Thread: 3.5 Tonne Towing 4x4

Yea for long term towing of that weight you need a Landcruiser 100 series or newer.
My mate tows his 3.5 ton boat with a 100 series and has done for about 15 years and still going strong.
I know a guy that test drove a VW towing his race car and we'll under that weight and burnt the clutch out on day one backing up his drive. Then tested a ranger with no problem as they just don't need to be Rev as high as the little turbo engine of the VW.

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Originally Posted by Tentman

Hmmm - nothing conclusive coming to the fore is there. New or secondhand but I don't have a fortune or want to be bent over so a new Hilux/Landcruiser is out. A used Landcruiser is on the list but they are not infallible either, another Fencer here has one and its cost a fortune even with being under warranty.

The Safari is superb offroad, I've only been stuck once in 2 years of fencing in some reasonably knarly places (cockies coming out to see me have been embarrassed twice as I recall) but the older ones like mine are not certified for 3.5 tonnes - Gadget what year is yours and how did you get it certified?.

Iveco's and Landrovers do seem to have a bit of a record at leaving one in a difficult position with "no go" .

Originally Posted by gadgetman

Mine was an '89. The engineering outfit looked up the specs on their towing capabilities and certified it. Mine certainly had no issues towing a massive covered car transporter/mobile workshop. This thing had electric brakes and was seriously HUGE! Used for collecting new pre-release vehicles under the cloak of darkness and scurried off for winter driving testing before hitting the market.

There is no certification required or applicable to warrant of fitness vehicles for tow-bars, your grandma can design and build one and tow 3.5 tonne braked on a ball,above that you get into mini ring-feeder/5th wheel territory and generally the vehicle will need a COF instead of a WOF due to the gross vehicle mass.
Once you get into COF vehicles then tow bars must be certified .

Originally Posted by Munsey

Get a VW Amorak 3.2 ton towing 2 ltr engine .

I think he's after something to tow with rather than something to tow.

The Ranger is a very capable NZ new ute for use as a tow vehicle.
My Ranger tows our Jayco BaseStation (3500kg plus) OK but is working hard, especially on the hills. Put the same trailer behind Teresa's Chev (3500HD 6.6 Duramax diesel) and you wouldn't even know its on the back. Plus the Chev has as standard an electric brake controller, trailer sway control, tow haul mode and exhaust brake.
If you want to tow big trailers its hard to go past the US built trucks (but realistically they are not that flash off-road)

Its a bit of a dilemma all right. If I go down the small truck road with its complications of COF I'd still need a 4x4 for lots of places (and hunting) although I'd get away with a light one.

If I go 3.5 tonne Ute (towing I mean) then I'd only need one vehicle.

My neighbour is a senior mechanic with one of the national heavy equip outfits, they run all Rangers with very few problems over several years (quite a few minor niggles though) and they're running them fairly heavy - 3 tonnes plus a trailer. However I have doubts about their off road capabilities.

When you find the unicorn, get a few we could all use one

They must have improved the Chev's a lot, a friend ran a 6.2 V8 Silverado and I drove it a bit towing a big mining plant and horsefloat. It was pretty gutless for its size and hopeless in soft stuff.

Originally Posted by Tentman

They must have improved the Chev's a lot, a friend ran a 6.2 V8 Silverado and I drove it a bit towing a big mining plant and horsefloat. It was pretty gutless for its size and hopeless in soft stuff.

Different worlds mate, the new Duramax is just the ducks nuts....

The Ranger is a great towing truck. I know of heaps of people that tow 3-3.5 tonne boats and standard trailers. We have 4 in our fleet, both PX1 & PX2. They have a few electrical acceptance issues with led lights on trailers and operating some of the trailer brake controllers, even the PX2 still has a few bugs to iron out and we fitted an Erich Jaeger after market body control module that looks after the trailer connections and it fixed all the shit. These trucks won't select 6th in auto when towing a heavy trailer, so the tranny can handle it ok. When it comes to 4 wheel drive, they ain't in the same league as a Landcruza or Safari by any means, they get stuck on a cow shit on the side of the road.

Dont know the tow weight but my brothers got a newer patrol flatdeck ex NSW powerboard. Realy good truck and already set up with tool lockers and winch. Someone is bringing them over might be worth a look

Yep as mentioned above by Brian, a GU patrol. Both the td42t and the 4.8 180 kw petrol are 3.5 ton rated. No toyota pricetag and better durability than the later cruisers. The petrol is a beast if you can afford to run it. Otherwise a chev duramax. Few quick mods and make 500hp