Looking to buy a new tow vehicle what would you recomend?

The Bushtracker is a big heavy van and I would suggest a Landcruiser 200 series. People do tow them with 100 series; the 200 will do it better. I tow van weight of around 2700kg and return an average of 18l/100k with a 200 series. Of course you can got Chev Suburbans and the Dodge and Ford equivalents, and they are fairly economical towing big vans,

More detail on the van will improve the quality of the responses Andrea - particularly the van's ATM (all up, fully loaded weight), plus length.... the LC 200 easily captures a lot of larger van classes, but there are other tow contenders, depending on the intended van specs.

We ended up with a 200 for towing our 3t van. Its unreal the difference to a 76 wagon we had, felt like it was floating on bad roads. As with all cars factory suspension isnt good enough for such weights.

Off the top of my head, the Mazda BT50, Ford Ranger, 2012 Holden Colorado, 2011 Jeep Grand and Land Rover Disco 4 are all economical turbo diesels that are rated to tow 3000 plus. Does the fact they haven't been mentioned mean that they would struggle doing what they are advertised as being capable of? I'm interested to know.

Hi Andrea, We have a Nissan Pathfinder ti550, and it is a great tow vehicle, puts out more torque than some other vehicles, it has a v6 deisle engine, and the towing capacity of 3.5 tonnes. On our recent trip to lake Eyre from Perth, towing a 23ft Roadstar Caravan we averaged 13.8l/per hundred K. I have towed my mates three tonne boat with it From Perth to Bunbury, no hassles what so ever, Just another option to consider. Have fun with your new adventures.
Broodie H3

Hi Andrea
For a van that big as others have suggested the 200 cruiser is the go. We have purchased the new GX 200 cruiser which only has 5 seats thus giving you more cargo space. This is about $10k cheaper than the GXL they have some diff features but same engine, gearbox etc. I don't know where you are but make sure which ever one you go for RING PLENTY OF DEALERS. I also found the new GX cheaper than 2nd hand GXL's.
Regards
Richard

Thank you everyone. I very much appreciate your views and it would appear that the cruiser 200 is the go given the threads consensus.

G'devening all,

I agree the 200 series would be most suitable. My retired parentas however have a big, fully optioned Bushtracker caravan which they currently tow with a V6 TD Navara and previously the older STX Navara. They have towed this van for more than 50000kms around the country over the last 6 years with no issues at all. In october they returned from a 18000km trip from Eudunda (mid nth SA) up thru NSW & QLD, followed the gulf from east to west, across to Wyndham and onward thru the iron ore country and goldfields and eventually home ( a lot of zigzagging along the way). Ave 14 - 15 ltr/100 for the trip.

I originally recommended a wagon but dad carries all sorts of stuff he wasn't happy having in the cabin area. Fair enough.

Me and the family recently replaced our 350000kms old GU petrol Patrol with a new BT50. Apart from the offroad camper we often tow our heavy cattle tandem trailer, 2500 - 3000kgs, and the Patrol was great for that although fairly thirsty. The BT50 has only 10000kms on it but so far is every bit the capable tower the GU was. Fuel consumption towing the big trailer about 13-14ltr/100 (compared with the GU 25ltr/100). The BT50 has however 340000kms to really match the GU (the best vehicle we ever owned)

To finish, if I had a choice between our Mazda and my folks flash Navara I'd take the Bt50 every day of the week.

Cheers Nick

Hi Andrea 11 don't forget to take into account the 10 % ball weight which would be about 300k.g maybe on your van ? happy caravaning.

Check the loaded weight of the Bushtracker carefully, not forgetting ball weight. Talking to a few owners lately of Bushtrackers around 19-21 feet and they weighed in at around 3500kgs. If you fill all those water tanks you can carry well over 500kgs of water without the supplies, generator etc you may need. It is a good idea to find the most powerful tow vehicle you can afford. Fuel is really the least of your costs. If you stress a vehicle towing a heavy van for long distances close to the tug's limits you will end up with major costs and possibly breakdowns. John and Lynne