Outer Limits 4x4 Board

The wife is dead set keen on turning her home grooming business mobile. That means having her Mazda 2 towing an 8x4 trailer about.

I estimate 280kg for the trailer and about another 50kg for the enclosure on top of it. Plus maybe 200kg of kit inside it. So all up about 600kg.

Myself and at least one other person have said that we can see a clutch replacement in my horizon very quickly, and fairly heavy wear and tear on the rest of the car.

Do others agree or do you think the little thing will go ok with it?

Any real world experience?

MILO

What do you mean by home grooming, is it a pet grooming business if so how much water will it need to carry. How much does a mazda 2 weigh. I would be worried about it being over powered by the trailer and loosing control. Get a cheap vt Commodore as i would be more worried about your wifes safety than the effect on the cars clutch etc. Have you looked up the cars tow rating.

No GVM or CGVM listed in either the book, or compliance plate, of my daughters 09 Mazda2.

Personally, I dont think I would like to tow such a trailer, way too heavy. Remember 1 litre of water = 1KG of weight. Unless she drains the wash tank each and every time, thats a lot of weight to drag around.

My daughters Mazda2 might get a towbar, and the most it will tow is the trailer that I tow with my motorbike.

From the mazda site, towing unbraked is 500kg, braked 700kg. That is the current model but I don't think it would vary too much.

http://www.mazda.com.au/vehicles/mazda2/specifications" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Those are all pretty much the conclusions i came to

Yes the mazda has a braked capaccity of 700kg, and if it was ME towing then i'm pretty sure i could handle it safely. The wife? not so sure.

and yes, in my mind that little cars' going to be screaming it's head off trying to do it at best. At worst, sitting by the side of the road with a burnt out clutch.

rockcrawler31 wrote:Those are all pretty much the conclusions i came to

Yes the mazda has a braked capaccity of 700kg, and if it was ME towing then i'm pretty sure i could handle it safely. The wife? not so sure.

and yes, in my mind that little cars' going to be screaming it's head off trying to do it at best. At worst, sitting by the side of the road with a burnt out clutch.

personally I would tow those weights with a car that size at all, let alone running around the mountains area if you want to keep the 2 then why not look at a van as a second vehicle? much more compact to get around, easier to find parking etc

ok here is my 2 cents worth about your situation. speaking from first hand experience when my other half use to do it. our grooming trailer that we had was about the size of a small horse float. it weighed in around the 700-750kg mark. the trailer had no breaks. the misses towed this trailer for 3-4 years with with a swb suzuki vitara. yes it was not meant to tow the trailer and yes you could feel it push you too. but it did tow the trailer and did not have the clutch replaced in all this time. the benifit of the vitara was that it was 4wd and had low range, which came in very handy for her when she had to get in and out and up and down some tight driveways. also being the swb vitara allowed for a smaller turn circle which was also a big benifit. my advice to you would be to get a small short 4wd that can do the job safely.

better still my misses went from being mobile to working from home. this was due to us having our first child. but she did say that she would never do mobile grooming again and would just work from home as there are less overheads and you can have your dogs backed up one after the other instead of having to drive to your next dog.

also trailer setup is a big thing. how where you planning on laying it out. also we fitted a hydraulic lift up table for the bigger dogs to get on then the misses would jack them up to the required height.

make sure the trailer is water friendly. lots of drain points.

if you want to know anything else just let us know

Tiny wrote: if you want to keep the 2 then why not look at a van as a second vehicle? much more compact to get around, easier to find parking etc

I'm not sure what Tiny meant here, but is using a van instead of a trailer a feasible option? Get something like a Hiace / Transporter, and kit that out as required?

Unfortunately, that means you can't unhitch the work stuff when you're not working, so it loses its appeal as a "second vehicle".

Thanks guys

at this stage we're looking at replacing her car with something more suitable. We're not going a van because we don't really want an extra rego, maintenance, garaging and a vehicle sitting around that is one use only. We'll likely go a Hilux or summat so at least when it's not hitched to the trailer it will be a daily driver and multi use vehicle.

-Scott- wrote:

Tiny wrote: if you want to keep the 2 then why not look at a van as a second vehicle? much more compact to get around, easier to find parking etc

I'm not sure what Tiny meant here, but is using a van instead of a trailer a feasible option? Get something like a Hiace / Transporter, and kit that out as required?

Unfortunately, that means you can't unhitch the work stuff when you're not working, so it loses its appeal as a "second vehicle".

To clarify, I was suggesting a van in addition to the 2 as a purely work vehicle. Practical, tax deductible, depreciating asset would be my pick

Not sure about your area but one thing to consider is driveways, they're not always flat, the car needs to be able to pull it from stop easily enough when it is raining. Depending on visibility you may need to put in a reverse camera for her to make things easier. As already mentioned drainage, lots of it, and a whirly vent, rust is the biggest killer of grooming vans/ trailers. It's a pita.

Reliability is very important as it will cost her money and probably new customers with missed appointments.

What made her go from static to mobile ? She will definately pick up more work mobile but it has a few negatives that a home based business doesn't.

I think you have to mention where you live in the post as that is the most significant factor here.

After doing a few runs up there in the last week or so there is no way she will be able to tow a trailer safely at all, especially in the wet. You already mentioned to me that lower gears aren't used much to slow down!!

What kind of Hilux are you looking at? How do they go on fuel towing every day up mountains? VX commodore on LPG (yes you can get it up there easy enough) and will be able to tow anything else that is required and have a nice comfortable, safe, economical car to drive to Melbourne with.

Jimbo wrote:I think you have to mention where you live in the post as that is the most significant factor here.

After doing a few runs up there in the last week or so there is no way she will be able to tow a trailer safely at all, especially in the wet. You already mentioned to me that lower gears aren't used much to slow down!!

What kind of Hilux are you looking at? How do they go on fuel towing every day up mountains? VX commodore on LPG (yes you can get it up there easy enough) and will be able to tow anything else that is required and have a nice comfortable, safe, economical car to drive to Melbourne with.
2008 and later, manual, diesel. As Ferog mentioned, reliability is the key. I am NOT going to set her up in a business car that is over 5 years old, i already spend enough time fixing broken cars and i want her car to be a RELIABLE daily as well as business car. I'm not going to get a sedan because as Ferog mentioned again, the low range will be handy for her, and then it becomes a good all round multi use vehicle (the red car is still going to get sold eventually). I can't use a commodore to haul two tonne of timber out of the scrub.

ferog wrote:Not sure about your area but one thing to consider is driveways, they're not always flat, the car needs to be able to pull it from stop easily enough when it is raining. Depending on visibility you may need to put in a reverse camera for her to make things easier. As already mentioned drainage, lots of it, and a whirly vent, rust is the biggest killer of grooming vans/ trailers. It's a pita.
Thanks for confirming a few suspicions. If she gets a trailer then we'll be able to drill some drainage in the floor, as well as set up the cabinets and stands so that there's no places for water to sit or get held. If we do it in a van then inevitably we'd be selling it at some point and it would be a PITA to try and fix/hide any issues that water has caused.

Reliability is very important as it will cost her money and probably new customers with missed appointments.
Yep. So we're looking for a newer vehicle. As mentioned above i have enough project shitboxes without working on a daily. And if it breaks down when i'm not home then she has to pay normal commercial rates to get it fixed too. Plus down time.

What made her go from static to mobile ? She will definately pick up more work mobile but it has a few negatives that a home based business doesn't.
Long story, and frankly i'm not convinced. I havn't seen her numbers and due diligence yet so i'm a little concerned. Although i have managed to stall her off from doing anything solid for a few months so that she can gather more information.

As i see it negatives are -
vehicle and equipment set up cost,
overheads cost which have to be paid for with price increases (that then have to be justified to existing customers),
time spent driving instead of just cleaning up the salon and then starting the next client.
Something else that i have to garage and maintain

Positives
Because she has a second vehicle (i.e. my car transferred to her name), then our business car/daily driver then becomes wholly tax deductable.
MAYBE more clients.

If you were already looking at a family car then yes it's a good idea. If you weren't your looking at a big outlay that will take a while to pay itself off. Are you going to save up or add to the mortgage?
How much are Hilux's of that year?

Jimbo wrote:If you were already looking at a family car then yes it's a good idea. If you weren't your looking at a big outlay that will take a while to pay itself off. Are you going to save up or add to the mortgage?
How much are Hilux's of that year?

Hey don't get me wrong, if it were my choice i'd not be bothered. She's profitable and it's ticking over nicely. But if it's something that i HAVE to organise then i'd rather make it make sense on all levels.

As for finance, i've told her that i won't be paying for this as i consider it unneccesary and i'm already paying for all the other shit. If she wants it then her business can pay for it. How she chooses to do that is up to her, but her little car will be the deposit.

As i've said to you before in other conversations, the troopy IS getting sold. and a sedan doesn't suit our lifestyle. Even if you ignore the touring 4wd thing, then there's still our constant need for a working, utility vehicle that can go to the tip, haul a trailer, get out into the scrub for timber collecting, haul car parts and crap down to penrith etc. Now i know a sedan can do SOME of these things, but others it can't, and the one's that it can do then you HAVE to hitch up a box trailer and you have to be alot more cautious about it.

Give it up Jimbo, we're not going to own a family sedan. Period.

27-32k for a 2008-2010 Hilux, bog standard or with minimal accessories. Between 9-10km/l on the highway every day of the week

One day you will tell your son that you swapped your modded comp truck for a dog trailer

Hey the hilux option is good (although i think it's a lot of money for what you get) as you will still be able to get away from it all and go camping. 9l/100km towing where you live is stretching it.


How about a Falcon RTV ute? Tow what you want, camp in the back, good on fuel and can get them for $10k.

Jimbo wrote:One day you will tell your son that you swapped your modded comp truck for a dog trailer

Hey the hilux option is good (although i think it's a lot of money for what you get) as you will still be able to get away from it all and go camping. 9l/100km towing where you live is stretching it.


How about a Falcon RTV ute? Tow what you want, camp in the back, good on fuel and can get them for $10k.

I'm swapping the comp truck for a hot rod to haul the next comp truck Any funds from my car go directly into the chev.

I take the 9L/100km from other peoples' anecdotal evidence. ANY car towing a trailer about where i live is going to get worse than normal mileage, especially an auto petrol sedan. Besides, if i get a commodore i'll lose my licence. Guaranteed

Either way it's no getting towed with the mazda.

Now that she knows this, what vehicle does she want?

Maybe look at gu patrols not sure what price they're going for though. Will at the very least Tow anything you want with plenty of.room for touring

He is a Yota man through and through even though he has proved how weak they are.
















Just kidding

Jimbo wrote:He is a Yota man through and through even though he has proved how weak they are.

Got no problems with a patrol, but the missus isn't so keen on fullsize vehicles. And if i'm going to spend up on a fullsize, it's going to have that V8 diesel in it

rockcrawler31 wrote:

Jimbo wrote:He is a Yota man through and through even though he has proved how weak they are.

Got no problems with a patrol, but the missus isn't so keen on fullsize vehicles. And if i'm going to spend up on a fullsize, it's going to have that V8 diesel in it

GU, duramax/Allison