Having found the van that we want (Comes in at 2.3t) we now need a tow vehicle. We are looking at a 2006 model, series 100 Landcruiser, 5 speed manual 4.2ltr diesel no turbo that, is in our price range. Off road travel is not being considered.
Question's. Seeing as the loaded weight of the van is 2.3t would a manual cruiser be suitable? If siutable, are there any suggested addittions / modifications that should / could be made.
hi wombat. the first thing i would do is,see if there is a aftermarket, or toyota turbo kit . that would fit your vechile ( if the toyota has a fair ammount of mileage,dont do this) it will give you that much extra power,and better fuel mileage.
Apart from the turbo addition, and be very careful with any after market turbos, Make sure the suspension of the 100 Series is strong enough, or reinforced enough to do the job you want it to do. There are a few modifications which can be done to strengthen and toughen it up a bit to take the weight better. The standard vehicle will do it, but stronger suspension will take some of the strain off. I think the manual vehicle is most appropriate. I personally have problems with the concept of automatic transmission 4WD and towing with it. I'm a big fan of manual. I like to be in control of what I'm driving and what I'm towing. Oh yeah I know what you "wiser" more informed blokes are going to say, but that's just my personal preference. It has nothing to do with sex - or has it? Oh, I mean gender, you grubby minded nomads. Don't forget to smile. Cheers Chris
__________________
20ft Roma caravan - Mercedes Benz Sprinter - SA-based at the moment. Transport has no borders.
Management makes the decisions, but is not affected by the decisions it makes.
did someone mention "SEX", so thats what that big long thing in the gearbox bulge is, it's a phallic symbol, and all this time I thought it was a gear lever
2300 kilo should be well within the reach of your toy but just check to see the towbar is up to it, allow 230 kilo (at least) ball weight, check your towing regs to be sure that this is within the allowable regulations for your vehicle, I would like to see a "hayman reese" rated at least 2800 - 3000 kilos hanging off the back clearly stamped with the max ball and towing weight
the suspension, provided it hasnt been hammered should be fine, from memory the falcon handles somewhere near that weight so the toy should s##t it in
be aware of the type of brakes the van has on board and be prepared (financially) to equip your tug with the apropriate add on's
I wouldnt worry about a turbo, only adds to motor strain and all it achieves is a bit more torque, you achieve the same with a couple more gear changes,
tuning the aftermarket turbo to suit your vehicles compression is a trick that a lot of mechanics havent mastered yet, if you go down this road be sure that they have fitted a few to this type of vehicle and will guarantee their work, or tune it to "underperform" it will save you thousands in the long run
automatic will be fine, but watch the tow capacity again, some cases the tow weight is different from a manual, not sure in this case without doing a lot of research which you should be doing anyway
Thank you all. SWMBO'd reckons I spend to much time researching stuff. However when one is buying on the "pension," it pays to ask the "stupid" questions, of the people who have done it already.
The one we are looking at Dave, needs the towing gear replaced. Parkside Towbars here in Perth do one for a reasonable price. I'm also going to get them to fit a suitable electronic brake controller (The van has electric brakes) and hot wire the fridge via the towing harness (Plug) into the vehicles system for when mobile if, we purchase this vehicle.
Forget the 100 series, the better power to weight ratio of the 80 serie;s would be my choice, you can still get them with a good milage on em and if its been serviced regularly and well that would be my choice, In appeareanc they are almost identical, and you can save dollars, Agree with Dave, forget the turbo, use your gears
absolutely nothing wrong with the older vehicles as Mike states, I am a great perponent of the use of an older vehicle, I drive one myself with extreme pride, been around australia twice with her and she's ready to go again ("little blue" 1985 model Hi-ace) the scenery is identical, they are sometimes a little heavier on fuel but I tend to think they are a little more reliable as well and cheaper to repair
the money saved (and we all have to do it, so absolutely no shame there, pension or not) can be put to use in other features such as brake aids and the like
never be afraid to ask questions, no such thing as a "stupid question" and research, research, research
when you replace the towing gear, and by that I assume you mean towbar setup, be sure and tell them the weight of the van that you are looking at and be sure they go large enough to accomadate that weight factor with at least a 15% safety margin
I had five minutes to spare so I thought I would noodle around and find a few specs on towing with the 80 series (after october 96) and 100 series cruisers
as far as i can see they are both identical in the towing weight department, both limited to 750 kgms unbraked capacity and both rated at 3500 braked with the towpack, which all I can see is a heavier tow bar
when purchasing a van remember to add at least 10% or more on top of the weight of the van and ball weight for the purpose of working out your actual tow weight, this is for water and gas and clothes and odd's and ends that get gathered along the way
when you say "hot wire" I assume you mean a "live" wire direct from the battery of the tug through a suitable size fuse to a "live" output on your van loom plug. is this correct, please make it like this so as to not have any power problems down the track,
maybe instead of running it through the wiring loom of the van you would consider terminating the live end through an anderson plug at the towbar, then pick it up through the use of the other end of the anderson plug at the van and continue it to your power board in the boot of the van
all this is only common sense and common knowledge but I must place this info in here just for the total "newbies" who are reading this thread and will come back and state silly facts that I may have left out, I am not talking "down" to you, I would never do that to anyone
ask whatever you wish, dont be embarrased if it sounds stupid, everybody has either "been there done" that or about to, so someone will have the answer
-- Edited by dave06 on Monday 13th of July 2009 11:30:34 AM
Once again thanks all. Points noted and filed. Most cruisers on the second hand market here in Perth are, "Red Dirters" ex mining vehicles, mostly well serviced with fair mileage. Dave, the towing gear I was looking at is rated "Tow capacity 3500/350. Regards
yep I had five minutes to spare so I did a bit of "trolling" around to see what I could dig up regarding tow capacitys between the various cruisers
according to the data that I could find the 80 series cruiser built AFTER october 96 has the same braked tow capacity as the 100 series they are both rated at 3500 kgms
there is also a consensus of "rule if thumb" bush trigonometry that states, and I quote
"a general rule of thumb is that the towed vehicle should not exceed the tow vehicle by any more than 1.5 times the tow vehicles weight"
now I dont know anything about that but I do wonder how a 6 ton prime mover could pull a forty tonne b double using those figures so I tend to disregard them a bit
HIgh mileage really doesnt bother a diesel too much providing the service is regular and well done, I would expect 600,000 kilometres plus out of a relatively modern diesel with good service, before needing any major parts
they are built extremely rugged and strong to cope with the enormous compression needed to combust the fuel
if you shop around a bit and check prices for the same vehicle in other states you may find that you COULD save the price on the airline ticket and in theory get a lower mileage vehicle
the 3500kgm is the maximum allowable tow capacity for either the 80 or 100 so I assume that is part of a heavy duty tow pack, the 350kgm rating is reffering to the ball weight rating (roughly ten percent of the braked towed vehicles weight)
should see you absolutely fine, I would expect no great dramas with either the 80 or 100 series cruisers even with relatively high kms on them,
I once went chasing bulls in an old cruiser ute bull catcher (granny you know the ones) in the kimberleys, no compression, no doors, bonnett flys up all the time, chew up the oil, wont start without aerosol, but they just kept going day after day, god knows how many k's they had on them but it would be over a million and still going strong, not much fun to drive though, wouldnt reccomend buying one
My "Rosy" is a '95 diesel 5 speed 80 Series which has done 297,000kms. She's been around Oz twice with me, and at least once with the previous female owner. I'm planning to pension her off any time soon. I have the Hayman Reese towing kit - strong and sturdy and up to the job. Much better to have more than less in this situation. More horses are more economical on the road in the long run, rather than dragging the guts out of not enough thirsty horses. I use my gears to actually "drive" my truck. The 100 Serie's suspension I believe is a little softer, and there is more plastic around the body. You choose what you think is best for you, and Dave has a lot of very sound advice. All I know is I'm glad I was driving an 80 Series when I rear-ended the little car. Generally it sustained minor damage, but the Smart Bar is cracked. Cheers Chris
__________________
20ft Roma caravan - Mercedes Benz Sprinter - SA-based at the moment. Transport has no borders.
Management makes the decisions, but is not affected by the decisions it makes.
I mean, I am NOT planning to pension her off any time soon. She's about to get a face lift by the panel beater after my little bingle yesterday. A man once said to me, "Don't sell your 80 Series! Don't sell your 80 Series!" So I won't - not yet anyway. Cheers Chris
(This damned laptop has a mind of its own, and the cursor jumps all over the screen. If it doesn't want me to type a letter, it won't. Hence the blue in the previous thread.)
__________________
20ft Roma caravan - Mercedes Benz Sprinter - SA-based at the moment. Transport has no borders.
Management makes the decisions, but is not affected by the decisions it makes.
Yeah, Chris, there's a lot to be said for proven technology, especially the relative simplicity of repairs
I'll be hanging on to my FJ62 for as long as I can find spares to maintain it.
Don't get me wrong, I think that much of the new stuff is fantastic, it's just that it requires a lot of specialist tools, equipment and expertise to mend it if something does go wrong. That all costs lotsa loot and, if you're a long way from a major centre, a lot of waiting for recovery transport.
__________________
Old age and treachery will overcome youth and enthusiasm any day.......
hi wombat. dont discount my sugestion about a turbo. ( a ) it does give you more power,so with a reasonably heavy van,everything runs cooler and easyer. ( b ) if you are on a pension,every dollar counts???? so with a turbo you do get a better fuel economy. on a big trip this is big bucks. ( c ) i would go for a manuel gearbox,its just a personal thing but i think you have more control over the vechile. with a automatic gearbox,you dont get as good a fuel economy.
Thank you all. SWMBO'd reckons I spend to much time researching stuff. However when one is buying on the "pension," it pays to ask the "stupid" questions, of the people who have done it already.
