Big -Dave wrote: Just to throw something else in to the mix..a diesel ford territory, they run a 2.7 l v6 diesel, 170kw, and pretty economical too. I believe it is a jaguar sourced motor. There is the Nissan path finder too. (Based on the ute) If going euro, a mechanical warranty is a must.. As for the cruiser, perhaps a wee tweak on the turbo boost pressure and wind the injector pump up a bit, lots do it with surprising results. I did it to my patrol, as well as a 3 inch exhaust, total change..blows up the Coromandel hills with 2 tonne plus on it. |
Stonefish wrote: I have a 2005 Land Rover Discovery 3 as my everyday vehicle and tow wagon, it tows my 6.7m Surtees like its not there. The electronic air suspension makes hitching easy as. Great car to drive day to day as well. But they do have a few reliability issues and I’ve had a few issues, wouldn’t consider owning one without mechanical breakdown insurance. |
feeder wrote: Mad Brian, is your trailer not braked, if so why not, no way should that weight push a cruiser or a prado around. By the way, that model Colorado has 500 nm of torque and is best in class for towing. Cheers
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MATTOO wrote: Interesting observation there Raging Bull. I may have just that problem, will be keen to check out when I get home. As for tow vehicles I'm still using my 80 series cruiser to tow the 7.5 southern and she's a heavy unit. Does I think ok. But I have at times had ynot tow it with a late model ford ranger. Holy cow, you don't even know it's on the back. That is a great tow vehicle, drives like a car and tows very well indeed. |
Mad Brian wrote:
Thanks Stone Fish I have looked at the Discovery but did read in some reviews that there were a few reliability issues so have taken them of my list. Funny enough I was looking at those mechanical insurance last night as a friend had mentioned them awful lot of things that they won't cover and small print would have to be careful I think. Consumer doesn't recommend them at all due to the exclusions and problems people have had getting payouts. |
Raging Bull wrote: My old cruiser was similar to yours going over the hills to Tairua. My transmission bloke noticed when he too it for a drive that it didn’t feel like it was reving properly. He got it back to the shop and checked out the difference between the travel in the throttle when using the exalerater peddle and by hand. Turns out the exalerater peddle wasn’t going down far enough so we bent that a bit and he adjusted the throttle and it was like driving a new truck. Mine used to seem to take ages to change down gears when going up hill and wouldn’t kick down when ya put ya foot down to try and pass etc, it did after he fixed it. Your cruiser should be more than capable of getting up those hills with a 5.5m tinny, I was towing a 3ton glass boat. Other thing to check is the extra cooler, when I got mine it was fixed direct to the radiator, same bloke pulled it off and there was mud caked inbtween the two so there was no air flow. He fixed it to a bracket in front of the radiator and it worked a treat. I had a prado before the 80 series cruiser and it was great too, I just felt the 3 ton boat was on the high side of its good health. I now have a Ranger and it’s amazing, pulls like a school boy and drives like a car, apart from having the turning the circle of the titanic. But then I did go from a 25 year old cruiser to a new ranger so not a fair comparison really, I’m sure the new cruiser would be wicked, but I could only afford a new ranger or a 10 year old cruiser that had 200ks on it. |
Phantom Menace wrote: I don't have a Touareg but a mate has. He tows a FiGlass Warrior (over 6m - maybe 6.5m? ) with ease. His is petrol though. The air suspension makes hooking the trailer up easy. He's got a very steep driveway so the full low range comes in handy for creeping down ... He wasn't looking at Touaregs but saw one at a dealers while looking at other vehicles and ended up with one. |
MATTOO wrote: Mad Brian, That reason of storage is why I still have the cruiser. Also I can sleep without folding myself up to do so. If I could just get the driveabilty of the ranger with the outright tough nature of the cruiser at a 90 s price tag I'd be sweet. |
SpearPoint wrote: What about an Izuzu MU-X? The SUV version of the D-Max, that should do the job, be reliable and you should be able to pick up one a few years old in your budget.
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The Tamure Kid wrote: Glad you got something useful, if only to reinforce your gut feeling. No point getting a big Landcruiser fit to tackle the Northern Territory if it's not what you need for your circumstances. Fairly rudimentary vehicle, and perfect for some people. You're right, some of the comments went from banter to unnecessarily nasty in that thread, you'd think they were on opposite sides of the Middle East solution - not tow vehicle opinions. I have an early Hilux SR5 and it's great for my boating and family needs, which includes beach launching. But I only have a small ali runabout that you hardly feel like you're towing. Blasts up long hills. But while it rides well on the motorway etc, it's nobody's idea of a great cruising vehicle on winding roads. Nothing like what I imagine the vehicles you're talking about ride like. The only thing I'd add is to get an opinion from a VW owner about the cost of parts, servicing etc. I've heard European can get expensive. I found downloading relevant chapters of the Dog & Lemon guide was useful. Doesn't cost much, and they give a colourful opinion on vehicles which includes known common faults, issues. |
puff wrote: A later 3l d4d Prado must be around the 30k mark, will be a different beast than your older Prado.... What I like is the Prado is always in 4wd and as you mentioned you can store all your gear inside. Plus hi Lo ratio option.... Newer ones are 4wd discs as well.... |
Mr Moritz wrote: There is the Ford Everest 157 kw, towing 3,100 kg, 500 nm torque,10 speed box. But (there's always a but) it's over $80,000 |
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