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Landcruiser 200 Series or Silverado


Tolley

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  • 4 weeks later...

We are looking forward to delivery of our new LC200 GX on October 18th. It will be very nice to tow our 16'XC3 Kedron with a diesel V8, the previous tow, the NW Pajero worked really well, but we decided that it was time for a new 4WD and to get our planned long term tow. We sold the Pajero yesterday and now have a wait of a few weeks, including the Toyota recommend 1000km no tow period. Then we will be off to do a very short trip via the Blue Mountains some nice back roads from home (SE NSW) to Gloucester NSW to get a half cargo barrier and a set of Drifta draws fitted.

 

 

 

Terry

PS We are using the Toyota order tracking system which is really good, suggest if you buy a Toyota and have to wait for delivery get the dealer to get you a login. The system now shows the LC200 has been built and is on the ship in transit. The tracking system also gives us the VIN and engine number, and now has a build date of Sep 2106 and a Compliance plate of Oct 2016.

 

The Pajero and Kedron at Bulga Free Camp in the Hunter Valley NSW

Bulga free Camp Hunter Valley.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Picked up LC200 GX today and fitted AT2 Toyo tyres.

Much more to do, but it drives nice and in about 1000km I will be able to tow the Kedron.

Quick trip to Gloucester to get draws and ½ cargo barrier fitted by Drifta planed in a few weeks.

 

 

LC200.JPG

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Good on you Terry, enjoy your new 'ride'.

Very nice looking unit.....get rid of that funny looking snorkel head.....lol

Drawers make such a difference carrying all your nick knacks.

Whilst your at Gloucester, travel up a little further and stay a few days at Bretti Reserve....a nice place to stay for a few days......BUT don't tell anyone else!!!!

Regards to you and Ellie. 

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A question for all the very knowledgable LC200 owners with Kedrons. We are trying to find out which tow bar insert to get from Toyota for our new LC200 GX, we have an Auto McHitch.

Toyota supply two different tow bar inserts one is off-road the other is on-road. I would have  thought  the off-road tow bar insert, but it appears it might be too high. 

The height measured on our Pajero to the locking pin in the McHitch on level ground was 600mm, with no van hooked up.

 

Do Kedron owners have the on-road or off-road Toyota insert on their LC200?

 

Thanks

Terry

 

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Hi Terry,

My 'two bobs' worth!

 

Have a look at this,

http://www.haymanreese.com.au/products/interlock-trailer-ball-mount-with-adjustable-5-hole-and-towball

with a hitch like this you can 'set up' the ride height of the van in relation to the tow vehicle, being adjustable, you can 'adjust it' depending on your load and pressue in your airbags (if your still going to have them fitted).

 

Have a look at these listings on eBay, variations on the above

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HAyman-Reese-Towing-hitch-2500kg-/201695604644?hash=item2ef5feafa4:g:yPEAAOSwcLxYCIi~

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Hayman-Reese-V5-Weight-Distribution-Heavy-Duty-Hitch-Bars-340kg-4500kg-/252587890653?hash=item3acf6957dd:g:zKYAAOSwLF1YAyjs

 

My thoughts only, now you have a 200 and with your van being lighter than the average......I really dont think you will need to use WDH bars.....but then thats your call.

 

Cheers stay safe & hugs for Ellie.

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Hi Terry,

Before you go out and buy a Hayman Rees Tongue make sure it fits into the Toyota tow bar as I have found out that the Hayman Rees [square solid piece of steel ] is slightly bigger than most holes in tow bars where it is to slide into, & you do not want to have to grind it down.

Hope this helps.

Many safe trips,

Neville.

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Hello Tony and Neville

 

Thanks for the responses, I already have the tow tongue from my Pajero, which unfortunately is quite long. So therefore, it sticks out the back of the LC200 a fair bit. On the Pajero it is not too bad as the spare on the back door also sticks out a fair way as well; hence the Pajero hitch tongue does not stick out so far on the Pajero. We also have a variable height Eaz lift (also fitted with a auto McHitch), which we got for the Pajero. So we do not want to buy another WDH.  We have not tried the Eaz lift on the LC200 yet, but as Tony suggested above we would like to try towing without the WDH. If the van does not behave we can always go back to the Eaz lift WDH, hopefully we should not need the WDH.

 

We have towed the 2.5 tonne ATM single axel van for a short distance behind the Pajero without the WDH both on road and off road and it felt fine, so with luck should be OK with LC200 without the WDH. The MY16 LC200 also has as standard Trailer Sway Control (TSC), my research shows the TSC helps the Dexter Sway Control (DSC), so "belts and braces". We  also have a tow ball scale and are very careful with van weights. Toyota seems ambivalent about if we need a WDH, so it would be nice not to have to bother with the WDH.

 

So hence our need for the Toyota tow tongue, they are significantly shorter than the Mitsubishi Pajero tongue. I am off to the local Toyota dealer tomorrow with tape measure and the Pajero tongue fitted with our McHitch auto coupler. Toyota do not seem to be able to tell me the height of either of their tow tongues. With luck I will be able to work it out for myself tomorrow, but if someone does know, which of the two Toyota hitches works best with Kedrons and LC200, please let me know.

 

Thanks 

Terry

 

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I think I have solved the problem. I went to the local Canberra Toyota dealer in southern Canberra, they were really helpful. We measured and on-road hitch and top of tow ball was 575mm, it seemed a bit low. I then bought an off-road hitch with the arrangement if it was too high I could exchange for on-road. Backed up to Kedron in garage at home and using trail mate jack and the old Pajero hitch for reference got the van 10mm down at front unhitched and it was level with the centre of the ball, this was ~620mm. once hooked up there will be a small drop so it looks like the off-road Toyota hitch suits, will confirm this when I removed tow ball and replace with auto McHitch coupling.

 

I did speak  to Kedron Service and the info I got is "all Kedron vans couplings are different heights". However, one bit of useful advice from Kedron was the van should be close to level as possible and slightly down at the front. I think this is how ours will sit once I get the McHitch coupling fitted (air bags to be fitted Wednesday). 

 

This was a problem I did not anticipate, but at least I have learned a lot from this experience.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just did 1800km towing the 2.5t ATM Kedron around central NSW - Gloucester (for fitting of draws and ½ Cargo barrier by Drifta), Dubbo and Goulburn. It towed very nicely behind the LC200. The air bags (Firestone with Kevlar sleeves) worked well have tried various pressures, so far 14 psi seems to work the best. Towed on some rough flood damaged bitumen roads and a few dirt roads in National Parks.

 

Still not convinced about the OEM suspension, it may be a bit soft. However, the air bags certainly improved the ride. The height of the Toyota off road hitch with an auto McHitch seems right. If we get any suspension work we will not look at any lift, we will try to stick to standard height suspension. No WDH was used on the whole trip, and we felt it unnecessary for our setup, which towed smoothly in a variety of road conditions, including some very strong winds yesterday.

 

We are also getting some Clearview mirrors from Tony, the passenger clip on mirror fell off 1½ times and they seem to vibrate more on the Toyota than they did on the Pajero. So we have decided to give our new LC200 ugly big ears to go with the ugly GX air intake.

 

 

 

Nangar.jpeg

 

Drift Draws and and ½ Cargo Barrier, needs to be packed properly. Note, gear just thrown in to get home.

 

Draws.jpg

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Fitted the Clearviews today that Tony arranged for me. Thanks Tony for  great service, good price and quick delivery.

 

 

cleaview mirrors.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

The Question has been Land Cruiser or Yank Tank as some would like to call them, well keep your ears to the ground there is an option coming a Land Cruiser conversion  which can legally  tow 4.2 ton . Don't know cost but you will hear.

Well we have had our Dodge Ram 6 months now have just got back from Brisbane from having the tub removed & aluminium tray/ canopy fitted averaged 13.4 LP100KM for the round trip, [ not towing], will post photos later, as I only have to fit my Outback Draws & 2 tool boxes behind rear wheels & it is complete.

With regards to the adblue I was not using any & was told you do not use any in first 10,000km then it starts, I thought ??????? but rolled over 10,000km [Koah] coming back from Cairns to Cooktown on Friday & by the time I got home the adblue gauge had started to move so information was right this I could not understand.

 Merry Christmas & safe & happy travels to all out there.

Neville & Kay.

 

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On 22 April 2016 at 8:12 AM, Neville and Kay said:

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.

 

On 22 April 2016 at 8:12 AM, Neville and Kay said:

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.

Hi Neville

 

Several months ago Lovell Springs released the increased  braked towing capacity for the 200 series Landcruiser.  

 

A prerequisite is to have the Lovell GVM upgrade from 3300kg to 3800kg. This costs about $3000.

 

The purchaser then has the choice of 2 Kits, each has a specific tow hitch with the Lovell trade name on them. You can't supply your own tow hitch.

 

The Stage 1 kit is recommended for towing up to 3700kg, but the ball weight must not exceed 350kg. This kit costs about $3000. 

 

The Stage 2 kit is recommended for towing up to 4000kg, but the ball weight must not exceed 400kg. This kit costs about $3900.

 

If anyone wants further details, I suggest they contact Lovell Springs or one of their agents/ dealers eg TJM. Whoever you contact, they might be able to print out a lengthy brochure, which is to much to reproduce here.

 

Your caravan ATM must be increased also, and not to exceed the new towing capacity. Then there is the annual inspection your caravan has to go thru.

 

Personally, I'll probably go for the stage 2 kit, because it's a better hitch, but will only increase the ATM to 3700kg, The axle capacity on our ATV for two is 3800kg.

 

We already have the Lovell GVM upgrade. We are doing the braked towing capacity upgrade, not to load the caravan up to the new limit, but just to have a little safety margin around the current capacity of 3500kg. 

 

Cheers for now.

 

Peter

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Peter

This is not Lovell's this is a conversion done by a very reputable company they had just  received all paper work, Engineering, Gov. approvals when I was speaking with them on the 17th November & they were going to keep it Quiet for a bit as they are flat out doing there other main job.

Neville

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Hi Neville

 

I can only speak about the Lovell upgrade because that is the one I have been following. They are also a very reputable company, and they too have all the approvals, including Federal approval. 

 

In the future, I think there will probably be several companies, including the one whose name you didn't mention, offering this type of upgrade. It's just a matter of choosing the upgrade that suits a persons needs, and who you feel comfortable dealing with.

 

All the best for you and Kay for Christmas, and safe travels in 2017

 

Cheers 

 

Peter

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We have also bit the bullet and bought a new 200 series Sahara with the lovells GVM upgrade just waiting for delivery .

Have also ordered the new 4 t tow kit upgrade and will also be upgrading our Topender GVM from 3.5 to 3990 .

Not that we will be anywhere near that weight but will be legal ,can't wait for delivery and then start fitting all the bits and pieces .

John 

Edited by John and Jo
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