Recommended Tow Vehicle Jayco Sterling 25ft

I have a GU Patrol 4.2 Turbo Dissle. I Tow a 20ft Traveler off road van with two full size trail bikes on the drawbar total weight of van fully loaded is around 2500kg and a ball weight of about 275kg. I get very good full economy and plenty of power. I have had it for 4 years 140000 km now and it has never mist a beet. I would recomend the Patrol to any one and when I renew it next year I wont look ealswhere. It will only be about the best price on a new patrol.

Good Luck

BBB

First thing to realise is the figures you quote are meaningless when you finally get you van loaded and set up. It will probably weigh about 2,700 kg and ball weight will be around 250 kg minimum - despite what the dealer will tell you! Just do a search on here for others with the same experience.
With those sorts of weights in mind that rules out all but the the largest of the 4WD's available - ie Toyota and Nissan.
Bear in mind as well that over 250 kg ball weight (which you WILL have!) rules out many others (read the fine primt on the car manuals)
Regarding diesel or petrol - again do a search on here - you could write a book on the pro's and con's of each.

F250 may suit you.

GU Patrol. 4.8 L, running LPG.

Forget L/100 km. Think in $ per 100 km.

goodday steve

lots of questions
where will you be towing
did you ask for a rear water tank
what sort of weight will you be putting into the van

we are looking at 1 of these to bcome our permanent home and it will be towed with a nissan patrol 4.2 tdi and even then once the copilot has her loading done i might still be able to pull it

steve
the patrol has a towing weight of 3500 kg

Steve,
Agree with others in that anything smaller than a Patrol/Cruiser would be doing it tough with your new van and most would be illegal, except maybe the new Pathfinder/Navara with 3 tonne ratings-not sure I'd want to do many k's with that sort of weight with either of these vehicles though. There is no replacement for wheelbase and weight with such a big van and in my opinion the bigger the motor the better also.

I realise your budget might not stetch to a 100series TD, but while some might want to kill me for saying so-I have serious doubts re the ability of the nissan 4.2 towing that sort of weight. Every person I know on the road towing around the 3 tonne and up with the nissan 4.2 have overheating problems. I must say I don't know every one in Aus doing these but so far the reports are all the same. The last three were all different vehicle van combo's but all with the same problem. 2 have since sold, one has done the turbo upgrade that you here about-(Motsons one???? 3 grand job??)-This has improved performance to satisfactory levels but not stopped overheating. I apologise profusly to all the 4.2 blokes, no offence meant and if you never tow these big weights I'm sure it's not an issue.

$40k?? Jayco van, I'd be looking at ether the 4.5 or 4.7 Cruiser, if not the 4.8 Patrol on gas. Not sure about gas on the yota, sure heaps do it no worries, but Toyotas definate no to gas would play on my mind. A 4.5 100 series could be had for $30K, leaving $10k for fuel, or somewhere around 35 000 ks before you put a cent in for fuel. I can vouch for the 4.5 being an adequete tow hack for large loads, mine has given no trouble only costs being maintenance. The 4.7 is supposed to be even better and it sounds good to boot (with some exhaust mods).

Maybe you're a gambling man, check out the 3litre manual Patrol ;-). Maybe you don't mind going slow and should check out a 1HZ powered Cruiser, again around the $30k mark. Maybe you have no intention of leaving the black top and want a bit more power/stability up your sleeve so a 2WD V8 Chev import might do, think they can be had for around the $40k mark for a later model. So many choices, but I love that part myself.

Cheers
Matt

Hi Steve,
Have had a 2003 4.2 Turbo Diesel Intercooled for three and a half years towing a 24 foot Jayco Heritage Van which weighs approx 2.8 to 3.0 Tonnes travelling weight. Have had no issues with over heating or any other problems in 80,000kil travelled mainly in the north of Aus in fairly high Temp. Handles every-thing superbly and could not be happier.
DUKE