Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Am I kidding myself expecting a Vitara to tow a ~600kg boat? Without talking about a GV, are there any Vitaras that will do that? Missus is planning on buying a Vit soon and if possible would love something that would tow that much as there's a free boat at my old mans place if I can grab it. And the Sierra has trouble pulling itself up hills so that's obviously out of the question.

Do 2drs have a lower tow weight than 4drs?

The lwb unbraked and the swb Vit's unbraked and braked have a towing capacity of 450kg and the lwb braked has a towing capacity of 680kg.

cj wrote:The lwb unbraked and the swb Vit's unbraked and braked have a towing capacity of 450kg and the lwb braked has a towing capacity of 680kg.

where is that info from? my hayman reese has a 1000kg tow rating and 100kg ball weight. Tows a small glass boat easily as well

zooki wrote:

cj wrote:The lwb unbraked and the swb Vit's unbraked and braked have a towing capacity of 450kg and the lwb braked has a towing capacity of 680kg.

where is that info from?

Two places, firstly Suzuki state it in the owners manual and secondly it is the information lodged with the Government for vehicle approval in Australia. Unless the car has be Engineered for a higher tow weight, it doesn't matter what the bar rating allows.

Thanks for the replies. So a LWB is the go then, just have to add brakes to the trailer

How often do you tow your boat? and for what sort of distance?

600kg boat + gear + bait + passengers in vehicle + gear in vehicle = much more than a Vitara is rated to.

Many people aren't aware that more often than not the "maximum tow rating" is the result of the GCM less the tare weight of the car.

GCM= Maximum that your vehicle and trailer can weigh loaded as a combination.

If you're towing your boat on a regular basis, if you tow in steep terrain (on road that is) you might be better off looking at something a little more suitable.

Vitara's are a great car, i've had one. But a 1.6ltr engine to tow fairly often, wouldn't recommend it.

CJ might be able to shed some light on the 2.0ltr in his new beast.

It wouldn't be a long distance tower, although I would have to get it about 400km back to Sydney in the first place. It would only ever be towed to the local boat ramp 5km from home, or at most to the Hawkesbury about 30km from home.

The boat is my old man's at the moment, trying to weigh up what toy to get next, either a boat or a dirt bike. It's a hard choice. I might be over estimating the boat/trailer's dry weight by 100kg or so, but that margin is for what you mentioned, extras etc.

Zooki what size boat are you referring to?

The old man uses my old 5dr 16v vitara to tow his 18ft tinny to the local boat ramp and back , about 3 to 5 km if that . It is fine doing it and its a steep climb back up the to house . I would not tow it far thou . The 95 + 2.0 should be fine towing a boat that size . Heck I plan to make my diesel grand vitara tow my suzuki based buggy around , it has a braked limit of 1400kg .

Chris

I recently had to tow a heavish trailer on the back of my vitara jlx lwb, its no rocket with the trailer attached but once you get up to speed is fine. I would definetly get trailer brakes though

cheers

phil

Having towed a bit of weight behind a swb I wouldn't recommend it. If it's around the max limit allowed it is not too bad but after that it can get a bit hairy especially if you need to brake quickly. The trailer can start to dictate too much to the car. Yes, the lwb would be a bit better but not by that much unless the trailer has brakes.

Rotazuk, the diesel GV would be a much better proposition. Having driven one, the engine is more suited to this sort of thing plus the extra vehicle weight is a plus too but the trailer will need brakes especially on the roads over there.

4130warrior wrote:Zooki what size boat are you referring to?

its only a 11ft glass thing but pulls it a few hundred k's no problems and across soft sand.

still waiting to hear from hayman reese about the 1 ton rating as well, appears most other towbars list the same as the manufacturer

Yeh the diesel GV is nice to drive compared to the old 1.6 too .

About to build a custom trailer for it with Daihatsu front hubs , they are rated to 1200kg and match the zuk stud patern so no spare . Looks like the trailer will be around 200kg so hoping to be at 1000 to 1100 all up , with brakes thou .

A swb sierra can tow 450kg braked and so can a swb 1.6 vitara lol. to me thats a bit odd as the extra engine size, but i guess its the car chassi. Iv said in another post somewhere, i tow my 400-450kg boat, no trailer brakes and my sierra pulls it fine. I can go 100kmph in fifth no worries on highway. Oonly stresses the engine wen going up really steep hill, then its 2nd gear all the way

oops guess we shouldn't have done this then...


the trailer was braked and was a faily heavy tow bar though...

4130warrior wrote:It wouldn't be a long distance tower, although I would have to get it about 400km back to Sydney in the first place.

tow it home with something larger if its only a once of.

4130warrior wrote:Am I kidding myself expecting a Vitara to tow a ~600kg boat? Without talking about a GV, are there any Vitaras that will do that? Missus is planning on buying a Vit soon and if possible would love something that would tow that much as there's a free boat at my old mans place if I can grab it. And the Sierra has trouble pulling itself up hills so that's obviously out of the question.

its not just the power to pull the boat along thats the problem. you also need to be able to stop the boat.

for a 600kg boat id be getting the LWB if you really want a vit.