Towing capacity

[Loubaga]

Just popped the top off No2 piston 20500k on the clock 60k of this towing 2.4t van. 2011 Kakadu bugger!

[Prerderp]

I emailed toyota about this a while ago, I mentioned that overseas the 5 door Prado has a 3 t towing capacity, and asked what could be done here in OZ. I also pointed out that the 3 door has a 3t towing capacity..

Apparently the reason the 3-door prado has a higher towing capacity is because it has the same load-bearing components as the 5-door (suspension components etc) and the same engine and transmission, but is itself much lighter so there's far more room in the GVM budget for towing.

Doesn't make a heap of sense in terms of stability though - put a 3 tonne van behind a SWB Prado, I'd bet that throwing the anchors out at 110 will be a pretty hairy experience!

[Prerderp]

It's simple, if Toyota increase the Prado towing capacity they will sell less 200's

I've always figured that this probably their plan, if they gave the Prado a 3500kg towing capacity there'd be no reason at all to buy a 200!

Their weight figures have always seemed conservative though. The towing figures seem to be more "What you can tow all day, every day, for the next 20 years" rather than "the maximum weight you can possibly drag up to 110km/h on a nice straight road without your engine overheating".

[lst2]

FYI Prado 150 GX and GXL owners can now tow a 3,000 kg off road caravan

http://info.kimberleykruiser.com/pra...-road-caravan/

but it comes with cost roughly $3000 by look of it. have read of the thread.

[peter_mcc]

I checked - Statewide's upgrade is GVM only

[yowie]

I looked at 1760kg and 1900kg dry weight single axle full off-roaders today in Mandurah. 17.5 footers and nowhere to get away from the missus inside. Bugger.

Big enough for one, leave the missus behind !!!

[camdyson]

Sounds like Statewide's is a GVM upgrade but NOT a tow rating upgrade.

Active 4x4 claim they can get my GX's tow rating up to 3000kg too, and have the car/towbar certified accordingly, legal Australia wide. Looking seriously at this option, would be interested to hear from anyone who has this upgrade as to what the modified suspension rides like.

Cam

[peter_mcc]

I did some looking around on GVM upgrades - I found Statewide 4X4 can do one once the vehicle is registered. I'm not sure if it's ok for QLD but Vic & NSW are ok. It takes the GVM from 2990kg to 3350kg and they are ok with KDSS models.
We haven't got our own Prado yet (borrowing one when needed) but I'll be looking at it when we do!

[Bushbasher]

I looked at 1760kg and 1900kg dry weight single axle full off-roaders today in Mandurah. 17.5 footers and nowhere to get away from the missus inside. Bugger.

[Mark from Brisbane]

The upgrade (sadly) isn't possible in QLD, I looked everywhere before I bought my caravan.

In the end bought a semi off roader with a tare of 2100....doesn't leave me much room for stuff on board if I fill up the water tanks.

The van however does have pretty much everything we need, and yes only an 18.6 (but really that's plenty of room) and handles the gravel roads well........we did about 1000K's this year without too many issues, a few small things to fix when we got home.

The pity is that my 150 is beautifully set up for off road 4WDing and camping (and we still do that), and the cost to update to a 200 series, and reequip that to the Prado specs is beyond my financial ability, and now I am a self funded retiree that's not going to change.

SO, stuck with the Prado and the lighter van

[QUICKY]

Sounds like you are describing my new van Dave. Tare 2750kg fill the water tanks and your up to 3000kg and still have to put in all the food ,clothes and cooking gear. at least it's rated to 3500kg. I saw one at the Penrith show a couple of weeks ago that was stated as rated for Prado and had a tare of 2250kg, just don't weight it when it's loaded.

[Bushbasher]

I am window shopping for a new off-road van. Most of those on show are indeed in the vicinity of 3000 - 3300kg and all the reps will tell you that you can get one behind your Prado. What they don't tell you very often, but what you sometimes can glean from their websites, is that the Prado friendly version of their vans come with one axle, not two and have had 4 or 5 feet chopped from the overall length. Everybody wants a tough looking dual axle off-roader with separate shower, toilet, 4 water tanks, 3 solar panels, 2 batteries, 2 spares, brush protection, etc etc. Most of these start at 2700kg empty. I haven't heard of anyone here in WA offering GVM upgrades.

[mjrandom]

Working on my mates Challenger on the weekend, it has a 3t towing capacity.

[yowie]

Went out to the Penrith Caravan & Camping show last weekend, and noticed a few of the manufacturers had signs up on their displays stating that this particular model of caravan could be towed by Prado, written in big bold letters.
Looks like they recognise that a lot of people who are in the market for a new van own Prado's. I was quite surprised to see these signs but looking in the car park on the way out, I did notice how many Prado's were there.
As mentioned in a previous post though, I was amazed to see so many BT50's towing vans on a recent trip to Broken Hill and south OZ.
Looks like Toyota may be missing out in this particular segment of the market.

Was also at the Penrith Show, and noticed many vans advertising they were Prado friendly. Some looked to me to be too big to be towed by a Prado, once your goodies were added to the van, would think that the weight would exceed the legal weight for a 5 door model.

[VegieMite]

An alternative option is to buy one of the SWB 150's which do have a 3000kg towing capacity.