Prado Maximum Towing ability

[Ba77hy Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ba77hy]

Hi all, just wondering about the max possible towing capacity for the Prado.

According to dealer specs 2500kgs.

What i am wanting to know is how is this rated? Is it rated by the chassis ability to hold, braking capacity, Towbar and connections.

My Father in law is thinking of buying a Prado but wants to be able to tow his 3000kg+ yacht

Any input on this one would be appreciated.

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

Definatly 2500 for the Prado.
You may have to look at a 100 series cruiser at 3500 kg towing capacity.
cheers
Les

[Matt Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt]

hate to break it to you.. but the patrol is only rated at 2500kg as well :wink:

well the zd30 one is anyway..

http://www.overlander.com.au/vehicle_te ... oo-v-ML270

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

The Patrol would do the Job mine has for 8 years towing about 2700kgs of John Haines Signature fun, you just need to take things easy, the big thing is that I have a manual Patrol and no how to double D clutch and feather the diesel through gear changes when necessary and definatly take it easy.

The alternative is an F250 Petrol or Cummins Diesel (Niceeeee) but not a Prado why,

I have just come back from boating three hours ago and watched a 2006 D4D GXL reversing a massive trailer sailer Bl##dy huge about 7.5M with an Illegal beam without flags and flashing lights, even my wife commented and said a big truck should be towing that.

I had just recoved my boat new small 4.5m boat and watched in awe as this PRADO jackniffed the trailer backing down the ramp and fair dinkum the whole vehicle chassis twisted, the guy woundered why I was standing so close and squatting down I didn't tell him I am just watching you stuff your GXL chassis but offered some friendly advice about reversing and setting up trailer brake's for reversing I also advised him to retrieve his boat at full tide.

Sorry I raved on a bit, but I have seen many vehicles stuffed by over weight boats.

My Two Bobs Worth

[IRON-PAWW Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close IRON-PAWW]

Yes. Boat ramps can be a lot of fun can't they just! The amount of aggro that can come out is unbelievable! I think you'd need to be very careful, as suggested already, backing an overweight boat down a slippery boat ramp. We use a small Willy's jeep to back our Hydrofeild 18ft down the ramp at Jurien Bay which is ok except you can lose traction, probably because the Willy's doesn't have enough weight for good traction. Just another aspect to consider. Maybe book in at a boat lifters to solve that one.

[conman Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close conman]

What about legal liabilities and Insurance? If you exceed the recommended load limits will Insurance cover you in the event of an accident etc. etc. etc.???

[Guest Close Guest]

Personally, I think it would be unwise to buy a vehicle to tow a boat that is heavier than the vehicle is rated to tow. If the yacht is over 3000kg (and I assume that is dry weight) I'd only consider a vehicle that is rated to 3500kg or more.

Personally, I'd go for something like a Ford F250. Its rated for 3500kg, but has a 7.3ltr turbo diesel V8, with lots of torque. More importantly, the vehicle itself is a bohemoth, and I think that will be such a huge advantage when towing such a heavy boat. When you consider the forces at work when a 3000kg+ boat moves about when towing, I wouldnt stuff around with a 2100kg vehicle. I'd want something BIG that doesnt get pushed around. Its not just about how the thing handles pulling the load, its probably more important how the thing handles being PUSHED by the load... for a 3000+kg boat, he needs something much bigger and more suitable than a Prado.

I believe that the Landrover defenders are also rated for 3500kg, but again, I'd prefer a bigger tow vehicle to keep it under control.

just my thoughts,

Mark

[Guest Close Guest]

What about legal liabilities and Insurance? If you exceed the recommended load limits will Insurance cover you in the event of an accident etc. etc. etc.???

No.. don't come any easier than that :P

[sclater85 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close sclater85]

insurance companies are like tax auditors they will rip tear and sort everything to find a way for you to pay money.

i know a couple people who have had car accidents,rollovers and the first things that inssurance check are the following

1.driver , do they have bad records, incapacitated, licensed
2.vehicle, has gvm been exceed has gtm been exceeded , have any modification been made to the car such as oversize tyres, suspension changes

theirs a few more things but generally one of the above will always be found at fault and instantly out comes the red stamp from the insurance company.

if you had to move a 3000kg item once for like 1km and thats it i might consider the prado however if your going fishing every weekend and need to move an item of that weight definitely get an allocated car prefferably a small truck , ive seen toyota landcruiser utes rated at 3500kg towing capacity struggle to pull 2600 kg of boat, the wheels and suspension could handle the weight but due to the incline, sand and wetness it just didn't have the torque or the weight to get traction to pull the boat and when theirs 20 keen people to get their boats in/out you dont wont to be stuck in the middle of them

common knowledge "right tool for the job"

[Wil Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Wil]

Re: Prado Maximum Towing ability

Can anyone tell me what the limiting factor is that gives the prado its 2500kg rating?

I have the opportunity to upgrade my boat for another that has a towing weight of 3000kg. I know that the car can tow this as i have done it before but I don't want to tow regularily over the rating due to insurance issues, and i don't want to change out cars knowing that realistically I am only going to tow the boat every couple of months, its just not worth it.

Is it possible to get an engineers certificate to increase the towing rating by putting in heavier springs or airbags?

If no-one knows, any suggestions as to where to start getting the info?

Cheers,

Will

[ntp Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close ntp]

Re: Prado Maximum Towing ability

Braking capacity?

[Wil Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Wil]

Re: Prado Maximum Towing ability

I thought about that, but when I compare the prado to the neighbours disco the prado seems to have bigger discs and way more stopping power.

[WBY 1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close WBY 1]

Re: Prado Maximum Towing ability

more likely to be chassis strength/design or transmission load limit. or even rear axle strength.

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

Re: Prado Maximum Towing ability

It's obviously a couple of things. Pulling and stopping.

One is the capacity of the towing vehicle to pull the trailer. Besides the engine/trans setup you also have to look at what the towbar is hanging off. Standard Toyota towbar is bolted to the chassis at the east/west rear connector. It must have a "rating" as does the towbar. Mine is bolted to this point and also to the ends of the main chassis rails.

Secondly, as NTPryce correctly pointed out, is the braking capacity of the combined vehicles.

The 3 door 150 is rated to tow 3000kg, 500kg more than the 5 door 150 or 120. The extra 500kg comes from the lesser weight of the car as it retains the same brakes.

And, as others have put forward, Mr Toyota will only warranty our car for 2500kg.

I once saw a Holden Gemini towing a huge scarifier. It wasn't rated but it could tow it!