Gipsy wrote:HK1837 wrote:I still say if you want to regularly tow 2000kg and above for distances, especially in challenging conditions (like country roads, hilly journeys etc, basically anything but flat highways) forget any Hilux sized vehicle. You want something that weighs over 2500kg and has around 5.0L or more. If you just tow a boat to and from the ramp, or a smaller van within 100km from home will be fine. Or a sub 1500kg camper trailer. Otherwise you just end up being a moving roadblock and flog the hell out of your vehicle.
Geez mate that's a bit harsh... I tow 2.5tonne at 100kph (sometimes 110) and I'm sure I'm not a "moving roadblock". I have no problems overtaking semi's and bdoubles uphill and I don't hold anyone up on the straight and narrow
It all depends on how fast you want to go, but we have speed limits to cover that. I just climbed the Clyde mountain with the van on last week and there were very few drivers stuck behind me.
Might be harsh but I think its fair. Every time I travel NSW country roads guess what is at the front of the conga line holding up everything including b-doubles? Vehicles towing something they are really too small to tow. I drove out to Parkes on Good Friday via the Golden Highway. Km after km of the slugs doing 70 in 100 zones, they can't overtake each other as the overtaking lanes are all uphill and all very short, and worse still they do not leave gaps in between each other so even when you have an overtaking opportunity on a straight road with dashed lines and no-one coming it is dangerous as there is nowhere to pull in if you have to. Part of the problem is the engines are too small to accelerate uphill quickly, the other part is the big 2500kg sail behind them that pushes the far lighter tow car around so it isn't comfortable or even safe to do the speed limit. I notice with my Hilux, it has a significant amount of power and torque, more than enough to accelerate from crawl to 120+ up a hill towing over 2000kg if it has to (think the hill coming out of Murrundi or out of Wallabadah), however it still does get pushed around by a decent load on the back, you really know its there when you have a 1500kg Holden on a 750kg trailer even with 4 wheel electric brakes and well balanced, so I do get people being worried to go much over 70kmh on country roads. I'm not singling out Hilux here, any of them: ZD30 Patrol, Landcruiser 120/150, Mitubishi Triton, Dmax, Ranger, BT-50 etc. Even small stuff not necessarily diesels towing something they may legally be allowed to tow but not really suited for, like Captiva or Subaru Outback or even Commodore/Falcon with their arses dragging. Ranger champions are another problem, they always seem to think they can overtake whatever is in front of them and crawl past meaning anyone behind them gets stuck - this happened to me coming out of Sandy Hollow on Good Friday. XLT Ranger loaded up towing a camper trailer decided he could get past the Amarok with a whale behind it. Half way up the 100kmh overtaking lane on the hill he was back to 50 and the Amarok was pulling ahead of him, so he pulls in behind, meanwhile everyone behind is hung out to dry. Just a few days ago going up and back the New England Highway, semis using overtaking lanes to go past baby 4x4 towing caravans chugging up hills, frustrating as hell! I rarely, if ever see the same problem with 100-200 Series, Y62 or older 4.0L+ Patrols, Rams, F-trucks, Silverado etc. They seem quite comfortable cruising along at 100 regardless of the terrain. IMO four long distance non-highway towing well in excess of 2000kg these are the go.
As I said around town as a tradie vehicle towing a decent load, that is what they excel at.
Posted: Tue, 11 May 2021 1:12 +0000