Fellow Boggers, I have contact with many times the
Bushtracker Owners than on this site, and I thought maybe you would benefit from my own personal summary analysis... Also, I have gone way out Bush with Cruisers since the 80's, still own two; and have owned an F-350 for three years recently, and maybe I can dispell some "myths" a bit... Here goes:
Toyota, the 100 series, 80 series, the big F-250 and F-350 Fords, and the Nissan Patrol, are our most common tow vehicles, with Discoveries and Rovers in fourth place. For larger vans say over 20’, there is another contender now, with Ford back in the Country with a fabulous big 7.3 Diesel that overall is reported to get better fuel economy towing, and may take over the number one spot in the next few years. About 75 of our Clients (guesstimate) are in the 4x4 F-250, 350 Fords, and they are safer with a longer wheelbase, more comfortable, twice the power with a big 7.3 litre International truck V8 turbo diesel, more brakes, more torque, and they get better fuel economy as reported overall! What’s more is they are twice the truck in power and safety and cost nearly the same as the new Toyota... If you are not bringing it home to the city to park, and making serious travel plans with a van over 20’ as a "Lifestyle", then you owe it to yourself to have a look at what may become Australia’s new #1 Tow vehicle...
On the new Turbo Landcruiser, there are many on the road, and it is still our most common tow vehicle, but I am a bit concerned about a few issues that Clients report:
1) The full engine electronic management makes it very hard to trouble shoot out bush if you have a problem. While this is present in many new vehicles, I am just a bit uncomfortable with something you can't fix without a computer. Mind you, this is just my opinion.. It is the trend with all new vehicles, even Ford, but it is a concern. Even the accelerator is electronic, and don't laugh, some have been stuck beside the road with an engine at idle...
2) The IFS ( Independent Front Suspension), may have too many moving parts, and people have had problems already in the bush. It may be a luxury town car design, just not robust enough for the Outback.. Mind you, this is also just my opinion, and not the gospel, but I am concerned. If you own one, please do not take it that I am attacking it, just telling you what people have reported, as a perspective to new Buyers that have not made the plunge yet... There have been reports of sideways drift in the steering on the corrugation on a big curve in the road..... Not good... It is reported that it can be overcome by decelerating on the curves, to stop the harmonic motion of the IFS reacting to the corrugation; but is not a good sign.. And there have been some reports of mechanical failures and such that are a bit worrying… Shock mount failures, broken hubs, a few things like that.. Mind you, it is still our Number One most common tow vehicle....
3) The IFS required that the wheels be off-set 65mm to the inside, and not only are the wheels harder to come by, but they cannot work with our suspension in any case.... The tyres would just rub on the chassis, and the wheels go inside of the backing plate on the brakes, so the emergency hand brake would not work.... Now if you want to buy one, and many have, it is not a terminal problem. You would have the same stud pattern, and two spares on the caravan. The van wheels would fit the IFS 100 Series, it is just that the IFS wheels will not fit the van. In any case you are about 10 times more likely to need the van spares on the tow vehicle, which does work; than needing the one spare on IFS, for the van which already has its own two spares.... This would just get you out of a pinch off road, as it would be illegal to do.. Or we can adapt the IFS wheels to your van with 65mm spiders that actually space out the wheels that 65mm offset... There are however two drawbacks. Firstly it costs $1000 for the adaptors and spare wheel carriers, and secondly they weigh about 35 kilos of steel to drag around plus bigger spare carriers to total about 40kg extra... I suggest the earlier option before this, is maybe a consideration...
4) Also: Cost is high in the IFS, when you can get a very good vehicle secondhand for half the money, and add an aftermarket turbo.. And again for larger vans over 20', if you are not coming back to the City, you should look at the new Ford F-250 and F-350. It is made just for that job.... For a big van over 20', nowhere else in the world would one think of Toyota as a full sized tow vehicle...
In summary, this is just my engineering opinion on the matter, but I no longer think that a new IFS Landcruiser is the only game in town, and you may want to rethink your stand as it seems that there are several other choices that make sense..... It is just my "Duty of Care" to keep you informed of any potential downside to your ideas... In this case it is just an opinion and not scientific analysis, but I think you may want to consider the point of view... People still buy the new IFS Landcruiser Turbo as our #1 tow vehicle, because of parking in the city or tax considerations or other reasons, but there are other options...
To my knowledge Toyota still offers the Standard 100 Series with the standard diesel and no IFS, at least last year... . So here is another idea: There has been a great deal of success in turbo charging the Toyota standard diesel… I mean we know of hundreds.. ARB put Safari Turbo kits on them for ten years!!! The only ones we have heard of having problems were people problems in not feeding the engines enough oil and water!!! Everyone that said something bad about after market turbo on a 1HZ motor, which is really rare to hear something bad anyways; when questioned, really had to admit to not checking oil or water and that is not the turbos fault!!! The only problems seemed to be the Factory Turbo engines that had a fault in the lower ends in the mid 90's. In the late 90's many people ran aftermarket turbos on them, it was quite commonplace. We hear of them going about 600,000 kms. One person even took the turbo off one when he updated and ran it on the next one out to 340,000 before he sold that one!! After market turbo does not seem to be a problem at all…… And it is the same engine in the Standard 100 Series.
As to selection of a tow vehicle.... There is possibly another option to consider.... A secondhand vehicle for half the money.... You should take a look at a magazine called the "4 x 4 Trader". There will be 500 or more vehicles in there for sale every month.. About once every three months for some reason there will be a half a dozen vehicles reduced to ridiculous prices all at once!! You have plenty of time while your
Bushtracker is being built.....You can get the RACQ to have a look at it, send pictures over the internet, negotiate a price, and have them meet you at the Airport to pick you up... For half the money, I am not sure that it isn't another option, as I also do not like the trend in the new vehicles with computer run complex systems that cannot be rectified in the Bush.. For example-I know personally, I would like a 97 to early 2000 Toyota 80 Series or an a couple of year old GXL 100 Series for half the money, maybe even with extra equipment already on it; rather than all the fancy electronic run injectors and injection pumps of the new ones. The same goes for the other Brands. It seems as though the Company Engineers are designing the engines to take the maintenance out of the hands of the do it yourself people and make them dependent on the Dealerships for all service... Just a personal view, but maybe it is another option to consider for half the money... Especially if you are a handy sort of a person yourself.... It is what I did in getting a new Cruiser for my wife, I bought a 2000- 100 Series, aftermarket turbo and intercooler, and it was loaded with extras like long range tanks, diff locks, air compressor, and much more.. It has no engine electronics to run the injection pump, injectors, and controls; and I think it is twice the vehicle as new in reliability, for half the money. It also has the tried and true solid front monobeam axle housing... Same comfort and power and looks as the new IFS Cruiser, but twice the reliability at half the cost.
Sooooo, the Toyota is still our #1 tow vehicle, with Ford coming up strong, and then the Nissan Patrol 4.2 Turbo, remaining our most common tow vehicles. But the Nissan 3 litre automatic is not in the running…. No one is reporting that they are happy towing with it in any size over 16'-17' and even then.... There must be a reason it has a lower tow rating and is far cheaper.. The larger Nissan has a larger tow rating and good track record and good reports as a tow vehicle, but is not available in an automatic… If you want an automatic you are back to the new IFS 100 Series Cruiser, or a Standard 100 Series, or the IFS Turbo listed above, or a Standard one and add the turbo on later…. Or go see the new big Fords and possibly fall in love….
I have owned an F-350 for three years and went all over out Bush with it… I still own two Cruisers… Now, at 20', even 21', Toyota is still in the running.... However, there is another real issue in towing a larger van: It is not about off-road, all four wheel drives are a tractor in low range gear off the road. It is more of a safety concern on the highway... The Toyota is not a full sized tow vehicle for larger vans, on the global perspective, only here... It is an issue of the length of wheelbase for leverage on the van at high speed, when you have to make a radical maneuver to avoid an accident or a spilled load or a Bullock or something... The wheelbase of the Landcruiser runs out of safety margin somewhere around 21’... Even my own 100Series Landcruiser is up on its maximum limit with my 21’ van. It is just just not safe if something happens to cause a radical move at 100 kph.. There is just not enough leverage to do it safely with the wheelbase of a Landcruiser, and that is where the F-250 or F-350 Ford, or Chev or Dodge trucks really shine. Incidentally as I have said, the overall reports are that they get better mileage when towing as well. So, with your best interests in mind, you should consider the larger American tow vehicles for the long wheelbase issue, for vans from about 20’ and up. While Toyota will do it, up to 21’ with caution, Fords will just do it safer, and with more comfort, more power, more brakes, more room, and better fuel economy. Toyota is better if one is returning to life in the city, for parking. But if one is making a Lifestyle change out of the city, you would have to consider the Ford F-250 or F-350, or a fully imported Chevrolet or Dodge. The advantage of Ford is now a nationwide Dealership network and support in Australia.
Yes, you do some three point turns, you get in the habit of it, and it is no big deal.
As to the disadvantages of off-road work, I built a little crash cage on below my transfer case for high centre in real rough going, but found as many advantages in major torque and horsepower as disadvantages in size... In fact here is an odd perspective for you: I have found most of the Forestry
bog holes to be made by little Japanese midsized tow vehicles... Often my Ford was so big, that the front end was in the
BOG, while the back end was pushing in the good traction... And when the back end was in the
BOG the front was out of it and pulling me through... Personally, I found the F-350 to be no big deal in its size, other than having to get used to doing the 3 point turns...everywhere... And if I was coming back to the city, or chasing pigs weaving between the trees, or had an 18' van, no worries Toyota is just fine... But for a larger van, there is no question which is better when there is an accident on the road ahead of you and you have to make a really radical move to avoid it...
As to myth #2, that they are too wide for the tracks... Again I have found this not to be true... Yes they are wider, but the Jap 4x4's don't run on rails, they weave all over the tracks and the wheel tracks are about a metre wide on each side... With my For as far as hundreds of kms back in, off the road, I don't think the width is that important. I can tell you this, the lack of Driver fatigue from urging your Toyota on all the time trying to get out of the way of traffic, by driving a Ford with much more power, is a real issue... Ten hours in a Toyota towing vrs ten hours towing with the Ford, the Ford will win every time, you just don't suffer as much driver fatigue...
In general, since I have more contact than most, I try and give a well rounded perspective so you can choose what is best for you..
On Fuel Economy? Lastly, and it is a real pain to get one, but the current fuel economy record, as reported for towing is held by the Dodge Ram 4x4 with the Cummins Diesel, at about 22-23 miles per gallon. Second place is tied with the Chev Duramax diesel, and Ford, at around 14-16 miles per gallon and some report better. Toyota at 12-14 mpg... But some Toyotas towing 20-21' vans, that are stretched Toyota 100 Series ute customs or 6 wheel jobs are doing closer to 9 mpg... As are a few really overloaded Toyotas with Boats on top and larger really loaded up vans, doing the 9-10 mpg... My Mack Dual Cab 4x4 Horse truck gets that good....!! In general, the bigger the diesel, the better the mileage when towing, because it is just not working as hard...
Friends, it really comes down to "Horses for courses".... Smaller van, coming back to the city, Toyota Shines.... Biiiiggg van over 20', big load, Lifestyle out Bush... Ford wins in my opinion...And you should at least go have a look. Not just for comfort, room, power, and fuel economy, but a real big one and that is SAFETY for the extreme leverage ability in a pinch on the highway.... Each 10% more in wheelbase gives you about 100% more leverage due to the fulcrum effect when towing...
Hope this has been a help,
Kind Regards, stg at
Bushtracker