Tow Vehicle Incident

[Tolley]

Hello Everyone,

I thought that this incident might be of interest to those who tow with a LC100. Ours is the 4.2TD.

Last Sunday we were driving up the mountains on the Snowy Mountain Highway. We were above Talbingo (east of Tumut NSW) headed for Kiandra. This road is steep and curvy, We were doing it easy in high range 3rd and occasionally 2nd when there was a loud and expensive sounding BANG from the LC and everything stopped dead. The motor was still running but there was no drive. We were in a precarious position on a blind corner and double lines. It was a bit scary, believe me.

To cut to the chase. I thought we had blown a diff, a gearbox or a clutch. This was also the first opinion of the NRMA as well. I began telling myself that the likey repair cost of two to seven thousand was all a part of the adventure! We had it all recovered to Tumut. The LC to Toyota and the van to the CP. The NRMA recovered the LC but I paid $300 to have the Kedron recovered.

I went to the Toyota dealer at 9 o'clock the next morning, with cheque book at the ready, to be told I could take the LC as it had been fixed and I owed them $120. Sheeesh!!

I am not a mechanic so this is what they told me. A circlip had come off allowing a CV rod to pop out. They reinserted it and replaced the circlip and some oil. They said that they had not seen that happen to a LC before.

When it happened I immediately tried low range to no effect. If, however, I had engaged the diff locks I could have moved the rig to a safer place.

It is all a part of the adventure but I am glad that is behid us.

.

[Webby]

Wow Colin. That must have been very scarey for you both. I am so glad it was nothing major and that a further incident didn't occur because of where you had stopped.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

[RussnSue]

Hi,

I think that this incident serves to remind us all that we have chosen a brand of caravan that is, by design, heavy. Towing something as heavy as a Kedron is going to place stress on everything in the drive-train of the tug, especially in hilly or undulating country. Unfortunately, all we can hope for is that we have chosen our tow vehicle wisely and by keeping on top of things with preventative maintenance we might minimise the possibility of something like this (or worse) happening to us.

I'm glad the ultimate fix was a cheap and easy one.

Cheers

Russ

[gracey277]

Hi Collin and Gayleen,

I am supprised the Toyota dealer said this was an uncommon repair. I also have a LC100 and had the same problem,although I managed to distroy the CV shaft $1700 later all is well. I had my front wheel bearings servised by a national repair service who it seems reused the old cerclip,this is a no no. For the sake of a $5 part so much damage. You may recall The Gall Boys had the same trouble with there LC100 in there DVD Takeling The Top End. If ever you have any work done on your front wheel bearings make sure they replace the circlips with NEW GENUINE TOYOTA CIRCLIPS. I now keep 2 spare circlips in my toolbox, incase I need to service my bearings on the road

Cheers Paul

[Tolley]

Hello Paul,

That is interesting. The Tumut Toyota dealer said he had not seen that before. I suspect that the circlip may have been reused when I had the CV joints serviced/repaired but, remember, I am not a mechanic and may well be off the mark. Your advice is noted and appreciated.

Russ,

This incident did not occur due to a lack of maintenance. I do not spare a cent on looking after the LC and the van. In fact I have the vehicle serviced far more often than the 10K schedule and before this trip I had two separate mechanics give the LC the once over.

Also, living in Cairns I frequently haul the van up the Kuranda Range which, in my opinion, is steeper albeit shorter than the Talbingo climb.

Regards to all

[RussnSue]

Russ,

This incident did not occur due to a lack of maintenance. I do not spare a cent on looking after the LC and the van. In fact I have the vehicle serviced far more often than the 10K schedule and before this trip I had two separate mechanics give the LC the once over.

Also, living in Cairns I frequently haul the van up the Kuranda Range which, in my opinion, is steeper albeit shorter than the Talbingo climb.

Regards to all

Hi Tolley,

I'm sorry that you read my post and interpreted it as a criticism. I had absolutely no intention to imply that you haven't been maintaining your vehicle. After all, I don't even know you, so how could I know what you do with your vehicle? I guess what I was trying to say is that by getting all of the preventative maintenance done (all of us whom own Kedrons) we leave nothing to chance and therefore anything that does go wrong would be completely beyond our control (as it was with your instance), and at least we have done everything in our power to prevent it.

I also have a personal theory, unsubstantiated by any facts, that the stresses caused by towing vans like Kedrons, over arduous terrain has a cumulative effect on the tow vehicle and that if or when a failure does occur it is not due to the last thing that you traversed, but is a result of all that has gone before it. I might be way off the mark, but I am reminded of the old adage "the straw that broke the camel's back"

Cheers

Russ

[HAVAGO]

I also have a personal theory, unsubstantiated by any facts, that the stresses caused by towing vans like Kedrons, over arduous terrain has a cumulative effect on the tow vehicle and that if or when a failure does occur it is not due to the last thing that you traversed, but is a result of all that has gone before it. I might be way off the mark, but I am reminded of the old adage "the straw that broke the camel's back"

Cheers

Russ

Russ you are so correct in your theory, how many times have I seen one of the boys blow an axle, diff, tailshaft or worse when doing light work.

Then we sit down and go back a few days or even weeks to when the rig was put under extreme strain such as taking of fully loaded from a standing start on a range or dragging through bull dust or sandy tracks for example that was when it all started.

Towing our off road vans with 4wd vehicles, the only difference is the percentages.

Cheers

[Tolley]

Hi Russ,

Sorry I have not responded sooner but I have been on the road. We are now up in the Dandenong Ranges near Emerald where it is cold! This morning, Melbourne had its coldest May morning for three years! It was -3 in Emerald. Sheesh!

Russ, I was not offended by your initial posting. Far from it. I absiolutely agree with your comments on preventive maintenance and the accumulative effect described by you and Greg. I have a long background with complicated equipment in my working life and I am both a private pilot and off-shore yacht skipper. All these pursuits are hinged upon preventative maintenance and attention to detail.

My comments to you were just to emphasise that I am a bit fanatical about looking after my LC and Van. The incident that occured was not the result of a lack of effort by me. In the words of Tony Abbott, "s#*t happens". It was the accumulative theory in action.

We have not met but I look forward to that happening one day.

Regards