towing vehicle

[phewy]

Your rig would have to be over 1.5t but Cory. 4WD definitely overkill for anything under. Falcons and Commodores, legally, which of course means safely as well, can tow approx 2.5T set up correctly. Here in Vic that is, dont know other states laws.

[skippa]

G'Day Basserman,

I've towed my SR17 from Sydney to Brisbane to Mission Beach (NQ) and back to Brissy, having no problems at all with the trusty V6 Commodore (2004). Launched and retreived in all sorts of ramps, some in some pretty low tides too with no problems either. I'd recomend the tranny cooler too.

Cheers,
Tony # 8)

[noluck]

basserman
mate any car wirh solid dif(rwd) will tow 1.5 t Falcons and Commodores, and mazda 929 v6 i did tow my boat about
1t with mazda 929 2l 1982 model no problem.
cheers No_luck

[basserman]

thanks to everyone who has replyed i now know what to look for and what to take into account when looking at a car
so i have now come to the conclusion that it will be either a stock 4WD or a holden ford sedan with a trannie cooler
as for the trailer it is a single axle but has been costom built and set up right as on sway and everything is beefed up on it so i shouldn't have any problems with it for a long time yet

[Maxw]

Falcons and Commodores, legally, which of course means safely as well, can tow approx 2.5T set up correctly. Here in Vic that is, dont know other states laws.

why should national towing regulations or vehicle manufacturers figures for that metter be any different in victoria? so how come a falcon or commodore can tow 2.5t in victoria how ever it is setup? M

[phewy]

Because #they used to have different laws for towing weights in different states. Whether they still do I don't know. In some states for instance, you couldn't tow anything that was 1.5 times the weight of the car, or something like it, dont quote me on it becuase I'm not sure of the figure. A few years back there were cases of vehicles with vans being pulled over in other states and told to leave there van on the side of the road as it was over the weight limit, but was perfectly legal when it left its home state. Crazy, but true.

[phewy]

And Basserman, also forgot to mention that if you decide on an AU Falcon, it could have a Ford brand "mini" hitch receiver on it. You may look at it and think its a heavy duty bar because it has a square shank coming out the rear. But it is a much smaller shank (dont know the size) than the 50mm x 50mm shanks of the regular Heavy Duty Bars/Hitch Receivers. If it has one then ditch it for the 2300kg reese bar.

[Needmorerum]

To break all this up, is what you guys are saying is that we have gone over to a National Towing Law (yes excuse my ignorance, I've had 4WD's for that long now that I haven't worried about checking up on any of this), and that you can legally tow something with a Falcon or Commodore that weighs over 2 Tonne (or there abouts, I'm not interested in the bickering).
The last time I heard anything about this was that the tow vehicle had to be 1.5 times the weight of whatever was being towed. I guess, this is what I believe should be law still.
And what happened to the regulations in the southern states in reference to speed while towing, wasn't any vehicle towing restricted to 80kph, is this still the go, or has this gone as well?
Interested in replies here, hasn't this caused some 'creative converstation'.


Corry

[phewy]

See, you dont understand Max. I stated I dont know the laws, not I know this and I know that. Have a good read Max and try and absorb it. Where have I been? Not towing 2.5t thats for sure, so therefore not up with the national regulations on towing that size. All I knew was that I was always legal. Hey, all I said after all was "I know its ok for Vic, but not sure about the other states". Understand the not sure bit max. Yes Nitpick. Why could you have not just said "Hey guys, the law has now changed, its now........."

[melbdan]

Hi im from melb and was going to bye a commodore to tow my boat wich is about 1800kgs unloaded till i rang some towbar dealers to find out about a heavy duty hayman reece towbar, all the dealers i spoke to said a commodore is only good for 1590 kgs so if u tow more and something happens you can be in some deep shit.Now they said a falcon can tow 2100 kgs from memory so it might pay to ring vic roads (depending what state your in)before towing anything with out knowing 100% or check the cars manual and it should tell u.I got a patrol ute in the end so just something to think about fellas.

Cheers Dan.

[Maxw]

dan sounds like you should check with the vehicle manufacturer of your particular model as those dealers have no idea what they are on about but then all commodores are not the same either but then you have not mentioned what model commodore your have either. all the info makes life just that much easier. M

[nofrills]

corry
sorry you didnt get the civil answer you asked for ,so ill sort it out for ya .

firstly.if ya hook something really big up to the cruiser and the back doors fly open when you dump the clutch,its prolly too heavy.
secondly.if you are towing something and you get passed buy anything with victorian plates ,its prolly too heavy.
forthly.never try and tow anything made buy mc grath/allison/or kenworth,they put some stupid coupling on them and i cant find an adapter >.

ps,for some added fun when towing,put the kiddies in the back one night and let the saftey chains drag down the highway,fair dinkum they wont of had so much fun since last years cracker night.

cheers
scott

[melbdan]

Max if your keen to put 2500kgs behind a 1300-1400 tin can commodore go for it i hope u never cop a blow out the thing i dont under stand is a gq patrol that weighs 2100 kgs is rated to 2800kgs with a full cassis .

[billfisher]

No need for a duel axle on that sized boat. With an extra axle you are added quite a bit of extra weight (its like a set of dumbels), not to mention the extra maintainence and being harder to manouver in reverse.

[Brejen]

Basserman
Tow my Haines 17L fully loaded from the Gold Coast Hinterland down to the ramps thru all the mountains and am using a VN Commadore auto. Use the same car when towing it up to the Sunshine Coast as well. Has no problems with the weight and tows like a dream, -trailer set up is right thou. Like some others have had some slip on the ramps at low but usually some one on the draw bar and out she comes, or sometime only have to put it in 1st and crawl it out, don't let the wheels start to spin. Long as the tow bar is rated for it they'll pull anthing.
Brett