Ok contracts on farm exchange so hopefully buy mid next year on the road for some small trips first. The van is sort of sorted, it is a compromises most of the stuff the wife wants up to the point saying no bigger the van is 20.10 feet inside travel length 27.11 feet Standard ATM 3200kg Ave payload 850kg.

I have owed Isuzu for 15 years and as if we are traveling the wife will need to drive it sometimes so it need to be a auto. Test drived a new 2017 D-Max was not impressed, took a 2016 5 speed felt lot better. The other possibility of a tow car is a LandCruiser pre up date in Sep 2015 to keep computer inputs down ( not a fan) so most likely 2014 model. 

Is the D-max to small for this size van and any input on Land Cruiser I have never own one. 

Thanks any input fine as I like other peoples opinion then I can make up my own mind.  

Welcome..


And very much


YES.......

ANY ute is resricted to around 2.5 t MAX tow weight. 2.2 better. SAFELY
I tow 1.8ton ish.

You'll find that none can actually tow the 3.5ish ton they say on paper.
Check the figures.

And I'd reduce van size too.

It's guaranteed. 50% of what the wife WANTS to take.
Will never be used.
Just dragged around taking up space and burning fuel.

Have fun and REDUCE her wants...

I won't mention on the Toyota. They overpriced\Overrated things.

Looking in a different direction ...

I bought a 2nd hand L322 diesel Range Rover to pull a 24', 3 ton van.  Although it is over 10 years old it was properly designed to pull 3 ton horse floats while carrying a 200L drum of fuel in the boot.

Many (ill informed) people will say it's the wrong choice because of it's first generation automotive computers, but the electronics on the engine, gear boxes, traction control and suspension have been solid, while the original gps and infotainment system can be replaced with a modern head unit for ~$350 (be sure to keep the 4 x Harman Becker second stage amplifiers and 11 superb speakers).

Based in Newcastle, NSW so far we've taken the van West to Broken Hill, South to Mildura, North to Moree, Warwich, Roma, Maryborough, Brisbane and numerous shorter trips.  Average fuel consumption over all conditions at ~90kph (including climbing up to Lithgow via Bell, cruising across the Hay plains etc) has been 5.5km per L (18.2L per 100km), with 5.7 ton gross load.  [Car = 2350, van = 2720, tools & spares 50, generator 40, fuel 140, water 100, food 30, clothes & linen 50, toys 50, passengers 150]

Some additional reasons for choosing the L322 -

The monocoque  body is super stiff, keeping the fully independent, double wishbone, air spring suspension in firm contact with the road while the 60/40 transfer case (with traction control) gets the power down where it is needed.  Further there is no disconnect (wobbly rubber bushes) between the body and chassis, the suspension bolts up directly to the super strong body shell.  The auto-leveling air suspension is fantastic for towing, hook up, plug in the trailer and drive off; as the vehicle reaches 15kph the springs get pumped up to take the load and the vehicle is level at 'normal' height.  If you need extra clearance for a creek or a speed bump unplug the trailer, go into low range and select 'off-road' height.  Brilliant!  The massive 4 wheel disk brakes will easily pull up the whole rig even if all of the van's electric brake system fails (or is unplugged during tight maneuvering). 

Comfort, comfort, comfort.  Did I mention the 5 way electric adjustable leather arm chairs up front?  Or the electric tilt and reach steering wheel?  Or the key memory; each key stores its own seat, mirror and steering wheel settings, so when you swap drivers just swap keys and EVERYTHING moves into place.  Or the massive leg room front AND rear?  Or the 3 zone air conditioning?  Or the 6 puddle lights to show the ground next to the doors when entering or leaving?  Or the self-leveling zenon head lights that flood the road for effortless night driving?  Or, or, or ...

The standard tune on the diesel is very conservative; I got mine re-programed for 15% more torque than factory spec and there's lots more that can be added, but I don't need it.  Current output is 420Nm from 1800rpm dropping to 380Nm at 5000rpm.  Across this huge rev range it also has 180hp at 2200rpm rising to 200hp at ~4800rpm.  This is a little better than a BT-50, especially the lower revs.

Oh, and the best part, the vehicle I bought cost $258,000 in 2003, (equivalent to more than $500,000 today) and I got this unbelievably comfortable and capable car for $32.000 (plus ~$2000 govt charges) in 2014.  Fitting a Hayman Rease weight distribution hitch to the built in tow bar and adding an electric brake controller added another $1,000.  So $35,000 compared to a new Land Cruiser SUV that STARTS at $120,000.

Just look outside the box occasionally.  I do the oil services and have changed the brake pads myself and there have been no surprises, except for a few odd sized spanners to fit the metricated inch sized bolts.

bye.

-- Edited by bruceg on Saturday 30th of September 2017 08:10:22 AM

Before you go too far in deciding which vehicle - read this article - get your wife to understand it and then you can convince her that you should be looking for a smaller van.

Yes BruceD./

Those Rangies ARE the best on road.
It's just a matter of convincing people.
Same as the smaller Disco's from ser 2 5 cyl.

AS LONG as they have. FULL, Complete. Service records with it.

More comfortable than most cars

I used to do a bit of "shuttle" work with a mate when visiting him in London. Yrs ago.
Just for the experience of. and fun.

Moving veh's round the parking spots to negate fine every 2 hr 10mins.

Was good fun.
Rolls. Bentley Astons. Jag.s, Lots of Rangies. You name it. We moved it.

Rangie was the easiest.
best vision. Most Comfortable of the lot, I found.
Everything just fitted nicely to hand.