Towing with Sierra

[LFT]

I am contemplating buying my first real 4x4 and a zook seems to be top off the list. Way too many positives over negatives but I guess most of you already knew that. A few questions though. How hard is it to come by one with air con? This is a must for me. Also was wondering how well they tow. It would mainly be a box trailer normally filled with one or two trail bikes or just the odd bit of junk. It will be my daily driver and will have regular offroad trips and I would like it to be quite capable ( sorry for the vagueness). Any advice on any particular models to look out for or anyone who has any experience towing with them. Thanks in advance.

[Spike_Sierra]

well well..

towing in a zook - take another day off to get there, as when it comes to being capable you need larger tyres, then power goes down the shitta.

my bros has got aircon, but im not sure how common they are, his doenst work tho

towing two motorbikes would be a struggle for it, unless it had engine upgrade, probably need brakes upgraded too..

other cars to look at might be SWB bundy or MWB cruiser or dare i saw it MQ Pootrol

[droopypete]

Two trail bikes on a 6x4 would be no problem to a stock zook, but as spike says, if you up the tyre size with out altering the gearing it may get a bit anoying (but only a bit)
Zooks are a light vehicle, and that is part of their attraction and a source of their ability, the more you load them up winch's, barwork, roofracks, accesorys and the like they slow down, in a 2.5T cruiser or patrol you don't notice it as much but it is very obvious in a 1T zook.

Good luck.
Peter.

[Santos]

trail bikes aren't that heavy you should be fine if the motor is well maintained

[Pat Murray]

I tow a 450 kg. camper trailer behind a warm 1.3 Sierra with5.13 transfer and 32s with no problem whatsoever. A healthy standard Zook should cope with what you are asking.

[crispy zook]

i tow 2 motos behind zook with 31s n standard gearing it gets there but very slowly but thats just a negative to the plus of owning a zook

[Pinball]

funnily enuff, it aint what it can pull, its what it can stop.

i pulled a celica on a car trailer from ipswich to brisbane, just split the gears with the transfer to get it rolling. but a 6x4 full of loam was a bloody scary experience from samford, sideways down hill at the lights.

zooks have a low tow rating, 450 kg from memory, braked or otherwise, they pull a lot more, but the light weight detracts from ability to stop the load.

Spock

[LFT]

I won't be buying it to tow, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't expecting too much when I will have to tow the bike on the odd occasion. It would only be short trips aswell so being a bit slower wouldn't bother me. The zook wouldn't stay stock for long so if I went larger tyres I would definately look at doing gearing aswell.
But just to clarify, if I go larger tyres but change gearing aswell the stock motor shouldn't have too much trouble?
Also how hard will it be to find one with air con? Does anyone have one that has it?

[Flat_Matt]

Just buy a stock z00k and go find a zook with aircon parked in a carpark somewhere and take the aircon bits :p

[DiddyZook]

All soft tops came standard with a very economical AC, cold in winter, hot in Summer, if you want it to blow a bit more remove the roof. What more could you want

[nicbeer]

I won't be buying it to tow, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't expecting too much when I will have to tow the bike on the odd occasion. It would only be short trips aswell so being a bit slower wouldn't bother me. The zook wouldn't stay stock for long so if I went larger tyres I would definately look at doing gearing aswell.
But just to clarify, if I go larger tyres but change gearing aswell the stock motor shouldn't have too much trouble?
Also how hard will it be to find one with air con? Does anyone have one that has it?

Leave the stock motor till it dies. Sam was running 42" tyres on a 1.3.

anything is possible.

Aircon - possible in the hardtops.

cheers

[benjamin78au]

Well i tow with zook probly nearly 1/3 of time i am driving, i am pulling a 4 m tinny loaded with fishing gear or water skis that plus use to be 4 of us in the car. with the 1.3 it would sit on 90 all day , not a hassle. pulling it up ramps is good, you just might slow a bit on some hills on highways.
I decided to do a 1.6 efi swap and the differance is noticable. will sit on 100 easier, but the hills ain't as notiable. It also comes down to how you have the trailer setup. and how it tracks.


bj

[Clancy]

when my drover was standard i towed a old heavy car trailer, then loaded a mitusbishi cordia (much heavier) onto the trailer and towed it.

was worried about negotiating a big hill with the load bu the little thing has guts and did the job with credit.

i agree that soft tops provide great AC!

[droopypete]

when my drover was standard i towed a old heavy car trailer, then loaded a mitusbishi cordia (much heavier) onto the trailer and towed it.

was worried about negotiating a big hill with the load bu the little thing has guts and did the job with credit.

i agree that soft tops provide great AC!

Sorry Clancy, but that is just plain stupid, people die doing shit like that, and it is usualy the family of 4 in the other car
Peter.

[HJ60_HEATHUS]

perhaps some of you should watch this movie before towing things that are heavier than the tow vehicle

http://mr-t.gotdns.com/maestro/caravan.wmv

[Gutless]

Thats a classic