2002 Toyota hilux d/cab turbo diesel

When I had my TD D cab Hilux I pulled a Trakshak which when loaded weighed over one tonne. It pulled this effortlessly. You didn't even know you had it on the back. Now I pull it with a TD prado and it does't pull it quite as well. You have to use the gears more and drive a bit harder.The Hilux is a very good vehicle, reliable, tough ( why can't you spell it " tuff " ) and a lot of room in the back to carry things. When you put a trailer on the back it doesn't sag like the Prado.
The tyres that were on it when I bought it were hopeless up north. The gibber country played havoc on them. I putt BFG on and then never had a flat again.
I found out the the speedo was about 6km out ( using a GPS ) but when I put the bigger BFG's on the speedeo was nearly exact. I think from memory the BFG's were 30 - 10 - 16 or was it 31-10-16 I will have to check up on that.

Dave

I can not help you with a Turbo Diesel Hilux but i have a 98 3 litre n/a Diesel Hilux that i tow a 16 foot Jayco pop top with

The Hilux's have a towing capacity of 1800kg with 180kg on the ball & i think you will find that a single axle van of around 16 foot external will be all that you can legally tow

Our jayco is plated at 1260kg tare + around 300kg in personal gear & supplies so weighs around 1600 to 1700 kg loaded

If you go any longer than 16 foot it will normally be a tandem & the additional weight of axle,suspension & wheels will normally go over the 1800kg allowed

As far as towing the turbo should not be underpowered (mine is) as the engine is the same (but without the intercooler) as fitted to the prado & they are ably to tow vans of around 2200 to 2400 kg without to much drama

One problem is the hilux is fairly narrow compared to most vans & you need to fit fairly wide towing mirrors to see past the van

The stability of the hilux is good with the van in tow (i use a 2500 kg Hayman Reese Weight Distributing Hitch)

The only thing you need to be aware of is that most vans have a low drawbar height (on road vans made for towing by sedans,ect) & the hilux towbar is fairly high so you may need to get a drop down tongue to make the heights the same

Hilux's are reliable & not a bad all round vehicle & don't have any major problems

The Navara Diesel can legally tow 3000 kg so if you are looking at a van larger than 16 foot long this may be something to look at although my choice would be the hilux if towing capacity was not a issue

I hope this information helps you

Regards Don

have a 2003 td hilux towing a 1250 kg van unladen ,needs a bit more grunt to sit on 100 kliks ,standard tyres ,fuel econ omy about 16 to 19 ks per hundred ,not really impressed or am i pushing too hard, have only towed about 800 ks so far,thinking about putting a chip in,trying too sort out any problems before i go north late next month,otherwise happy with the lux at the moment

should have been litres per 100 kliks, and its a twin cab.

Have a Diesel 99 hilux dual cab 165,000 . motor just blew up , cost to replaice around 4 k .

G'day all

I have had a '94 Hilux Surf with 3.0 ltr turbo diesel for 4 years+ and have been towing our vans for the same length of time. Our current Viscount Overlander van (15ft) is the lightest @ 1200Kgs GTM. Previous vans (1st one) were Jayco 14.5ft @ 1300kgs and then a Coromal 17ft @1450kgs (single axle, bout the largest you can go before tandems).
Used to live in/around Newman W.A but now down south of Perth. Having travelled quite a bit around the north-west W.A and still "GO NORTH" once or twice a year, can fully vouch for the 3.0 ltr turbo motor. Sure there are times when you have to slow down up steep hills but you then have the down side where you pick-up speed again! Have seen lots of bigger vans being towed out there by a lot lower powered vehicles and they still get around OK.
Go for it

Happy vanning

Rod (Itisi)