tow vechile

One thing to be very consious of, is not pushing the towing capacuty to its limit.

So many peopel tow vans and trailers with vehicles bordering on their legal towing capacity....not a good idea at all

If you are expecting to do serious highway work or any off road work at all, best to stay well under the towing capacity like 75% tops.

remember too many vehicles to achileve the declared towing capacity you have to reduce the load carrying capacity of the vehicle.

you need to work on
declared towing capacity
declared maximum combination mass
declared maximum ball weight

they don't always work out like you would think.

cheers

Stevo,

Following Bantam's advise you are looking at a towing capacity of 2875 plus in a vehicle.

Remember, Discovery's, Pajero's, Proado's, Challengers, Rexton, Pathfinders as well.

If you are happy with a ute, it will open open up a larger choice of towing vehicle.

LC200 GXL TTDV8 - you'll never look back (except to see the vehicles you pass on the road!)...

Some good reading about towing with Landcruisers (various) over on lcool.org.

Real opinions from owners. 70 series, Prado's and 200 series - lots of bedtime reading on the iPad!


---IanB

Stevo, keep in mind that if the Tare Weight of your van is 2300 kg, this is its unloaded weight. Once you fill water tanks, gas bottles, your food and clothing plus other necessities like a bit of grog your Gross Trailer Weight, which should be listed on a compliance plate, may push you up to the 3000 kg mark. Also as has been mentioned pay close attention to the downward force applied to the vehicle tow ball via the vans drawbar once you have loaded up.
In my humble opinion it is not just the tow vehicles ability to tow the van but having enough "bulk" to stop and control the van in side winds and wet/slippery conditions.

Cheers
Pop

Hi Stevo, We had a problem with our original tow vehicle 2007 Toyota Hilux, it could only tow 2.25 tonne, so we had to upgrade and after a lot of research came up with the Nissan Pathfinder ti 550 v6 diesel, towing capacity of 3.5 tonne, fuel economy on our recent trip to Lake Eyre, according to the vehicles computer was 13.8 l/hklm, and that was towing a 23ft 1996 Roadstar caravan, fully loaded at 2.6 tonne. Our speed was around the 1ooklm mark depending on who was driving at the time, My wife did have us up to 115, while I had a sleep for a while [about 2 hrs] and the fuel economy went out the window but as she said we covered some distance in that time. we left from Perth. I hope this helps.
Broodie H3

Hi there,

thank you so much for the information you have all provided to me..
It has bee invaluable ..Vey much appreciate your time.

Once again thank you all

Stevo

Seems you need a vehicle that: A. Is rated to pull 2800kg + -* (or whatever your van's tare + payload figure is). B. Can take a download on the towball of 280kg* (*some vehicles can pull a lot but can't take 10% of that on the ball !!). C: Has enough payload remaining after accommodating that towball load for passengers, fuel and all the other goodies you will put in it. The whole issue needs to be thoroughly researched before you buy the car - if not sure on the topic, take expert advice - from posts seen here and elsewhere at times, it seems best to avoid caravan and tow vehicle salespeople for this advice (such as... auto versus manual transmissions make a difference in capability for some vehicles) - get it right yourself. Oh.... and as mentioned above.... with the indicated loads behind you at times, plus a van size that catches a fair bit of wind, it's safer to have a chunky, weighty, sure footed vehicle with a towing capacity that well exceeds the minimum requirement.

With a TARE of 2300Kg the Prado is out of the picture as are a number of other vehicles.
The loaded weight of the van will most likely exceed 2700Kg.
Ask the manufacaturer to give you a payload of at least 500Kg or better still 600 to- 700Kg
i.e. The van needs to have an ATM of at least 2800Kg. (500Kg payload).
So you'll be looking at a tow vehicle with a 3000 - 3500Kg tow capacity.
Ozjohn.