Which Tow Vehicle to buy?

[rocket327s]

that's what i figger

[D4D]

As far as the towbar is concerned I was advised at time of purchase (by the dealer) that i should avoid the Nissan towbar because of the chassis fracture issue. I went with the Hayman Reese

Agreed if you ever plan to run a WDH then HR is the only way to go. I'm replacing the Prado OE towbar with a HR towbar when mine gets repaired.

[molongmick]

Thanks evereyone, you certainly given me alot to think about.

I do need extra storage, moreso for when I'm not towing, doing weekend camping trips, but when towing, there will not be much in th back except for fridge and some smaller items.

Might need to wait and see what the New Colorado is like.

Money is a deciding factor, but so is safety.

If I do go the BT50/ranger I can't do as many mods staright away.

I have read up on the front end of the Navara having some issues when a bull bar and winch is added, needing new suspension and a positive latch for the bonnet, Not sure why this needs to be done on a new vehicle though.

Might sit back and think some more.

[D4D]

Thinking is good Mick especially when you're towing close to the limit of the vehicle. You really need to sit down and do the maths on the GVM and GCM. There was a thread a while ago about a Tvan owner who had to sell it and the tow vehicle to stay legal...

[Metters]

Mick

I am another one who says neither of those cars are suitable.  Yes they will tow their advertised weights but not necessarily anything of any shape and size that happens to weigh that much and certainly not on all road surfaces.  If you contact the manufacturer they will most likely tell you their advertised towing capacities are the maximum possible in highway conditions only and should be reduced on off road surfaces.  The same applies to carrying capacity.

Have a look at these two articles.  They explain everything in much more detail than I ever could.  I read something recently, it may even have been in these articles, that dual cabs have a poor record of jack- knifing when towing large vans.

http://www.caravanandmotorhomebooks.com/pdf/vehicle_dynamics_complete.pdf
http://www.caravanandmotorhomebooks.com/articles/caravan_dynamics_cw.pdf

[Isuzumu]

I am in the same boat, Nissan is out, my swimming pool man brought one six months ago and said he is taking it back.
I drove the new Colorado last Friday and it is now no 1 above the BT 50, but still to drive the new D.Max and the new auto Amarok, think it will be to pricy for us though. The Colorado felt better to drive, we are only driving autos, not as much turbo lag and in 6th gear doing 100 Ks at 1600 rpm with enough grunt to power away at that. It also felt nicer, better built there was something there anyway. Also the leg room in the back was brilliant to.