Sierra Towing Abilities

[mnemonix]

Hi guys,

Who here has done regular towing with their Sierra, and how does it handle it?

I'm looking to get a towbar on my lwb ute for towing the boat around.

My current boat is approx 500KG towing weight, and at present its getting towed by a 96 single cam excel. towing and stopping are no issues with this meagre tow vehicle.

Should the sierra be able to handle this OK? What about when I upgrade to a larger boat (700kg total weight)?

["CANADA"]

Hi guys,

Who here has done regular towing with their Sierra, and how does it handle it?

I'm looking to get a towbar on my lwb ute for towing the boat around.

My current boat is approx 500KG towing weight, and at present its getting towed by a 96 single cam excel. towing and stopping are no issues with this meagre tow vehicle.

Should the sierra be able to handle this OK? What about when I upgrade to a larger boat (700kg total weight)?

you made a funny

[Gutless]

If you are prepared to do a 1600 EFI vitara engine conversion then yes.......

It will tow your boat.

Otherwise, get used to using 2nd, 3rd, and on rare occassions, 4th gear

[PK]

Yeah, but what can they LEGALLY tow? Just interested.....

[Gutless]

Most sierras only have a 450kg tow rating

[HRZOOK]

Can you legally increase this?

Say if you put Hilux diffs in (bigger brakes)

[nicbeer]

Isn't it related to chassis and tow bar strength?

thou saying that a zook tow bar looks stronger than the ones they fit on a falcon.

Nic

[lay80n]

You would have to get it all engineer approved to increase the towing, and prob need more power too. Then the chassis and towbar mounting points as well as towbar itself might also need modification. Though a zook isnt really much of a tow rig
Layto....

[Gutless]

Can you legally increase this?

Say if you put Hilux diffs in (bigger brakes)

Its not worth the hassle. you would need to modify the suspension, and brakes to handle the extra load, and there may also be chassis changes required too.

If you have to tow a boat thats heavier than 450kg's then perhaps the zook should just be a toy, and not your tow rig

[mnemonix]

[

If you have to tow a boat thats heavier than 450kg's then perhaps the zook should just be a toy, and not your tow rig

Thats my drama - I have more toys than functional vehicles.
a pretty car, a fast car. I was hoping to combine the zook as the tow car.
Might have to compromise one of the others to prevent limiting my plans with the zook


Thanks for the advice.

-Mark

[Gutless]

[

If you have to tow a boat thats heavier than 450kg's then perhaps the zook should just be a toy, and not your tow rig

Thats my drama - I have more toys than functional vehicles.
a pretty car, a fast car. I was hoping to combine the zook as the tow car.
Might have to compromise one of the others to prevent limiting my plans with the zook


Thanks for the advice.

-Mark

Could you look at vitaras?? A GV may have a better tow rating

[angus350]

i have towed our 12 foot dinghy around a bit and launched it one the beach but had to drop tyres , and also reguarly tow a trailer with a quad and two wheeler in it with no problems but i dont think neither of them would weigh 500+

[angus350]

i have towed our 12 foot dinghy around a bit and launched it one the beach but had to drop tyres , and also reguarly tow a trailer with a quad and two wheeler in it with no problems but i dont think neither of them would weigh 500+

[Charlie]

I'm not sure about GVs but a V6 Vitara will only tow 500kg,standard Vits can tow 700? maybe. A tinny with all you gears only 3 to 400 hundred but a glass or poly you really need a bigger tow vehicle.
Charlie

[karmic]

Should the sierra be able to handle this OK? What about when I upgrade to a larger boat (700kg total weight)?

I regularly tow and launch a mates 14 foot boat (deep-V hull, heavy bugger) with no problems. I've also moved house a couple of times towing an 18foot furniture trailer loaded to the hilt into the wind and up hills. This was when i still had the 1.3L that had done over 210,000km's.

Getting started was slow with the furniture trailer and you need to ride the clutch a little .. but once going it was ok if you stayed in the left lane. The fastest I could go with the furniture trailer was in 3rd gear doing 85-90kph at ~4500rpm. I could change to 4th but dropped speed slowly till i had to change down to 3rd anyway. Temp never got above 3/4's

Just give yourself plenty of stopping space (say 4-5 car lengths).

Kyle

[bushpig59]

can I tow a 6x4 trailer with some camping gear???? My misses towed a trailer recently with a marquis (you know a tent of sorts) she said it did it but not sure how well....

Wanna go camping and take the (camping gear) in the trailer

What do you think??????

[Gutless]

can I tow a 6x4 trailer with some camping gear???? My misses towed a trailer recently with a marquis (you know a tent of sorts) she said it did it but not sure how well....

Wanna go camping and take the shit(camping gear) in the trailer

What do you think??????

The likelyhood of you ever having problems with the authorities are very slim, but IMO the main consideration is the saftey of you, and your passenengers, and other road users.

We all have our stories of overloading trailers etc. I towed a 12x6 caged trailer full of white goods and furnature in my clapped out 85 high top that had 260,000kms on it when I moved house 4 years ago, but I had the presence of mind to do it at 3am on a sunday morning when nobody was around

If you feel that your trailer is too heavy, and it dramatically alters the way the vehicle operates, then its probably best to leave it at home.

I Made a 5x3.5 box trailer to tow behind my zook, and it only weight 150kgs unladen, so I can load alot of camping gear into it before hitting the 450kg limit.

Pete

[Charlie]

I heard of the RTA setting up near a boat ramp and checking everyone, rare but it can happen. The Subaru probably the best choice as a tow vehicle, it does up to 1500 kg if I remember correctly and some have flown by me towing bloody enormous boats.
Charlie

[Shamus]

I fairly regularly tow a 6x4 trailer, usually laden with gardening rubbish (supposed to be a low-maintenance garden ) and for moving oversized stuff I've bought - gates and doors and that sort of thing. Never had a problem with control or felt it was unsafe but I'm always more careful and easier on the accelerator and brakes. Inclines usually means dropping a gear or two lower than normal but you'd expect that anyway. On the flat 4th gear is as normal. Can't say I've hammered it down the highway in 5th with a trailer though.

As far as carting camping stuff about I would have thought you'd have no problems, though my preference when camping would be for something a little smaller behind the zook, maybe a 5x3.

[HotAe92]

i bent the sh** out of my tow hitch last weekend and removed it today because it looked silly pointing towards the ground.

I just thought i needed to share that with you guys.

[karmic]

i bent the sh** out of my tow hitch last weekend and removed it today because it looked silly pointing towards the ground.

what the hell were you towing ?

[bushpig59]

I fairly regularly tow a 6x4 trailer, usually laden with gardening rubbish (supposed to be a low-maintenance garden ) and for moving oversized stuff I've bought - gates and doors and that sort of thing. Never had a problem with control or felt it was unsafe but I'm always more careful and easier on the accelerator and brakes. Inclines usually means dropping a gear or two lower than normal but you'd expect that anyway. On the flat 4th gear is as normal. Can't say I've hammered it down the highway in 5th with a trailer though.

As far as carting camping stuff about I would have thought you'd have no problems, though my preference when camping would be for something a little smaller behind the zook, maybe a 5x3.

Thanks for the info Shamus....I am going to load the 6 x 4 and have a drive around (with the camping gear). I may follow your advice sell the 6 x4 and see if I can get a 5 x3...... The camping gear is too much but with 4 in the zook its going to be a challenge. The camp sites were I wanna go are not too far 150 kls max... But the petrol bill will be sky high
Cheers bushpig59

[gecko270]

I've mannaged a tonne behind the Jimny on a 6x8 trailer no worries. Would have been easier with trailer brakes and moreso stupid not to use them. Your 4x6 will be easy to tow full of camping crap. The only time my zook overheated was when I had swags on the roof driving into a 40 degree head wind. The old Hayman Reece tow bar is what you need. The tongues are useless.

[benjamin78au]

hmm i oftern town a 4 meter tinny loaded up with camping gear or water skiing gear for the whoel weekend and water and fuel for 2 or 3 days, When i ran a 1.3 speed was 4th gear and about 90 was comfortable, went to the 1.6 efi and will sit at 100 nice .

Just drive smart no point racing and crashing when 10 ks aint going to make that much time differance.


I also leave plenty of space, between me and the next car.

bj

[grimbo]

it has nothing to do with what you have done in the past etc but what is legally allowed which is 450kg. If you have an accident or get pulled over etc then it gets interesting. Why jepordise yourself and others towing in an unsafe manner, a Sierra is not a tow vehicle

[Damo]

I towed the QE2 behind my zook and it went ok blah blah blah blah...

I think Chris Rock said it best when he said "you can drive a car with your feet if you want to, but that don't make it a good f*ckin' idea!".

[beally]

i towed a 1300kg 6x9 with relative ease. No issues braking or anything. I could sit in 5th at 80 but chose to sit in 4th ( stronger gear) just in case. Only tow it from work to the tip but it does it fine.

[lay80n]

it has nothing to do with what you have done in the past etc but what is legally allowed which is 450kg. If you have an accident or get pulled over etc then it gets interesting. Why jepordise yourself and others towing in an unsafe manner, a Sierra is not a tow vehicle

I think everybody is still missing what Grimbo is trying to say. If your car will tow it or wont tow it is not the point. The max towing capacity legally is 450kg. If you tow any more than this , you risk getting pulled over and booked, or in worse case and you are involved in an accident, your insurance will be invalid.
Layto....

[bushpig59]

ok legal issues noted what is the approx weight of a 6 x 4 standard trailer ( before you say go and look at the compliance plate its at me neighbours and its too dark) (yep I am a lazy ba**tard)

[mnemonix]

Fair point by Grimbo. Thats the sort of info I'm after.
Capability is worthless to me when legalities are out the window.