Tow Vehicle

Owned a 5 speed auto TD, beautiful tow car shame it wasn't a ute.

5 Speed manuals, beware the 5th gear is the weak link for towing.

Having towed my 18' bushtracker with a 100 series t/d auto I believe that the auto is a better choice than a manual.

My two cents worth.

David

Rolly, and Newbies considering the same thing: Consider this before going out and buying a new IFS Turbo Cruiser...

I try not give opinions on the matter, as everyone has one… But rather report the perspective of the 1000 and how they are going… And the analysis of what I have done to prove it, with hands on testing…So here goes: Landcruiser is still the Number One Choice in that size of van, with Nissan 4.2 Patrol and Discovery 3 coming up behind as second place. BUT: I would buy a second hand one for now if you were going Landcruiser, to wait and see the new V-8 Twin Turbo coming… The new IFS prices, if bought now, could fall in a heap when the new Cruiser comes out IF the Twin Turbo gets better fuel economy.. But a good second hand one bought at the right money, will always hold its value better. Myself? I like to see how something new runs in the Outback for a year or two or three, before buying a whole new style of vehicle...

As to selection of a tow vehicle.... This second hand concept, is possibly the best option to consider with regards to Landcruiser, particularly now with this new model coming out.. A secondhand vehicle like a late model GXL 100 Series, for half the money of new? You should take a look at a magazine called the "4 x 4 Trader". There will be 500 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!! Newbies: 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. Arguably a GXL 100 Series has the current body style, but has the moonbeam front end which has proven more robust than the Factory Turbo unit with its Independent Front Suspension, and the GXL does not have the electronic engine controls and accelerator of the IFS Turbo Cruiser… I do not like the trend in the new vehicles with computer run complex systems that cannot be rectified in the Bush, if I can easily avoid it. For example-I know personally, I would like an early 2000 and up 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 and repair 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.. Again the motivating factor? It has no engine electronics to run the injection pump, injectors, and controls; and I think it is twice the vehicle as new, for half the money, AND also has the tried and true solid front monobeam axle housing... The aftermarket Turbo on that engine has been remarkably successful for the past 15 years..

? Here is my own first choice: Toyota still offers the Standard 100 Series with the standard diesel and no IFS. 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 real problems starting the rumour mill, seemed to be the Factory Turbo engines that had a fault in the lower ends in the mid 90's. But aftermarket turbo addition to the 1HZ engine that is still current, has been very successful with engines going well up into the 400,000 kms and more. Tracy, one of Bushtrackers Directors has had three 80 Series Toyotas with aftermarket turbos added on for himself and his Wife… We hear of them going as high as 600,000 kms. He 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. The GXL, looks just like a Factory Turbo, but no engine electronics, no independent front suspension that some have had trouble with, same body style and all but very user friendly and easy to work on and has the most common parts available in the Bush...

I own one.. I wonder if it is not a more reliable vehicle in that it does not need a computer to fix it, and a GXL has the standard Monobeam front suspension.. To me, since any Bush Mechanic can fix it, I consider it to be maybe twice as reliable for half the money??? It is the way I would go, and wait a year or two to see how the V-8 Twin Turbo is going in the Bush…

Active hands on Analysis from the lone Ranger…. I test things full time for a Living!!!

Agree with Steve's comments about going secondhand and waiting for the new 120 Series. In fact, my dealer has told me that, if you can, wait for the Series II 120 which would probably be released about 12-18 months after the Series I, which is when they release an upgrade to address minor glitches.

We tow with LC TD auto, and it is very effective - I finally got around to doing a chip upgrade and wished I had done it sooner. Makes a huge difference and removes the "fifth gear" problem (referred to in an earlier post above) with all the additional torque.

thanks for this info it just confirms my decision on getting a second hand 100 series and going with the aftermarket turbo in the auto.

cheers

Rolly,

Reinforcing your decision, the automatic is always the way to go with heavy towing. The auto box eliminates the loss of momentum that you get with manual changes going uphill.

As for Steve's advice, remember that an older beam-axle Cruiser is also a better and much cheaper option than the F250 which suffers from the same precarious electronic management systems as the IFS Cruiser TDs.

Michael