Towing 3+ tonne

Kiwi,
I suggest you choose a vehicle that you like and check with the manufacturer as to its legal towing capacity. My strong recommendation would be the Landcruiser .... and most definitely avoid any of the Landrover range - far too unreliable.

Don't forget the Disco. Offroad towig 3t is a different story though. I don't know if you will find 3t capacity for off-road towing in a wagon. Regards Slunnie

Kiwoka.
The legal reqiurement in aus is that the towing vehicle must be heavier than the trailer. This eliminates most common 4x4s, the reality is that if you try to tow over sand you realy nead the towing vehicle to be twice the weight of the trailer.This has been a problem for me in my work for years.
The canter or isuzu are realy the only choice.If you go that way you can transfer a lot of the items from the trailer on to the truck and improve you of road chances. most agree that the canter has a better dif lock than the isusu.
Eric

Ahhhh, a Canter. I hope I don't offend anybody but they are shocking for anything serious off road. Have a looked at the travel avaliable on the front axle. Bump stops seem to do most of the suspension work. Check the GCM and I think you will find that they can't tow 3 tonne anyway. The one's we had at work a few years ago I know for sure couldn't do it legally. We did tow 3.5 tonne trailers with larger trucks, and it's still a big ask off road. You need a lot of pull. By the way if you do need to pull that sort of weight, think about a trailer with a front turntable axle. A bugger to reverse but it removes the weight from the draw bar, and because the axles are at each end, approach and exit angles are much better. Also the wheels follow in the towing vehicles tracks.. -Good Luck- Ken.

hiya, I'm sure you'll find that the run of the mill l/c, patr etc, by the time you fuel it add some gear + bodies you wont see 3 ton left to the GCM,
not saying they can't do it but the law would look at differently. NSW
works on % of GVM. Posibility an F250??

I own two canters both diesel duelcabs one a 4x4 (for play) and one a 2x4 tipper (for work) . The 4x4 has a tare wt of 3.4 tonne with tray 2 spare tyres bullbar 250 ltr fueltank 180 ltr water tank (empty) fitted under truck . It has a combind gross gvm (whitch includes trailer) of 8 tonne so it can and will easly pull your trailer . As for fuel ecomony they are no speed machines but will sit on 95 to 100 kph and return about 15 dollars per 100km. As for the ride my wife thinks it hits hard on landing after cattle grids. It is no BMW but then again how many BMW's have you seen up Birdsville or Cape York way. I've been all over oz in it (snowy mtns to the gulf track) and my only real bug is lack of top speed on the highway, but being a 7 seater with room for a esky and camping gear theres always tommorow.
cheers Tony
ps And they realy are unbreakable

G'day all. There seems to be a lot of misconceptions about towing weights. I have been told today that a "national" set of rules were introduced in January 2000. The guts of it are, if the vehicle manufacturer does not specify a GCM (gross combined mass, truck+trailer) then the trailer weight must not exceed 1.5 time the tow vehicle weight. This usually occures with older vehicles. My 100 series L/C is rated at 3021kg GVM (total vehicle mass) + 3500kg trailer weight, for a total of 6521kg (GCM). All the above weights assume that EFFECTIVE trailer brakes are fitted. The tow hitch is rated at 3500kg with a 350kg ball load and THIS is the key, BALL WEIGHT! Many tow hitches have high towing capacity but the ball weight is far less than the 10% of the trailer weight required for stable towing, making towing heavy trailers ILLEGAL! eg. My previous Prado's towbar was rated to pull 2500kg, but maximum ball weight was only 120kg, effectively restricting me to towing no more than 1200kg! These figures vary from towbar manufacturer to manufacturer, so it really pays to check your own setup. NOTE, exceeding Tow Ball Weight may result in refusal to pay a claim in the event of an accident!!! Hope this helps. Cheers.

Honestly there not for the hardcore 4wdriver they are a bit heavy in the front in deep mud (position heavy load over rear axel has helped) . But being duel wheels on rear at right presure for conditions it will go most places any 4x4 will go. One let down is the tight track with the canters turning circle not the best in the 4x4 models they are the best water crossing 4x4 you will find with the weight to hold you there and the height to easily cross all crossings ( ive even had to tow a stranded hilux a cross the diamantina river out sideWindorah qld. The long wheel base seems to cause a few bottem outs over real rough ground but on awhole ive pulled out far more 4x4 than ive been pulled there not going to win the 4x4 challenge but with a missus and yong one sharing the office how feral can you go i would rate mine as this
4x4 7 out 10 econ 7-10
comfort 6 - 10 on tar highway 4-10
reliable 10-10 space in cab & tray 10-10
towing or big load 9-10