Advice needed -4WD for Towing 3.5tonne and used for commuting.

By all up weight towing the boat, do you mean the weight of the whole rig or just the boat.

Reason I ask is looking at towing capabilities of utes I dont see any with a higher legal capacity than 3000kg except for an F250.

lc79 SERIES TOWS 3.5 TONNEE WITH 300 KG MAX BALL WEIGHT

Great minds think alike Oldplotter ;)

If you suggest 3 to 4k savings on the depreciation alone, and the fuel savings of 4k, things are really adding up...

@Gazza414

this must have crossed your mind too when doing the sums.
Buying a small zippy commuter car, light on petrol, less rego, funner to drive over the mountains and in the city, a lot less service costs and depreciation, savings on purchase price, environmental considerations....

And for the occasional trips down south, why not hire a big and comfy truck?
Geez, your fuel cost savings alone are more than 4k p.a. when I look at these figures....

Just a thought.

Best regards, batterymeister

Another vote for Oldplodder's suggestion. Seems a bit of a waste to have a big vehicle capable of towing huge loads but only used for it's intended/designed purpose twice a year - the rest of the time it sounds like you could almost get by with a motorbike!

Of course, it all comes down to personal preference - and whether it's your heart or your hip pocket that has the most influence on the decision.

If you want one large do it all vehicle, the 70-Series Landcruiser wagon might be worth a look - tough as a Troopy but a bit shorter (height and length) and more passenger friendly (ie. rear side doors).

Yep ,I'd be looking at a pub car for work commuting too.
Why put all those extra K's on your fun car and wear it out sooner than you need to?

100 series payloads are as follows

TD man 642kg Auto 672 kg

V8 pet man 854kg Auto 811kg

These weights include BALL WEIGHT

This from a specs page on the model.

Interestingly the guy said his rig would probably be OVER 3500kg so none of the Patrols or Toyotas can legally tow that weight

The figures above are misleading as well

Whilst the stated towing capacity maybe 3500kg It is NOT if your tug is fully loaded.

Deducting the GVM from the GCVM only allows 3050kg towed weight.


Have to do the sums to find out the truth.


Cheers

Gooday,
Another VERY STRONG VOTE for Jeep CRD. Have A Jeep Commander and tow a 21 ft Caravan that is a round 3tonne all up, (had Grand Cherokee previously, (2.7 CR great to), Commander is a little heavier and very stable when towing, slightly longer wheelbase than Grand. Had ours since 2006. Just getting 80,000KM service done. Not a hick up.
Physically much more compact than Bruiser or Patrol, great susburban vehicle as well, think you will find it even smaller than a Prado. They have 3500 Kg tow rating, 340 Kg on the ball I think it is.
My only downside of Jeep is the do not old their resale value as well as The Japanese ones, so if you buyS/Hand you are on a winner.
Suggest you take a decent test drive, but go Diesel.
Cheers,
Boroma 604.

Agreed Graham,
But the Troopie has a payload that is 350kgs greater than the 100series TD so is less likely to be at or over GVM.

I'll have to second this selection. I really can't fault the 4800 towing and the auto (sorry Robin) is as smoth as silk. It is not a fuel miser and no argument with that but it is pretty comfortable and versatile compared to some of the Yank utes - yes I know the upspecked luxury models are an exception.

Kind regards

Gday Robin :-))

When I look it up, the 100series TD has more torque at 1800rpm than yours has at its peak of 3600rpm.

Towball download on the Patrol might be an issue - 200kg limit at GVM according to their website. I'm not sure why Nissan have done this - my guess is because of chassis cracks.

Hi Phil

Well your correct its peak is 430 compared to 420 at a weight penalty and assuming its non gas , but somehow I thought there was a cost limitation and the 151kw TD was in it , otherwise just get a 200 series and beat the lot.

However the 100 series turbo 151kw version while very good, doesn't make as good a highway tower as torque drops off at both ends and doesn't contain as much energy delivery over its opperating range. This is how Patrol wins overall.

The 100 series I believe would be the better tower , say across Simpson where its stored momentum is a lot better than the Patrols.

Gday Robin,
I'm guessing you missed that the 100series TD was on Gazza's shortlist. So I just corrected your statement that "This car has the most torque of any you mentioned ".

Looks interesting.
Yep, you are right about hiring a vehicle with the required towing accessories, may not be as easy as first suggested.

In that case buy a Toyota 100ser TD.Make sure its the 1HD-FTE motor

Look on Carpoint there are quite a lot on there at the moment depending on where you are.

DO NOT FOR A MINUTE CONSIDER A 1 HZ non turbo motor.

Cheers we have been towing nearly 3 tonne for a year with no troubles in 44,000k

Cheers

Hi Gaza

I can verify that the download force is 200kg plus a factor depending on derated GVM

i.e. if Gvm reduced by 220 kgs , then download force is 300kg max (pre-2006 4800 in manual or auto

Gazza,
Just follow the link below for the Patrol specs. Scroll down to the bottom of the last page and you'll find a table that outlines the towball download. Given the payload is under 700kgs, with 4 people in the vehicle, you'll be at or over GVM before you know it.
Patrol specs.
.

Thanks gents, it appears as though the Cruisers have a higher payload spec ,,,although from what I hear from others is that the Patrol is build to take far more than the spec in comparision to the Cruiser?..any comment?

Gazza, click on the following australian google searches and see which you think can handle the weight:
cracked patrol chassis
cracked Landcruiser chassis

The 1hdfte turbo motor HAS an intercooler I wouldnt put a turbo on a IHZ even though a lot have. They still are slugs in comparison to the later TD

My mate bought a new V8 and I said why not a diesel and he reckoned the fuel and servicing difference in cost was too much for the 10 years he expected to keep it.

However towing heavy loads the diesel does it better and more economically


The towball rating on the Nissan is another reason to have a Toyo as you say

you will have the family and a load in the car.

It is very hard to load them up with what you want and stay legal


EG fuel 145kg Ball weight say 300 kg Leaves you 227 kg for you, mum the

kids and lunch Total payload 672 kg limit


Cheers

I tend to agree as with the family and the towball weight you would be hard pressed to stay legal with any of the vehicles suggested.

Except perhaps the troopy Trayback with the largest payload of all.

As well you wont need a garden trailer if you have a truck.
LOL

Thanks, I have n't considered the Jeep at all..I'll look into them..what is there build quality like?..spare parts?, reliable?,resale value etc

quality and reliability: Excellent, especially after the commencement of the DaimlerChrysler partnership began (which was well before the current model was introduced), also shares the Merc diesel engine. Chrysler is also known for its bullet-proof auto transmissions.

parts availability: not real sure, i think the only downside, is there are less dealers than Toyota and Nissan.

resale: all 4x4s are better at resale than cars, though Jeeps not quite as good as some others. Get a demo or used, and it won't be a problem. I think my dad bought a demo and it saved close to $10k instead of ordering a brand new one. At least that's what he was looking at. Slightly used ones didn't seem much cheaper, so I don't think it will be a problem for you. Certainly, it's not going to be like a Falcon or a Commodore which is worth nothing when you drive off the lot.

I told my father, it's hard to justify the price of a LandCruiser 200. He doesn't need the 3rd row seats. Even with its 4.5L diesel, it legally cannot tow any more. So $30k-40k more than the Jeep is hard to justify. So if you're going to spend $90k-$100,00 on a tow vehicle, get an imported Ford Super Duty or Chevy Silverado Heavy Duty with a big V8 diesel, that can pull 4,500kg on the bumper hitch, or even more with a gooseneck or 5th wheel coupling. www.american.com.au typically sells 2008 Chevy Duramaxes for about $100k. That is with RHD full ADR compliance etc. Which is in LC200 price point. 2010 Ford and Chevy diesels have 300kw and over 1000Nm of torque.

But anyway for towing twice a year, you don't need anything that beefy. Take the Jeep for a spin, and let us know what you think. Best of luck with your purchase!

I have a Nissan 3.0Di Patrol and did a Kimberley trip (about 10K) with a mate with a Lexus LX 470 (V8 4.7L petrol). We were both towing camper trailers and I had the extra burden of a rooftop tent pushing air, he had no rack. He would run ahead of me a bit on the tar (I prefer 90-95, he was on the limit) Over the trip he used slightly less than twice as much petrol as I used of diesel.

As a guess I would say that a V8 Cruiser or 4.8 Nissan is going to use around 23-26L/100 towing at the speed linit with that kind of load.

OBT