What do you tow with?

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davesimmons

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Hi guys and girls,

Looking to buy a 4x4 for towing and launching and wondered what other people were using - any recommendations?

I will be launching from the Swanage council boat ramp which anyone who has been there knows is a pig (very steep) so I am opting for a fairly weighty one. Looking at Land Rover Discovery, Nissan Navara’s etc.

Budget £6 - £7k.

Thanks for any advice.
 
I use a Landrover Disco to tow my 2 ton boat.

Just sold the boat today....wanna buy a Rreg diesel disco ???

Delivering the boat down to poole next week.....you could have the Disco next week and I'll get the train home !!!!!

paul.
 
I tow with a Kia Sorento. You might get a high miles XE at your price, but i'm not going to try and get between you and Pauls Disco.

Lumpy ride apart, the Kia is a brilliant machine and unbeatable at the price IMHO.

Tim
 
You can not go wrong with a Land rover Discovery either TDi or TD5. They are good on the road, off the road and excellent for towing. Also more economical than many 4x4. I have one for towing caravan and boat.
 
I got a Suzuki Grand Vitara may be not as good as a Landy but much cheaper and nearly as good. Had mine 4 years now it is "v" reg and 100% reliable. I tow both boat and caravan never had a problem yet. It has low ratio as well as high ratio 4x4 which is good on slip way. 2L TD auto 33MPG
 
One question that needs to be asked is will this just be a towing vehicle or your daily vehicle that will also be used for towing?

Also (sorry another question) how far away are you from your slipway.

I am a big Land Rover fan, however I have/had other vehicles for various uses.

If this is purely for towing and you are close to the slip way then you can not beat an old LR Disco, Disco 300TDi should be cheap as chips.

If this will also be a family vehicle then you could also look at a Shogun/Pajero. I have a Galloper/ Old shape shogun (Hyundai bought the old Shogun/Pajero and sell it where I live) It has a solid 2.5 lt turbo diesel (Mitsubishi engine) and also has the advantage of selectable 2/4WD (H/L)

I keep the old girl (now 11 years old) mostly in 2 WD. Just use 4 WD when needed. Saves a litle bit on fuel and a bit more on tyres.

If you are very close and just want a tow vehicle then you could also go for an old series LR, might be able to get a Tax exempt one, depends on how much you like old LRs

(sorry,last comment was a bit silly, however I spent more money shipping my series 2A ltwt LR to Georgia than it was actually worth, but I am a LR freak)
 
Launched on that slip a few times with my 300 TDI. No problem towing the rib at 1.5 tonnes. Hardest part was shifting the rocks off the slip. 300 TDI as already said cheap as chips and the last of the mecanical cars, before TD5 came along with electronics. Auto does 26 mpg towing, older manual did 29 mpg towing. Oh and 300 TDIs are old enough to avoid excessive car tax of late 4x4s which might go up again next week in the budget /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Pete
 
As on Ozzie who has visited UK several times I find there are some car type habits that are peculiar to UK and for no real reason. The first is the apparent dislike of autoi transmission.
I think though many may disagree that a 2 wheel drive with auto is nearly as good on a ramp as a 4WD. I have had both.
I currently use a very ordinary Ford 4 litre wagon with auto. I have never had any sign of slip on ramp. You need to keep the weight on the drawbar pretty heavy to aid traction.
The auto allows for very smooth application of power to creep out of the water.
My boat is 21ft with about 950kg of boat and 300kg of trailer.
good luck olewill
 
I got a Grand Vitara after the Honda CRV.
It's the low ratio that attracted me. Even towing my little dinghy out of the lake (less than 300kgs, all up) on a steep shale landing was nearly too much for the clutch on the Honda which has no low-ratio. It's not just the weight of the boat. The tow vehicle has to make the ascent as well and controlling the speed of the recovery as well as getting traction involves a bit too much slipping of the clutch. Diesel is also easier to use at low speeds, trickling away at tickover. I seem to get about 36 mpg with a 2 litre (manual, turbo, intercooler). Slightly harsh ride after the Honda and Rav4.
Either an auto, or a low ratio box is essential to avoid over-stressing the tow car when recovering a boat.
 
Frontera diesel is a much underated car, the newer ones don't have the reliability issues of the older ones, but sell for really good bargain prices
 
I had a Frontera and it was excelent on the slipway with easy 4x4 button and easy low ratio box. But it was rubbish on the motorway, didn't have enough grunt.

I also agree about the auto.....it is just so easy to pull my 2 ton Parker out of the water, just let the hand brake off....

My Disco is a 300tdi and Auto. £4k if anyone is interested. Top spec ES model.
 
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