carlsp1000

This morning we did the decent from Hanging Rock to Nundle. This would be the steepest decent I have done to date with the Kedron and the 200 landcruiser. So I was keen to get a reading on the brake tempretures. If this road is not known to you, it is steeper that Cunningham Gap, the Gatton to Toowoomba, or Climb to Dorriago. The climb and decent is about 4.8 kilometers with three 25 kph bends. We towed a 22.5 ft ATV2 with a empty weight of 3100 kg (you can work out the full weight). The tow vehicle is a 200 series TD. We made it 80% up before the engine oil high temp light came on. After a short stop the remainder was completed in low 1 at 20 kph. Decent was made at about 30 kph and tempretures at the bottom were, front discs in excess 200, back dics 166, front drums on the caravan 122 and the rear drums 153. These numbers probably do not mean much but may be helpful in the future as a reference.

My understanding is that the tow vehicle in the new video/DVD will be a 200 series TD as well. Toni may be able to confirm this so there may be comments on the DVD about the 200 performance. Carl

Good morning Ian and Gill. "We just did what you are proposing" This line I see on the KOG website and I wish, I had that available before we got ours. There are many 100's towing Kedrons and I have even seen a prado or two. There appears to be some incorrect info floating about on the 200. This also comes from the Toyota dealers who themselves do not appear to know everything either. You did not mention where you were? Firstly it comes under luxury car tax so what ever additional things you put on it when you buy, bulbar etc, you will pay this tax. Get them fitted after taking delivery. We had a Toyota bull bar for a month before throwing it in the bin (trading post) and getting a ARB. There is a $7 price difference between the two. The ARB is light years ahead. Tuff are also great but you might want to check the air bag testing details first on that one. Tuff seems to be more for people that are not 4WD driving (ground clearance) but more sealed roads in the outback. I found that the 200 feels much more like a car than the 100. The top of the bill bar is lower than on the 100 so you tend to feel that it is not there. The bonnet is rounded and it generally feels a smaller vehicle. (in fact it is a bit bigger). The suspension is softer in line with the car thing. We put air bags, and a ARB heavy suspension package in and it feels just like a 100 again. Power on the other hand is great. We have a 22.6 ATV Tare at 3100kg empty. It tows this well. I would not go so far to say effortlessly. I think you would have to jump to a F250 for greater towing capacity. There have been many reports about the 200 and the initial troubles they have been having. You can read these on other web sites. The front bull bar from Toyota, the rear diff and the engine burning oil, sometimes air cleaner. I do not appear to have any of these so I cannot comment. The new 200 has many “pansey” features not in the 100. To start for example, You have to be in the drivers seat, have the handbrake on, foot on the brake and the transmission in park. Great in North Sydney but not great 251 kilometers west of the Olga’s if it will not start. The truck beeps all the time. When you open the doors for example. Great at 0200 hrs in the middle of a camping area when everyone is, well was asleep. You cannot have the engine running and the gear shift in “neutral”, then get out of the car. It will scream it’s head off. Very annoying when unhitching or hitching up. The first week is a bit annoying getting used to not having a car key. You have to put it into park before shutting down the engine or the truck will not lock. I know it is in the manual but who ever reads those. I hate having to live my life, in a world designed for the dumbest person on the planet. There is not cigarette lighter socket at the back door like in the 100. The spare tyre is mounted in the same way at the 100 with the tyre valve pointing up. This making it very hard to check spare tyre pressure. I have been told the new 200’s are coming with a reversing camera installed but they do not tell you that you cannot “piggy back” your caravan camera to it. If you are doing your own maintaince, eg engine oil, you will need the Toyota engine oil filter removing tool. $33 thank you. You also have to remover 2 plates to get at the filter. The 200 jack appears to be the same as the 100 which was never all that great in the first place either. If you have a snorkel fitted, it can make it a bit tricky going round right hand sharp bends. Visibility is not made easier but there is little alternative with this one. So there are the bad points but I love my 200. I get a little angry at spending $85.000 for a tough outback truck and then spending another $15.000 to get it ready to go there. They are becoming a “Toorak tractor” but there is little alternative. We had a 300 kilometers travel limit per day in the 100 but after that distance in the 200 you still feel pretty good. My wife is still fit enough to make dinner and that is the important thing. (will be dead if she reads this). In a summary, if the 100 tows it well, you are not exhausted after the drive, it still has relatively low kilometers, keep it. I love my 100 as well and many times prefer to drive this.

Hi Guys, I am having all the trouble in the world with my reversing camera. It appears to be the "extension"cable joining the van to the tow truck. I have been told to splay the terminals and it will be ok. I have descovered that the are quite fragile and broken off two already. Now my screen has gone blank and I do not even have the rear view of the tow ball. Anyone had similar trouble or any thoughts. Carl

Hi Steve, We got our ATV ony a few days before you and have been going through a similar process to you. I have found a great deal of trouble finding info on the 200, even from the toyota dealers. One did not know where the fuel filter was found. Getting breathers for the diff and trans was almost impossible and in the end I just ordered the parts from Japan. OK, back to the lock nuts. I asked at supercheap while I was there and the assured me there were ones available. They just happened to be out of stock at that moment. Currently we are on holiday in Kempsey and there is a great spare parts guy here. Runs Manning cheap auto spares and I will be back there in a few days. I will ask him. Good to find a spare parts guy that is not 16 and knows nothing. Although this one is still quite young, about 50 and almost always covered in some sort of grease stain. Carl

For those of us into the internet. Telstra have a offer at the moment that might interest some. We stumbled accross it last week. It is a 7.2 wireless broadband home gateway. Prior to this, my wife and I both had wireless internet accounts. One with the big T and the other with the big O. Now we only need one as both of us can use this gateway at the same time. We save one account. Basically it turns your caravan into a wireless hotspot. You can sit either inside your van or outside under the awning and be on the internet. We link this to our telstra next G antenna on the roof of the van for great range when out in the bush. It costs $299 but there is a $299 rebate happening at the moment so it is basically free. There is also a half price offer on plans as well. We are on a 10 Gig plan which is around $60 per month. If you find this too much there are other plans and you can change plans as well. Hope this helps. Sorry last thing don't go to a Telstra store as they are hopeless. Try WOW or JB high fi.

Hi Everyone, You may not know but ATV's can now be ordered in some of the colours previously only available on Top Enders. As of Friday last week only 2 had been produced in colours other than white. Carl :thumbsup:

While waiting for our ATV to be built we thought that we would use a couple of months of this time traveling around New Zealand. Having done it before in my younger days (10 of us army guys in a rented Hiace van), I thought this time in a motorhome would be a little slower and quieter. I would appreciate anyones experiences and thoughts.Looking at going 28 Feb and seeing the south island first. Also like to hear from anyone that has renting expereince as there appear to be hundreds of motorhome rental companies. Quality of caravan parks etc.

Has anyone had cause to use one of the hydrolic jockey wheel jacks on an ATV? We have a Lotus and are waiting delivery of our ATV and this is something I did not think of till mentioned here.