New Vehicle replacement

Hi

Yes the Parado has the large swing out door, wasn't sure what to call it. Not good when van connected.

Rubbish , parking spaces smaller ? Compare the size of an 80 series cruiser to that of a new Prado or an early 2005 Hilux to a current model or Ford Ranger Etc Etc ... every new model is bigger ,not necessarily better , [ insert sarcasm ] whereas the the size 'rules' and regulations for parking spaces have not increased since the days of the 'mini minor' ....

I have found personally, that there can be a sizeable variation in parking space sizes, depending on who owns the property, and who painted on the parking lines.

There is no set dimension under any regulations or AS/NZS standards (AS/NZS 2890), for parking space dimensions.

I do agree that many models increase in physical size, when the new model is released. For my general useage (just a retired couple), a 200 series is way too big, and too heavy. The 80 series was a good size, IMO.

But for heavy towing purposes, the 200 series is ideal. You can't have a big heavy towing vehicle, and a vehicle that is small and easy to park, in the one vehicle.

Cheers, Ron.

Ron , there are actually 'regulations' set state by state , council by council for 'parking' size , even major shopping centres on 'private' property need to follow the regulations as to size , problem being that the 'regulated' sizes have not kept up with the physical increase of vehicle sizes that the public now drive , have a 'look' at the size figures and 'compare' them .,, an 80 series to a 200 series and for a laugh the new BMW 7 seater , no its not as 'tall' as a 200 but a lot longer and wider and can tow a bloody lot more ....

Think Prado also comes with a lift up rear door now, but you have to make do with one tank.
Dave.

The parking space size was mentioned as a throwaway comment but irrespective of that, parking spaces do vary despite regulations. My HJ61 was noticeably shorter than a falcon s,wagon of the time. The 61 could be parked where a Falcon would not fit.
HJ 61 4,750. 1800. 200 series 4950 L mostly plastic bits 1,970 W

Ranger 5,359 L. 1.849 W

In my local shopping centre you can’t park a dual cab Ute because they stick out into the traffic. They just don’t fit. Yes, parking spaces are small in length. Tight in width.

Yer, my D-Max sticks out but anyone running into the HR hitch are going to get serious damage.

If you want to tow with any of the mentioned vehicles it may be an advantage to have far better shocks and rear springs to handle the additional mass and transferred forces of a van. They will all tow your van but having a safety reserve is a wise move, so upgrades of springs and shocks will ensure a safer package.
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There is one important thing that anyone who does that should keep in mind when towing is shifting more weight to the rear of a car and/or stiffening its rear springs can easily change its handling characteristics from the factory designed understeer to oversteer.

The last thing you want when towing something heavy and long is a tow car that is likely to slide its tail out sideways in a sudden swerve or when the van starts swinging its ends from side to side.CHARTS

Make sure it comes with a fire extinguisher

Ahh, yes - Jeep Cherokee - Queen of the vehicle recalls .....

Product Safety Australia - Jeep Cherokee recall notices

Cheers, Ron.

Jeep doesn't recall vehicles, they go to you and your breakdown and take it away so as to limit embarrassment.

They did that with the earlier ones which had the steering boxes detatch from the chassis.

When a Motori Colorado pulls alongside I wind the window down to try and count the ball bearings thrashing round in the engine. Yes, they are noisey.

Hi

Totally agree, the cruiser has never let us down and pulls the van with no issues.

Re the Gas, I love the gas and use it most of the time, it starts on petrol until engine is hot then switches over to gas. So much cheaper to run.

What do you mean by engine freshen up?
The car has just hit 200,000km and the engine all seems fine.

Daughter is learning to drive in a Toyota Echo and my wife is driving it. Maybe when she gets her licence she can drive the cruiser.

Reverse camera helps with parking which is what kept my wife driving the 100 series apart from the 1HD FTE Turbo

Hi Shaun, 200,000ks, is probably the best time to trade her in ,if you have been running it on gas most of the time. Unless the engine has been built from the bottom up to specifically run on gas you won't get any where near the mileage you normally get from the same engine without gas.


Cheers Axle

"Unless the engine has been built from the bottom up to specifically run on gas you won't get any where near the mileage you normally get from the same engine without gas."

What a lot of rot. The only thing affected by burning LPG in a petrol engine is the valves and valve seats, because LPG burns hotter than petrol.
In some cases, exhaust manifolds can crack because of the higher EGT - but this generally only happens with wide open throttle for extended periods.

All engines today have hardened valve seats, and far better quality valves than older engines. Toyota is no exception.

The beauty of LPG is NO CARBON. As a result, the oil stays cleaner, bore wear and engine wear in general is REDUCED, and coke and carbon buildup is non-existent.

Here's a bloke who's done a million clicks on LPG and the engine is still original.

Landcruiser on gas clocks up 1,000,000kms

Cheers, Ron.

I've had 4 lpg dual fuel cars and not had any engine troubles. I'd go another one if they hadn't jacked the price so high and started ripping out bowsers all over the place. I did 400k + in all of them.

Hi Shaun,

By freshen up I meant maybe check the valve clearances and top end which are usually the things that suffer in engines run on gas.

If the engine seems fine and compression is ok then just keep driving it.

Personally, I don't like the fact that power is reduced on gas and engines wear prematurely on gas so I would not use it.

The way gas prices are these days, I am not sure if it is worthwhile using it at all.

Its 95c per litre here in metro Adelaide.

I pay max 85 cents for gas, runs great and engine is still going strong. Vehicle has probably done 180,000 km on gas. The only time I switch off the gas is on the very steep climbs when towing then switch back.

I think the advantage of my system is that it runs on fuel unit the engine gets hot enough then switches to gas.

I had a Ford Falcon company car that was on gas it also ran fantastic.. car was traded at 250 000 km no issues.

Agree~My Ranger is quite a bit longer then our 100 series V8 petrol ,mim 500mm longer
The Land Cruiser 100 series is a great vehicle for towing ours has done 350, ks and still going strong- beautiful motor

G'day Chris
In the four marques mentioned above you seem to have forgotten Nissan and their special way of working with valued customers.

You do realise of course that the major reason you see 'more' Dmax or Mux is the price point of said vehicles ...it does not equate to 'reliabillity' of the vehicle .

To be popular you need to be both price competitive and reliable. Reliability is best ascertained by a google search for any known problems, and Isuzu's fare very well in this department.
Chris

Isuzu is ok. No great silver bullet though. Stupid things breaking on ours like Ac condensers. The Fords are much better for towing - esp nearly 3t.

Gbc/

How many aircon condensers have you had break? Perhaps there was a manufacturing fault or some mounting problem. Either way it would only be once.

A/C condensor failure is a reasonably regular failure on many vehicles, it's not confined to Isuzu.

Condensors are first in the firing line for road debris hitting them, suffer from vibration, particularly on rough roads, and have to contend with a wide variation in temperatures and pressures, daily.

They're not a critical item, you can keep driving with a split condensor, and they're relatively cheap to replace, because they're a fast-moving part.

Cheers, Ron.

If we were going on price alone we would all be driving a Triton or one of those Chinese utes.
When I was looking back in 2014, the price was not even considered. I was more interested to see how the car performed, it specifications and it had to have climate control. I knew it would not be the cheapest car to buy and ended up getting a LST D-Max. If it had been any other brand it would have been the top of the range.

Unless the engine has been built from the bottom up to specifically run on gas you won't get any where near the mileage you normally get from the same engine without gas.
Cheers Axle
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You are right Axle. There are a lot of things that have to be done to a gas engine in order to get the best out of it but they are rarely if ever done during a normal gas conversion because they would more than double the cost of the conversion. If you did go that far, the engine would no longer be suitable for petrol.

Some of the changes include a higher compression ratio, a different cam grind and major changes to the ingition timing at idle and maximum advance.

If the engine has copper/lead bearings, they will be eaten away. We had some of those eaten bearings on display in the classrooom at Ultimo TAFE in Sydney when I was doing a gas licence course.

I used three gas cars over an eighteen year period for commuting to work. I did not do anything else to the engines except harder exhaust valve seats in two of them and advancing the ignition by two degrees at idle. They really needed about ten more and some taken off at the top.

They were all down on power and higher in consumption in comparison to petrol but I saved a fortune on running costs because of the price difference. Gas prices were always much higher out of Sydney and I would have not used gas had I been commuting in country areas.

That's different from what I have seen. The most tow vehicles are 200 series, Rangers and BT50's by my reckoning, and that is from many, many kilometres of western travel. The D-maxs are very popular wth camper trailer people.

My Ranger will tick over " 100,000 towing kilometres" by the end of next year and yes that's towing K's, I keep a log of both towing and bobtail.

A strange phenomenon is Australia is not noticing other makes of vehicle until you or a family member drive that make of vehicle. Then the eyes are open. Plenty of Dmax and Mux out there. Camouflaged obviously.

By the time there's a bullbar and lights on them you are hard pressed to tell what they are at first glance.

RMD.
Not really, sitting high up behind the wheel and often doing 5000K a week, you notice a lot of things, especially what is on the road.

"Also has antisway system which automatically is activated when you plug in a trailer/caravan. Very good safety feature."

So does the Ranger/BT50.

But that Amarok V6 ... yummmm

Frank


I have been on 4X4 trips with people in BT50s and Rangers and I like them, they are good vehicle.

I test drove them before I bought my Amarok. They do not however compare to the Amarok in handling, power, comfort, etc. Off road they are as good as the Amarok. On road, not as good. Towing, not as good.

Towing a 2t Camper Trailer I average 11.2 L/100km. You would use more than that towing the van.


Regard

Kumunara,

Yes, I agree, the Amarok is a more sophisticated vehicle. Had the V6 been around when I bought my BT I may have considered one.

But I do like the low range in my BT50. It helps me get my van where I like to go.
"Towing a 2t Camper Trailer I average 11.2 L/100km. You would use more than that towing the van."

Hah! I use more than that just dragging my tradie canopy and roof rack around :-(
Add my van and :-( :-( LOL

Cheers

Frank. The BT50 is a very good vehicle. If I owned one I would be very happy with it.

We are using VW on our fleet including Amarocks. Yes good vehicle but service costs very expensive. One of the reasons we are now changing over our fleet.

Kumunara,

I am VERY happy with my BT. The way I have mine set up, the aerodynamics are gone and it's a bit heavy, so I pay the expected price in fuel. Cost of having fun, I guess. But I love it. It does everything I ask of it, and then some, but I try to keep an open mind.

Cheers.

Shaun H,

Out of interest, what are you changing to?

Cheers