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XC3 OR ATV


GraemeY

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HI EVERYONE

WE HAVE ON ORDER A 21FT XC3 DELIVERY IN MAY , THE MAIN REASON FOR THE XC3 IS WEIGHT AS WE ARE TOWING WITH A PX FORD RANGER WHICH SUITS OUR TRAVELS AS WE USE IT WITH A CAMPER BODY , ANY COMMENTS RE THE CHOICE BETWEEN XC3 AND ATV WOULD BE GOOD , I THINK THE BASIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE 2 IS 25MM VERSUS 40MM WALL MATERIAL AND SUSPENSION , ANY COMMENTS WOULD BE APPRECIATED

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Hi GraemeY,

We decided on the XC3 due to it being lighter (and a little cheaper) than the ATV & TE. I have heard from some Koggers on the road that the tare weight (empty) can be higher than what is stated on the compliance plate. Our van is currently 3.48t fully ladened. The difference to tare is around 800kgs. I know of some vans nudging 4t ! We are lucky our tug is a 70 series landcruiser and can drag it anywhere. However a ford ranger may struggle a little & you may need to drop a little weight to help it out.

I hope this helps.

Regards Taka

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HI EVERYONE

WE HAVE ON ORDER A 21FT XC3 DELIVERY IN MAY , THE MAIN REASON FOR THE XC3 IS WEIGHT AS WE ARE TOWING WITH A PX FORD RANGER WHICH SUITS OUR TRAVELS AS WE USE IT WITH A CAMPER BODY , ANY COMMENTS RE THE CHOICE BETWEEN XC3 AND ATV WOULD BE GOOD , I THINK THE BASIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE 2 IS 25MM VERSUS 40MM WALL MATERIAL AND SUSPENSION , ANY COMMENTS WOULD BE APPRECIATED

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Hi Graeme, I have a BT 50 so have the same situation. I am going for the XC-3 when I sell my current van. I can't see myself in the extreme off road adventures where the Gall Brothers test their vans. Just want a better van for corrugated outback roads. Interestingly, the Ranger/BT 50 specs are very close to kW and torque of the single turbo V8 Landcruisers. I have a mate just about to sell his 2008 Landcruiser V8 ute and buy a new Ranger. I wonder how close to the compliance plate tare weight the vans are when they tow out of the factory? Good luck with your van sale.

Regards,

Ian

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Hi Graeme,

We had to make the same decision as you last year. We were tossing up between a new 22ft ATV or XC3 and had a few discussions with Kedron about weights and fit out. We were advised that an XC3 would weigh about 2700kg, and an ATV about 3000 to 3050kg - this was with an extended A frame, second spare wheel, diesel heater , 3 solar panels and inverter, 3 water tanks and grey water tank. We figured that with full water tanks, chairs, BBQ, food etc that the ATV would end up at or over the ATM of 3500kg.

Our vehicle is a diesel 200 series so we could tow up to 3500kg.

We wanted a van that was capable of dirt roads such as the Savannah Way or Gibb River Road. Since we didn't plan on extreme conditions like you see in the Gall Bros videos, we decided an XC3 would be robust enough, and we picked it up in March this year. We couldn't see any point in towing extra weight that we didn't need. The factory tare weight is 2770 kg, with at ATM of 3500kg which gives us plenty of capacity.

Overall we are quite happy with the van, and Kedron worked closely with us to meet our requirements, but there are a number of things that they could have done (and should have done) better that would have improved our overall experience. If you would like to contact me on 0419475496 I can give you a rundown on our experiences.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi Koggers,

I hope I don't scare you but I have just had a interesting conversation with a couple who just bought a 200 series. They are retired and doing the big lap with a "New Age" van, weighing in at 3400kg fully laden. Their first tug was a 3 year old BT50 (that has similar stats to the 70 series), the first motor blew up in Mt Isa & the second in Broome 6 months later.

From what they were saying it was basically the timing belt going each time.

As I have stated previously, our tug is a sooped up 70 series dragging our XC3 around the top end for the last six months. I am definitely not a "one eyed cruiser driver" but would not have the confidence in a BT / Ranger, A lot of the vehicles you see towing vans around 3.5t are cruisers, mainly due to power & availability of spares in all areas.

In hindsight though, we wish that we had purchased a ATV, due to the heavy duty suspension. We have been down every dirt road in the top end (gibb, Tanami, Mitchell falls, old Ghan, strezlecki, Oodnadatta, savannah, Nhulunbuy etc etc) that is out there and found the XC3 to have a few issues that a heavier suspension would of handled with ease. We are currently thinking of selling our van for a ATV / TE3 or going to replace the existing suspension with the cruise master load sharing.

Regards Taka

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