Looking for a tow vehicle.

I told "Her indoors" as they say in England about the ladies loving lawn mowing. Her reply was "Don't even think about it."

Lang what mods have been done to the Navara? I am looking for a tow vehicle that will not have the guts pulled out of it towing a Morris Commercial (the one you said took me 20 years to collect parts for. It actually took 35 years and one week) on a tandem trailer. I stuffed the drive shaft on the one-ton Vito. Cost $1210 for parts and seven weeks waiting over Christmas/New Year. I might have to pull my finger out and get the 1960 Three tonner Morris on the road an tow safely but slowly!

Morris.

Morris

It is a 2014 Spanish built D40 with the Renault V6 engine. They call them a 550 because they have 550nm of torque standard

Without mods they were the most powerful of the mid size 4x4 utes (Hilux, Trident etc) and would do the job for you. That 6 cylinder engine has a great name with mechanics. They only discontinued it because of emission development costs.

They have a great 7 speed auto, totally seamless changing and really good compression braking, probably better than manual gears because they have more choices to match the over run speed.

There are many mods available. I don't know everything done to mine but it is certainly "chipped" which basically means they dump more fuel in for extra power. You can tell chipped vehicles from the puff of black smoke when they plant their foot.

It has electronic EGR disable (just a resister in the wire) but a lot of blokes put blanking plates in to stop the turbo fouling and give you 100% fresh air into the cylinders. The EGR is only there for emission figures and certainly decreases power and fouls your turbo. Every vehicle I have owned for many years has had an EGR blanking plate put in immediately with resultant noticeable increase in power. All this of course makes your emissions suspect!

It has an aftermarket intercooler. The dyno card he gave me when I bought it said 242hp and 640nm of torque. Nothing in the mid size 4x4 class can match this. They certainly pull better than the V8 Landcruiser. I have done two trips with a mate in his Landcruiser V8 ute, both of us towing a trailer with a jeep. I continuously ran up his backside on hills and certainly could out accelerate him on the flat. I also used 1/3 less fuel than he did. Quite irrelevant but it is nicely finished and handles as good as anything I have had.
Lang

You mentioned compression braking. Our new Hiace turbo diesel van had me thinking, does this have an exhaust brake? When running on cruise control and going down hill it made a sound similar to an exhaust brake but then I noticed the tacho rise twice. As the speed increses by 4 or 5 kph it changes back a gear in the auto until the speed is back under control.

When I saw your towing combination Lang I considered a friend who has just sold of his Isuzu D-Max because of a newer (and heavier) caravan he has recently bought. Although the Isuzu has a great reputation as a towing vehicle it, like the Navara, is only rated with a 3 ton towing capacity. :huh:

The Chev weighs in at 1422kg and the car trailer would be in the 1600-1700kg range. :pinch:

Irrespective of what the Navara is capable of pulling you may well be over the towing limit legally, particularly with the extra weight added in your tray!?

PS I reckon both the Chevs are great.

PDU

Weight is close enough for government work. The alloy tray weighs almost the same as the style side tray. I will have to weigh my trailer to see what it goes.

Here is a review when they first came out but I have about 20% more power and torque than standard.

www.uteguide.com.au/nissan-navara-st-x-5...550%20is%20for%20you .

lang

PDU: my 14' car trailer weighs 600Kg.

Jarrod.

Is it a lightweight aluminium special Jarrod?

The constabulary can be quite picky at times, as many South Australians discover when travelling into Victoria in particular (they seem to have some sort of fetish about it there). A few years back you would be browsing at a swap meet, see an acquaintance, and the greeting was accompanied by a query about whether you were pulled over with your trailer!

I was not being critical of Lang's set-up, merely wary.

It's more about the colonies' administrators hating each other for being different - why stop after 200 years. Lang gets stopped in NSW so nothing new.

PDU

I appreciate your concern. I suppose it depends on your personal threshold of risk and possible financial pain. I am a great believer in "calculated risk". I would not put my head in the lion's mouth but might poke him with a long stick. I am very wary if there is a high possibility of someone else being injured.

My trailer at 3 tons, or a bit more, has 4 wheel electric brakes and a breakaway system but I can go to 1500 or 2000kg, depending on the state, with over run brakes on one axle. I know which is safer.

If you take administrative and tax gathering rules as gospel that is fine but I feel considering them written in stone instead of "advisory" only encourages the bastards.

Lang

PDU; standard mild steel with chequer plate floor. Grosses at 2 tonnes (tare 600 Kg, 1400 Kg payload), however built to carry 2 tonnes. Has override brakes, hence low gross.

Jarrod.