Tow vehicle
Submitted: Sunday, Oct 25, 2009 at 15:20
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Name Not Found
I am looking to purchase a vehicle to tow my 18Ft Bushtracker Offroad van(preferably a ute). Has anyone out there used a 3litre turbo Nissan patrol as a tow vehicle. The three litre engine is rated at 118 k/watts and is rated to tow 3200kgs but being a four cylinder I am unsure as to its durability. I would purchase a 4.2 litre patrol but they are only rated to tow a braked load of 2500 kgs and the Bushtracker is 2500 to 3000kg loaded. A turbo cruiser is rated to 122kw and a tow rating of 3050kg but boy do they want some money for them. I would be interested to hear from anyone who may encountered this problem and ovecome it.
Reply By: Member - Kim and Doug (QLD) - Sunday, Oct 25, 2009 at 15:45
Sunday, Oct 25, 2009 at 15:45
To be on the safe side you need not to let the tail wag the dog.
You have spent big dollars for the van, dont go cheap for the tow vehicle as it could cost you your life...........
The bushtracker fully loaded with
water food and gear will be very near or above the safe margin for towing with the nissan your only safe choice is the v8 toymota or look around for a used usa chev or ford, plenty about wth low mileage and similar prices to the toymota and allows you to put most of the gear in the 4wd with around 4500kgs rated.
Good fuel mileage with the american 4wds these days can get a live wire tuner for them and get around 12/16 lts per 100ks when towing
AnswerID:
388630
Follow Up By:- Sunday, Oct 25, 2009 at 17:42
Sunday, Oct 25, 2009 at 17:42
Thanks for the input and will take all on board before I make up my mind
FollowupID:
656321
Reply By: Member - Roachie (SA) - Sunday, Oct 25, 2009 at 15:49
Sunday, Oct 25, 2009 at 15:49
I am a self confessed Nissan bloke, but there is NO WAY I would try to tow a Bushtracker with ANYTHING that had a 3 litre motor.....
If you want a Patrol for the job, I could only recommend the 4.8 petrol version, but there may be limitations with distance between fuel fill-ups. Unfortunately they didn't make the 4.8 petrol in a ute version as far as i know.
The 4.2TD would be the better of the 2 diesels from the factory or you could buy a broken 3 litre ute (blown motor) and whack a 6.5 Chev V8 diesel (like I have in my dual cab Patrol) and then you'd tow the Bushtracker without any dramas at all..... That option would probably end up costing you around $40K (say $10K to $15K for the initial vehicle plus about $25K for the engine conversion from Brunswick Diesel in WA). Still cheaper than a Blandcruiser.
Good luck
Roachie
AnswerID:
388632
Follow Up By: Hairs & Fysh (NSW) - Sunday, Oct 25, 2009 at 18:01
Sunday, Oct 25, 2009 at 18:01
My
young fella still tells people about the train that came through the
camp site LOL.
Even though there weren't any train tracks :)
Name Not Found,
I've seen Roachie's truck and it is set up very
well, If your serious about what you want to do, I'd get in contact with Roachie and take on board what he's done.
FollowupID:
656327
Reply By:- Sunday, Oct 25, 2009 at 17:43
Sunday, Oct 25, 2009 at 17:43
Thank you very much I will take all on board.
AnswerID:
388652
Reply By: Motherhen - Sunday, Oct 25, 2009 at 22:11
Sunday, Oct 25, 2009 at 22:11
Hi "no name"
We towed our 18' Bushtracker with our 3 litre td auto Patrol for the first two trips, including touring Tasmania. It did the job, but would not have been legal on the auto gearbox if we loaded it up. I also think the life of the motor would be reduced by a lot of heavy towing.
Tail wagging the dog theory is very important. For example, this trip when on a two wheel track cut deep into a fine
Hughenden dirt road, we had to move over for an approaching truck. The tail certainly wagged, and we have seen rollovers occur in lesser circumstances. Having the weight of the F250 made all the difference.
This year, we came across some fairly loose and deeper than expected sand on an inland NT road. Without the power of the 7.3 litre F250, we could have been in strife.
Also we thought our BT would be almost 3 tonne fully laden, but it was 3 tonne when on the vehicle as we left this year.
A V8 Cruiser if you can find a good one would do the job. I know lots tow 20 footers with 6 cyl Cruisers, but many of us opt for the security of the bigger 'yank
tank' types to tow with confidence and safety.
Have you been to the bushtrackerownersgroup.asn.au? Similar questions have been asked a few times on that
forum, and as an owner, you are eligible for full
membership (fee applies), and access to a tow vehicle section of the
forum.
Motherhen
At present camped on the banks of the Murrumbidgee and enjoying the Bushtracker life.
AnswerID:
388707
Follow Up By: Motherhen - Sunday, Oct 25, 2009 at 22:26
Sunday, Oct 25, 2009 at 22:26
PS: We looked at the option of fitting a Brunswick Deisel motor, which required of course new gear box as
well. This was a few years ago and cost was $20,000 with trade in on 3 litre motor IF it was still under 100,000 kms - nothing if it was over, further increasing the cost. Most of the restrictions with the Patrol would still stand, and we would have significantly over capitalised the value of the vehicle.
Mh
FollowupID:
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Reply By: PatrolBen - Sunday, Oct 25, 2009 at 23:55
Sunday, Oct 25, 2009 at 23:55
Mate Id highly suggest heading over to patrol4x4.com and put the question there. Alot of blokes tow alot more than what you are proposing with the ZD30 engine and highly reccomend it. Sure beats the hell out of the asthmatic 4.2.
Engine capacity or cylinders has nothing to do with reliability. Ask a F250 owner about the injector control module and
water. 6.5 Chev owners about oil leaks/block fractures ect. Its also a falacy about smaller engines being stressed to failure as
well.
AnswerID:
388712
Reply By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Monday, Oct 26, 2009 at 01:03
Monday, Oct 26, 2009 at 01:03
Think your towable weights are a bit out
100ser Cruisers can tow 3500kg 350 kg ball weight
3.0 auto Patrols can tow 2500kg but depending on ball weight must reduce car load.
Manual ones can tow 3200kg with the above weight rule
The big motored Patrols are rated up near the Cruiser I think.
Owners will no doubt correct me if Im wrong .
IMHO the cruiser rates best especially with a chip.
Had
mine over 120 with 2800kg on the back and some still left.
An F250 would be the bees knees but cost more than any of them.
AnswerID:
388716
Follow Up By: Trevor R (QLD) - Monday, Oct 26, 2009 at 09:36
Monday, Oct 26, 2009 at 09:36
Top speed has little to do with how good a tow vehicle is at towing, this is more related to how confident the driver is if you ask me. Yes an uninspiring tow vehicle will lessen the confidence of a driver but you can still max out poor tow vehicles to a big speed when towing. EG I towed my empty Supreme (about 2T) with my old Diahatsu Rocky and belted along the freeway to Noosa from Brissy at 110+kph but you can't tell me that was a good combination. Last year in my green GU with the loaded Supreme (min 2.5T) I was cruising back from the middle of nowhere at what I thought was 125kph but a mate in another vehicle was showing 135kph on his speedo and gps but you would never feel uninspired with this setup, it all just feels so right.
To me there is a few options and as mentioned the Cruiser, Patrol and the Effies (as
well as US imports) are about it. The Bigger Effies and US imports should need no mods to get the job done and give total peace of mind with the towing tasks, I don't know much about mechanical issues related to these trucks but I am sure there would be one or two to watch out for. The Cruisers and Patrols will do the job but they will have drawbacks depending on which of these you choose. There is enough info on all these vehicles and their drawbacks if you have the time to go through the archives. Overheating 4.2 Patrols, blown 3lt's, thirsty petrol Patrols and Cruisers, Cruiser's gearbox issues and diff problems ect ect. If you can't afford the Effie and are prepared to deal with the issues surrounding the cruiser or patrol then they would be an OK choice. My modified 4.2 Patrol would do the job but on hot days and big climbs it would be steady as she goes, something I have learnt to live with and over the 400 thousand k's on the old girls speedo these situations are a small percentage in the big picture. I am confident that I would feel more "inspired" to go a little quicker if I was towing the BT with an Effie though.
Big thing is to use what ever you have and enjoy.
Regards, Trevor.
FollowupID:
656431
Reply By: Robin Miller - Monday, Oct 26, 2009 at 07:59
Monday, Oct 26, 2009 at 07:59
Hi Name not found
My mates have towed a 3 ton
drill rig for business for 6 years with 2002 3lt patrol , was very happy. It went bang at 195,000 but all considered that that was a fair run with what the car went through.
I think repairs were about $7,000.
Towing is more than just about if the car will last, for example my 4800 patrol has bigger brakes than the 3lt as
well and when we worked out the overall running cost the diesel (+ repairs) was no more cost effective than the petrol version and has massively less power as
well as the poorer brakes so why would you bother with it ?
AnswerID:
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