Towing long distance

[stevetubbyturbo]

Hi

at the end of june im off on holiday to devon which is about a 300 mile drive from my location and im going to be towing my boat down there with me so we can get some sea fishing in.

The trailer and boat have a combine weight of about 400 kgs and the trailer is braked.

Im wondering if i should fit another oil cooler for the auto gearbox or weather the standard oil cooler will withstand the extra heat generated by towing

any opinions and thoughts would be great

Cheers

[dirtydog]

i wouldnt bother doing anything with that much weight. just the same as 4 big passengers

[Darren]

I've also got a standard 91 2.4 and have towed alot more for similar distances with no worries I wouldn't worry surfs are tough.
Darren

[mud-ge]

just a thought ,when i tow a caravan which is about 1200kg i leave the back window down slightly and leave the rear heater on a low speed this helps the cooler slightly ,every little helps i feel so cant hurt to leave it on ,and at least the dog has got somethingto look at .

[stevetubbyturbo]

I've also got a standard 91 2.4 and have towed alot more for similar distances with no worries I wouldn't worry surfs are tough.
Darren

I totally agree there that Surfs are tough the main reason i got a Hilux was after i saw Top Gear trying to kill one and it just keep coming back for more

Thanks for the replys

[stevetubbyturbo]

just a thought ,when i tow a caravan which is about 1200kg i leave the back window down slightly and leave the rear heater on a low speed this helps the cooler slightly ,every little helps i feel so cant hurt to leave it on ,and at least the dog has got somethingto look at .

Good tip cheers mate

[Maverick]

My girl regularly does 300 miles to North Yorkshire, and an annuall 600 mile trip to Scotland, with a 1 tonne trailer on back. Appart from damaging a UJ, and blowing the head I haven't had any problems. I've yet tohave problems with the AT fluid because once you get on the motorways you generally sit at a steady speed which lessens the stress on the gearbox, it's when you're on the tight twists and sharp hills that it gets a bit hot. If this happens I've found just giving the girl a rest does the trick.

[sheeprus]

Hi

at the end of june im off on holiday to devon which is about a 300 mile drive from my location and im going to be towing my boat down there with me so we can get some sea fishing in.

The trailer and boat have a combine weight of about 400 kgs and the trailer is braked.

Im wondering if i should fit another oil cooler for the auto gearbox or weather the standard oil cooler will withstand the extra heat generated by towing

any opinions and thoughts would be great

Cheers

Just to add my two pennys worth, I have a standard 2.4 td and I towed a gross weight of 2.2 ton (cattle truck filled with 5 large Llamas) back from Windsor to Cork (total of 550miles) with little or no problems, I could not quite get the road speed I would have liked but managed a solid 50-55 mph for a very good portion of the journey.

I forgot, I also towed the empty 1.2 ton cattle truck over so I guess in excess of 1000 miles traveled with a lot of weight and no trouble.

I would not be in the least bit worried with a 400kg tow.

[kitesurf_phil]

The only thing I would add is make sure that you coolant is topped right up before setting off. The Surf will cope quite well with small air locks, until you are towing. The tell tale sign is the temp guage needle floating up and down, especially on long hills.

[pkdj2307]

i would say the same, make sure the coolant is topped up and more importantly give your viscous fan a service, my head cracked last year and i replaced it with one of stevo's modified ones, while doing the job the fitter serviced the fan and topped it up with fluid (i got the fluid from stevo) the fan took nearly the whole bottle, it realy does make a difference to the cooling. hope it helps

[stevetubbyturbo]

i would say the same, make sure the coolant is topped up and more importantly give your viscous fan a service, my head cracked last year and i replaced it with one of stevo's modified ones, while doing the job the fitter serviced the fan and topped it up with fluid (i got the fluid from stevo) the fan took nearly the whole bottle, it realy does make a difference to the cooling. hope it helps

I didnt know you could service a viscous fan just goes to show you lean something every day

[Linda]

With light a load I wouldn't worry as long as it is well serviced.

We towed about 3 ton back from Cornwall last year (250ish miles) no problem.