What to tow with... Patrol or Cruiser

I could be wrong,, but you can drag a 2 horse float behind anything, but most of the lighter utes, you can only legally have 1 horse in the float. Then Again I do live in "mexico"
I know our Navara has a 3000 kg ( braked ) limit. That should be still legal with a pair of horses, mind you I would be adding a little weight to the tray of the Navara, just to balance the load a little.

I would stick to the full blown 4 wheel drive, Cruiser/Patrol, that way you are almost as heavy as what you are towing.

Cheers
Bucky

I bought my 2001 V6 petrol/lpg 3.0 ltr triton MK dual cab from a horse trainer who towed a dual horse float all over NSW, to Bris and Melb, and he replaced it with a newer one to keep on doing the same thing. I tow my caravan with it and couldn't be happier.
Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi, they are all good, just depends on what you fancy and your budget.
No doubt the usual this -v- that banter will be forthcoming here soon...good luck with whatever you decide to go with.
Welcome to the Forum too :-)

I am a big fan of the troopy.... My OH won't have a bar of it tho. He recons they are army surplus marketed to the public... LOL

I recon he is a bit of a girl... not wanting to be seen in one.

In 4wd circles troopys are often seen as the ultimate 4wd.
Pete

"In 4wd circles troopys are often seen as the ultimate 4wd".....

Bbwaaahhh...what a load of snot. Maybe by Troopy owners!!

HaHaHa

Hairy just remember that real men drive Troopies :-)

Ha ha ha you guys crack me up . Glad to see you had a good break Hairy
Cheers Pete

"madfisher posted:
In 4wd circles troopys are often seen as the ultimate 4wd.
Pete"

Hahahahah only to Troopy owners, and one Landrover owner who was towed out by one hahahaha

Bonz, wasn't one Nissan owner also towed out by one too? Just a little detail. LOL

do you have brake-away brake controller fitted to the trailer ?

Please explain (blush)

I think it is special brakes on the trailer to help it stop.... with a unit that goes in the car???

Sorry (blush)

BRAKE-SAFE ELECTRIC BREAKAWAY

trailers in excess of 2000kg if built after July 1989 must have one of these fitted
it works in conjunction with your electric brakes

Thanks for the heads up there KW... I didnt even know they were mandatory.

I bet if you looked at most horse floats on the road you would find they dont have one..... My float is only 4 yo and it doesn't... and I was unaware of that requirement. An easy way to null and void your insurance cover.....

>>As said the Patrols are a solid setup but so is the Cruiser.
The cruiser may also be solid but the g/box and other running gear on the Patrol is far stronger. Have you seen the size difference between the 2 g/boxes? Patrol is far bigger. I've heard of too many g/box problems with Toyotas.

Toyota also use the smaller Hilux front diff now. Nissan still use h/duty diff. The only things against the naturalluy aspirated Patrol is the speed, but who cares about that? As long as it gets you there.

Barnesy

Horse Girl,

Just checked a few of the archives and it seems both GQ and 80 series have tow capacities less than that what you want to tow so look for another tow vehicle is my opinion, isurance would be void if overloaded.

Newer Cruisers and Patrols have higher tow capacities (not all of them so be careful here too).

Cheers, Trevor.

Wrong Barnesy. The weak diff in recent Toyotas as you put it is only fitted in the LC100 with IFS and is not from the Hilux at all.

If I'm not mistaken Offtrack, just before Toyota changed the Hilux to IFS they began putting that Hilux live axle into the 75 series Cruiser. Whereas Nissan has always kept the old-school h/duty one for the Patrol.

Hi Horse Girl,
A very under rated vehicle are the 3.5 Jackaroos. 158kw and you can pick up low milage 98 99 s for less than $15000.00. I know I am biassed because I am wrapped in mine. They weigh just onh 2000kg so a bit heavier tham most utes. My wife has a low milage series 11 Paj which has been very reliable but it can only just keep up with the Jack when I am towing my boat.lol
Good luck Pete

Madfisher is right, my wife's 3.5 petrol Jack tows our van with ease. If it was more ergonomic for me (I can't stand the seats and suspension) I would drive this more than my GU (which is heaps) and it is an 01 model but valued at only about 9 grand. So if you sit in one of these and like it, it may just fit the bill??? rated to tow only 2500kg though but then so are the GQ PAtrols I think.

Regards, Trevor.

Running to check GQ Patrols specs.... if thats the case it is an easy decision it will be a landy....

Must add my vote for the 3.5L Jackaroo. Big & Strong. Contrary to
rumour ,will not use a heap of fuel if driven sedately. Plenty of low
K samples around your budget. Diesel is good, but hard to justify the premium asked over petrol & then pay another 10/15 cents a litre for fuel. cheers...oldbaz.

Horsegirl, be wary of manufacturer claimed towing and load capacities. I remember a few years ago (haven't checked lately)the F250 was rated to tow and carry the same as a Nissan Navara dual cab!
Basically the bigger and heavier the car the better it will tow.

Please correct me if I am wrong here, because it is only my understanding that if you tow something outside the manufactures specs, it is illegal and will null and void your insurance.

So even tho something is designed and weighted to tow 4000kg, if the specs say 2500, then that is what you are limited to.... IMO there is no way I would tow with a Navara, nice ute but I would not be happy pulling the sort of weight I am going to do....

IMO it isnt about the go it is about the stop....

Without wanting to start a debate or offend Axle... I have heard more bad than good about the disco's....

Might be because unhappy customers yell louder than others......

Horse girl if you can find a copy of (The dog and lemon guide) at a newsagent and see what they have to say about landies. Love them for their soul and character but to expensive to keep on the road for someone on a budget, including me.Mate in tassie who I viset every 2nd year has had 2, I am yet to rise in one as he allways has a loan car. Can you guess why.
Goodluck Pete

I doubt that the Landrovers would have more reliability problems than a GU Patrol as reported on this forum. Every day there is a new thread about some issue with the Patrols. The tdi models are very strong and the td5 are generally good too.

I'll be up front...I own a Land Rover and it has been the best 4WD I've ever owned or driven, so I guess I'm biased.

I've never owned a Landy prior to this one and have not got any personal experience with the Disco 1 or Disco 2 models but I can say this. In the 8 months I've been travelling I have come across many owners of these models and they pull some very big rigs with them. Not one of them has had a complaint about the vehicle, nor do they wish to be rid of them.

A mate of mine has one and his theory goes like this... Landys don't hold their value, therefore very good second hand vehicles in mint condition are very cheap. He figures that you can but one of these so much cheaper than any mitsyotaniss with similar specs and k's on the clock. So he bought the Landy, pocketed the savings and was prepared to use some of those savings for repairs if needed. They weren't needed.

Like any second-hand vehicle, prudent checks by a good mechanic can save you a bundle down the track. Why not think about the Landy Disco 2 to tow the float? It has the highest rated towing capacity of any standard vehicle in its class and they aren't all lemons.

Cheers

Russ

I agree the v8s are a strong long lasdting motor(300000)ks. The 200 and 300 series mostly needed rebuilding arround 200000ks. No experience with the td5s. I believe that ford have improved Rovers quality control, about time. I have owned 2 rovers, 1 suziki, 2 toyotas, 2 jacks, and 2 rockys. I know I am a tart lol.
No where near Willems score yet.
Cheers Pete

Thanks Davoe,

If you can find a sedan that will tow >2750kg I will look at it.... The reason most people tow with a 4by is the towing capacity factor.

I totally agree about the upkeep.... having owned 2 4bys prior to this. I had an old SWB dsl Patrol in my 20's and recently wrote off a 95 Jeep :( . Loved the jeep but they have started making them for the masses and they are not really built to tow any more, and with the new float was going to have to upgrade it anyway.

Sorry, shoulda read your years- budget qualification - I would look to an 80 Series diesel.