Long term prognosis of a 4 cylinder tow vechicle

[Beachman]

Howdee

We recently took the kids on a driving holiday to North QLD and it surprised me the number of 4 cylinder CARS/4WD/AWD towing large tandem caravans or boats.

For example I think the 4 cylinder Turbo Diesel Prado/Pajero/Navara are all fantastic cars, but some of these guys are towing a 2 or 3 ton trailers around Australia. Then we have the RAV4/CRV/Forresters towing trailers so heavy I’m surprised there steering actually worked as the front of the cars were nearly off the ground.

I am the first to admit my 1HZ cruiser isn’t the fastest car around especially towing a camper trailer, so if I can easily overtake some of these cars then that confirms there engines must be struggling. 

I understand people are concerned about rising fuel prices, but is downing sizing to a smaller motor really the answer??

Some of the cars in question had WA/Vic number plates which to me says the owners are on long road trips, so wouldn’t they be actually using more fuel then a bigger motor of say TD Cruiser or 4.2 Patrol??  Also long term it has to rip the guts out of these motors leading to expensive repairs??

Thanks

PS: I’ve just used the above cars as an example and not trying to turn this tread into a badge war. 

[D4D]

You can buy all the gear you can afford but you can't buy common sense...

[Ricey]

My Mates grand parents used to live in Blanchtown SA and would tow their Caravan to Queensland every year at 60km/h with their 2.6 Sigma.

The truckies would have loved em soo much!!!!

 

[dazzler]

We towed a jayco swan for four months around east oz with a current model rav4 4cyl auto.

Fuel consumption was around the 16lphk's sometimes higher.  

It was within its factory tow specs, had a hayman reece towhitch with weight distribution bars and was covered by new car warranty.

Seriously, why would I have needed anything bigger.  It took us where we wanted and we towed at 90 to 100k's.  We actually downsized from a 100series petrol a year earlier as we just didnt need the low range and big size (do now though   )

Later on we sold the Jayco and built a lighter weight CT.  We could sit on 120 - 130 and overtake at will.  Far faster than our new Prado TD.  We did 105000ks and the only issue we had was a knock in the steering column replaced under warranty. 

I wouldnt confuse them going slow with the capabilities of the cars. If they were grey nomads some (thats SOME) seem to take some sort of delight in maintaining an average speed a model T Ford would be proud of  

For an urban family, where low range is not a requirement, a V6 Rav4 with 200kw would be a great tug for an average CT plus they are a great town car.  

cheers

daz

[Patr80l]

My 3.0L TDI Patrol was a straight four (manual) with 114kW.   Pulled the Jayco Hawk without too much effort (except for hills) and was a steady tug.   (Big truck with firm suspension and a full chassis sitting on live axles).
My 3.0L TDI Touareg is a V6 (auto) with 165kW.   Pulls well but not as steady a tug as the Nissan (a little bit of the tail wagging the dog)   .   You notice the movement of the van.   (Is that due to the independent rear suspension?)   Mind you, the only trip I've done with the VW was around the block to see if I had wired the Prodigy in correctly.
Interestingly, the rated towing capacity of the VW is 3500kg, which I think is quite a bit more than the Nissan.
Best of all was my 4.5L Petrol 80 Series; the grunt of the VW with the mass of the Nissan.   It was very easy to forget you were towing something, even up hills.
Size matters.  

[TOPNDR]

My previous vehicle, a 3 litre manual GU IV Patrol was used to tow a Platinum Kimberley Kamper, which i'd estimate weighed in the region of 1.5 tonne.  Fuel average was about 17l/100 km towing.

My current Cruiser tows a 2.2 tonne AORC Quantum, using about the same average fuel of 17 l/100 km, yet the Cruiser's heavier as is the camper, AND, it's got 8 cylinders and 650 nm of torque!  
ps, saw a Touareg in Karumba last year, hooked up to a Kedron or perhaps Bushtrakker ~ 3+ tonne.

[speewa158]

Its not the size of the dog in the fight , its the size of the fight in the dog . Dont you know 

[Patr80l]

2km drive around the block is not what I'd call a long term test of the Touareg!   I'll have to see how it goes on a longer trip.
By the way, The Touareg's TDI is an Audi motor and puts out 500Nm of torque.   That should be good for towing.

[Apollo]

When we use to tug big horse floats around we use a GQ II, but once that finished, we downsized to a courier TD Dual Cab 2cyl 2.5L 4WD  It tows the camper, the boats and anything else we have now (all sub one tonne) and does it easily.  I do miss the grunt of the troll (worked petrol motor on gas), but the courier is much more flexible.
Steve

[austastar]

Hi,
  Land Rovers have managed pretty well for a long time.

cheers

[TheOtherLeft]

Isuzu use a 4cyl in their D-Max...which is the same engine they use in their 4.5 tonne trucks. I don't hear too many complaints of those engines...

[Kit_e_kat9]

Going completely Off Topic ... I don't think it matters what you tow it with ... but can you try to level the bloody thing? 

What's with having the hitch scraping along the ground?  Surely they wouldn't be able to handle the vehicle within the guidelines of driving, braking, turning, engine dying and umm towing?  Just an accident waiting to happen ...

Kit_e

[austastar]

Hi,
  specs for the LR Defender 130 Cab Chassis is 3.5t braked, 750kg unbraked, recommended tow-ball weight of 150kg.

The weights for the trailer seem to be the same as the V8 Toyota specs.

cheers

[Hairs]

Its not the size of the dog in the fight , its the size of the fight in the dog . Dont you know 

Depends on whether you have a Long Nosed, short Eared, long Bodied, short Legged, long Tailed water spaniel or
it's a Crocodile

[Bird]

Give it 3-5yrs, and you wont be able to get anything but a piss ant over stressed 4cylinder.

[speewa158]

Hairs ,   Really the equiliser would have to be a 308. at the least 

[noel_w]

Yeah it's a very valid point. I have a GQ troll but the missus has a 2010 Forester on salary sacrifice with fuel included in the package. This is tempting to use as the tug but still I use the troll. I am still not convinced that I should hook the Trackabout up to the Forester as I'm sure over time it would pull the arse out of it. Don't get me wrong as I love Subies, had a 86 DL wagon for 20 yrs till I traded it in on the GQ which was 3rd hand at 85000K but in this case size does matter. We are intending to keep the forrie after the lease ends so are looking after it.
My mate towed his Trackie behind his Rav4 (4 cyl) around NSW, Vic & SA and when he got back to Brisvegas had a $900 bill to replace seals in the back of the gearbox which Toyota attributed to towing heavy loads. Sounded like a warranty copout to me though as it was still below the weight limit for the Rav though which makes you wonder whether the towing capacity of some of these cars is a little exaggerated.
Also begs the question of overloading trailers as I have a tendency to bend axles in my garden trailers hauling gravel, rocks & the occasional small mountain).

[Big Nath]

Its an interesting topic. I have recently looked at the figures and it shows my 2.5TD Pathy has more HP and torque thas the 70 series cruiser. and they are a 4.5lt turbo v8....

I know what i would like to have towing my ct but

Cheers

[Redback]

Its an interesting topic. I have recently looked at the figures and it shows my 2.5TD Pathy has more HP and torque thas the 70 series cruiser. and they are a 4.5lt turbo v8....

I know what i would like to have towing my ct but

Cheers

Are we talking 70 series Turbo V8 or Turbo 4.2, because they are both around 150Kw with around 440 to 500Nm, as far as I'm aware the Pathy has only 127Kw

Baz.

[Big Nath]

Apology, its only torque, My pathy is rated at 450Nm and both the TDV870CC has 430 as does the 70 series wagon also TDV8.

And my Nissan only has 11HP less. go figure....

Cheers!

[TheOtherLeft]

My mate towed his Trackie behind his Rav4 (4 cyl) around NSW, Vic & SA and when he got back to Brisvegas had a $900 bill to replace seals in the back of the gearbox which Toyota attributed to towing heavy loads. Sounded like a warranty copout to me though as it was still below the weight limit for the Rav though which makes you wonder whether the towing capacity of some of these cars is a little exaggerated.
Also begs the question of overloading trailers as I have a tendency to bend axles in my garden trailers hauling gravel, rocks & the occasional small mountain).

A transmission cooler would've probably mitigated this risk. If towing it's a smart idea to install one if it's an auto regardless of the engine size.

[TheOtherLeft]

Give it 3-5yrs, and you wont be able to get anything but a piss ant over stressed 4cylinder.

Tell that to Isuzu. They're certainly not having problems with their piss ant over stressed 4 cyl engines in their trucks.

[Maîneÿ . . .]

Give it 3-5yrs, and you wont be able to get anything but a piss ant over stressed 4cylinder.

Probably because the new technology 4 cylinder diesels are extremely capable engines, I know my turbo diesel Ssanyong has a 3 year or 1OO,OOO Km warranty, which is the same as new Nissan or Toyota engines and is considered realistic.

It's a high risk to tow a van or boat that weighs more than the towing vehicle anyway.

[Beachman]

makes you wonder whether the towing capacity of some of these cars is a little exaggerated.

I agree with this comment as I believe car manufactures have a lot to answer for when it comes to determining the maximum towing capacity.  (Same thing as car ads showing people driving through the water at the beach)

Sure these cars might be able to tow the weight on a flat test track with a perfect road surface in the middle of a Japanese winter, but towing at the maximum limit for weeks at a time on Qld’s crappy hilly and pot hole ridden roads in the middle of summer is a different kettle of fish.

I know my wife’s AWD is rated to tow 2T which is a bit of a joke considering the thing hates 5 adults and a boot full of gear.

[Wortho]

You can't trust the manufacturers towing spec's. My LR Discovery has 3500kg tow rating but just towing a 900kg trailer caused an expensive early demise of the transmission due to insufficient cooling.