VDJ78 2012 Troopcarrier towing

I have a similar vintage 76 series - same car with more doors! I haven't had the re mapping done but clutch, snorkel and updated gearbox have been fitted. I only tow a hybrid - around 2t but it tows with ease. Average fuel economy not towing is consistently 12 l/100k. Towing is 14 but so much depends on headwinds, and hills. In an ideal world I would have an auto for towing but everything is a compromise eh? When I am cruising it sits comfortably at about 95 - 100kph and has the power to hold speed on hills without being a nuisance to others.

At the moment its a struggle to know what one would choose instead. The Y62 Patrol seems to be the go to but they are like rocking horse manure as are the 300 Toyos. The 3 litre utes and so on are popular but work pretty hard when towing.

Stick with Troopie mate & let Fido have his comfort.

I tow a 2.5T offroad single axle full time caravan with a 2019 Troopy.
The V8 is great - gets max torque at 1200rpm so pulls like a bull in springtime. And mine is stock standard.
I prefer a manual gearbox - so easy to just select the gear you want and the engine braking is a lot better than an auto. And don't have to worry about transmission overheating.

I previously towed the same van with a 200series - had more power but had too many annoying features. But it was a good tow vehicle. Troopy gets blown around a bit more by crosswinds and I probably tow about 5kph slower than I did with the 200.

And your 2012 Troopy has the previous gearbox which is actually a bit better than the newer one for towing because you'll have a bit more grunt in 5th gear because of the lower ratio.

Hi “Troopy”,

As per others, I had an MY 2010 76 Series, with heavy duty replacement clutch. Towed a Goldstream RV Wing III Wind Up camper, approx. 2.0 Tonne ATM. Averaged around 17 Ltrs/100 kms. towing at 100 kph. depending on ambient and road conditions. Worst was 22 Ltrs/100 kms very hilly and a head wind, best was 15 Ltrs/100 kms flat open country, no wind.

Installed a Steinbauer performance chip, and whilst the “get up and go” was markedly improved, there was only about a 10% improvement in economy.

Macca.

Troopy,

Our 2015 s/c V8 ute, with alloy canopy, had had a heavy duty clutch & bigger exhaust fitted before we got a remap & more efficient(40%) intercooler added in Oct ‘21. Asked at the time if I wanted a “hoon tune” or tow tune, I opted for the former, not knowing then we would purchase a 2016 off road van in mid Dec.

Only towing I’ve done with this ute, is about 1300kms, from Ipswich to western Qld. A good test was the “new” Toowoomba range crossing, 4th gear on all the climbs, except for a change back to 3rd as the pyrometer indicated >450°C. Once on the flat, or slightly undulating Warrego & Landsborough H’ways, maintaining 90-100 clicks was effortless. Even more pleasing was the fuel economy, 19.3L/100, over 3 fills on the way home.



Only thing I may change is the remap tune, reverting to a tow tune.

Bob

G'day mate,

We have a 2012 76 series towing an Explorex Numbat 17.7ft twin axle full offroad van. Tare 2.5t and around a tonne payload.

I think the worst I've had so far had been around 20l/100 kms (hilly and head wind) and the best is around 14L/100. Handles it no worries sitting around 90-95 on the highway. Towing offroad is also pretty good, just slower.

An upgraded clutch is on the cards and I do use a Ultimate 9 iDrive throttle controller. It works really well and I leave it set on Ultra 3.

I think the 70 series are built to tow on and offroad and I think you won't have to many problems.