Bigpower

Hey guys I'm looking for recommendations based on personal experience, for a general utility 4x4 towing wagon.

We live up on the top of a Welsh mountain and so recently picked up a Disco 3 as a new family troop carrier. This is fine and does exactly what it says on the tin but it's become obvious that I'll need a second 4x4 to use as a general run about/utility wagon and tow'er.


I sold my Toyota Hilux Surf 3.0TD a few years back and am looking to pick up something similar. I'm not drawn to getting another Hilux Surf however as I think they may be a tad underpowered and showing their age now.
My mate Marty (who had my old Hilux off me) has driven it up to my place a few times now and it struggles a bit with wheel slip and doesn't have the grunt of the Disco, so I suspect that it would really struggle when towing a trailer with the zed on it.


I've driven loads of 4x4's in my time but have only ever really used the Hilux and an L200 from my old work place to tow a car and trailer. The L200 seemed to cope well enough on normal flat roads and motorway driving but obviously I've never tried using it to tow a car and trailer up to the top of a mountain.

I've driven Nissan Pathfinders and Mitsubishi Shogun's and Pajero's but never towed with them.


Ideally I need something with plenty of grunt, automatic and if possible with the option of 7 seats (this would enable it to be used as a backup family wagon in extreme cases should the Disco be off the road at any stage.....myself, wife, 4 kids and a dog, therefore a 5 seater wouldn't permit this, which kind of narrows down my options)

Not having 7 seats isn't a deal breaker but would be a real bonus. Most 7 seater have the option of folding down or removing the rear seats so that tyres and kit can be thrown in the back.

Not too fussed on fuel economy, insurance is generally pretty low for me and working within a budget of a couple of grand up to maybe

I've owned a 3.0V6 petrol Surf, and also a 2.4td version. The petrol was OK and if you found the 3.0 diesel weak, you would have found the 2.4 positively asthmatic. I have hired several other 4x4's including Landcruiser's, new Hilux and driven quite a lot of Disco's, Freelander's etc so I have to say that I am a little surprised that you found the 3.0 diesel Surf compared to a Disco 3........

My favourite of the ones that I have owned was an aged Ford Exporer. 4.0v6, huge spec, built quite well for what it was and the most comfortable towing shed I have tried. Unstoppable on anything up to and including axle deep mud.

Out of the hire cars, the more modern Hilux (only a 56 plate from memory) was quite special. 3.0td with crew cab and it towed my M3 and heavy car trailer all the way to Cadwell in horrendous weather in supreme comfort, great MPG and you could have easily thought that there was an absence of anything being dragged behind were it not for the clattering of loose ramps!

Not sure if that helps, but you can get one God almighty Explorer for 2k

I used the 4x4s for general towing and donkey duties over a period of several years/

Cheers Stuart

I have been considering the Ford Explorer, one of the mothers at my kids school has a V6 North Face edition Explorer that seems to be holding out well, though I don't think that they're using it for towing

The Disco 3 comparison to my old Hilux Surf is purely based on how it copes with the hill climb. I've learnt that rather than pop the Disco in 'D' for drive and just go it's definitely worth playing with the toys and various settings as it makes a huge difference (currently it's routine to drive it around in 'D' for normal day to day use around town but as soon as we get to the base of the mountain it go's into 'low ratio' and 'gravel and snow' setting, this makes a massive difference to the way that it tackles the incline in the wet, the recent leaf fall also makes for a slippery driving surface and I suspect that this is why the gravel and snow setting works really well as it's a proper metal on metal locked diff rather than just an LED on the dash

The Surf as a direct comparison seems very light on the arse end and does seem to struggle in getting traction, even in low ratio 4WD. I suspect the weight of the Disco in this instance works in its favour.


I have also given the Land Cruiser serious consideration as I drove one day to day in the Omani desert and it performed flawlessly (obviously with the added benefit that if you run out of diseasel' then you can top the fuel tank up with goats piss or Coke and it will still run...) the only thing not in its favour is the cost.


The Explorer does seem to be a good bet though I haven't checked on how many seats it has?


I wouldn't even consider a Freelander now, our old TD4 was a fantastically reliable vehicle and drove flawlessly for the 6 years or so that we owned it from new, but it had about as much poke as a hand held Dyson and I suspect would cope well enough towing on flat but would drop its ass' at the first sight of a proper hill


many thanks for the input bud, I've got quite a bit to ponder on

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p

Cheaper than I thought

Yeah, great minds and all that....

I've just been doing the same, the prices seem to have come right down in the last few months??

V6 Toureag? Cheap enough now.

The surf is based on a pick up as you probably know so does nt have enough weight on the arse. (From my limited experience with the father in laws 3.0 diesel)
I loved my 4.0 Jeep, and if they do a 7 seat version, would recommend it for a drive, but maybe not on the reliability front gadgets) It goes like stink and I pulled a SWB Land Rover and trailer out of deep mud with mine on road tyres. I really rate the old Disco's off road, and have had them going up and down slopes I could nt walk up/down. They are old tech and therefore mostly mechanical...less to go wrong? What weight are you towing and what ground clearance do you need? I only ask as the Xr4x4's make cheap good tow cars but it might be a bit light weight for your needs.

Hello mate, weight wise the zed is going to be around the 1350kg-1400kg and looking at a twin axle trailer to transport it on, so whatever that is likely to come in at.

A car simply won't cut it up here and I'm pretty certain that the offside rear corner of most trailers would bottom out on the 'S' bend at the top of our driveway (I'll get some pics up tomorrow to try to explain that a bit better) so ideally I need to find a trailer with minimal overhang as well as a good 4x4.

When we moved up here a few months ago in the Summer I transported the zed on the back of a 28' loader and that bottomed out big time on the 'S' bend. In that instance it was just a case of having to bite the bullet and drag its ass' down, though if it was raining or in winter it might have been a complete mare'.

Likewise we have a big 25' box van with air suspension and despite it being raised to its full height, when I brought that up here (down the 'S' bend) the same offside rear quarter caught and ripped the corner panel off.

The towing wagon really needs to be a proper 4x4 simply due to the likelihood that I'll have to drag the trailer whilst its catching, with a pretty unforgiving surface and gradient and to be honest I think even an AWD car would struggle.

When I brought the loader down our driveway (it's about 300m or so with a few cheeky bends along the way) I had to reverse it down. I reckon I'll be able to tow the trailer down without having to reverse it but will have to un-hook it at some point and free wheel it by hand, in order to do this I'll most likely have to move the towing vehicle out of the way and off the gravel track, sod's law a car would just belly out or simply get stuck in the mud.

Ideally a nice high 4x4 and a good height trailer with decent ground clearance would be ideal


I've been eyeing up a couple of 4ltr V8's today which should offer plenty of grunt should I need to drag the trailer up and down the hill, though I'm not going to rush into this, otherwise I'd be lumbered with a tow wagon that wasn't up to the job and a wife that would seriously have the hump with me!


The old 4ltr Land Cruiser seem to be topping the list at the moment and I suppose on long cross country hauls they should be a pretty comfortable drive as well

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-TOYOTA-L ... 1c397dfabf How about this? Should be enough grunt lol

Rob S wrote:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-TOYOTA-L ... 1c397dfabf How about this? Should be enough grunt lol

That would probably work

I did have a quick nose around the Explorer in the school car park yesterday, it looked very similar (though not quite as clean as that ^^^^ Land Cruiser)