Off road Caravan options whats the truth?

[Bamurru Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Bamurru]

Caravan sales people are doing my head in with their prado friendly sales pitches and misinformation. I actually gave up looking for a small off road van because of confusion about what was true and what wasnt. Anyway i have a much loved 2009 3 litre diesel. Any suggestions about a suitable off road van. I have been looking at smaller JB Gators and Lotus Offgrid but not sure of the practical and legal reality of towing a van given the fairly limited towing capacity. Any suggestions or advice greatly appreciated. What do i need to be mindful of. Can my 120 Prado realistically handle an offroad van?

[money_killer Member Find all posts View Profile Close money_killer]

basically Prado friendly mean can legally tow it but watch your weight when you load it up so you dont go over your 2.5t towing capacity and GCVM cause it you do then it is illegal . Read this

https://www.racq.com.au/cars-and-dri...specifications

https://www.goseeaustralia.com.au/blog/buyer-beware-fat-van-towing-trap

[money_killer Member Find all posts View Profile Close money_killer]

still confuses me but.

[Bamurru Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Bamurru]

Thank you money_killer thos links were very useful
if anyone has any experience with towing I'd also appreciate your feedback. While a van and overall weight may be legal how does a 3litre turbo 120 series really go towing 2.5t. I am concerned that in practical terms such as performance and engine wear and tear my beloved Prado may not be up to pulling 2.5t

[money_killer Member Find all posts View Profile Close money_killer]

i tow my 150 prado 2.5t capacity a mdc xt12db which im told is legal but have to watch how much i load it ..

[LeighW Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close LeighW]

Depends how big you want the van to be, if your after a small van that will go anywhere the Prado can have a look at the Vista RV's

[Bamurru Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Bamurru]

Thank you....

[money_killer Member Find all posts View Profile Close money_killer]

still no real input on the subject thought there would be some more reponse's. check out http://www.caravanersforum.com/index.php#

[Bamurru Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Bamurru]

cheers....i will see how i go on that forum

[GEEEXL Member Find all posts View Profile Close GEEEXL]

where is "theguy" that pops up about now and goes ;

"i tow 2.5t behind my Prado and can barely feel it - i also get 5l/100km '

[Bamurru Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Bamurru]

Cheers GEEXL .....and the defeaning silence from those on this forum about the reality of towing 2.5t is supporting my scepticism of those caravan dealers who promote this 'prado friendly' label just to get you to buy when the reality of towing such a weight particularly off road may be very different. Anyone with a positive 2.5t towing weight experience please share your story. Thanks

[Razorback81 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Razorback81]

i have the 08 D4D 6sp
now from the start it's heavier than the factory says it is (been a bug of mine to get the GVM right & withing GCM as well)

with a lot of fruit on your car you will struggle a bit

to give you some weights
i went and found a std GXL 07 without the rear aircon but rear sears fitted nota single modification done !!! weighed it and it was empty with the light on and it was 2190kg
front axle is allowed to go to 1290kg (the factory GXL car weighed 1240kg empty of fuel with 2 people sitting in it, add the tank full and your going to be just over)
the rear is allowed to be 1800kg ( the factory GXL car weighed 1100kg empty with 2 people in it)
now considering the van will add weight to the rear and take a little off the front it should be OK

thing is it hold 180L fuel call it 160kg
van ball weight will be in the order of 250kg for a 2.45T van

now w ego to my car
it's well over weight with all the mods you need to to remote touring ( did 6 weeks out the back of the car up through the Cape etc)
all the mods will take it over

now i have just brought a 150 D4D auto with the different brake actuator for the wife to drive andd to tow the van , and i will keep the 120 for remote trips and towing the boat etc

the 150 tows my van easy (i am much happier after i fitted a trans cooler) i dont feel that it's a heavy thing taking off or stopping it
the 120 feels heavy (3.25T with the van connected) but it tows it fine and stops it fine
if your's is the auto it will most likely feel fine

if you look at all the numbers
there are not many cars that can do what you want with all the gear in the car and then a van on the back

even with my car being 3.25T with the van connected i was still only 5250kg GVM so was still under max load , but the car is over

the 200 series is worse as the factory has dropped the GVM from 3800 to 3350 for some reason , then all these people are paying to put it back up


honestly i have towed 5 different vans in the last 5yrs
i have a Roma Razorback off road single axle van (my last of the 5) weight is 2350kg fully loaded with all out stuff , food , water, etc etc , there is a 100kg left for me to get it to GVM of the van
i have towed it through most places i go, the only thing that stops me is the wife saying we dont need to go there with the van on

the other vans i had were the coromal 535 mirage poptop 1450kg , jayco freedom poptop 1700kg, jayco discovery poptop 1450kg coromal excell 1450kg all tandem axle poptops under 1800kg and the prado was great towing them still doing mainly 15L/100 plus more with head winds

i would look at some of the coromal pioneer of road vans as they are 1600 to 2000kg
the newer the van the less likely you will take it down that track , the newer versions of the off road vans are very high , tak enote of anyone towing coming towards you and see how big the van looks behind the car

sorry for the long winded report just my $1.20 worth !!

[Bamurru Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Bamurru]

Razorback81.....far from being long winded you have contributed to what is a complex issue....thank you for taking the time....any others with experience of towing vans with a 120 series manual please add your story and advice.....it would be appreciated

[Leethal Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Leethal]

When you ask can a Prado handle an off-road van a bit more detail regards where you will be towing might get some more responses. I mean are you intending to say complete the Tele track which involves creek crossings with some fairly serious entry & exits or just the Birdsville & Strzelecki tracks which are a lot less challenging.
Obviously the more "off-road" you go the more stress and demands on the tow vehicle.

Lee

[krypto Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close krypto]

We tow a Coromal Silhouette Pioneer on some pretty rough tracks, pretty sure it is overloaded most of the time as we carry a lot of gear on these trips (Up to 300l water, plus food plus gear...). Suspect that we get close to the GVM for the Prado and over for the van which has a stupidly low load capacity, but stay within the GCM. Indirectly related to the conversation, towing is so much more relaxed with decent high quality suspension.