AnswerID: 279555 Submitted: Thursday, Jan 03, 2008 at 14:50
Member - Kingsley N (SA)
replied:
Stevo,
I tow a campervan (see below) that probably gets to about 1500kg loaded (empty1200kg) with no problem at all behind my 3.0 auto.
You will need trailer brakes of course and I believe over ride hydraulics are preferred for camper trailers. I have electric brakes on the van.
Going up hill you do slow down but never to the detriment of most traffic. I use the PWR setting next to the selector when driving through traffic to give a quicker acceleration. I also lock it out of OD when the terrain is hilly to avoid unnecessary up and down shifts.
We can easily sit on 110+ on flat terrain, overtaking road trains etc with no problem.
Diesel consumption increases with speed and load of course. Expect about 15L per 100KM at around 95-100 with a full load. The highest consumption I recorded when towing at high speed on a windy day was around 17L.
The cruise control works OK when towing on the flat, but it drops out when you come to a hill, so I have learned to anticipate this and I press down on the accelerator to clear the hill, then ease off to the cruise setting at the top.
You will see 3.0 L nissans towing quite large vans and I am sure someone on the
forum will fill you in on the heavy weights too.
Kingo
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FollowupID: 543744 Submitted:
Thursday, Jan 03, 2008 at 16:15
Kazza055 posted:
Have to completely agree with Kingo.
We towed a 23' full van that weighed in at 2600kg plus we were probable another 200kg over on the vehicle load. With the weight you are proposing to tow, try OD but watch for the revs changing as this will indicate that the torque converter is slipping and slipping torque converters will generate unwanted heat.
We did about 18,000km touring back in 2006 and only used the three gears. I also tend to drive it like a manual and change down before the gearbox does and don't push the pedal to the floor. I had some hills like Moonbi 1 and Moonbi 2 on the New England Highway were I was down to 1st gear and 25kph coming over the top (luckily there was an overtaking lane but had nobody pass me).
It is a pity that Nissan haven't got a better auto but then I believe the towing capacity for the same vehicle is much higher in NZ.
Bob
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FollowupID: 544074 Submitted:
Saturday, Jan 05, 2008 at 09:39
Member - Graham H (QLD) posted:
The legal towable weight for a 3 litre Patrol is 2500kg
The reason is that the drivetrain is lighter than the one in the 4.2.
I had one and my van was 2600kg so had to sell it and by a curiser to stay legal.
Despite what salesmen will tell you "just dont fill the water tanks"
If the compliance plate GVMm is over 2500kg its illegal to tow it with that vehicle
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