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Landcruiser 200 Series or Silverado


Tolley

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 Hello all..

with the chev i don't use a WDH.. i got a forged tongue with is 3'' lift i think.. when we picked up the new van in November dion had to put 65 psi in the air bags to get it level.. this is more than i wanted so i have fitted 2'' lift blocks to the rear & only put  5 psi   in the bags.. but this was with a light light load..  when the boat, motor on the drawbar [thanks Tony] etc etc  etc goes on i'm shore i will need a few more psi but very happy with way it sits & drives..

  cheers Danny

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Is it the "Dark Side" or the "enlightened Side"?????

 

I too have air bags and run them with 35 psi. I don't use WD Bars at all and my van is 4T and has a ball weight of 395kg. The veh also has the full length metal draws (which are full) and a 60lt fridge. The veh weighs in at 4.35T when full of fuel, water and all the other crap we seem to carry. 

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Hi all,

Had the van in for a service where they replaced the floor covering that had moved.

Had a chat to Dave and Graham while we were waiting.

Have now purchased a shocker hitch connection for the back of the Chev.

As I mentioned we found the truck seemed to bounce a bit more than was comfortable.

By the way the Chev has airbags and we have put 20 psi in them to help. Did not make much difference.

Both of them mentioned that the stiff suspension tended to mask the extra bounce with the stiff suspension from the Chev.

As you have seen here there has been at least one cracked chassis with these vehicles.

The guy we bought the hitch off pointed out that the robustness of the Chev springs transfers a lot of the pitching onto the van.

He even uses them on his goosenecks.

By the way he swears by them and would not tow with stiff suspension without them.

Do any of the chev/GMC/Ford owners use one of these.

Will attach a picture of the hitch for reference.

Apart from this the Chev is still an awesome vehicle.

Currently at the Sunshine Coast and with a bit of forward planning we have not had any problems with parking.

Even managed a spot at Aldi the other day.

Love the chev.

Doug and lis

background1[1].jpg

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Hi Doug

 

 

I think that hitch is only rated for 3500kgs.  You might need one with a little higher rating. You are not running enough pressure in the air bags, should be >30psi and the Chev suspension has nothing to do with cracked chassis particularly with the articulating hitch so you don't have a rigid connection so there is no shock being passed from the truck to the van.  Any excuse is better than none to try to pass the buck when it comes to blame.  I think the problems with the chassis was more a manufacturing one than the type of tug.

 

 

 

cheers

 

 

Merv

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Hi All,

 

When I drove my 2012 Silverado that purchased about 5mths ago I found the same sort of problem . I found that about 30 psi in the bags helped . The biggest         difference was when I put better shockies on the rear .

 

Cheers Nev

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Yep Andrew.

Great on the LIGHT side with our 200 Series. No airbags and no problems for 7 years. Perhaps we are a bit timid, only sticking to the tame roads such as Great Central Road, Gibb River, Birdsville, etc. Tojo forever for us LOL.

John

 

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I guess it all boils down to whether you want to be legal or not.

Insurance could be a problem if something serious happened.

By the way the hitch is rated to 5500 kgs and ball weight of 545 kgs.

End of the day we love the Chev and what it does for us.

Lets face it if we all liked the same thing it would be a boring old world.

The good thing about Aus (at the moment)  is we do have a choice.

Doug and Lis 

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I am starting to think people are over thinking things.

I also agree with Merv, It won't be the vehicle cracking the chassis, it will be poor/old fashion design of the van chassis.

I say this, as we have a very heavy van (4T) and we tow it with the GMC with the standard McHitch and have not had a problem ........................ mind you we have only done around 62000kms towing it over the same "tame" roads as Mayzee ..........   Great Central Road, Gibb River, Oodnadatta track (3 times), Birdsville track, Cape Leveque road (8 times), Tanami track ......etc. But what would I know?

Happy motoring

Steve

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11 hours ago, barramundi said:

I guess it all boils down to whether you want to be legal or not.

Insurance could be a problem if something serious happened.

By the way the hitch is rated to 5500 kgs and ball weight of 545 kgs.

End of the day we love the Chev and what it does for us.

Lets face it if we all liked the same thing it would be a boring old world.

The good thing about Aus (at the moment)  is we do have a choice.

Doug and Lis 

Don't worry, I'm legal and have the weighbridge tickets to prove it.  Being registered in NSW it also gets an annual full heavy vehicle inspection so we know everything's roadworthy and legal. Ken Tame has all the details and has paid past claims, so no problems with insurance. As you say, it comes down to choice, not legalities.

Andrew

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have a Silverado which I love but I am now and have been for decades a great fan of the Landcruiser.  I acknowledge the comment by Andrew about discussion of apparent complications with the American trucks such as the Silverado.  That is to be expected as they are relatively new in the caravan tug stakes here in Oz.  In a couple of years all these complications will be sorted as more people buy them and use them towing caravans.  The Landcruiser has been in that role for decades and as a result the add on's and operating techniques are well settled.

 

BTW, I started this thread about 18 months ago and it has had 10,500 "views" so there is obviously a lot of curiosity about these yank tanks!

Regards to all,

Colin

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5 minutes ago, Tolley said:

I have a Silverado which I love but I am now and have been for decades a great fan of the Landcruiser.  I acknowledge the comment by Andrew about discussion of apparent complications with the American trucks such as the Silverado.  That is to be expected as they are relatively new in the caravan tug stakes here in Oz.  In a couple of years all these complications will be sorted as more people buy them and use them towing caravans.  The Landcruiser has been in that role for decades and as a result the add on's and operating techniques are well settled.

 

BTW, I started this thread about 18 months ago and it has had 10,500 "views" so there is obviously a lot of curiosity about these yank tanks!

Regards to all,

Colin

I was just joking. Of course we'd love to be in a position to "upgrade" but living in the Sydney metro area its not an option. The 100 Series is as big as we can go and eventually we'll be downsizing the van rather than upsizing the car. In the meantime the Cruiser does a fabulous job, both as a family car and when puling the Kedron.

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Hi Andrew & Sally,

Its been a long time between drinks, I trust you are both well & happy.

I see on FB you have been entertaining Jane, Penny & Nev.....we are looking forward to catching up with them also in then next couple of weeks.

Reading your post above, I appreciate your comments and concerns, you say you have weighbridge tickets & 'acceptance' from Ken Tame....... I understand & truely believe that you have your van serviced regularly & it is subject to yearly rego inspections & it is 'roadworthy'..... noting that there has been no direct discussion about roadworthiness.

But, I'm a little 'miffed' that .... if you where stopped/or directed to pull over by RMS or another eqivilent authority ....you would produce a weighbridge ticket stating your weight ...DATED ???

My understanding ( and I will stand corrected) is that a weighbridge ticket only has a 'life' for a certain time (hours) and distance from the issuing point. (please understand I'm not suggesting that you are towing overweight)

Cheers & hugs for Sally 

 

Tony & Annie

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1 hour ago, TonyH said:

Hi Andrew & Sally,

Its been a long time between drinks, I trust you are both well & happy.

I see on FB you have been entertaining Jane, Penny & Nev.....we are looking forward to catching up with them also in then next couple of weeks.

Reading your post above, I appreciate your comments and concerns, you say you have weighbridge tickets & 'acceptance' from Ken Tame....... I understand & truely believe that you have your van serviced regularly & it is subject to yearly rego inspections & it is 'roadworthy'..... noting that there has been no direct discussion about roadworthiness.

But, I'm a little 'miffed' that .... if you where stopped/or directed to pull over by RMS or another eqivilent authority ....you would produce a weighbridge ticket stating your weight ...DATED ???

My understanding ( and I will stand corrected) is that a weighbridge ticket only has a 'life' for a certain time (hours) and distance from the issuing point. (please understand I'm not suggesting that you're towing overweight)

Cheers & hugs for Sally 

 

Tony & Annie

Hi Tony

Yes, its been a great week with our visitors and we're looking forward to getting down to the Bendeela gathering on Saturday.

The weighbridge tickets give me an upper limit I can work from when loading the van. As you say, they won't themselves prove anything, except that I know the weight of the van when fully loaded. For example, we very rarely travel with the generator AND three full water tanks AND the second fridge etc etc in the van. The tickets just show that if we do, we're still within our allowed weights, both for the van and the Landcruiser.

The only point I was making in my prior post was that the assertion that I'd need to drive a Chevvy to be legal and/or insured is false.

Hope all goes well with the house and we can catch up again soon.

Love to you both and from Sally also.

Andrew

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Hi guys

 

As a former wearer of the blue and specialising in traffic the weigh bridge ticket means nothing once you move off the bridge.  If you are overweight it occurs at the time on the bridge, and that is what you are penalised for.  Not some time down the track.  I would be very surprised that any 21" TE fully loaded for an extended trip would not be considerable overweight particularly when I see 200 series with roof top boats.  Someone someday is going to come a cropper.  The issue of weight in vans is not going to go away, we just have to be careful and play within the rules.  I spoke recently to a young guy with a nice big shinny new van with a tare of 3150 and he cannot fill his water tanks to travel along with his food ect.  Unfortunately we are the problem, we require larger vans, air con, bigger fridges, full ensuits, solar panels ect and they come at a cost, WEIGHT.  With this comes the fact the 99% of vehicles that tow these big vans in Australia only have a towing capacity of 3500kgs brakes.   The manufacturers are only supplying what we want.   Food for thought.

 

Cheers

 

Merv

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Hey, Andrew, I know you  were being light hearted and I took it that way.  I am doing a few things to my truck to make it better at what it does.  One of the great things about Landcruisers is that there is so much knowledge and experience out there and it is all incorporated in the design.  That is why they are so good.

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What a great time , left home (Brisbane) and travelled to Old Bar , Sydney, Bendeela Reserve Gathering and home via the Putty Road and New England Highway.

The Silverado was fantastic , to Old Bar set cruise on speed limit and set back and relax . Old Bar to Bendeela a bit slower as we were in a convoy of 3 Kedrons.

Bendeela to home set cruise on speed limit , we averaged 20.2 litres per 100ks for the whole trip.

The hills , what hills .

Down hills the exhaust brakes are magic . 

The 200 series Cruiser was a great vehicle , travelled over 60,000 ks towing the van.

The Silverado is just so much better all round tug.

I purchased the Silverado second hand ,2012 model with 60,000 ks on the clock.

First thing I did after towing a Topender for 650 ks was change the rear shocks to stop the rear from bouncing along the road (the way the yanks like it). The only way to stop the rear from bouncing when towing the Topender was 30 psi in the bags. I can adjust the bag pressure from in the cab.The vehicle already had airbags fitted . I have to wonder why fit air bags when the problem is with the shocks . The shocks on the vehicle are not heavy duty enough.

On this trip I played around with pressure and 10 psi worked for me, any lower not good for the bags I believe .

Next change front shocks . Don't buy shocks from the USA , they maybe not heavy duty enough .

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks Nev, loved the article.

 

It is very interesting to see that these so called "experts" are finally coming to realise what most of us already know when it comes to towing vans of 3.5t+.  Maybe wisdom does come with age or is it the other way around.

 

 

Cheers

 

Merv

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  • 1 month later...

Good Morning all

I have seen on a forum where it is reported that Lovells are about to announce an upgrade to 4000kg towing capacity for the 200 series Land Cruiser for those who are not after the extra space of the [big American machines] & use around town a lot easier.

Neville.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Goog Afternoon all

We have crossed over to the other side sold our 6x4 Land cruiser Sahara & bought a 2016 Dodge Ram 2500 Laramie from Ireland's in Cairns, bought it Saturday hope to take delivery later this week, then as you know a real learning curve. These are converted by Walkinshaw Racing in Melbourne under the blessing of Dodge in USA, they have 3 year 100K warranty backed by most Dodge dealers in Australia. Ran into first snag as nobody is making a Bull Bar which can take the front sensors so will have to disconnect these.

Neville & Kay.

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Hi Neville & Kay

 

Welcome to the dark side of American Trucks, you can now sit back and enjoy the relaxed towing of the van and thoroughly enjoy your drive.

 

 

Cheers

 

Merv

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Hi Neville,

 

Try East Coast Bull Bars, they supply bulbar for the Silverado off the shelf so I am sure they will have something.  Failing that 'TuFF Bulbar' at Toowoomba will build you a fantastic bull bar but are a bit dearer.

 

Cheers

 

Greg & Cathy

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Good Morning Greg & Cathy

No East Coast are not making a Bull Bar yet for the Dodge Ram [2016] as they have sensors in front bumper Bar, they say they will look into it as this is the first they had heard of it so maybe we will just have to wait.

Thanks Neville & Kay. 

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