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Towing a Kedron with Nissan Patrol 4.2TD


evan

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G'day Evan,

I haven't towed a Kedron with a Nissan Patrol so I can only give you the benefit of our experience and you might be able to do some comparisons.

We have a land Rover Discovery 3. It has a V6 diesel that generates 140Kw of power and 445Nm of torque. The torque is fairly evenly spread across the entire rev range.

We can cruise all day at the open road speed limit if we wanted to, but find that 80 - 90 KPH gives us best fuel economy. The suspension of the vehicle handles the van well but you really know it's behind you. In January we went from Lismore to Tenterfield on the Bruxner Highway and some of the inclines tested us. We were slowing down to 40 KPH in places. I don't think I would like to tow the Kedron with any less power and torque than we have!

Even though the caravan brakes are excellent (going forwards), you still need pretty good stoppers on your vehicle. When we wore out the brake pads on the front we had to change the pads and the rotors! This was the first set of pads we had been through and to change the rotors at the same time was a bit of a shock.

The electric brakes on the van are all but useless if you are on an incline and have to stop the van from rolling backwards. Under these circumstances the vehicle brakes are doing a lot of work. I don't even want to contemplate what would happen if we needed to rely on the park brake in similar circumstances.

I do know a bit about the Nissan suspension and you would have to use a weight distribution hitch. The ball-weight of the van would be anything from 220Kg upwards, depending on the model you were towing. Ours is close to 350Kg with the van loaded.

Apart from all of the above, I've never seen a Kedron being towed by a Patrol, which is not to say it isn't being done, but it might indicate that they aren't the tow vehicle of choice.

Cheers

Russ

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Hi Evan,

I have a Cross Country Kedron, (about 2200kgs empty, so I suspect at least 2700kgs with all our junk on board), and I have a Nissan Pathfinder diesel. Although rated to tow 3000kgs, I think I am stretching it as far as it should be. I put a chip in it, so the standard 125kw/410nm will have increased a bit - but it is still only a 2.5 litre four cylinder.

I take it easy and like Russ, stick around the 90-95 mark on the highway. I certainly know the van is there, but we get along OK. I have been up the Toowoomba range a few times, and a little bit of dirt that was reasonably steep, and it has been fine. The first time I went up the range, I was nervous enough to start with, and then I got caught behind a large truck right at the bottom. I had to almost stop behind him to wait for traffic to pass. Thankfully, I was able to pull out and accelerate and pass him, which gave me a lot more confidence with the Pathfinder.

I have seen Kedrons being towed by the 3 litre TD models - and I know the 4.2 in standard form is probably a bit down on power and torque than the newer diesel engines, but I would have thought it would handle 3000 kgs anyway. Not sure what they are rated to tow though.

Cheers

jeff

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Hey there evan,

Welcome to the forum.

We have an 07 4.2 patrol and an 09 Top Ender. The Patrol has had the 3" exhaust fitted and tuned by AMMS in Sandgate. The Patrol pulls the van quite well. OI was worried when we ordered the van as all the people I had spoken to or read about had a Cruiser.

Anyway..... We have the Patrol. The main reason we stuck with the Patrol is that we like getting out and roughing it. That includes getting well off the beaten track, camping with a swag and I feel the Patrol is just a bit more capable than the Cruiser.

The Patrol pulls the Top Ender just fine. The Kedron is plated at 2800 Kg and we have heavy duty springs in the car and Polyair Bags. With the WDH the car sits perfect. Fuel consumption is not too good, but we will just fill her up when needed. The 4.2 engine is bulletproof, we change oil at 5000 K and keep all the filters up to date.

Overall we are happy with the patrol and our setup. No question though, if you want power and a "car" like driving experience the Cruiser is the go. The Patrol can feel like a truck at time as you may well know.

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Thank you all for your replies. My thoughts are it would tow it ok whilst not breaking any speed records which is fine because when I'm on holidays I am on "Evan" time anyway so never in a rush. I do also like to capabilities of the Patrol off road and am very happy with it generally, really wouldn't want to get rid of it.

Thanks again

Evan

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