triton ute towing a caravan

lesjohn · Newbie

triton ute towing a caravan

macka17 · Guru

Simple answer.

Too heavy... As well as being, probably too long. sway leveragewith centre avles.
Not so bad with rear set Suspension units.

IE Looking at if side on.
The axle\Susp unit is more to the rear, than centreline of chassis.
basically. The further to the rear. The better, for sway control and balance.

hornblower · Member

I tow a Jayco 21.65.03 at 2.8t ATM and GCM of 5.3t (5.7 is max on compliance plate) with mn triton 4 speed auto and have no stability problems at all and could only do with a little more torque on steep hills. This is near the limit for the triton, but if the van you are looking at is 2.5t ATM you should have no problems. If yours is a manual you might struggle getting off the mark, particularly up hills Don't believe the knockers who have never towed with a triton. If you took notice of the previous comment we would all be using prime movers. Just watch the knockers bite now!

outlaw40 · Guru

lesjohn we towed our 21ft concept 2.7 t with an 2013 Triton. No worries with stability,no worries with having enough torque. but if its a manual FORGET IT they are geared to high in first gear,some will say you can take off in low range but with no way to disengage the centre diff you will have serious diff windup. In short auto no worries manual no way. I now drive an auto bt50

The Belmont Bear · Guru

Lesjohn, I currently tow a 2.7t van with a 2.4ltr Pajero Sport which other than the 8 speed transmission and the coil suspension is basically the same as the Triton. After adding some air bags to stiffen the rear supension I found that it does an accetable job and the load is quite stable. The problem I have is how hard the smaller motor has to work (fuel consumption etc.) to achieve it's maximum power and torque. I have decided to upgrade the Sport to something with a bit more power probably a Ford Ranger or even a Landcruiser Sahara depending on how many more months I'm prepared to keep working overseas to buy it. Anyone want a perfectly good 16 month old Pajero Sport with only 8K on the clock ? biggrin

Ron-D · Guru

We Tow a 2.2 ton van with a challenger auto ,same 2.5 ltr engine as your ute and it pulls it very well indeed, there's no way I will purchase another vehicle and play the your cars worth nothing game with the stealers...

oldbloke · Guru

I'm also towing a 2.5t van with 2014 auto Triton. If that's what you have use it. Stability is fine once the WDBars were set up. Torque wise I would say about at its limit. I get about 13 or 14litres per 100km.

lesjohn · Newbie

Thanks everyone for your responses.....I have also been advised by none triton owners to put a cooling oil filter on the gearbox...anythoughts on this??

Big Mal · Senior Member

It's really a matter of if the weights will be legal or not the tow capacity on most vehicles is in dreamland after you do the maths........read this www.withoutahitch.com.au/caravan/ask-expert-navigate-tow-vehicle-limits/#
Have a few mates who tow with auto tritons without dramas but they are on the limit really.

hornblower · Member

I am seriously considering a lock up kit and a nomad valve body from Wholesale Automatics in Bayswater as I do a lot of hill towing. In general in flat to undulating country transmission goes into lock up and runs at about 70C. It sits comfortably at 93-94 km/hr true or 100 on speedo. This is the sweet spot on my triton. I consistently get 16.7 l/100km towing 2.8t. which is no worse than towing a 25' yacht I had with a landcruiser and nissan patrols. When I tow up serious hills atm temp rises to about 112c because it has dropped out of lockup on 4th gear and so torque converter slips in 2nd & 3rd & 4th gears creating heat. A lockup which works on these gears reduces the tranny oil temp as well as giving full engine braking downhill. For every 15c rise in atm fluid temp fluid life decreases by 50% so you can see it is important to keep temp down. This affects all autos. not just Tritons, so a lock up kit or even an extra ATM cooler is a good idea if towing heavy loads.

Ron-D · Guru

With mine and the brother in laws challengers and I think they all would do this at times,when climbing extremely high hills for extended periods, the transmission will lock in safety mode, second gear,then you have to pull over and turn the engine off for five minutes then it rests itself, a pain in the butt,the good thing is there a great tow vehicle and this is something that happens rarely...

PeterD · Guru

lesjohn wrote:
Thanks everyone for your responses.....I have also been advised by none triton owners to put a cooling oil filter on the gearbox...anythoughts on this??

Yes they all hark back to the days of towing with a Holden or Falcon where the heavy tow kits included an external transmission oil cooler. They are not really necessary for commercial vehicles. Fitting them often results in gear boxes being slow to warm up properly or running too cool when running solo.

It is more important to keep your motor spinning freely at higher revs and light throttle when climbing hills. When talking of oil coolers I take it you have an auto box. You need to keep the engine speed above 2500 RPM so there is minimum slip in the torque converter. What is referred to as slip is actually the torque converter working. The more it works the more it creates heat. If you keep your engine speed up with reduced throttle the converter is at its most efficient state. This means less heat buildup and no need for extra cooling.

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

The Auto runs more boost / power ., Either fit cooler or use the auto as manual on hills . Pulling it down s few gears . It WILL assist in better durability. I towed a 2.5+ ton cable winch with big drum of copper wire behind a Triton . Gave it hell for 150k ., Use auto to slow down also !! Or you will need to service brakes & rotors often .

macka17 · Guru

Transm Cooler IS a good idea if you towing.
I Have an 18in Cylindrical one with fins on mine.

But live up north in Q'Land, where we hotter basically.
Also HAVE a Wholesale Converter lock up on my D'Max.
One word. MAGIC.
Worth every cent.

If you have a UTE style transm. they fairly robust normally.
Unless you have the $500 spare for the Valve body.
I didn't bother.
The Nomad just basically. Hardens up the changes a bit. (Bigger oilways.)