I am a female solo traveler so a reliable car is a must, 5 km outside Coonabarabran this happened. A few weeks ago, the car, a Nissan Navara D40 towing a 23ft 5th wheeler WELL within the limits advised by Nissan burnt the clutch out at 24000km. I have replaced it at my own cost Nissan did not want to know about it. I have since learnt that this is not an isolated incident. It seems if they are put under load [tow/4wd] they burn out. Just wanted to let you know, I wouldnt get a navara if i knew then what i know now.
I gave up on manuals many years ago, but from reports on many forums 'Dual Mass' Flywheels on many modern 4X4's have been found wanting when if comes to towing. You're certainly not on your own. Cheers, ozjohn.
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Retired Engineer, Ex Park Owner & Caravan Consultant. Holden 2.8 Colorado - Roma Elegance 17'6" Pop Top. Location: Mornington Peninsula Vic.
Navara is too tall in first gear for heavy towing, too much clutch is needed on lift off.
This is a common complaint, highlux is the same.
Yes, son-in-law has done one on his Navara, towing his work trailer full of sand and tiling paraphenalia. All the boys sitting around discussing it had heard similar stories with the Navara too. (haha but then again, they always do don't they)
Interestingly, when we looked for a Navara, as suggested for our 5th wheeler (2008), the Nissan dealer suggested that it was 'not strong enough; I'll show you something better.' They were also Mazda dealers and we bought a BT-50 manual 4 x 4 - same engine but a stronger chassis (not to mention $10,000 cheaper!).
Subsequently we heard several horror stories about the Mazda clutch, too; however, after 65,000 km and with close to the maximum GCM, our Mazda is still fine and showing no signs of weakening. We can't recommend the Mazda enough - and the later models are reputedly even better. We've been very lucky, it seems!
Andrea
PS - my husband John also points out that, very early in our travels, we were shown how to take off keeping the revs as low as practicable, rather than instinctively pushing the engine to take up. This, we think, may also have a bearing.
-- Edited by Andrea on Sunday 30th of October 2011 02:51:03 PM
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Free-ranging, in a Southern Cross 5th wheeler, in between property-minding (to save money!).
PS - my husband John also points out that, very early in our travels, we were shown how to take off keeping the revs as low as practicable, rather than instinctively pushing the engine to take up. This, we think, may also have a bearing.
Andrea, glad to hear that you took notice of what was pointed out to you as this has put you on the right track & has possibily saved you heaps of money in clutch replacement.
So many people use a couple of thousand reves & ride the clutch , particualy when trying to park their van.
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Be your self; there's no body better qualified ! "I came into this world with nothing , I still have most of it"
Navara is too tall in first gear for heavy towing, too much clutch is needed on lift off.
This is a common complaint, highlux is the same.
What do you mean by "too tall". I will be towing with a 4wd hilux which people have assured me will be absolutely fine to tow my little 780 tare Viscount.
Also reading the other posts, is it a good idea to always put the ute into 4wd when trying to park?
No need to engage hubs Ellen, but it dosnt hurt to select low range as it makes backing and manouving easy because ever thing is slower and it gives you more reaction time cheers blaze
Navara is too tall in first gear for heavy towing, too much clutch is needed on lift off.
This is a common complaint, highlux is the same.
What do you mean by "too tall". I will be towing with a 4wd hilux which people have assured me will be absolutely fine to tow my little 780 tare Viscount.
Also reading the other posts, is it a good idea to always put the ute into 4wd when trying to park?
Elle, the term 'to tall' means that the gear ratio that has been built into the vehicle is too fast for a start off, meaning you have to use higher engine revs to avoid stalling the engine, which inturn means you have to ease the clutch out much slower to get the car moving, this is called clutch slipping or in a common term, riding the clutch.
A little viscount like you have stated should be no problem for you, its when people try towing a couple of tonns or more that the trouble starts.
On you second questionof 4wd, if the vehicle is of an older type with manual locking hubs on the front wheels, you can select low range 4wd with the hubs left in the unlock position for you reversing & parking.
This will reduce the gear speed by about 2/3rd's, giving you more time to control your direction when parking the van, this will do no harm to the car.
However, if the hilux has fixed &/or auto locking hubs then do not do this on a hard surface road such as concreate /bitumin or hard gravel areas , as this will cause what we call transmission windup, can damage the transmission & will make it difficult to change gears while in this mode.
If you were to have a constant 4wd vehicle the use of the low range 4wd is ok.The use of low first is the way to do it, to use low 2nd is defeating the purpose as low 2nd is almost the same as high 1st.
Hope this helps, if you need mor you can PM me.
JC.
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Be your self; there's no body better qualified ! "I came into this world with nothing , I still have most of it"
Thanks JC my ute has manual locking hubs so when I reverse for parking I will put it into low. Geez you learn so much from this forum. I hope I have not abused my clutch too much in the past from towing heavy loaded trailers
These days with high first gears and dual mass flywheels, I think you have to be a bit of a mug to buy a manual to use as a tug. Autos are much more suitable to tow with.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
