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.
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Dave
Views expressed are mine alone and are not intended to compromise the integrity of my employer nor offend those who may read such views.
Bugger Bali, get out and see Australia before we sell it all to China.
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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.04 GXL 3L TD Toyota Bullbar 2"TJM lift TJM OX hyd winch Blackwidow draws 40LT Engel dual batteries Mickey Thompson ATZ's Steinbauer P Box Airtek snorkel (colour coded)
Its now gone sad to say but enjoying the replacement LC200 with a BIG list of bits to add.Lifted pre rego
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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 van150 Silver Diesel GXL Auto with ECB Bullbar, Toyota Factory towbar, Black Widow Drawer system with Fridge slide and cargo barrier, GME UHF 3340 Radio, Waeco 50 Litre Fridge, Rhino Racks and Rhino Basket, ARB Awning, IPF XS Spotties, ABR Sidewinder Dual Battery system,Airtec Snorkel, Bilstien Shockies, King Springs, Poly Airbags and BFG A/T''s. Now towing a semi offroad Lotus Freelander 18.6 Van, with all the bells and whistles.
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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.Dave
Views expressed are mine alone and are not intended to compromise the integrity of my employer nor offend those who may read such views.
Bugger Bali, get out and see Australia before we sell it all to China.
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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!
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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
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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.
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Originally posted by QUICKY View PostIt's simple, if Toyota increase the Prado towing capacity they will sell less 200's
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".
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Originally posted by maxjj View PostI 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..
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!
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