Travel Australia towing vehicle recommendations

Gardening gear in the tow vehicle yes, I'm thinking of a landcruiser with seats folded down. Gear needs to be locked up and dual cab utes dont have enough space In the tray. It's my own established gardening buisness, and has the potential to earn more $ than random jobs on the road.
Thanks for your input appreciate it :)

Jamie,

A 79 Series Dual Cab with canopy should allow enough room in the tray for long handle shovels, crow bars etc. 1,900 mm long tray.

This is great information, thanks so much for your time. I originally wanted a pop top for better fuel efficiency but I'm a little bit concerned with security, privacy and temperature control in cold/hot weather. Hmm decisions decisions.

Thanks, a van towing a trailer wold suit me perfectly, unfortunately I don't think the Mrs or my daughter will cope with the small living quarters for very long. My budget is around $50 - 60k for a car and caravan if possible.

That's a great point regarding fuel costs being tax deductable as I'm registered as a sole trader, its something I didn't even consider. A light truck would mean I need a truck license but it could be worth it, the only problem is not having a 4wd to go to off road locations, beaches etc along the way.

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-automotive/mitsubishi+canter+4x4/k0c9299
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

Ditto to that.
I just came back from 5250 k trip fuel cost was very high some places were $2-25 a lt = 500k=$200 dollars plus this was 2 weeks ago traveled via vic,nsw,sa. toy 200 v/8 21lt to 100ks.
Hope this helps a bit with cost,Cheers

Fuel consumption depends largely on how fast you drive.
20kph is likely if you are in a hurry.
A single vehicle (instead of towing) can be quite a bit less if you slow down.
I can get our 6.5T OKA down to 14L/100km at 70kph, 18L/100L at 85kph, 20+L/100@100kph. And it is not exactly aerodynamic.... :)
It is not a race out there.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

And the money saved on buying a you could drive around Australia twice??

Hi Lachlan,

Just a couple of points if I may, I would be very surprised if you could get a Y62 Patrol for $80,000 anywhere in Australia, certainly not new, and probably not secondhand unless very high kms. Also, I think the Nissan is fuel injected, so injector problems may still be an issue. 200 Series Landcruisers also don’t use AdBlue.

Fuel economy is very subjective, and has a lot to do with the right foot, weather and road conditions, but agree that from the few towing comparisons I have read, there is very little difference between the two vehicles, with the Y62 coming out just ahead of the 200 Series Landcruiser.

Of the two engine choices, regardless of the vehicle, for towing, a Diesel has more low end torque. They are also the engine of choice for heavy machinery.

Macca.

Hi Macca,

The injector issues are specific to the LC200 V8 TTD. I've lived it. $1000 each to replace. So that was a specific issue with respect to the engine.

Y62 are $82K drive-away now, but like everything you will have to wait. A far cry from the $68K I paid (when they were meant to be $81K D/A) in 2018.

Agree with the fuel consumption being driver-specific. That's why I put my figures in, being the same driver, with the same kit fitted to both, doing the same driving. I don't think you will get a better comparison than the same driver doing the same driving with the same kit in the LC200 (over four years/ 130,000km) and the Y62 over two years (66,000km) using a fuel app - not the dial.

Of the two engine choices - I disagree. The argument that heavy machinery uses it is old and is irrelevant. So they produce more torque at lower revs. My LR Defender maxes out at 360Nm of torque, but the Patrol at 560Nm. Yep, it's higher in the rev range - but two things... Firstly, you have 400Nm in the Y62 from around 1300 - 1500 revs (so more already than the Defender). Secondly - who cares about a higher Rev count? If the gearing is right, there's no issue.

I hear a lot about this "low end torque" furphy. It doesn't matter - what matters is "how much torque is in the low end" and, the Y62 has more than the Defender, and more than the 70-series of "low end torque". And low range. And the fuel figures from me, and from independent articles, supports this.

I lived and breathed not only diesel, but Toyota for many, many years. The modern petrol engine smashes diesel in almost every way. I just think it takes the olds and bolds some time to adjust. They have memories of the early 2000's or late 1990's where petrol engines were shockingly fuel guzzling, didn't really provide much torque at all, and diesel did the slow and steady reliability that doesn't really exist anymore.

One place where diesel sh*ts over the petrol is distance-per-km though. But with a LR Tank fitted, who's to say 200L of petrol won't be sufficient? My last car I went back to diesel, and it was great for this. But in December last year it was stolen and again, I went back to petrol because I just missed it's simplicity.

To clarify, are your figures above done with something like a 2.5 tonne caravan in tow? If not, the fuel economy diffence between petrol and diesel may be more substantial. After all, most things that tow use diesel for a reason.

The figures are not with anything in tow. My original comment indicated that independent reviews show that with something in tow actually bring the difference in economy closer together.

An if we're using "but most use diesel" arguments - I would suggest you look at the fact that every 4x4 Ute in Australia is a diesel, except the Gladiator petrol ute from Jeep. So it kind of defeats the argument.

Not caring too much. I have made my bed simply based on real, lived experience of both classes of vehicle and types of fuel. That is, not listening to the BS that goes around that Diesel is best. Like I say - a lived experience. Real figures with the best comparison you could make (driver the same, set up the same, over several years). But hey, the internet forums will suggest I must be missing something. I've put up my fuel data from my fuel app elsewhere on this forum. Not my concern if others choose a slower, more expensive vehicle to do the job a petrol could do with better or same economy, power outputs, torque, reliability and the like.

Go back to 2005, and the argument changes. Diesels were reliable and didn't have the electronic gadgetry that made them equal to (or worse) than a naturally aspirated petrol engine during water crossings. But that's no longer the case.

200 series V Y62 Patrol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD001FCCG5c

My budget is around 30k for a vehicle, what would you suggest petrol or disel. I was considering a Toyota 100 series v8 vs disel towing a caravan and equipment, which would be more fuel efficient with the rising cost of disel?

Fuel consumption for the Nissan confirmed as better than the Toyota by this review as well -

Lachlan,

The 200 Series Landcruiser tops out at 650 Nm of torque at 1,600 rpm. Cannot compare the 200 Series with a Landrover Defender, just not in the same league. I only ever had one landrover, and would never have another one. It was a V8 Petrol Discovery.

As for the past, many people, myself included, would not have had a diesel for sand driving, they used to bog down engine rev wise very quickly. My first 4WD’s were petrol, Mitsubishi L300, Ford Maverick and 100 Series Landcruiser, all manual transmissions. The modern common rail diesel is a far superior engine to the diesels of the past, coupled with better automatic transmissions.

Macca.

6+T OKA 4 cylinder diesel Perkins motorhome, 81kW @ 2,800RPM (never get that high) and 354Nm @ 1,500RPM at the flywheel (at least it was 28 years and 580,000km ago), driving up the western side of Big Red and along the top.
You can see where the Toyotas and Nissans et al failed near the top and turned around :)
https://youtu.be/T7y61s_2vP0
https://youtu.be/hX2bqM8VSZE
What would I do with more power, except spin the wheels?
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

Hi Peter,

Yes, it is not always about how much torque you have, but how you use it. Some people have no idea how to drive in sand, it is not about speed, it is about traction.

However, I think we have strayed from the OPs original question.

Macca.

V8 Petrol Landcruisers will cripple you with fuel consumption - but they are cheap.

Hi Nick,

Very few 1,500 Series American pick ups are “half loaded” when towing caravans around the 3.0 Tonne and heavier, particularly with a family of 4. When you look at their actual payload when towing at max towing capacity, it is not that much more than a 200 Series Landcruiser or Y62 Patrol.

Macca.

Cheers Macca : have heard this about the vehicles you had mentioned before but I was thinking about 4X4 ute type .. you know those vehicles you see that have everything and the kitchen sink or loaded on them :))

Great to have the caravan , and a nice family size.
Colorados were Isuzu clones for a few years. See plenty about and look a good honest truck.
Recommend an auto if you can get one.

Cheers
Jim

Hi Jamie,

2050 Tare whilst good to know, isn’t much use when asking about a suitable tow vehicle, the ATM is what you really need to know, that and the TBM. Then you can look at suitable vehicles with that capacity plus the Rear Axle Loading of the vehicle.

Macca.

Sure no worries, the atm is around 2.5t
Do you think the colardo will be up to the task?

Jamie,

The Colorado was a good vehicle in its day, but there are better vehicles out there today. The Isuzu D-Max is a better vehicle, and even a secondhand one with reasonable Kms would be a better choice than the Colorado.

Macca.