Good Tow Cars?

[JimmyRickard]

98 Manta being basically a VT SS, it'll be very ordinary/unsafe towing a skyline size car.

Good to know, saves me spending money on a tow ball. What's the issue exactly?

[33GTRV]

invest heavily in bp stocks. The 5.0l likes a drink when towing. Car is also underweight and under rated to tow a skyboat on a trailer

[gtr jet]

Anyone ever towed with a 5.0L on gas? I'm about to give it a crack in the next couple of weeks.

[34GeeTeeTee]

Hey Guys, anyone know of any good 80 Series or GQ patrol Diesal for sale? I've been searching for a while and looking back through this thread it looks like i am on the right track...

The 80 series we test drove on the weekend was nice and clean, 288km with a lot of extras, asking price is $15k which i was planning too offer $13.5ish.... It seemed really slow though, i know its a big wagon and i know its N/A but does anyone have any feedback on this? It seemed to slow on hills which is going to be worse with my fat ass 34 behind it...

[JZP]

Hey Guys, anyone know of any good 80 Series or GQ patrol Diesal for sale? I've been searching for a while and looking back through this thread it looks like i am on the right track...

The 80 series we test drove on the weekend was nice and clean, 288km with a lot of extras, asking price is $15k which i was planning too offer $13.5ish.... It seemed really slow though, i know its a big wagon and i know its N/A but does anyone have any feedback on this? It seemed to slow on hills which is going to be worse with my fat ass 34 behind it...

I had one, and because of it - I'll never buy an old toyota again. All the major components (heads, diffs, transmission, etc) needed work at some time or another - then problems with the electrics pushed me over the edge.

If it's petrol one you looked at, that is quite expensive to pay (depends what options are on it). It will be very expensive to keep running in fuel costs. If it's a slug now - it will only feel slower the longer you own it.

There is lots of wear an tear on a car of that many k's. double check what's been done on it - cos most of the driveline will be worn.

Don't listen to me - I'm just scarred from the previous experience!

[gtr jet]

If it's NA diesel I wouldn't go near it for towing. It'll struggle to go up a hill with a boot full let alone towing a trailer. Turbo diesel on the other hand would be great but they're worth a fair bit more.

Not too sure what the NA petrol's go like but I'd still stick with a turbo diesel.

[34GeeTeeTee]

Hmmmm thanks guys! I kind of had the feeling it would be a bit of a slug... The guy has had it since near new and it is pretty well looked after but i guess ill keep looking.

Most factory turbo ones are around the $20k mark which is above what i wanted to spend

[PervertedPanda]

Hey guys,

I bought a N/A 80 series before we went down to Targa Tas last year and I couldn't be happier with it!!!

It certainly isn't fast but it does the job and is 100% reliable. It tows like there is nothing behind it due to the massive weight of the vehicle you never get the load misbehaving.

However it was too slow for me so I turbo intercooled it about 3 months ago. It is now fantastic, hills that I had to drop to second in before are now fairly easy in fourth gear at 80+km/h.

It still returns about 18L/100k towing fully loaded and when im not towing I can drive over the Brindabella's in it!! If the one you buy doesn't have a large lift and 33's like mine then it will tow even better! I vote for the land cruiser.

[34GeeTeeTee]

Thanks for the info... My concern is putting a turbo on an engine that is near 300k already? I wouldn't have thought it was safe to do so?

Most of the towing will be on highway so it's not that bad but between here and Sydney I have ourimbah hill and mooney to deal with...

[Dale FZ1]

My concern is putting a turbo on an engine that is near 300k already? I wouldn't have thought it was safe to do so?

It all depends on the basic health of the engine. Poorly serviced/maintained and trying to extract massive amounts of power gain over stock will result in a short life. Approaching 300k you'd have to give it a good checkover before either buying the thing, or committing to turbocharging it.

Reputable installers seem to target gains of about 40-50% over std, with a close eye on exhaust gas temps. Within those parameters the 1HZ seems to be happy and provide good service.

[34GeeTeeTee]

The owner has had the truck most of its life and serviced it every 5000kms...

You can tell by the overall condition that it has been well maintained (in general) over the years but i guess as we are shopping in the lower price bracket we cant expect too much for the $

I really need to drive a comparison car to make sure its not just me thinking its dead slow but being in Newcastle makes it hard as there are fark all car yards.

[Dale FZ1]

N/A 100 series diesel run the same powertrain. They do feel dead.

But they're capable of barrelling along quite well on the flats. It's just hills that slow them up. You are likely to have a GCM of at least 4.5t when towing a Skyline on a tandem trailer.

Provided that basic engine health is good, it will be a good platform for turbocharging and tackling those hills a gear or two higher, as per comments from others.

[34GeeTeeTee]

Hmmmm.... Well i best be shopping for some turbo kits and getting an idea of costs so i can work out if its viable to do this one OR to chase one that is already done.... From what i can tell most of them demand quite a bit extra when they have the turbo kits installed.

[fatz]

buy a gu ti

10k should get you into a petrol on gas

[34GeeTeeTee]

I thought they were thirsty etc hence why you go for the Diesal?

[Marlin]

Stuff messing about wwith aftermarket turbos and stuff. There's enough choice out there to just find something with a nice "factory seal". Modding an already 3/4 worn out car doesn't make sense to me. Certainly not when your priority should be reliability when hundred of kays from home.

yes yes yes, I know everyone's things have all been awesome and never let them down yadda yadda. But there is NOTHING quite like a factory done job.

[Dale FZ1]

buy a gu ti

10k should get you into a petrol on gas

For the coin involved, this is a very good turn-key option. People comment about how thirsty those things are, but the difference in purchase price will have you driving for years - and in a much newer machine.

Still I like the fact a Tojo runs full time 4WD.

[34GeeTeeTee]

Stuff messing about wwith aftermarket turbos and stuff. There's enough choice out there to just find something with a nice "factory seal". Modding an already 3/4 worn out car doesn't make sense to me. Certainly not when your priority should be reliability when hundred of kays from home.

yes yes yes, I know everyone's things have all been awesome and never let them down yadda yadda. But there is NOTHING quite like a factory done job.

Yeah i know what you are saying....

For the coin involved, this is a very good turn-key option. People comment about how thirsty those things are, but the difference in purchase price will have you driving for years - and in a much newer machine.

Still I like the fact a Tojo runs full time 4WD.

Ill have a look on Carsales in a minute, just finishing a turbo diesal search now...

[260DET]

Stuff messing about wwith aftermarket turbos and stuff. There's enough choice out there to just find something with a nice "factory seal". Modding an already 3/4 worn out car doesn't make sense to me. Certainly not when your priority should be reliability when hundred of kays from home.

yes yes yes, I know everyone's things have all been awesome and never let them down yadda yadda. But there is NOTHING quite like a factory done job.

^This^ If you can't afford a proper turbo diesel then why not make do with a Falcon or somthing for a while? On a long tow drive my auto Mrbitchy Challenger CRD turbo did 11.6L/100, messing around with some old diesel clunker that has been round the clock a few times and does 18 does not make sense.

Edited April 23, 2013 by 260DET

[gtr jet]

Getting a heavy duty tow bar and electronic brake controller fitted to my 5.0L Falcon wagon today so we'll see how she goes with the trip to Heathcote on Sunday.