assembly plant (in 2001 I think)? I'm not interested in past history or prejudice, just facts. I'll be buying a new 4WD next year and, despite the reputation of the older models, the Disco is still on the short list.

To StephenF - i am not disco bashing - mine was built by bmw - it has cost me a lot of money - for those interested in the truth i have stated it no doubt many people will have had pleasure from their disco just as i did - the fact is that loyalty to customer is non existant - i have had many new cars in my life and i must say no other dealer, except land rover to date, gave my wife a bunch of flowers the day we picked up the car. after that it was business straight down the line and you may find out for your self - expensive business at that. nothing more to add i trust that my dealings with mitsubishi will be more conducive to further trade - regards peter i will let you know honestly and do not believe the truth of my experiances with land rover to be disco bashing.

It is interesting that this discussion has returned to Fords involvement with Land Rover. From my previous response I will list the problems I had with my Explorer and Ford. Purchased from a friend, a 1997 Explorer LTD 50,000 klms in 2001 serviced on the dot of the service schedule.
After 50,000 service by Ford I checked disks down to steel
Recalled twice for tyre changes. The door pillers was filled with recall stickers. Front stabilisher rod replaced amonst other problems.
At 7000 k head gaskets replaced, 60000 warning light on dash checked by Ford dealer in SA who reset it and said it was a common problem 65000 k thermostat replaced $240 for a part you can buy at K mart for $15 plus labour, 70000k timing chain replaced (recall in US Ford stated OZ motors not the same so not on warranty and the car was too old at nearly 5 years and 70000 k ) $2400, 80000k warning light back on and hard cold starting, gasket replaced $460, also climate control not working $1260 to replace $30 part 2002, 80100 k traded in on a Toyota loss of $7000 in 12 months plus just on $5000 in repairs.A site worth looking at for problems with any cars is http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ put in the make, year and model and any service information, recalls etc is available. I have been told that Pajero in Spanish means "wanka" but best of luck. Regards Ted G