Tow Vehicle

[amfboats]

Here is my current trusty set of wheels, but note two doors and I now have two kids under two. I realise the exercise does me good but...

Nissan SafariSpirit II. This is a 2.8litre Turbo Intercooled. Its a surprisingly good tow vehicle and has towed up to 2300kgs no problem at all.


This is my first Love. My dad bought this truck as a rusty wreck and one winter he striped it bare and welded in new steel and fitted new panels and fibreglass gaurds. New set of feet and sounds. This was a mighty vehicle towed well and done more km's in this vehicle than I think I have any other. we eventually sold this to an 18 year old and dont think it even took him six months to wreck it. :-( It is a 3.4 Litre Diesel with a turbo added to it. It really was a special vehicle.



This is my dads 4.2litre Diesel intercooled Turbo VX Landcruiser This is an unfailable vehicle. tow rating is 3500kgs. In New Zealand you really would be hard pressed to go passed Toyota.

[JETTYWOLF]

I've never seen a single old Land cruiser that was diesel, or even a new one.

In the USA they have never believed in economy. Diesel's are not an option.

There's so much wrong now, no one can afford to put fuel in a diesel vehicle, let alone a gas vehicle.

Except welder he's in the refinery state....

I actually saw a bio-diesel VW Jetta car, the other day. I was amazed.
VW diesels went the way of bicycles after the late 70's fuel shortage, was not a big deal any longer.

I told the story before but my dad had a diesel VW rabbit in the 1970's and got 50 miles per gallon, no problem. Plain Diesel, no turbo or anything.
Slow as hell 4 cylinder, but we didn't care.

Today, 30 MPG is called astounding, and worthy of huge HYPE.

How damn stupid is that?

[welder]

Ihad to retire my Ol'girl on my last trip to Florida [ Thats my old 90 modle F350] and pick up a new 07, 2500HD , 5.9lt Cummins with a 6 spd. manual ,3.73's in the rear end.

Here is , SKINTBACK waiting for the, 325HP , 600 + foot pounds of torque pulling BEAST.

The new ride in MS. ready to fish in State #3 this summer and man am i tired at that point, 20 days of fishing the GOM :D

[amfboats]

Hi Lester, Nice truck, to get a heavier towing capacity something like dodge looks like the way to go. and of course it goes without saying Nice boat.

Hi Dave, diesel has been big in New Zealand for probably 20 maybe 30 years the price used to be worth it, In the early 90's when we started buying diesel vehicles the price of diesel was about a 3rd of petrol. On diesel we have to pre buy Road user milage tax. road tax is built into the price of petrol. Now that the price of diesel is close to the price petrol, it is marginal wether it is worth it by the time you buy road tax.

There are some really smart diesels out there now and the likes of the VX landcuiser pictured really do haul hard. I think the europeans like VW have taken teh technology a long way.

[v8turbo]

[JETTYWOLF]

My tow vehicle is so special it doesn't have a passenger seat or working windows.....
Talk about HOT in the summer!

Keeps me from having passengers, though.

C'C'C'mon...

[85MonarkVC]

Bought a Dodge Cummins Diesel truck last Saturday to pull my boat - found on Craigslist for $3500.00. I've never owned a Dodge or a diesel before but I hear they pull good. It has been owned for the last 10 years by a senior couple who had it serviced regularily. The husband passed away and his wife put it for sale. All original, 1994 Laramie SLT, 119,000 miles, not a drop of oil on the motor, the bed looks like it has never been used.

[BoatBucks]

That is a heck of a deal! Nice find and it should get good mpg's to boot.

Too bad we can't get some of those toyota or nissan diesel suv's. I'm guessing those don't or wont meet epa emissions. :roll:

I have a 2000 F-350 diesel. Nothing fancy but paid for.

[welder]

Gonna go to jail for stealing ..............

Thats a Gen. 1 motor , 12 Valve , and they sound AWESOME . Just remember the power band is way differant than a gasser .

That motor WILL NOT STOP , it will tear the truck apart to keep moving , drive it like a big rig not a race car . It should get killer MPG.

Check out , www.cumminsforum.com , there is a buttload of info. there . Also check out , www.genosgarage.com for parts and goodies they have GREAT prices.

Always keep a clean air filter in her as that 5.9 will suck a clogged filter into the turbo, I'm telling ya , the motor wont stop.

[JETTYWOLF]

Bought a Dodge Cummins Diesel truck last Saturday to pull my boat - found on Craigslist for $3500.00. I've never owned a Dodge or a diesel before but I hear they pull good. It has been owned for the last 10 years by a senior couple who had it serviced regularily. The husband passed away and his wife put it for sale. All original, 1994 Laramie SLT, 119,000 miles, not a drop of oil on the motor, the bed looks like it has never been used.

I think we have a a recruit for AAB.com "purchasing agent"....for some reason I believe 85MonarkVC has some skills in that field. It's between him and "Illgotoo".
S.L. Dave has always been the "complete shopper", so now we have a team mate for him.

Now you can go to Miami and get NEW ones for 2 for the price of 1. Ain't that the shet!

Figure that out....Welders switched Teams!!
From "#1 truck selling for 26 years" too, "you can't Dodge it, so just Ram it"
:roll: :roll:

I'm looking for a "Delorian" to haul my boat with. Now that would make any metal maniac proud.

[IN2DEEP]

Did I hear DIESEL???
...Do you mean that fuel that costs 40-50 cents more per gallon around here than GASOLINE??? It sucks I tell you
Well here's mine 1998.5...First year of the 24valve, computer controlled Cummins motor
23mpg highway, 16-17mpg during half stop & go commuter traffic and 13mpg while towing my approx. 4000lb rig

Truck & Boat @Pyramid Lake.JPG (108.54 KiB) Viewed 11469 times

[IN2DEEP]

Bought a Dodge Cummins Diesel truck last Saturday to pull my boat - found on Craigslist for $3500.00. I've never owned a Dodge or a diesel before but I hear they pull good. It has been owned for the last 10 years by a senior couple who had it serviced regularily. The husband passed away and his wife put it for sale. All original, 1994 Laramie SLT, 119,000 miles, not a drop of oil on the motor, the bed looks like it has never been used.

That's a killer deal... First diesel?... When I first got mine, I didn't know anything about diesels. Thank's to the internet, I got educated real fast on them.
If interested in learning more. Here's another site to check out:
http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/index.php

This the same one that welder gave, but links to the forums area
http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/index.php

Study up on them, because they are very different from a gasser... And do like what welder did and delete the muffler... but go with twin stacks... sticking up in the air, thru the bed, right behind the cab .... And go with BIG ones... 6" DIAMETER

Scott

[dave]

You will love that Cummins motor. It is a real diesel truck motor. Like Welder says, since the power band is way different, you must drive it differently than a gas motor. Drive it like a big rig. Same concept, just smaller. If you don't, you will tear up the motor. Service it like clockwork. If you keep the RPMs in the power band and service it properly, it will last a long time. One thing you do want to do is let it warm up. A diesel engine has closer tolerances than a gas engine, so don't just jump into it and go when the motor is cold.

[85MonarkVC]

Thanks for all the comments on my Dodge cummins truck! I took it to the Dodge dealer this week (local dealership - they treated me good) and they changed my oil, fuel filter, flushed/serviced the transmission, flushed/service the rear axle, and checked everything out for me. So far everything is in great shape.

I do have to buy tires though. I have Michelin 245/75/R16's, load range E, and they are dry rotted with cracks on the sidewalls and tread. They have lot of tread but the date code says 2002, so they are 7 years old.

I have been looking at tires, I could go one size bigger to 265/75/16 but I think my turning radias will be affected which is inconvenient at some boat ramps. I don't have a posi rear which I am also sad about, so the wider tires would help. Sure would hate to get stuck on a ramp coming out. Right now I am leaning towards keeping the smaller 245's because of the turning radius. I have a 3.54 rear.

I have been looking at the Uniroyal Liberator tires from WalMart that are popular around here. I have also been referred to BF Goodrich Commercial TAs, but Walmart does not carry them. I like Walmart only because of their road hazard warranty that comes with all their tires. There are still lots of nails scattered by the hurricanes around here. I've heard the Uniroyals are better than the Goodyears. I would love to have a set of Michelin LTX M&S but dont quite want to shell the money out for those.

What are you using for tires? Thanks.

[welder]

I would go with the 265's if I could , they will drop your RPM's at 70 MPH about 200rpm's [ Read , better fuel mileage ]

If your running 70 MPH at about 1800-1900 rpm's your there for Power and MPG.

I'm running about 2175 rpm's at 70 with 3.73's and 245 tires and I would like to drop that to about 18-1900 R's , I think the 265's will do that.
You may already be there with the 3.54 rear end.

[IN2DEEP]

I do have to buy tires though. I have Michelin 245/75/R16's, load range E, and they are dry rotted with cracks on the sidewalls and tread. They have lot of tread but the date code says 2002, so they are 7 years old.

I have been looking at tires, I could go one size bigger to 265/75/16 but I think my turning radias will be affected which is inconvenient at some boat ramps. I don't have a posi rear which I am also sad about, so the wider tires would help. Sure would hate to get stuck on a ramp coming out. Right now I am leaning towards keeping the smaller 245's because of the turning radius. I have a 3.54 rear.

I have been looking at the Uniroyal Liberator tires from WalMart that are popular around here. I have also been referred to BF Goodrich Commercial TAs, but Walmart does not carry them. I like Walmart only because of their road hazard warranty that comes with all their tires. There are still lots of nails scattered by the hurricanes around here. I've heard the Uniroyals are better than the Goodyears. I would love to have a set of Michelin LTX M&S but dont quite want to shell the money out for those.

What are you using for tires? Thanks.

Same thing happened to my tires that were on my truck(Goodyear Wranglers)
I'm running Michelin LTX 265/75/17 A/S on my truck. It originally had the same rims and size tires as yours.
I really wanted Michelins and they cost around $200 each! Purchased some Dealer "take-offs"(factory installed on trucks but removed to install bigger rims/tires on new trucks) off ebay for $800(picked them up, no shipping). Draw back: no real warranty. Seen them on ebay for as low as $600
That said, the Michelins handle and ride waaaay better than the Goodyears did
Looking on-line, the 265/75/16 tire is recommended to be run on a 7-9" wide rim(yours is 6.5") I have no doubt that many people run the 265 tire on the narrower rim. The 265 tire is 1" taller than the 245 and I don't think that it will affect the turning radius nor change your RPM's much. Keep it under 2000 RPM for max MPG's
Found some discussions on the Liberator tires(seems to be positive)
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbullet ... p?t=436062

Scott

[amfboats]

Sold the Nissan and bought this as my new tow vehicle. 1999 Toyota Landcruiser VX Ltd 4.2 Inter-cooled Turbo Diesel finally have 4 doors for the kids, and 8 seater for when they are old enough to have friends!! Just sorting out what sort of sign writing will go on it.

[welder]

Bevan, a AAB sticker would look cool on that truck.



I just need a address

[amfboats]

Attn Bevan
AMF Boats
234 Taupo Quay
Gonville
Wanganui 4501
New Zealand

[welder]

Got it