Some caravan

[jx2mad]

My cousin and her husband came across from Perth and are staying with us in their van. 3.6tonne TROOPER van, bought through the c'van and camping show Perth. Boy is it well finished with all modcons. Picked it up for $82k. Normal price close to $100k. What is he using for a tow vehicle? Disco 4 and averaging around 18l/100k. Man, the van is big and solid. Too luxurious for me, beside I can't afford to pay that much for anything. But the cost would certainly pay for a lot of cruises!!! :D:D

[BMKal]

I had a look at the Trooper (made by Lotus Caravans) a while back. Have to agree with you on the quality - one of the best I've seen. Very heavy though.

And a bit outside my price range ................. :o

[CraigE]

Yep we looked at them at the last show, very nice vans and would love one, maybe with lotto.:D There were some very nice vans, some better than others, some more dirt road than full off road.
The dual axle ones are more for dirt road. Advice from a manufacturer was if you want serious off road go for a slightly smaller single axle.
What I do like about these vans is they are totally self sufficient.
There is a couple of van yards near us with some really nice vans. I think the one on Pinjarra Road near Cellarbrations and the Spud Shed have Lotus vans.
Oh well keep on dreaming, maybe one day.

[Yorkie]

What's the tow rating on the d4? 3.6t van.... Too heavy I reckon.

[Sue]

What's the tow rating on the d4? 3.6t van.... Too heavy I reckon.

It's 3.5t and unless they've had in rated higher (by changing suspension etc) they are towing it illegally and without insurance.

And is that 3.6t unloaded??

[BMKal]

It's 3.5t and unless they've had in rated higher (by changing suspension etc) they are towing it illegally and without insurance.

And is that 3.6t unloaded??

The tare weight of the Trooper is 2800kg and the ATM is 3490kg - so fully loaded it just scrapes in.

[robbotd5]

If the van's ATM is in excess of 3500ks's then it would be illegall to tow behing the D4. Therefor it is very important to actually weigh everything that you put into the van. My 23 ft Daydream has an ATM of 2581kg. I have weighed everything that I have added to the van ( I know, I'm a sucker for details ). But I know that I'm no heavier than 2300 odd kilos. But that's with empty water tanks.
Regards
Robbo

[Tawmii]

If the van's ATM is in excess of 3500ks's then it would be illegall to tow behing the D4. Therefor it is very important to actually weigh everything that you put into the van. My 23 ft Daydream has an ATM of 2581kg. I have weighed everything that I have added to the van ( I know, I'm a sucker for details ). But I know that I'm no heavier than 2300 odd kilos. But that's with empty water tanks.
Regards
Robbo

We are about to pick up a 20 foot Jayco Outback Expanda caravan on Friday. We picked up our first Landrover on Thursday - a Discovery 4 - bought to tow this heavier van. I am VERY impressed with you weighing everything. I have always wanted to take our previous vans through one of those weigh bridges for trucks on the various highways. Is this possible?

[dullbird]

Can't we just enjoy the fact that they have a nice van???

Why do discussions always have to revert to the its illegal.

The owner of the van is not even here to say yes it is or no it isn't or even thanks for the info I didnt realise..

Just sayin

[Pedro_The_Swift]

I have always wanted to take our previous vans through one of those weigh bridges for trucks on the various highways. Is this possible?

not only possible, but necessary. The trick is to find an unpopular one,, walk in and say I want to weigh each axle,
then, weigh the car,
weigh the car with the trailer attached but not on the bridge,
weigh the car and the first trailer axle.
weigh everything.
Took me around twenty minutes at Oakey,, cost me ten bucks for hand written figures.
but now I know :cool:

[weeds]

not only possible, but necessary. The trick is to find an unpopular one,, walk in and say I want to weigh each axle,
then, weigh the car,
weigh the car with the trailer attached but not on the bridge,
weigh the car and the first trailer axle.
weigh everything.
Took me around twenty minutes at Oakey,, cost me ten bucks for hand written figures.
but now I know :cool:

Having your own weigh bridge is even easier......😘😘

Funny enough I never though about axle weights on the tug until I went to the trouble...surprisingly I'm over on front axle

Either way it's a nice van....could very well be a typo in the first post

[gossamer]

Any public weigh bridge will weigh it, when i weighed the camper the lady made me drive with the car just off the deck, weighed the camper then we put the jockey wheel down and just disconnected it and got the towball weight as well. The trooper is an awesome looking van i had my hopes pinned on winning 1 through Pat Callinan (sp?) along with a new Patrol but sadly i missed out.

[DiscoKym]

The trooper seem a really good caravan.. :)
Well he does have the best towing vehicle to handle it? Love the economy doing it.. Go the D4.. :D

Sorry for the hijack. :(

I have been watching the weight issue for a while now, getting itchy feet to upgrade from a camper trailer. Still looking for a real off road caravan or hybrid weighing under 1000kg. I know wishful thinking. The Cub will stay in the carport for a while yet..

There has been a lot of noise on the caravan sites that people have taken delivery of new caravans and taken them to a weigh bridge and found them a lot heavier than the plate says. Accessories and options are often not factored in. They have taken them back and got new compliance plates that are correct.

Here in Adelaide there seems a lot trading Cruisers and Patrols on the American trucks as they can legally tow these big vans. Just looked at the new F Truck... Lovely I might want one one day.. :wasntme:

[Pedro_The_Swift]

start saving your $$,
140K Au for a 2014 RHD F150.

[TerryO]

Weight is really important when buying any van and is something many people fail to check into properly before buying a van. Many of them are way to heavy to start off with and then have little to no carrying capacity and are always either on or over any normal 4x4's 3.5 ton towing capacity.

A very well made van that is a pretty exceptional off road and weighs on average 500 to 700 kg less than many other similar size off road vans is the Sunland brand which is made just north of Brisbane. They are a few dollars more than many other more well known brands but their quality is second to none and they are innovators in keeping the weight down and given exceptional carrying capacity.

[DiscoKym]

start saving your $$,
140K Au for a 2014 RHD F150.

True but a landcruiser costs $84,000 to $127,000.

So the towing and carrying capacity makes the F truck look like good value. Especially as Performax lists them from $125,000.

Not to mention:
An awesome 1084 Nm of torque and best-in-class 294 kw of power, plus excellent fuel efficiency, is it any wonder that the Ford F-Series has been America's top selling vehicle for over a decade.

Makes my $10,000 Disco look cheap... :(

[Homestar]

Yeah, for towing it's hard to go past an F truck. I've driven my mates F250 with a gooseneck trailer that grossed just on 4 tonnes - it towed it as easily as my Dunny door tows a 6 x 4.

It's got so much power and torque - the engine really is good.

Having said that, it's about the only thing it's good for. It's too big to go shopping in with how narrow and short modern car park spaces are - you need to find 2 or 3 spaces together. Forget off roading as they are so wide, they get stuck in the bush very easily - not bogged, you just end up not being able to navigate through the trees.

Added to that I feel like a complete tool when I drive it...:D

[Pedro_The_Swift]

So the towing and carrying capacity makes the F truck look like good value.
Not to mention:
An awesome 1084 Nm of torque
yes to its load carrying/towing, but the F150 best figures are only 588Nm,,(at 4500rpm:eek:)
The F250 has all your grunt at only 1600 rpm:cool:, theres a very nice 2014 King Ranch for $144K here, ;)
24 Cars for sale in VIC & QLD - Harrison F-Trucks (http://stock.harrisonftrucks.com.au/cars)

[harlie]

Friends have a Trooper. He claims it is under 3.5t, but I have my doubts, it has 4x85L water tanks!! Bloody nice van, he drags it with a LC200 V8 diesel and it won’t sit on 100 if there’s a slight headwind. We have followed him and it creates dust swirls out the side like the semi-trailers it drags so much air.

As far as weighing it, the local tip (sorry transfer station) will weigh it for free if you don’t need an official certificate.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

yea, harlie. until you actually get out and walk around a 3.5t van, its hard to realise just how big they are,, and the offroad ones are so TALL!!:o

[maggsie]

Dullbird, I concur!!!!
Regards
Maggsie

[justinc]

Those Lotus Troopers are very well built, but just a bit out of my $$ range unfortunately. D4 will be a great tow vehicle though:cool:.

Mine (NOT a Lotus unfortunately) is heavy, too:(. 2600kg Tare, 3400ATM. 21'6" dirt road full height van, fully self sufficient , lots of solar and batteries, water etc etc. As said Weigh the thing, and especially the ball. Mine is at 250kg, tows beautifully at that.


JC

[DiscoKym]

Roos Systems have just released the upgrade for the 2013 Discovery 4 TDV6 HSE.. In an add in the Sept copy of 4X4 Australia..

ECU remap and Twin 2.5" Exhaust.

Power - 183 kw

Torque - 1083 nm

Combined Economy 6.6L/100km

Is there a face thing for drool?????

:burnrubber:

[davidsonsm]

There's no joy to be had towing 3.5 tonne in a vehicle rated to tow 3.5 tonne max. It's a slog. And the wear and tear on the towing vehicle would be pretty horrendous. I would want a greater margin of safety/comfort.

The other aspect is the combined mass of the car and trailer. You have to watch how much you load the car if the trailer weight is topped out.

[DiscoKym]

There's no joy to be had towing 3.5 tonne in a vehicle rated to tow 3.5 tonne max. It's a slog. And the wear and tear on the towing vehicle would be pretty horrendous. I would want a greater margin of safety/comfort.

The other aspect is the combined mass of the car and trailer. You have to watch how much you load the car if the trailer weight is topped out.

I was lurking in the Caravan/Horse Float forums and the agreed best formula seems to tow a maximum of 80% of the KERB weight of the tow vehicle for reliability and safety. Lucky for us Land Rover quote Kerb weight with fuel and driver (or so they say??).

Or another Formula

Now let’s apply Polk’s 80/20 Trailer Towing Formula: 3500kg. tow rating X 80% = 2800kg. – 20% = 2100kg. maximum trailer dry weight you can tow.