Towing vehicles

handycapped · Veteran Member

Towing vehicles

Plendo · Guru

Hi Andrea, I first need to qualify what I say, by letting you know that we are not on the road yet ourselves.

I have however put a fair amount of research into towing vehicles in the bracket you are looking at, the list is not very extensive I am afraid.

Here are the ones I have found:

Holden - Colorado Ute (3,500), and Colorado 7 Wagon (3,000).

Ford - Ranger Ute (3,350).

Toyota - Landcruisers NOT PRADO, only ones with auto are 200 series, and older 100 series.

Mazda - BT50 (3,500) just like its brother the ford ranger.

Mitsubishi - Pajero (3,000 but beware ball weight drops as towed weight exceeds 2,500 ), Challenger (3,000)

Nissan - D40 Navarra (3,000) and Pathfinder (3,000).

Jeep - Grand Cherokee (3,500).

Land Rover - Discovery 3 or 4 (3,500), Range Rover (3,500)

VW - Tourag (3,500).

Audi - Q7 (3,500).

I am sure I have missed some, but I am also sure that someone else will point out the ones I have missed.

For the weight you are towing, it would be advisable to have a safety margin, so that limits the field even further.

For me, I have ruled out some of the above, because they are too big (over 5m long), some because they are too well travelled (more than 150k km), poor reputation, or just because I do not like them.

I checked out the newest of the bunch last weekend, and ruled it out almost immediatly, poor design, and even worse build quality.

I am currently strggling between a second hand Land Rover (prefer a Disco 4 SE), or a new/near new Jeep Grand Cherokee (only the WK series diesel).

I hope this list helps you, at least identify the contenders.

-- Edited by Plendo on Tuesday 22nd of January 2013 09:22:03 PM

handycapped · Veteran Member

Hi Plendo thank you so much for that very helpful respnse. Some of those on your list are also in our sights. We are thinking Isuzu D-Max or Colorado, Ford Ranger, BT-50. We do not want to go over $50K (with trade in) so are limited by that, we also don't want too big, as there are only two of us and one very small dog. We have seen some second hand models at a reasonable price but they have big mileage.

We will keep looking before we buy, thanks again. Hope to be on the road by late March.

villatranquilla · Guru

I would not always believe the weights on the compliance plate - a weigh bridge check would ensure accuracy - we recently looked at a new Jayco with slide-out (not as long as yours) and empty ball weight was listed as 210kg - add a couple of gas bottles and start loading the boot with chairsand other basics and we would be over our 250kg limit very quickly.

handycapped · Veteran Member

Yes, exactly that's why we're going for 3500kg tow to give some leeway. Thanks for your input. Cheers

neilnruth · Guru

Hey, handycapped, haven't you discovered you have a PM (message)? Have a great day.

handycapped · Veteran Member

No. Can't say I have. Where is it?

neilnruth · Guru

Check the right hand corner of your page - near your name it will say you have 1 new message. Click on that to find your message..

Member

Ford Ranger is rated now at 3500kg and the BT-50 is 3350 kg

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

An important group of vehicles missing from the list above are the 70 Series Landcruisers, all 4.5L V8 diesels.
4 door Waggon, tray top and twin cab.

Cheers,
Peter

handycapped · Veteran Member

Hi folks - thanks for the responses. We've solved the problem and bought the BT-50. Very happy with it, please don't post any horror story experiences! It's too late.