Towing Caravans

[Fred63 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fred63]

You'd be looking at a van that weighed 2000 - 2200kg empty. That discounts any off-road tandem axle vans. Filling the two water tanks and 2 gas bottles will add 200kg leaving room for a few cartons of beer and a change of undies for the missus inside the van. You won't be doing much serious towing of a 21 footer unless maybe you go for a semi-off road pop top in order to keep the weight down. I'm looking at a 17 foot full off-road van now that comes in at 2100kg with single axle.

Bushbasher
what van are you looking at?
on the weekend did a bit of tyre kicking at the Sydney 4x4 show.
found a 16.5 footer full off road GVM 2585
There was a rep their from the manufacture he was well over 60 and knew vans.
He gave me a few options.
stamp GVM 2500KG legal, reduce load carrying capacity.
reduce the ATM
some good options perhaps?
Shorten the drawbar and move the axle to keep the balance.
1 spare instead of 2
reduce the size of 1 water tank, it had 300L total. get rid of 1 and I can take more beer
the list continued.

didn't get as far as the final price but some manufactures can make some of these vans Prado friendly.

[Green dog Member Find all posts View Profile Close Green dog]

Fred
I tow a Coromal element 696. Fully loaded incl water tank (at 75% full) and beer its right on 2500kg.
This is not a small van but made no changes to it and it tows like a dream without load distribution..

The 0-300kg Ironman rear spring which gave me about 55mm lift with the Foamcell Pro shock.
Car and van are relatively level and drives very smooth.

Note that the water tank is not full. That will put me over if I fill it up, as will a few extra cartons of brew!!

I also dont load up the back of the car for driving other than the kids day bags etc.

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

Bushbasher
what van are you looking at?

Something like the Kokoda Defender Extreme - full off-road, dual everything except single axle.

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

Hi Zutta,

I think you're overloading the van on those numbers. I'm yet to see any older Jayco with the ability to carry 700kgs - the newest model tandems are around the 400 kilos from memory.

most probably mate , yet to find proper ratings for my old girl. I believe my 87 model is built a hell of alot better than anything new coming from out from jayco these days. mine is a tandem also

I don't have an issue towing with those figures, we have traveled 40,000 kms around the country and the vans solid as on the road

Seems a bit of grey area , No load compliance on my van as its pre 1988? mine is 1987. always been registered in Vic. Rego papers actually say its 700kg :O so really i am following what i can legally tow with the prado.

maybe you could shed some light on this ?

[120D4D Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 120D4D]

most probably mate , yet to find proper ratings for my old girl. I believe my 87 model is built a hell of alot better than anything new coming from out from jayco these days. mine is a tandem also

I don't have an issue towing with those figures, we have traveled 40,000 kms around the country and the vans solid as on the road

Seems a bit of grey area , No load compliance on my van as its pre 1988? mine is 1987. always been registered in Vic. Rego papers actually say its 700kg :O so really i am following what i can legally tow with the prado.

maybe you could shed some light on this ?

Sounds like you're in the same boat as me then! - My 83 (viscount though) has no VIN plate so had to initially rely on the rego papers but I thought yours being newer than mine would have had this detail stamped onto the A frame somewhere.

I weighed mine for the tare (inc. ball weight) added the usual 300kg (mines a single axle) and that's the ATM I try to keep under. Come checking by the boys in blue I would hope that being under the ATM on the rego papers would be enough.

Bushy - any comments on weights being checked on these older vans?

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

Sounds like you're in the same boat as me then! - My 83 (viscount though) has no VIN plate so had to initially rely on the rego papers but I thought yours being newer than mine would have had this detail stamped onto the A frame somewhere.

I weighed mine for the tare (inc. ball weight) added the usual 300kg (mines a single axle) and that's the ATM I try to keep under. Come checking by the boys in blue I would hope that being under the ATM on the rego papers would be enough.

Bushy - any comments on weights being checked on these older vans?

LOL would be interesting me flicking out my papers which i just checked , actually say its 600 tare. :O

Somethings a miss, heading home in a few months and selling the van so hopefully avoid any dramas with Vic roads getting that one sorted

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

We don't weigh vans over here - don't have the gear. The DOT vehicle examiners will sometimes weigh semis and road trains. No time for annoying the travelling public in their Jaycos and Winnebagos. I did write in another post a short while ago that during some vehicle checkpoints it was discovered that one in four emergency break-away braking systems on caravans was found to be faulty. Food for thought.

[Boboncc Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Boboncc]

I have a V6 2010 Prado 150 VX. I'm new (very) to caravan towing and I'm looking at getting a 21ft (body) Van with twin axles, 2.2T ATM and a ball weight of 140kg.
I have towed a boat at around 1.4T but this is different. Although within towing limitations, how do you think the V6 will cope with towing this sort of weight and the wind effect with this size of van? Am I correct that the fuel consumption would be around 18ltr/ 100km?
Thanks in advance!

[WaikikiPrado Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close WaikikiPrado]

I drive a 2008 120 Series D4D and am towing a 17.56 Jayco Expanda Caravan (with shower/toilet) at a guess it comes in wet at about 2.4 tonne. Maybe its because i am new to towing caravans but I reckon its about as heavy as I would want to tow behind the Prado. I can certainly notice the weight behind me when heading down long hills and when its wet I take it pretty easy. I do use a WDH and think it stiffens things up a bit. Would I tow a 21 foot yes but not with a shower/toilet and water tanks loaded.

[Fred63 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fred63]

Bushbasher

The van we were looking at was a Millard Longreach 1660 full off road.

Looked at the Kokoda Defender Extreme - full off-road on their website, nice!
2100kg tare might push the 2500kg towing capacity
Seen the Major X-Treme on their site it looks like the exact same van as the Millard.

thanks for the info, still kicking tyres for now.

Fred

[Limo Guy Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Limo Guy]

Hi Debbie
I have just purchased a Jürgen's Lunagazer 20.9 ft, tare 1680 kg, A.T.M. 2080 kg, ball weight 140 kg.
This will keep me way inside the Prado's towing limits.
Friends in my caravan club tow Coramal vans that are right on the limit with no problem but I personally prefer to be well inside the towing limits.
I have towed vans up to 30 ft in the past with varying towing vehicles.
Once you have decided on your van and satisfied that the Prado can do the job if you are new to caravanning do a caravan towing course and enjoy the caravanning experience.
Regards
Terry

[Lakers Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Lakers]

I have had my Prado for 6 years now, (2008 V6, Pacemaker extractors, Unichip, Poly Air airbags) and have towed my Coromal 615 tandem poptop on three trans Australian trips plus many local WA trips in that time. I recently replaced the Toyota OEM towbar with a HR towbar so I could continue to use the HR WDH (following Toyota's 120 series towbar recall last year). My van has an ATM of 2180kg, and last weighbridge check (loaded) before this years trip to Canberra (Oct 2014) was 2000kg. I tow in 4th gear (5 speed auto box) at ~95kph and on the last trip my fuel burn was 18.17 litres/100km. This setup with the WDH and air bags is ideal and provides a very stable combination... I would not like to tow anything close to the rated maximum of the vehicle (2500kg). I see many Prados out there that are clearly overloaded pulling things that are much heavier than 2500kg, or with combinations that are clearly badly loaded. I don't know how they get away with it legally or from a day to day safety basis, but a few who I spoke with (not any more) really either have no idea, or don't give a damn.
Enjoy your vehicle and van... it is good to see you doing your research, and it is good to see so many willing to help out with their experiences.
Cheers
Greg