A Year in a Windsor Rapid

these days it seems you not only need to check your towing limit but also your gross vehicle mass once the vehicle is fully loaded

does the 1480kg allow for food in the fridge, water in the tank, blankets, pillows and clothes in the van?

sounds a bit too close for comfort

Hi Mizuko,

I reckon your choice of a Windsor Rapid is a good move, I used to have a 13"6' offroad rapid and often regret selling it, but must admit my Camprite probably suits me better for what I do. But if i was to do a 12 month lap of Aus, the Windsor would be my first choice.

Be aware that the tare mass of the Windsor is likely to be understated. My van was several 100 kgs heavier than the plated figure, and when loaded the ATM was most likely exceeded. I did have several factory fitted options, but even so this did not account for the difference in plated and actual weights.

Thus if you only have 20kg to spare with your tow vehicle, there is every chance you will exceed the ATM, especially on a 12 month trip when you are likely to gather "souvenir's" as you go. And I suspect your vehicle will be quite loaded with all the gear you will undoubtedly need.

The Kluger will be at the limits of its capacity and you will not have anything in reserve, especially stability and braking wise. While you could do this in the Kluger, you need to think of your familys safety when spending that much time on the road with that type of load.

While I had the offroad pack, the main feature of this is the much larger chassis rails, independent suspension and higher ground clearance. The main advantage of the offroad pack is the ability of the chassis to handle corrugated gravel roads and I suspect you would like to travel on plenty of these on a 12 month Aus trip.

Adding ground clearance only will not help strengthen the chassis and will affect van stability. While you could do this, the standard ground clearance should be suffcicent for the average tracks where the Kluger coukld actually tow this weight off bitumen. It will certainly work the Kluger engine and make it drink, but I don't think you will actually "stuff" it.

While i used a Cruiser and a Patrol with my van, both struggled to tow the weight in sand and i doubt the Kluger could cope (I had diff locks in the cruiser and 33" tyres and still stuggled - the weight is the killer).

Formed tracks that a 2WD can go on will be the best the Kluger could tow a van on - not being degrogatory here but just stating facts from experience. You will run out of traction long before you run out of ground clearance in sand towing in a Kluger.

As for a fridge, you cannot get enough fridge space :) I had a 90L compressor fridge (don't get a 3 way IMHO) and used a 40L engle as a freezer in the vehicle. if you can fit a 150L compressor fridge in, go for it and you certainly won't reget it. And i would still take an engels as it will come in handy as a freezer and also for day trips when you are camped up and need cold food/drinks when out sightseeing.

Anyway, hope some of the above helps.

Cheers

Captain

Hi Mizuko.
With 20 odd yrs. of van towing experience I would totally agree with the Captains advice.

For the last 7yrs. towed a 1980 14x7' Viscount pop top across some of the roughest tracks, yes we did have a few dramas but by and large nothing not repairable.

I did increase its ground clearance by about 75mm, but a proportion of that came from fitting heavier duty rims and light truck tyres. I found that with the larger tyres the van handled much better and in probably 40000km. of all manner of road conditions the 2 spares on the back were never used.

Also (my opinion) towing speed is one hell of a factor in all circumstances. Towing to the road conditions for one, getting the best fuel economy another.

Last winter we did 17000km. from NSW, Qld. NT, WA, SA and home without a single hiccup. Towed behind a L/C trayback average 15.5l/100km. for the whole trip. We did do some rough road excursions (incl. part Gibb R., road closure forced us back) but I would reckon your Kluger would handle most of it.

With regard to refrigeration, I installed a computor fan to assist air circulation to the original 60l. gas/elec. unit. This improved its performance markedly, also have a 60l. Trailblaza (compressor type) used as a freezer. However with this you require aux. battery supply which all adds to the overall weight.
Perhaps if there are obstacles for you, it will be all up weight.
furph

Hi Mizuko,
I cant give any advice re towing weight as that is the other half's domain but I can give my humble adveice on fridge go for the biggest frdge you can get or afford. Re compressor or absorption we have only had an absorption fridge and havent had an issue, we are in the process of planning our van to tour and work around Australia and this issue is one we are trying to deal with. There are positives and negatives for both, as we tend to go soemwhere and sit for a week or so in the bush we think we might settle for an absorptiion fridge but you will need to investigate both options and consider what is best suited for your type of touring and your budget as we all have to live within our budgets worde luck.
In hindsight we wish we had done what you are about to do so best wishes and remember you dont have to have the best and biggest to enjoy the trip
barb

Just one consideration regarding the weight. Calculate your weight by adding what you carry to the Tare. The ATM (Aggregate Trailer Mass) is the maximum allowed. As an example I have a van with a tare of 2000kg and an ATM of 2900kg. My vehicle will tow legally 2500kg. There is no way that I'll load more than 500kg so I'm within my limits.

Thank you to all for your replies. We sincerely appreciate your responses as our heads are spinning with all the choices.
Thanks
Mizuko