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tow vehicle

Submitted: Monday, Oct 01, 2007 at 08:22

Member - Felicity K (NSW)

hi all,
we are looking for a 4wd to tow our 24' olympic van around oz.At this stage we are looking at a turbo diesel cruiser or v8 cruiser or turbo patrol. I think the cruisers will do it easier but which one?We have 5 kids so need the seating.I was thinking of a dual cab isuzu for storage room but how do these go towing a 2.5t load? Any feedback appreciated.
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AnswerID: 264545   Submitted: Monday, Oct 01, 2007 at 09:39

Nav 8 replied:

For that size van you realy only have two choices as already stated. The Landcruiser or Patrol are about the only ones with the towing capacity to legally handle the job. The 2.5 ton you mentioned would be its unloaded weight as I have a 20ft that is 2.2 ton unloaded. Buy the time you fill water tanks gas bottles and all the other stuff we carry in a van including the load of the towing vehicle,this also affects towing capacity, you will be over 3 ton. My advice also is to go turbo diesel as the cost of towing a load like that with a petrol will break the bank. Nav.
Reply 1 of 7
FollowupID: 526342   Submitted: Monday, Oct 01, 2007 at 15:31

disco driver posted:

Hi Felicity,

There is another choice.
Ford F250 dual cab (diesel of course).
Will tow almost anything, acres(hectares) of room inside and not much different to the others in fuel useage.

Try talking to "Motherhen" on this site, they have upgraded to a F250 from a Nissan Patrol and should have useful info about the F250 as a tow vehicle.

Cheers

Disco
FollowUp 1 of 5
FollowupID: 526344   Submitted: Monday, Oct 01, 2007 at 15:45

Kev M posted:

The F250 doesn't seat 7 though :((

Kev
The Pyrenees
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FollowUp 2 of 5
FollowupID: 526355   Submitted: Monday, Oct 01, 2007 at 17:06

Motherhen posted:

Hi Felicity

By the time you have loaded up the van and tow vehicle for your family, plus the weight of passengers, you are likely to go over the gross weight for even a v8 cruiser, so check it out carefully. I don't know the towing/carrying weights or seating capacity of the light trucks such as Isuzu; we didn't go that way because the ride is rougher.

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FollowUp 3 of 5
FollowupID: 526362   Submitted: Monday, Oct 01, 2007 at 17:39

Motherhen posted:

I meant to continue -

Look for a second hand GMC Suburban. I think they are a wagon. We have met people towing larger caravans with them and they have been very happy with the result. I haven't seen them second hand, but one caravaner said they come up quite cheap on the market. Another had purchased an F250 and sold it soon after in favour of the Suburban.

Motherhen
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FollowUp 4 of 5
FollowupID: 526383   Submitted: Monday, Oct 01, 2007 at 19:48

Member - 7Keads (NSW) posted:

thanks for your input.I'd love something like an f250 wagon but they're hard to find.If we only had 3 boys it would be easy.What is the fuel usage like in those suburbans?The only one's i've seen are petrol.Management isn't giving the isuzu idea much airplay,but if they had enough power it would solve the storage issue.The other point is we may want to ditch the van and head offroad at some stage which brings us back to a 4wd.My head hurts.
FollowUp 5 of 5
AnswerID: 264581   Submitted: Monday, Oct 01, 2007 at 16:12

BIGDOG24308 replied:

Hi Felicity,
The easiest thing to do is ...........
1) sell the kids for scientific experiments
2) buy a new 70 series (diesel turbo v8)
3) GO FOR IT

Hope this helps

Cheers...........BIGDOG
Reply 2 of 7
AnswerID: 264596   Submitted: Monday, Oct 01, 2007 at 19:14

Jimbo Vic replied:

4.8L GU Patrol fitted with LPG.

There is nothing more economical to do the job you require. NOTHING.

Touring range will only be about 250 km per tank of gas but you'll be laughing all the way to the bank every time you fill it.

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Reply 3 of 7
AnswerID: 264602   Submitted: Monday, Oct 01, 2007 at 20:23

Member - Timothy N (NSW) replied:

G'day Flick, Danny and family. Nivo here. Fancy seeing you guys on here. I spoke to Danny a bit the other weekend about this. My thoughts are:
Dual cab Isuzu: I don't know much about these, but could be a goer.
You definitely need a vehicle with a 3500kg towing capacity and seven seats which really only leaves 4.2 diesel and 4.8 petrol Patrol, 100 series Landcruiser V8 or td or the new landcruiser 200 series out in the next few weeks.
The problem with these vehicles will be exceeding their payloads which are only 600-700kg approx (and you have to take van towball weight off this). Payload may not be a problem however because 2 adults and five smallish kids will take up all the room anyway!! There will only be room for a couple of small bags and maybe some stuff on a roof rack. Smart packing of the van might mean this is OK.
Reply 4 of 7
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AnswerID: 264603   Submitted: Monday, Oct 01, 2007 at 20:23

Member - Timothy N (NSW) replied:

G'day Flick, Danny and family. Nivo here. Fancy seeing you guys on here. I spoke to Danny a bit the other weekend about this. My thoughts are:
Dual cab Isuzu: I don't know much about these, but could be a goer.
You definitely need a vehicle with a 3500kg towing capacity and seven seats which really only leaves 4.2 diesel and 4.8 petrol Patrol, 100 series Landcruiser V8 or td or the new landcruiser 200 series out in the next few weeks.
The problem with these vehicles will be exceeding their payloads which are only 600-700kg approx (and you have to take van towball weight off this). Payload may not be a problem however because 2 adults and five smallish kids will take up all the room anyway!! There will only be room for a couple of small bags and maybe some stuff on a roof rack. Smart packing of the van might mean this is OK.
Reply 5 of 7
AnswerID: 264604   Submitted: Monday, Oct 01, 2007 at 20:34

Kev M replied:

What about one of

These

May have to add another seat but they should go most places

Kev
The Pyrenees
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I am NOW living in Chinchilla, the Australian Melon Capital ;)
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Reply 6 of 7
AnswerID: 264607   Submitted: Monday, Oct 01, 2007 at 20:39

Member - Timothy N (NSW) replied:

oops. double post and no room!!
My feeling on the vehicle choice would be to go diesel. Petrols will send you broke towing unless on gas, and gas systems are not renowned for their reliability. I'd be a bit iffy about a chev for the same reason as they're getting on a bit now. An f250 would be perfect if you can ditch a couple of kids!!!
I also reckon automatics are the ducks guts for towing big loads as they are a lot easier to get off the mark, so that probably leaves you with the toyota tds.
If Dannys going to sell lots of wheat at $400+ I'd be waiting a few weeks and having a really good look at the new 200 series with V8 turbo diesel. Probably looking at $85,000-$90,000 on road. If you've already put the sheep, cattle and balers in, a recent 2nd hand 100 series td auto probably $60,000-$75,000.
Give me a call anytime. Love. Nivo.
Reply 7 of 7