We have been looking on this forum for a couple of years now with the wish that we may at some point join in all the fun that you guys are having.... now we are at the point of making a decision about spending the (adult) kids inheritance omg..!! lol...if I may ask a couple of questions of all the savvy nomads out there ?
The information that I've been reading regarding tow vehicles is to say the least confusing (to me anyway) 3500kg utes not being up to the task of controlling a van with say an ATM of 2900kg... ? HELP.
Many thanks for the welcome mate we are looking forward to getting organised with both Tug and Rig within the next week or 2 and getting out and about in this great Country
Welcome to the gang Bill and Shona, enjoy here and out in the playground.
Not sure if I fit the "savvy" bit you mentioned and I don't give advise as to what to buy but what I did was get a twin cab ute with 3.5t listed towing weight with 350kg listed ball weight and a van 2.7t with 250 on the ball so it was well under. The Collie is around 300kg under it's max as well. All works extemely well and I am a full time GN, my address is, Australia somewhere.
Keep Safe on the roads and out there.
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Live Life On Your Terms
DOUGChief One Feather (Losing feathers with age)
TUG.......2014 Holden LT Colorado Twin Cab Ute with Canopy
DEN....... 2014 "Chief" Arrow CV (with some changes)
Many Ta's for the info mate, I have been looking at the Colorado and had a test drive last week along with the BT-50 and D-Max.
The thing that blows me away is that a unit the size of the recent Nissan Patrol doesn't compete with any of the above in towing and yet is a solid footprint !
Anyway I suppose it all comes down to the trade-in etc as they are all in the picture
Welcome to the forum Ozcott there are a lot of very good people on this forum all of them willing to offer some great advice. Having been through the same exercise as you guys recently my suggestion would be that you make a final decision on the unit that you will be towing before you decide on what tow vehicle you need to pull it with. The best advice I heard was that as a rule of thumb you should be prepared to spend at least the same on a tow vehicle as you pay for your new van. In hindsight we didn't and the vehicle we have although it controls the load OK is a little under powered when it is asked to pull 2.7T up hills.
Welcome to the forum Ozcott, I'm here in Perth also, quite willing to have you have a chat and a look over our rig if you need. We got sold down the path by the salesmen, and have to tread very carefully on all up weights.
Many thanks for your message mate ....makes a fair bit of sense If I'm honest can I ask what your set up is and what you would change (within reason & budget) We are looking at a Retreat 18'-6" internal with a tow ball of 111kg/ tare of 2432kg and Atm of 2900kg , dunno if we can stretch the same price as the van for a new tug so may have to look at a year or so old.
Hi Ozcott, I have a Retreat Fraser (19'6" internal) which came from the factory complete with added options at 2285 tare, towball weight 140kg and an ATM of 3200kg. I tow it with a Pajero Sport rated at 3100kg towing and towball max weight of 310kg. I try to keep the van when loaded to around 2600kg by not filling my water tanks, the Sport pulls the load okay but on long climbs or standing starts the 2.4ltr motor has to work fairly hard, which greatly increases the fuel consumption. Personally if I was planning on pulling something 3.5T I wouldn't be buying a ute based tow vehicle but that's just my opinion and there are plenty of others out there who would disagree. Eventually when the other half also retires and we are spending more of our time on the road we will buy something bigger but it will be a couple of years old and already set up for towing . That shorter length Retreat seems heavy at 2432kg which one is it ?
-- Edited by The Belmont Bear on Friday 6th of January 2017 01:17:36 PM
Many thanks for your reply.....The Paj is a nice machine and if it or the Patrol were a 3.5 rated they would go down a storm with most folk I would imagine, I had a drive of a couple of dual cabs but if I'm honest they just didn't do much for me as we have been driving our CX7 for the past 9 years and love it ...but wont tow much !
If cash was no issue the mighty Landcruiser would be the go but it's way over priced methinks I did test drive a 2015 Grand Cherokee that was pretty sweet and tugs 3.5 but some of the stories I've heard are a wee bit off putting.
The Retreat van that we have now put a deposit on is the Macquarie its a Nov 2015 model fully off road which accounts for the extra weight.
I see by your profile that you are a 56 kid....me too what a year eh
Sorry Ozscott, didn't read your reply. When I brought the ute, the salesman told me to all my questions "Yes, Yes, Yes", will tow all of that. When I went to look at caravans the same, "What vehicle have you got?" with that you can tow anything in the yard. What they didn't say was "provided you didn't put anything in them". When I was working out the back of a shop, I used to annoy the salesmen, by asking "How do you tell if a salesman is lying?" answer "his lips are moving" that is soooo true. Leave yourself plenty of leeway weight wise, you get less grey hair!
PS you are just down the freeway from us.
-- Edited by iana on Saturday 7th of January 2017 09:34:43 AM
Bill I like to remind people that television wasn't the only great thing that happened in 56. I don't know where you are in the west as I'm not familiar with the place name in your profile but we lived from 79 to 81 in Dampier - the Macquarie is a nice van it's actually the one that we were originally intending to buy. You will find that you get some great advice from a lot of very experienced travellers on this forum and I agree with iana "Leave yourself plenty of leeway weight wise, you get less grey hair!".
And it's welcome from us two 2 bill n Shona it's certainly a mine field out there we have a patrol ute (2.5 tonne towing ) which is fine for our 5th wheeler the van is ok but I'm right on the limit of the Utes rated GVM to the point I may have to leave sue home, which is a pain, I can get it up rated not sure of the cost of that so at the moment I'm looking at the Iveco daily as a replacement for the patrol even though I really like the patrol
Get od luck and keep asking questions better to find out now than after you have bought it
Woody
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When the power of Love becomes greater than the love of power the World will see peace ! 24ft Trailblazer 5th wheeler n 05 Patrol ute and Black Series Dominator camper trailer ( for the rough stuff)
Thanks for the welcome....I would have went with either the Pajero or the Patrol if they had the capacity to handle our requirements as I think my life would be cut somewhat short if I left the boss at home....!
Can I ask if you had any issues with your Retreat that I should look out for ? I am flying over to Melbourne tonight to carry out pre purchase inspection and if ok conclude the deal then fly back to Perth the same night...Phew We will then look at our options for getting it back over this side of the country .
Good Morning Ozscott, we have a BT50 (extra cab 3.2 auto), so far it seems to love towing. Had the rear springs up-graded but all else is standard. The combined mass of the two units is what I have to watch. Our van has two recliner chairs, and the van was the only one we could find on the market, it was really a take it or leave it offer, the size was what we got. It is comfortable though.
Hi Ozscott, in terms of Retreat caravans I can't really give you a lot of tips about what to look for as this one is only a couple of months old and so far we haven't had any issues. By coincidence in the bay next to me in the storage yard where we store it there is exactly the same Retreat Fraser (2 months older). The couple who own it asked to meet with us last weekend to compare notes and they were also very happy with theirs and had had no issues. The only thing that I would say is that if you're looking at a van with a tare of 2432kg I probably wouldn't be buying the Pajero Sport it will have to work too hard, get something with a bigger motor eg. BT50, MUX, even the larger Pajero (all for around the same price). Just keep in mind with the older style Pajero although a good tow vehicle the maximum towball weight will reduce to 180kg when the trailer is over 2500kg. Like a lot of other brands our Retreat was built in Melbourne and then transported up here to Newcastle by a contractor you could ask around and find out who they are using to deliver vans interstate.
The BT50 is a nice drive as far as utes go, we had our CX7 for 9 years and loved it but as you know cant pull much, how big is your van/tare/atm/ball wt ?
Well just got back from inspecting the van and glad to say it is immaculate (13 months old) so all good in that department, handover is on 7th Feb and as I have lots of time on my hands (yeah) my brother in law and myself intend on doing the big road trip to pick up the rig and mosey on back to the West.
A quick question mate have you heard of anyone doing the same thing and was it pretty simple in regard to permits at borders ?
Bye the way I was quoted $ 4700 for transportation! (where's the fun in that lol)
Ozscott, I really have no idea about what paperwork is required to move a van from state to state, for me it was all part of the purchase price of a new van and was organised by the dealer. I was under the impression (in NSW anyway) that when you bought a vehicle registered in another state you had a certain amount of time to transfer the registration over once you got it to it's new home (same as a car). I don't recall ever crossing a state border where they have actually checked my registration they are more interested in agricultural stuff. As I said I have never done it so I will let someone more knowledgeable than I am answer that one for you. Glad to see that the van checked out Ok - for a shake down trip Melbourne to WA is a fair hike so you should be pretty familiar with it by the time that you do get it home. Now all you need to do is decide what you are going to pull it with.
Well Ozscott, I will be towing the full 6000kg combined weight whether Macca likes it or not! we are planning on living in our van, so its probably bigger than what you would need for weekend getaways. Like I said the BT50 (Ranger) seems to love it, in hindsight though, I would now be looking at a smaller second hand van.
Well I have made some progress the past few days.... in regards to permits and unregistered vehicles....it seems that I can buy a 7 day permit in Victoria which will allow me to tow the van through to the South Australian/West Australian border village and then I get a couple of 48 hr permits for the remaining leg to Perth.
After a lot of deliberation with Tugs and with the better half's comfort in mind we decided on an 18 month old Jeep Grand Cherokee Diesel ! so it still has a bit of manufactures warranty and we took up the offer of an extended 5 year warranty just in case, the reviews are very mixed with Jeeps lots of unhappy owners have had their say online about recalls etc but having spoken to a number of people in car parks they are delighted with them, I suppose human nature being what it is most people find the time to complain but not to praise a product or service.
So we are all set to go apart from tow hitch and weight distribution bars which is my next mission.
Sorry I'm a bit late with my reply to your post its been a wee bit crazy the past few days....sounds like your pulling a duplex with your Mazda ? you mention living in your van...does this mean you are escaping forever the cost of owning bricks and morter and heading into the Sunset
now we are at the point of making a decision about spending the (adult) kids inheritance omg..!! lol...if I may ask a couple of questions of all the savvy nomads out there ?
I did test drive a 2015 Grand Cherokee that was pretty sweet and tugs 3.5 but some of the stories I've heard are a wee bit off putting.
its a Nov 2015 model fully off road which accounts for the extra weight. 
We will then look at our options for getting it back over this side of the country .
