Joseph Baz replied:

Darryl,I drive a prado auto also i tow a 800kg trailer i run mine in o/drive whit no problems at all,the road to broome is relativly flat it may be a bit windy around enneaba unless u go inland wichever way top gear is not a problem,u just have to mantain a feel for the engine and dont let it struggle,Happy MOTORING and enjoy the trip
cheers,joe

Peter Bailey replied:

Darryl, I also have a Rodeo T/D to which I have fitted an intercooler. I tow a 16 foot offroad pop-top caravan, a Windsor Escape, about 1800kgs fully loaded, plus another 300-500kgs in the back. I also have fitted a cruise control which drops out when the speed drops about 10klm below the set speed. When travelling on long straight reasonably flat sections of road I put it into 5th gear, if the cruise control drops out I immediately put it back to 4th. gear and lower if needed. I have travelled over most of Australia this way at about 85-90klms with no problems. Having said that, I find with towing and carrying that much weight, I get no better fuel consumption in 5th. gear than 4th.(around 16l/100klm). If you need more info, please e-mail me.
Regards,
Peter.

Greg Jones replied:

Ive lost count of the tales of woe from people who have towed loads greater than a ton in overdrive with manuals and autos. Turbodiesels are usually the worst offenders due to the peak torque being developed at 1700 - 2000 rpm. The driver thinks the whole rig is doing it easily because things quiet down nicely in OD and how would he know if hes overfuelling anyway.
Try to remember that OD is costing 5-10% in efficiency and this has to be paid for in fuel and converted to heat. The heat goes into your gearbox oil and eventually stuffs the gearbox.
The 20% drop in rpm is not enough to compensate for the extra energy required to run OD at near full load and that is why people are surprised that you often burn the same fuel or more when running in OD than direct.
I wouldnt run my wagon in 5th unless the tailwind was pretty strong. Isuzus dont seem any worse than other 4X4s but I know of a newish TD Jackaroo that crapped its gearbox recently - yes, using 5th to tow.
Cheers Greg.

tim replied:

Greg
In July 2000 our family of four done the 18 night return trip fom melbourne to cape york in our Pajer t/d Exceed
towing an off road trailer weighing approx. 1000Kgs and found that 5th gear was appropiate for most of the flatter areas
even using cruise control, i suggest that you look at your tacho and listen to your engine and your 4wd will tell you if all is ok!