Tow vehicle

The Navara is on my long term shortlist, turbo diesel with lots torque and tow capacity of 3000kg.

Ready for the tuff stuff with calm grunt for the big one with about as much fuel econcomy you can get towing 2000kg.

Never tow near the max capacity of the vehicle, always nice to have something in reserve fothose hills.

Regards

Russell

Thats a big van for a 4 cylinder to tow.

I've also seen bent chassis on a hilux dual cab and rodeo dual cab in the the outback in the past year - one towed a Kimberley Camper across the Simpson. I don't think they were designed for it.

The Nissan 4.2 traytop or LandCruiser 79 series traytop may be an alternative with better towing capacity.

Cheers
Phil

Hard to work that out, I wonder at it myself. Maybe they have stronger clutch,gearbox r/axle than others or not so conservatively rated.
Do you need a 4wd?? The 6cyl Aussie sedans do a good job as tow vehicle,
do it easier than most 4wd due to power/weight ratio, & use less fuel than
the big petrol engine 4wds, cheaper to buy & service, spares but maybe U need something that will do some off road.
The newer european typediesels as found in the Jeep, Musso, Hyundai etc
have heaps more grunt than most Jap units & more fuel efficient too!

We've got a couple Navara 3L TD's at work and these occasionally tow our display trailers which weigh in at about 1500kgs. While they have the power to tow these fairly easily, they clearly are near the limit in terms of stability and heavier trailers would become more tiring to drive for long stints. It's a case of the tail wagging the dog.

My own caravan is a 2.4 tonne Phoenix towed by a 100 Series Landcruiser. The Cruiser uses every kw and Nm available to tow this weight especially off road (I've tackled a good bit of eastern australia out to the NSW border country included) but most importantly, a vehicle this size controls the van, not the other way round. And that's the rub. My van is only 18' not the 22' you are looking at and I just don't think a dual cab will cut it and anything less than the Navara won't have anywhere near enough power or torque. Unless you've got at least 350Nm at around 2000rpm, you'll find the rig struggling too much.

In the end that's why you don't see this combination, it just isn't practical. I'm soon trading the LC in and I'll be going for a similar vehicle next time.

Happy trails!

I have owned a dual cab Nissan Navara, albeit a 1984 model with transplanted V6. It had the power but not the weight to tow anything serious.
I have test driven the 3.0 turbo Navara and it may have enough power to get you by, but it's too lightweight, both chassis and suspension

I have been in a situation where the trailer dictates the terms to the tow vehicle (you get pushed all over the road) and don't ever want to do this again !!!!!

After looking around at several dual cab turbo diesels, I settled on a 3.0 turbo patrol with auto trans, easier to start off because the auto trans takes up the slack, instead of hammering a clutch with a manual gearbox. Also Navara not made with auto trans. If it was made with a 5 speed auto I recon it would sell its arse off. Iv'e removed all the rear seats, put in a false floor and we just chuck everything in and away we go.

Yours is sometimes the hardest question to answer. I couldn't make up my mind when car hunting because, lets's face it, not everyone can afford a 100 series turbo diesel (the perfect tow vehicle).

Thats only my opinion.

22 feet is a biggie to be dragging around often. Big investment too. Maybe it's worth having some contact with the local caravan club and get some first hand comments on size and convenience.

If you stick with the bigger van a Ford F250 ute is an option.

Considering the cost of the 4X4 and the big van and taking into account flexibility of use and later trade or sale, maybe a fifth wheeler based on an Iveco is the go. Worth looking at and costing.

Just make sure you check with the various State authorities re the claimed towing capacity of vehicles. I don't know for sure but I believe in NSW that despite what the manufacturer claims the vehicle can tow there is a legal limit that is relative to the weight of the towing vehicle. Someone else might be able to help out here.
Cheers
Pete

I've got a Rodeo dual cab and it certainly got pushed around by a 1500kg twin axle trailer I towed a few times.

I assume the 2000kg 22ft van is a road based van. An off road 22ft van would weigh much more than this empty. You need to consider the weight of the full van in your calculations.

If you are wanting a dual cab ute to tow the van I think your only factory option would be the F250. We have two at work and they would do the job without struggling the slightest however they certainly don't have the fit, finish or reliability of the Jap vehicles.

There are quite a few members in our 4x4 club who have off road vans. The tow vehicles used are GQ & GU Patrols and 80 & 100 series Landcruisers. The smaller vehicles being Hiluxs, Prados, Jeeps etc tow camper trailers but nothing bigger than that. Many of these people have towed their vans on extended trips around Australia and none are larger than 18ft however the majority of them are 16ft.

Since you said the van will never leave the bitumen then unless you need a 4x4 for other things then I would save a heap of $$$ and buy a falcon and a smaller van. With the money saved you could rent a 4x4 when need be and spend more on your trip.

IF as you say in another post here, that it will stay on the 'blacktop', why consider a 4wd ??

Wouldnt you be better off with something way more comfortable as a V8 sedan, or maybe something along the lines of an F100? etc

A few things to consider in this discussion:

1. for a 22ft van, a tare weight of 2000kg is fairly low. Add at least 400kg for the van's contents (including water in the tanks, gas in the bottles etc) and you are getting up to around 2500kg easily. Also bear in mind that quite a few manufacturers quote a tare weight that is 'stripped down' with lots of moveable items not included, for instance some weigh their vans without the empty gas bottles. Roll-out awnings are usually added by the dealer before delivery and thus are not part of the tare weight. The real-life actual weight of the van, in use, is often much more than anticipated;

2. a generally accepted convention (but not a requirement of road laws, as far as I am aware) is that it is unwise to tow something that weighs significantly more than the vehicle you will tow it with - and I very much doubt that the Navara will weigh 2500kg;

3. what is the Navara's weight limit (downwards) on the tow ball? Conventional wisdom has it that about 10% of a van's overall weight should be on the towball, the achieve stability when towing - so you'd anticipate a ball load of around 250kg. The Navara would have to be rated at or above that for ball load to be legal;

4. for a van the size you are thinking of, all the normal sedans (Commodores & Falcons) are unable to tow them - irrespective of whether its 6 cylinder or 8, the Commodore's towing limit is 2100kg and the Falcon is 2300kg. That's not to say you don't see these sedans towing big vans, but it's a pretty good bet that the rig is illegal and hence uninsured.

Sorry to sound like a 'downer' but I really think the Navara would be quite unsuitable for the van you have in mind. You will need a Patrol or Landcruiser, or if you can keep the loaded weight reasonably below 2500kg, a Pajero or Prado. Or re-think the van size and look at something a bit smaller - say 20ft, which is still a fairly large van.

Cheers

Gaz