off road caravans

Uppy, the towing limit for a 2016 Prado is 2500kg, you say you have a GVM upgrade, do you realise that the GVM upgrade amount will reduce your towing capacity by the same amount, so if your GVM increase was 500kg, your towing limit is now 2000kg, don't think any offroad van of 16-19ft will weight that little.

thanks John , I`m a bit confused now

I,d aim for something that when fully loaded to the max weighs about 2000kg.. This will make it easier to tow, less demanding on your car and cheaper to travel. You dont need the big, heavy dog boxes that many have. Keep it light and simple will mean a more enjoyable trip. You do not need all the bells and whistles that manufacturers say you need. Their hybrids are chinese , assembled here and as heavy as! Looking on the web they all seem bloody heavy. 2016 Prado is not really powerful enough to be towing 2500kg vans anyways. Its at its max limit and as such means a lot more stress on motor, brakes, transmission, body and driver.

Macca asked for further explanation of towing capacity reduction when a vehicle has a GVM upgrade. My Patrol had a GVM upgrade from 3000kg to 3500kg, the following was written on the documentation, Your car has had an engineered GVM (Gross Vehicle Mass) increase from 3000kg to 3500kg, "your cars GCM (Gross Combined Mass) remains unchanged at 6500kg. You maximum braked towing capacity has now been downgraded to 3000kg". Hope this is a little clearer?

Thanks for your reply.Well need to look at lighter vans

southern cross vans are very heavy . plus your prado is ridiculously underpowered. Great car, shit engine .

I expect most vehicles will have a lower off road towing capacity than on road for safety reasons because of the extra stress placed on everything. Back around 20yrs ago when we had a Disco I think it had around 1 ton less rating for off road towing something to look into so you get home without any problems at the end of the day.
I couldn't see it being much fun towing something off road that's heavier than the tow vehicle it would be pushing you all over the place giving you whip lash.

Do you really need 16' to 19" long? I've seen Goldstream vans in some pretty remote locations. Are you going to take it "off-road" or just down a dirt road?
cheers

Mainly on dirt roads

Uppy, don't write off the hybrids. I have one that is completely Australian made (yes I am certain) and it isn't heavy ie 1300kg empty and 2000kg loaded. Same wheels and height (to tow) as the car and has handled all the iconic roads like Gove, Gibb, Savanah Way and lots more. Apart from flats on the tyres that it came with nothing has broken or bent. If our bladders could manage it thru the whole night we wouldn't be in any rush to change it but alas thats not the case. Oh and it is available for well under $50k. We too are now looking for an offroad van but as others have said they are heavy, rich in unnecessary bits etc. when really all we need is a dunny a bed and some cooking.
Good luck with your search - everything in camping is a compromise.

thanks Kenall , We are looking at a lighter van now , we have been camping for years in tents in very remote areas, I`m going on 70 so we want an easy off road van with a island bed, wife wants a few things eg washing machine ,shower and toilet. looking at Stoney creek 16ft to day

Going to get a snowy river src 17

Thanks guys , the van is getting an up grade for the suspension, independent and off road tyres. Well be mainly on dirt roads