Why you should buy a used tow vehicle

There’s no question that the combination of a new caravan and the new tow car you may need to haul it is a capital cost too much for many budgets, particularly as today’s luxed-up caravans require ever more capable prime movers.

There’s a great alternative though that potentially will save you $thousands – a good used tow car.

Great as the idea of a new rig sounds, a search of Carsales will soon convince you that you can own a larger, more luxurious caravan if you are prepared to skip a generation or two on your tow tug.

The penny dropped for me when I once met a guy at the fuel pumps on the Stuart Highway who was hauling a large van with a well-presented five cylinder diesel-engined Land Rover Discovery II Td5. He confided at the time that he had paid $12,500 for it to get a good one, but as soon as it notched up a large repair bill he would replace it with another one at a similar price.

Subtracting what he might get back in the salvage price, he would still be a lot better off than me in my later model Discovery 3 Diesel for which I had invested $73,000 to buy it new four years earlier.

In fact, he could have afforded to have another Series II Landy Td5 ready to go back home in the garage in case the worst happened.

Admittedly my new towing buddy had to make a few compromises. Whereas my D3 officially towed a braked trailer weighing up to 3500kg, his Td5 had a similar limit but could not maintain a similar travelling speed.

The same towing capability is true of a Toyota LandCruiser and you’ll have to go back pre-1990 to find one that can’t, when the LandCruiser limit for a braked trailer was 2500kg. When I last looked there were 3807 used ‘LandCruisers’ on Carsales, so you will be spoiled for choice.

What about a Jeep? Chose a Grand Cherokee and you can officially haul a caravan weighing up to 2813kg for earlier models and up to 3500kg for more recent versions.

Other SUVs rated to tow large caravans include the Nissan Patrol, Isuzu MU-X, Ford Ranger/Everest and most 4x4 utes, with new prices starting at under $35,000.

But not everyone needs to tow 3500kg and there are plenty of good used SUVs on the market that can tow up to 2.7 tonnes.

Compare used prices for the Toyota Prado, Mitsubishi Pajero, Land-Rover Freelander, Ford Territory, LDV D90 Diesel Executive and Jeep Cherokee, for a start.

Of course if you're towing a lighter camper trailer or a small caravan, the list of SUVs opens up much further and many small two wheel drive SUVs will comfortably and legally haul 1500kg.

At the other end of the scale for towing large off-road caravans you should be shopping Stateside, with Ford Broncos, Chevy Silverados and Blazers, Toyota Tundras, Dodge Rams and the like, many of which will tow 4500kg comfortably.

One point to remember is that the power of the engine isn’t the only reason for a vehicle getting a specific tow rating.

The strength of the chassis and the rear structures that the tow bar mounts to may influence the rating. Having four-wheel drive will also greatly increase the permissible towing weight allowance.

It’s also important to note that the weight of whatever is carried in a ute’s load bed usually needs to be included in the weight to be towed, so a ute with a braked trailer tow rating of 3500kg may only be able to tow just over 2000kg legally if it’s already laden with more than a tonne, for example.

Using a weight distribution hitch doesn’t necessarily solve the problem, as it transfers the fulchrum of the towball load forward, sometimes leading to chassis fractures behind the tow vehicle’s cabin. Check with the tow vehicle manufacturer first.

So, for the safest calculation, assume that the only load on the rear of your tow vehicle comes from the laden caravan’s ball loading.

Personally, I’d be uncomfortable using the maximum permissible loading as a guideline, as it doesn’t take into account for slippery roads, the state of your caravan’s brakes, or your ability to react to emergency situations.

So, if you’ve decided to buy a secondhand tow car, what next?

Firstly do your research to decide the best vehicle for the caravan you wish to tow.

If it’s being purchased principally to tow, start with the caravan first on caravancampingsales.

Camper trailers typically max out at around 1500-1800kg, but factor in all the stuff you’re planning to carry in it to cut yourself a little slack.

Hybrid pop-tops for couples can weigh closer to 2000kg or more, while conventional full height couples vans will run out to 2500kg and up.

Talk ‘family’ and 'luxury' and you're getting nearer to 3000kg, while adding metres to you adult lounging spare will take you close to the 3500kg that will determine whether to shop for a muscular Australian-market tow tug or look further afield to an imported American ute.

There’s no shame in taking this road, as a diesel-powered RAM or Silverado will do it easily with surprisingly good fuel economy averaging less than 20L/100km on a trip. That’s a good figure for a big LandCruiser!

The other good news is that you’ll find used prices are often only 50-60 per cent that of new vehicles and a surprising number of these pre-loved vehicles have never performed any serious towing duties.

Nevertheless you need to factor in some costs in converting your 'virgin' vehicle into a serious tow tug.

LandCruisers and Nissan Patrols purchased to tow large caravans often need to have a GVM upgrade from specialists like Lovells, Cruisemaster, or ARB so that their rear end does not droop under a heavy towball load, something particularly important for serious off-road travel.

Of course an experienced check over of brakes, shockers and other essential underbody items is essential, as is a transmission health check. Choose a specialist who is familiar with your chosen make and model as they will know where to look.

History is more important here than age, as an older vehicle that has done little tow work is preferable to a later model that has done many hard kilometres criss-crossing Australia.

Try if you can to find one already fitted with a dual battery under its bonnet as it will then be a relatively simple matter getting it to power a portable cabinet fridge hooked up in the back.

Then there's the trailer wiring and the necessary electronic brake controller – allow around $1000 for supplying and fitting both, including getting auxilliary battery power to your rear fridge.

So now you can complete your travel kit, search caravancampingsales and buy that caravan that you will soon call ’home’ as you discover Australia.