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Joe Aliano
TryHard
Nsw
91 UZZ31 , 94 JZZ31 , 1995 JZZ31

Posts: 179
Reg: 08-2005

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Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 08:15 pm, by:  Joe Aliano (Sexylexus) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hey all ,

A few weeks ago I installed a tow bar on my UZZ31 so I could pull a car trailer in order to tow a HJ donor car back from Brisbane and I must say what an absolute gem of a car to tow with ,I have read some articles criticizing these cars about the air bags suspension causing some problems and so on but based on my recent experience my car pulled it effortlessly and I was doing 100 to 110ks with out any problems what so ever.

The air bags kept the ride height the same all the way through.......so if anyone was ever contemplating installing a tow bar on their UZZ31 but was reluctant to do so based on what others have said just do it...... these cars are bloody great.

here are some pics


my picture


my picture


my picture


my picture


my picture


my picture


Joe
Ben Lipman
Goo Roo
NT
Soarer TT manual, plus TT track car

Posts: 1914
Reg: 04-2006

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Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 08:31 pm, by:  Ben Lipman (Ben12a) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I want to make one for my JZZ30, so I can tow my other JZZ30 to the track. Just for kicks.
Mike Beck
Goo Roo
New Zealand
325i Coupe

Posts: 4161
Reg: 11-2005

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Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 08:51 pm, by:  Mike Beck (Gold_40gt) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


Ben Lipman wrote on Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 08:31 pm:

I want to make one for my JZZ30, so I can tow my other JZZ30 to the track. Just for kicks.






Do it!
Damian Ware
Goo Roo
Victoria
UZZ32

Posts: 1337
Reg: 10-2005

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Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 09:11 pm, by:  Damian Ware (Frozenpod) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Joe, approximate total weight of trailer and HJ.

BTW what was the rating of the tow bar. I had a look into them and all I could find was rated at 900kg tow capacity.
Joe Aliano
TryHard
Nsw
91 UZZ31 , 94 JZZ31 , 1995 JZZ31

Posts: 182
Reg: 08-2005

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Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 09:25 pm, by:  Joe Aliano (Sexylexus) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


Damian Ware wrote on Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 09:11 pm:

Joe, approximate total weight of trailer and HJ.

BTW what was the rating of the tow bar. I had a look into them and all I could find was rated at 900kg tow capacity.




The tow bar was rated at 1200kg , the trailer weight was 210kg and the HJ was approx 900kg as it was a rolling shell with no interior or motor.

I'll say it again that It was a pleasure to tow with this car , the motor did not struggle at all to pull the weight.

PS the weight on the tow ball is rated at 90kg which was fine as the HJ had no motor but if it did I would have faced it the other way.

Joe
Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone, 65 Mustang Fastback, 67 Mustang Convertible, 67 Camaro RS/SS

Posts: 2181
Reg: 08-2005

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Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 09:38 pm, by:  Miles Baker (Milesb) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Back when I had a Soarer I made my own Damian. I pulled a trailer with about 1300kg on it, no problems. I also used it to pull out a buckled door sill on a Monaro. The tow points on the rear of the Soarer are plenty strong.
Damian Ware
Goo Roo
Victoria
UZZ32

Posts: 1338
Reg: 10-2005

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Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 09:45 pm, by:  Damian Ware (Frozenpod) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks guys, in the back of my mind I was thinking of selling the patrol and using the soarer to tow a 2000kg boat.

I was thinking it was a little beyond its capabilities though.
Ben Lipman
Goo Roo
NT
Soarer TT manual, plus TT track car

Posts: 1916
Reg: 04-2006

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Friday, February 05, 2010 - 10:10 pm, by:  Ben Lipman (Ben12a) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Nah,
My xtrail tows 2 tonnes and it has nowhere near the chassis strength, power and torque, or Toyota 'overengineering' that the Soarer has.

I had a towbar professional tell me he would build me a towbar that would easily handle 2+ tonnes for the Soarer. He believed that for a lot of imports they just pick 1200kg as a safe limit as they don't have all the manufacturer info to go off. The only condition was he wouldn't put his sticker on it as he would have been the one breaking the regulations.

I have a long list of projects that need starting or finishing. This is just another on that list.
Steven Anderson
TryHard
NSW
UZZ31 Manual

Posts: 416
Reg: 05-2006

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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 01:31 pm, by:  Steven Anderson (Cusscuss) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Have you actually weighed the trailer?

Ive seen a few examples around and 210kg is seriously light for a full size trailer, steel car trailers are generally in the vicinity of 4-600kg, aluminium about 250kg+. If it towed fine, then thats ok, but its something to keep in mind.
Mike Triggs
Goo Roo
Western Australia
3.0GT G-Pack

Posts: 1472
Reg: 07-2005

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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 09:20 pm, by:  Mike Triggs (Mikeandimah) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


Steven Anderson wrote on Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 01:31 pm:

ve seen a few examples around and 210kg is seriously light for a full size trailer




I agree, our 7X4 box trailer (which has a steel cover) weighs 240kg. The "Pod" we had considered until we got a price, was a tad over 200kg. The Pod is a very small lidded trailer.
Stuart Smith
TryHard
NEW SOUTH WALES
SC400 V8 GT LIMITED Proper Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance

Posts: 273
Reg: 06-2008

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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 09:43 pm, by:  Stuart Smith (Leader428) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I bought my Soarer from the guy who lost his licence doing 150 KPH across the Hay plains, he had his drift car, trailer, missus, luggage, tools, spares, tyres(full rack), fuel for trip and racing in Adelaide behind a home made tow bar, said it was the best tow car ever.

Just fit an external oil cooler for trans.
Stuart Smith
TryHard
NEW SOUTH WALES
SC400 V8 GT LIMITED Proper Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance

Posts: 274
Reg: 06-2008

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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 09:45 pm, by:  Stuart Smith (Leader428) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Forgot to mention, the owners manual quotes 600 Kg. max. load.
Joe Aliano
TryHard
Nsw
91 UZZ31 , 94 JZZ31 , 1995 JZZ31

Posts: 186
Reg: 08-2005

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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 11:15 pm, by:  Joe Aliano (Sexylexus) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


Mike Triggs wrote on Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 09:20 pm:

Have you actually weighed the trailer?




The sticker on the trailer said 210KG and that's also what U-Haul mentioned prior to me hiring it as I wanted to make sure that I was inside their limit of 1500kg which was the maximum weight including trailer.



Stuart Smith wrote on Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 09:45 pm:

Forgot to mention, the owners manual quotes 600 Kg. max. load.




600kg is rated without assited trailer brakes and generally you can tow 80% to 85% of the cars weight with a brake assisted trailer. So when you work out that the Soarer is roughly 1600kg to 1700kg that works out to be around 1400kg is the allowable limit on the Soarer.

Look up the 85% towing rule.

My Hyundai Tucson is a 4 cylinder car rated at 600kg without assisted brakes I doubt very much that the Soarer would be the same.

And finally I purchased the tow bar from a company who rated the bar at 1200kg now unless they like putting peoples lives in danger I highly doubt that they would rivet their name & weight limits on the bar.
Mike Beck
Goo Roo
New Zealand
325i Coupe

Posts: 4169
Reg: 11-2005

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Sunday, February 07, 2010 - 05:37 pm, by:  Mike Beck (Gold_40gt) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I would not use a soarer for towing personally.

That is devil work made for 4x4's
Rob Rojo
Goo Roo
NSW
TT

Posts: 3247
Reg: 12-2007

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Sunday, February 07, 2010 - 05:50 pm, by:  Rob Rojo (Rob_tt) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

According to the lexus sc300/sc400 owners manual the unbraked towing capacity 450kg and the braked capacity is 726kg and yet a 1.4l Kia Rio can tow 1000kg braked and 453kg unbraked.

I would like to know how they worked that out.
Damian Ware
Goo Roo
Victoria
UZZ32

Posts: 1340
Reg: 10-2005

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Sunday, February 07, 2010 - 05:50 pm, by:  Damian Ware (Frozenpod) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm not worry about soarers capability to tow 2000kg in the short term. There is enough power and brakes (with decent pads and trailer brakes) to deal with the load.

My concern is long term chassi stress and what happens if something goes wrong. As I understand it unless there is a tow bar rated for the load and manufactures specifications stating it can tow that load it is not legal.

My uncles Landcruiser had special permit and tow bar built to tow a 3600kg load. The load was tri-axle with electronic brakes on the front two axles. The tow bar went 3/4 up the car with extra bracing.
Mike Triggs
Goo Roo
Western Australia
3.0GT G-Pack

Posts: 1473
Reg: 07-2005

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Sunday, February 07, 2010 - 07:48 pm, by:  Mike Triggs (Mikeandimah) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


Damian Ware wrote on Sunday, February 07, 2010 - 05:50 pm:

My concern is long term chassi stress and what happens if something goes wrong. As I understand it unless there is a tow bar rated for the load and manufactures specifications stating it can tow that load it is not legal.




I agree. Insurance can be voided by overloading (always an issue for me!) or having an underrated towbar or whatever. Our Rexton weighs 2.1 tonnes unloaded and has a legal tow weight of 2250kg in Au yet is rated to 3000kg in NZ & UK. Australia's tow weights are crazy, but it pays to pay attention to them. The Soarer would probably make a superb tow car (especially with airbag suspension) but they weren't built for it nor are they legally able to tow big loads (and legal tow weights can vary from state to state).
Brett Cutts
DieHard
south australia
TT & V8

Posts: 522
Reg: 07-2008

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Sunday, February 07, 2010 - 09:07 pm, by:  Brett Cutts (Boof390) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

In used to use a v8 xd falcon van to tow my car trailer and with south oz's crazy new regs was fined for a dangerous load with a falcon on my trailer. Now I have had to buy a old f100 to do my towing with. Towing a car trailer with a soarer in sa would definately be a no go
Gary Redman
TryHard
NSW
Accord Euro Luxury

Posts: 369
Reg: 09-2005

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Monday, February 08, 2010 - 09:37 am, by:  Gary Redman (Gary) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

As soon as I saw that trailer I thought "there is no way that only weighs 210kg". The average 6 x 4 box trailer weighs around that mark. A dual axle car trailer like that would be closer to 750kg. Anyway you towed it with no problems which was good.
Brenton Trafford
Goo Roo
SA
V8 Limited - UZZ31

Posts: 1075
Reg: 08-2005

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Tuesday, February 09, 2010 - 12:10 pm, by:  Brenton Trafford (Traff) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

How much did it cost you to have the tow bar fitted? I've been told it's very pricey and you have to have a custom bar made?
Callum Finch
Goo Roo
WA
Soarer TT & Corolla

Posts: 4649
Reg: 09-2005

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Tuesday, February 09, 2010 - 05:08 pm, by:  Callum Finch (Sigeneat) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

FYIII GUYSSS .. you may want to check with the ol' licensing center and your insurer if you will be covered in an accident.

From what i understand the ruling with tow balls in Australia is that your car must have a "GVM" (or sumtink) which basically indicates the official towing capacity of the vehicle.
I understand that Japan does not have this ruling, so most imported cars from Japan wont come with this figure. In order to determine this figure in Australia i think cars have to be submitted for crash testing etc.

I have been told that if you dont have a GVM and are involved in a crash with a tow ball attached (you dont have to be towing) then no insurance companies (including 3rd party medical you get with your license/registration) will cover you.
ie, if you are puttering along the FWY, someone ploughs in to you from behind and pushes you in to the person in front of you, then the person you hit breaks their neck from the whiplash and becomes a paraplegic then you are responsible. BIG CASH PAYOUTS etc.

Dont take my word as gospel, however please let me at least scare you all in to double checking the rules first.
Joe Aliano
TryHard
Nsw
91 UZZ31 , 94 JZZ31 , 1995 JZZ31

Posts: 187
Reg: 08-2005

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Tuesday, February 09, 2010 - 09:03 pm, by:  Joe Aliano (Sexylexus) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


Brenton Trafford wrote on Tuesday, February 09, 2010 - 12:10 pm:

How much did it cost you to have the tow bar fitted? I've been told it's very pricey and you have to have a custom bar made?




$350.00 for the bar and I fitted it myself otherwise its $450.00 fitted but they would not do my car cause of the rear body kit and they didnt have time to quote "piss fart around" end quote


Callum Finch wrote on Tuesday, February 09, 2010 - 05:08 pm:

FYIII GUYSSS .. you may want to check with the ol' licensing center and your insurer if you will be covered in an accident




That's a very good point Callum...I totally forgot about the insurance side....I'm going to look into how I can get the car rated for an official towing capacity and in the mean time talk to my insurer.

Thanks
Joe Aliano
TryHard
Nsw
91 UZZ31 , 94 JZZ31 , 1995 JZZ31

Posts: 189
Reg: 08-2005

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Friday, February 12, 2010 - 11:51 am, by:  Joe Aliano (Sexylexus) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ok So here is the update.

I spoke to the RTA and my insurer this morning regarding the tow bar capacity of the Soarer and their response was that it's not a problem at 1200kg and all the insurer needed to know was that I installed a tow bar.

When I spoke to a vehicle inspector at the RTA he said that if a car has no tow bar rating like the Soarer or Grey Imports then the rule is so long as it does not exceed the tow bar capacity the vehicle is allowed to tow up to 1.5 times its weight and that would mean the Soarer could tow 2400kg so long as the tow bar was rated as such (not that I'd go that high)

So from my perspective it's official as to what weight I can or will tow on my car , each of you can make your own assessment but at least I know that towing 1200kg is not against the law or detrimental to the car.

Joe
Don Bagnall
Moderator
New Zealand
SLK 230 Kompressor

Posts: 7454
Reg: 05-2005

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Friday, February 12, 2010 - 05:49 pm, by:  Don Bagnall (Baggs) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Good news Joe!

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