G'day
I was just wondering, Ive seen alot of these so called soft 4wd's like
the suziki 4x4's and was wondering if any thing like those would be good for
towing a van around the 900-1200 kgs?
im thinking about a possible small 12 ft pop top would suit me, if i dont go the
campervan way, but whats a good small- midsized car would work well
has to be easy park and run ,etc any ideas?

Hi Milo,

The specifications of any vehicle will [or should] tell you what its' towing capacity is.

Cheers.
Sheba.



-- Edited by Sheba on Wednesday 10th of November 2010 03:58:06 AM

Manufactures will give the specs but would you want to tow a large weight behind a vehicle just because the specs say you can. My old range rover could tow 4000kgs but I can asure you that wasnt practical. I tow a 16 foot millard with a series one discovery landrover and dont think I would like to tow much bigger van, I now tow in comfort. I believe a lot of the soft roaders are bias to the front with the power. Small engines also work extra hard to tow and fuel economy goes out the window. I think you are on the right track with a van of somesort but dont go to small on the vehicle cheers blaze

 Gday Milo, nice to see that your back on the right track,
As i mentioned to you on my previous thread a week or so ago, in my humble opinion the smaller rear door poptops would appear to be an ideal van for you, very light weight and easy to tow, and plenty of room for you and the new doggy that you are going to save from the pound. [ when you are ready ]

as for the car, the suzuki vitara do get a good rap, i have two friends that have them and they reckon they are good, reliable, cheap to run, and very good off-road ability
and they would handle the small vans no problem,
but i would also suggest you look at the toyota Rav-4, they also have a good reputation and will tow a max 1500 kgs
whatever you decide, keep your dreams alive, and keep doing your homework, IT WILL ALL COME TOGETHER .   Rgs dazren

I, as of today, have rescued a puppy from the animal rescue. I pick her up on Friday. She is a gorgeous little wiry terrier called Punky and is 12 weeks old. I lost my Mindy, a little foxy nearly 2 years ago at the age of 17. It has taken me a long time to feel ready for a new mate. I didn't want to replace Mindy, I wanted a new friend. Can imagine Punky sitting up beside me as I travel the highways.

 Well done H.W. may you have many,many, many, years of happy companionship.
Good choice with those wired hair terrier types, very intelligent, very loyal, and are virtually bulletproof with health matters, we have one next door, i call him 60/40 as we look after him 40% of the time, and he is great mates with my dog,
and also good on ya !! for getting him from an animal rescue, i wish everyone would look at those places first. [ don't get me going on those bloody puppy farms ]
Rgs dazren

thanks guys, im always dreaminmg etc, i sometimes feel im annoying you guys sometimes i went and looked at some budgies at our local pet shop and was plesantly supprised that they had a sign on there wall saying "we love our animals as much as you do, and all our puppies and birds come from local breaders and not puppy farms" which i thought was great. on the i like the looks of the rav 4s ,2 door units , but the suzuki ones are about the same power as my mazda 2, which is only 1.4 ltre.. i dont know much about cars at all. just how to drive, and if i need to change a tire i can kind of do that or call the nrma if i cant get the darn nuts off, im hoping i can make up my mind when i come back from our overseas trip, and then really work out what i want, part of me whants a campervan and not worry about towing but im still worried about the high ks , part of me wants a caravan to leave at the cp and have a car to look around i like the little nipper ones etc it doesnt have to be too big.. but then how do all these handle our wild weather etc?? so many thoughts im realy greatfull in all your help in all this

Hi Milo,

I've got a Suzuki SX4 which is rated to tow 1200kgs, so when I bought my 800kg van I thought I'd be fine, but as did more and more research I found out that the tow ball weight is only rated at 50kgs so even though I love my little Suzuki it's not suitable for towing.

It would pay to check the tow ball rating on any soft roader and not just go by the braked towing capacity.

I hope this helps.

BTW Ma told me about the Nissan Xtrail that she used to tow with before she bought a bigger van and I would have gone for one of those but I want a diesel and I just cant afford the 2010 model x trail which I believe is the only one that is diesel (I could be wrong though) so if you're happy with a petrol soft roader the Nissan Xtrail might be an option for you.

Keep Smiling