Tow Vehicles

[thewavehumper]

Alan no more troopers ....bummer. Mind you a king cab pickup is quite butch..

KH do you need anything more than a Reliant Robin to tow your boat or can you gataway with a Tiger Cub! Ocean Safety look like they are disposing of a small Avon Sib, so I might have one soon

The other good thing about landies , for the budget concious Ribster, is that they have about 6 magazines published which means you can get cracking deals on bits and pieces for them.

[Jelly]

Well that got quite a response!
As I thought there would a split on the size of the tow vehicle, between the more practical SUV’s and the larger 4x4’s mainly split on the size of boat towed.
The SUV’s seem to be happy with the 6m and close variants, and most people seem to have had a better experience with the Freelander than I, could be down to the model as most seem to have the bigger engines and an auto box, unlike my 1.8 manual. Boot space must still be very poor on the later models too.
I must admit I had never expected to see a Subaru in the running, even though they have been the farmer’s car for years (original market that the range rover was aimed at).

As for bigger or heavier boats the larger 4x4’s come into their own.
I was expecting more variety to be used; the Disco I agree is a good workhorse but suffers from Lode lane build quality (having owned and repaired a mid 1970’s range rover & various LR do I know about the build quality – I want to be boating not repairing the blessed thing!). Flip side is that parts for these are easily available (market demand?)
But finding a good one that has only been used for the school run not in place of a 7.5 ton truck is the hard bit.
The Japanese 4x4’s especially the trooper seem to be liked and the survey companies / aid agencies / mines favourites the Landcruiser & Shogun has their fans though less than I expected.
Now for the hard part finding a nice one for under 10K, if I had enough for a new range rover I ‘d still want to spend that amount and the rest on a new boat!!!

Trooper parts seem to be regarded as expensive, but if you need less of them compared to a Disco and LR parts are not that cheep either.
This is developing into swings and roundabouts!

[Phil]

I have the Shogun 3500 which pulls my 8m Humber without a problem and is also good for a big family; the previous car was a Jeep 4 litre which didn't struggle but I think that the Shogun is or at least feels heavier and safer.

However I have not had to test it on a slippery steep slope!

[dgpw]

The lada niva is the same as the Cossack. Fantastic off road. Can not be beaten. They are 1 or 2 off road viecles with a centre diff (designed for Russian winters). If you remove the number plate their is a crank start on it. Now I challenge you to find another new car with a crank start!. They have a switch under the bonnet that allows you to switch between winter and summer mode so that it will run -30 - not that you get that much in the UK. I once drove myn through very very deep water half way up the windscreen. It stopped due to the ignition system shorting out (they have a z bend in the exhorts that creates an air lock so no water gets in the engine). Opened the doors to get out as small windows and trashed the speakers and radio. Pushed it out with some help and left it on a hill for a few mins turned the key and it fired up first time shooting water out of the exhorts at the guy looking up it. Ran fine. (driving home when breaking the water would hit the bulkhead and splash back at you) ha ha. They are by far the toughest car on the road today we gave ours 5 years of serious abuse i.e. water mud sawdust sand, rock, snow u name it went their

[Jelly]

Any coments on Japanese imports?
ie second hand units shipped over here.

[TIM]

I have had 2 of them , No problems, tend to be low milage and have 2 batterys in them, and loaded with every gaget you can think off! But bargain price.

[thewavehumper]

There is a very big importer close to Saxon Wharf.

I don't think Trooper parts are particularly expensive when compared to other Jap parts..

The other option is SHB hire in Southampton, depending on how much towing you are going to do.

[John Kennett]

Originally posted by dgpw
The lada niva is the same as the Cossack. Fantastic off road. Can not be beaten

Can't be beaten off road? Oh yes they can! I like Niva's and they're not bad off road, but they're not that good!

They are a bit under powered for serious towing too, although the Niva featured on this site may be better -- it's got a Nissan 300zx engine!

John

[Scubakid]

Hi all

Thought I should add my bit I am with Alan I have a 3L Trouper auto and towing is dead easy. I use to have the manual but would say for towing the auto is much easier. I have not found the parts expensive but have not needed many yet.

John

[dgpw]

Originally posted by John Kennett
Can't be beaten off road? Oh yes they can! I like Niva's and they're not bad off road, but they're not that good!

They are a bit under powered for serious towing too, although the Niva featured on this site may be better -- it's got a Nissan 300zx engine!

John

True they are underpowered on the road but of the road the low box is so low that they will go up anything, this combined with a very short wheal base means that they will go anywhere (dry!) Only the niva and the Hummer have a perfect centre dif. This means that they will go with only one wheal getting traction. I have pulled a land rover 90 out of a muddy field. Other 4x4's tend to have a side system or a front back system. Lots of Modern 4x4 applies the breaks to the wheal that is slipping. no offence to new 4x4's but when descending a wet cliff 45 deg + I don't want an electrical chip controlling the breaks I would much rather have a very low gear and lots of engine breaking. I know a police force that had one on test that they tried to trash, Ie tank tracks on Sailsbury plain ect they did not manage. The niva is so cheep compared to anything else I don't think they can be beaten. They are slow though no arguments their. The pic is not my one but it was the only 4x4 to go up the hill others went down but only the niva with it's special dif went up Now when it comes to water Yes I agree you need a deisel ie a 90 with a snorkle would be ideal! but snow or mud or anything slippery the niva is best

[thewavehumper]

Should we have a car field in our profile?

[Mike Garside]

Don't be siily, Stuart. What, may I ask, is the relevance of my car - a Hillman Husky - to my 9m diesel cabin RIB?

[Richard B]

Scary... I think I know what a Hillman Husky looks like!

(My first ever car was a Hillman - reg. no. HOT 915 E )

[wavelength]

at th risk of being shouted at for keeping this thread going-has anyone used a Shogun sport??- the 2.5td one thats based on the pickup floorpan apparently.
Had a test drive in one last year and wasn'y over impressed but the price is cheaper than a lot and it might just do the job for me.

[whitingiom]

Dave

I thought from your 'over the edge' launch pictures you had a CRV?

We have one and it's no problem to pull either of our boats around.

Apparently towing limit (braked) is 1500kg.

Jon

[thewavehumper]

Car field has no interest to me, I was being flippant it's one of my faults. according to my 1999 appraisall

[batfalcon]

Could agree more with "dgpw", "dimitris" & JK.

Niva is unbeatable at of road conditons.
At the photo is my Niva towing a "Sealine 400" (sorry not a rib at the time), trying to reach Libian Sea South Krete ("Europe's southest point"). At a distance you may see some large tanks filled with petrol. It's a ship gas station (sort of).
Photo taken by my wife Rena 1989 (if I reckon well).

[Manos]

NIVA Jeeps are good work horses. They are built for that reason and only for that i.e. work hard and not breaking down!!
However, I have towed boats from the UK to Greece many times (more or less every other summer) and the jeep I will use is a DAIHATSY 4-Track 2.8 TDL, 1993 model (got it from new) with about 120000 miles on the cock right now.
Last year I towed the 7 mtr Falcon from the UK to Greece with the same Jeep, went through France and the Alps with two stops (one at Chalons de Champagne and one at Chamberi) and then via the Tunnel de Frejus to Italy via Torino and Bologna straight to Ancona where I caught the ferry.
That particular jeep did the run without ANY PROBLEMS. This jeep has done all the runs to Greece since I bought it (except one year). Attached a photo from last year on the SuperFast ferry from Ancona to Patras.
I also have a Range Rover 1978 model in Greece. That jeep (and old lady with 20000 miles) and 4 gears goes like a dream (although a little bit noisy). Drove it to Greece 6-7 years ago towing an Osprey back then if I remember correctly.
Sold the boat a year later but kept the jeep.
This jeep is like a tank goes anywhere, any time, any day and tows and pulls anything you through at it.
I really have a lot of respect for the old Range Rovers (I guess this is why farmers still use them in the UK).

[Manos]

Originally posted by batfalcon
..... trying to reach Libian Sea ........
At a distance you may see some large tanks filled with petrol.

Are you related to Mr Cadafi then?? LOLOL
The place where the tanks are located is called AGIOI THEODOROI. Is a bunkering facility for ships.
The facility was run by the Vardilogiannis Group now I think is ARAMCO who is operating them.

[Ribald]

Manos, glad to see there's another Fourtrak owner on the Forum. Great vehicles not like the "Chelsea Tractor" that you see on most school runs