Hi and dumb newbie question :-)

By the time you fill the water tank in the van alone you will be over the legal weight. The hilux might be capable but you would be working it hard. Either bigger vehicle or smaller van. What about the new troopie ?? Plenty of room in the back and plenty of power. I think any thing in the range of hilux,navara,triton would not be suitable for the van you have described. All capable of pulling the weight but as said will be working its but off doing it. Just my opinion. Regards Steve M

Doug,

"Some of what I laughingly call work is at www.silverimagephotos.com.au "


Beware, advertising could cost you the same as our other Doug........


Cheers
Michael

PS, I do not have a problem with it..

You need to reconsider the vehicle or the van as the van is to heavy for the vehicle

The rule of thumb is a single axle van has a carrying capacity of approx 300kg & a tandem approx 400kg

The tare weight of a van is the unladen weight so the van loaded will exceed the towing capacity of the hilux

Also most vans are overweight when loaded to travel & the bigger the van the more room there is to overload it

The best towing package is a big,powerful tow vehicle with a small van so if youm have still have to purchase both i would find a suitable van & than purchase a tow vehicle to suit

If you alreadyhave the vehicle you have to find the van to suit

I assume you realise that jayco vans are suitable for mostly sealed roads with the occasional bit of good dirt

Good luck

Regards Don

Hi Doug,
Best advice I can give is check out every c/park you can and ask anyone who looks like they are on the move as many questions about their rigs.As it is the Grey Nomad swarming season there will be plenty on the road and most will be only too happy to show you their setups.We did this before we bought our camper and not only gained a wealth of information but also met some wonderful people.Best of luck. Snake and Josie

I just had a look on the jayco website at the specs & i assume you are looking at a 20 footer

It has a carrying capacity of 600 kg & a approx ball weight of 275kg so if you use all of the available capacity you are going to have a fairly heavy van & you should be looking at a tow vehicloe with a towing capacity of approx 3000 kg & a allowable ball weight of 300 kg

Be careful as some vehicles need to have the allowable ball weight reduced as weight is added to the rear of the vehicle to stay within manufacturers specs

Out of all the jap duel cabs the nissan navara in theory may have the towing capacity (though watch the allowable ball weight) to tow it but it is getting close to the upper limits

Regards Don

D200Dug,

The new v8 does come in an extra cab / twin cab, it's called a troopie. It comes in various configurations, 3 seat with loads of space in the back, 6 seat with a fold able forwards facing rear seat when folded up (if you don't need the seating capacity all the time) still has heaps of space in the rear, or an 11 seat. This vehicle will do more than what you want and tow the van.

sdr00y

Many thanks for the advice

Sorry I did not mean to advertise just introduce myself.

We are just starting out on this so appreciate all the advice I am sure I will ask more dumb questions in future ;-)


cheers doug

PS I am a toyota tragic so not keen to consider the Nissan option :-)

If wanting that type of vehicle, I would go a d22 navara which has a towing rate of 3000kg, the fuel economy is brilliant 10lt/100km upto 14lt/100km (towing).....Its a turbo diesel and a 3lt....(we have the 06 model)

Laura

Hi Doug, sounds like good advice from the other guy's, dont take my comments as advice but as an opinion, a 3lt hilux just doesnt cut it for long term towing of that sort of wieght, to me the landcruiser would make minimum weight for the tow vehicle, considering you plan to spend a few years living in the van i presume you want it to be reasonably comfortable so maybe a heavier tow vehicle will suit you better, another question to ask yourself is will you be happy towing such a heavy van and what sort of roads to you plan to tow it, i drive a petrol prado and tow a 880kg coromal offroad camper (bought it for the convienience and compfort) and to be honest i dont enjoy towing it, am thinking about going back to a tent trailer type, much easier to tow.

Doug

You might also have warranty issues if you tow a caravan over the rated tow weight of the car.

Is it just me ... or is there suddenly a plethora of "dugs"?

Hi Dug, with the van you are talking about you really need something bigger than a 4 cyninder, just look at all the posts of people trying to get more from their 4bangers by fitting chips to the computers, and the people asking is it normal to slip the cltch to get moving while towing a van, the 75 cruser with the v8 could be good for you, but it doesnt have dual fuel tanks and no air bags, lot of money just for the new v8, another option could be a 80 series converted into a dualcab with a tray on the back, patrols converted with the 4.2 are just as good but both would be second hand. Some people will disagree but towing a big van for long distance for long time you need a big 6 diesel. try hireing different tow vehicles, and dont listen to what the vehicle salesman is telling you, he probibly has never done what you are about to do. I have a 92 GQ 4.2 Diesal with a super charger on top, i tow a track shack camper trailer, and do trips from 6 mths to a year. I get fuel figures the same as the latest computor controlled 4x4s valued at 50 to 60plus thousand $ and i have all the same creature comforts, and its my opion that you need a big 6 diesal for what you want to do. Col

Hi D200dug,
Just wanted to let you know that there is never a dumb question to be asked. If you don't know then there is someone on this forum that will.
Cheers
Jason

finally someone with sense for quality and some talent unlike most (all) of the other so called pro photographers here.

Ha the bigger better larger spiral is on ... :)) ...
I take a lot of photogear when I travel and have it in the vehicle (crew cab) because I can take it with me all the time. Would not leave it in a trailer. What do you use the base station for ? bikes ?
quads ? or a large format printer :)) ???

whatever you do leave some margin and think if you really need all the stuff you plan to pack.

Get a decent towvehicle which also allows you to travel with your required gear without the van. Becaise as a photographer you want to go remote places and still take your gear. There are people who do three axle conversions and make the vehicle longer to fit some large storage boxes and a 5th wheel hitch.
I would go with a small 5th wheeler .. it's safer to tow and you get higher load rating.

I went for a slide-on (reasonably large) because I still tow a boat (of course not through the desert :)) lol). I can take the vehicle alone with a bed tent and still have lots of gear in the double cabin.

It boils down to the luxury (or lack of) you want on the road.
first decide on your lifestyle while on the road. then decide where you mostly will go (or some may say the other way around - not for me thanks - I define my minimum lifestyle first) the make a provisional packing list and calculate weight. then you are ready for the van decision. after you decided for the van or whatever then decide on the vehicle - not the other way around.

good luck
gmd

Hi Doug

I looked through some of your 'nature' photos. What a fine paintbrush you have. Your paintbrush is your camera (are rather your eye and trigger finger). Some lovely work.

Motherhen

Doug, there is a member on EO with a full size Troopy. The Base Station looks HUGE behind even it. With water, additional gear in the rear it will be quite a package to haul.

Sorry I can not help you much with a tow vehicle......unless you can afford a VW Toureg V10, but I am very impressed with your photography.

Cheers Bruce