d22 towing

[Tysm78]

Hi All,
Took my family and van away for the first time over the weekend. 21 foot weighing about 2.2 t or so, electric brakes and stablising bars behind a 2006 3ltr D22. I must admit that I was a liitle concerned/annoyed with the towing ability. It really struggled as soon as we hit any kind of incline and took ages to get up to any kind of decent speed. I know I am pulling a big weight, but my D40 didn't have the same issue when towing my excavator of about 1.8t (the D40 went when I got rid of the business) Anyone got the same issue, can I do anything about it, or do I just need to get used to it?
Thanks

 

[FatBoy89]

Hi All,
Took my family and van away for the first time over the weekend. 21 foot weighing about 2.2 t or so, electric brakes and stablising bars behind a 2006 3ltr D22. I must admit that I was a liitle concerned/annoyed with the towing ability. It really struggled as soon as we hit any kind of incline and took ages to get up to any kind of decent speed. I know I am pulling a big weight, but my D40 didn't have the same issue when towing my excavator of about 1.8t (the D40 went when I got rid of the business) Anyone got the same issue, can I do anything about it, or do I just need to get used to it?
Thanks

Chip, exhaust and a top mount intercooler

 

[hosery]

I've got a 05 d22. Exact same although I've got 33s which doesn't help. I tow a 18 foot boat not sure what it weights but guessing its some where near what you tow and mine hates any hills. I no you can increase performance with a chip,exhaust,ic etc none of which I have. Maybe someone else can help by letting you no how much these help towing

 

[Old.Tony]

It's not a complete surprise. The D22 has about 75% of the power of a D40 and those extra beans really do make a difference.

Fatboy is steering you in the right direction. Consider also a front-mount intercooler as an alternative to the top-mount.

 

[FatBoy89]

It's not a complete surprise. The D22 has about 75% of the power of a D40 and those extra beans really do make a difference.

Fatboy is steering you in the right direction. Consider also a front-mount intercooler as an alternative to the top-mount.

I'd only steer clear of that front mount if you intend to fit a winch

 

[tweak'e]

yeah just the difference between D40 and the lower powered D22.
i have no problem with 1 ton on the deck and 2 ton on the trailer. works those gears on the hill and doing the gearshifts on the right rpm is critical.
once you drop off the 3-3.5k rpm your going nowhere fast.

exhaust, intercooler and then chip.

 

[Tysm78]

Thanks all. As I'm not mechanically minded at all, am I damaging anything by towing without any of these mods? Can't afford any of them considering they are all around $1300 or so. We are going to Echuca at Xmas, about 350k trip, and don't want to spend all my Xmas money at the mechanics up there!

 

[Old.Tony]

You won't damage the vehicle as long as you aren't trying to flog the life out of it to make it go faster. Drive it moderately and it won't make a difference. You might not get to the destination as quickly, but it won't cost you anything to take it easy.

 

[robmacca]

Glad I found this post.....

Just came back from a weekend away where I towed our 17" van (around 2T loaded) for the 1st time with the Nav..... I was pretty disappointed with its "take-off" ability on any sort of incline. Now, I have a Ditronic Chip & Front mount Intercooler + the 2.75in exhaust and I still found it struggled to take off. I even stalled once. I found u had to give it quite a few revs b4 it even looked like taking off. Then there was a bit of clutch shutter as well which concerned me as to what damage I might be causing to the clutch.... I don't want to be replacing clutches on a regular basis.

I'm assuming that the 1st gear in the D22's is too high for towing heavy loads ?? This towing was also with the Standard size wheels (255/70/16) so I'd hate to experience what it would be like with a bigger tyre size that I was hoping to go with.... 265/75/16....

Once I was up and running it towed beautifully as long as u didn't let the revs drop too far. I averaged 15.9ltrs/100kms towing the van (there was a bit of beach driving but that wouldn't be too bad).

What other options is there that would help..... I can't really see any?

{PS: I've done the EGR /swirl mod as well but I was wondering if this may have added to my bad experience when towing)

 

[pbk1776]

Just bumping as I don't want to create a new thread with similar issue

However I have a d22 05 str 3ltr diesel

Last weekend towed my old race car to winton and it is a struggle. It was disappointing and frustrating. Car weighs up to 950kg plus some parts total weight roughly 1.2ton.

Massive struggle to hills/incline, which sometime I have to use second to get up and 3rd is gutless just dies straight away.

No engine mods yet - however saving for exhaust and chip soon - not sure if it ill give a such difference - however I wish someone from Sydney can show me how their truck perform towing with engine mod and with load.

Thanks

Raf

 

[DeanFoldi]

With the van apart from its weight u meet to think about the drag of the van as well that would make a massive difference and prob cause more issues then the weight itself.

Deanfoldi.

 

[04SilverSTR]

fit a exhaust will make heaps of difference, just fitted a 2.75 beau exhaust to mine and it pulls good now!

 

[hutchie07au]

I have the same issue towing my 1.5t boat. I have the same 2005 d22 3lt. It was totally gutless the first time I towed with it. I've been slowly changing a few things which has helped considerably but still not fantastic for towing.

Firstly I got a full 3' exhaust with high flow cat. Made a small difference.

Secondly I put in a manual boost controller. This also made small difference when towing also.

Thirdly I did the EGR blanking and swirl mod. This made a noticeable difference too.

Has eased my mind while towing a little yet still not great. Without the weight on the back it drives perfectly. Responsive and heaps of power.

My next step is a chip. Everyone I have spoken to reckon the chip makes the biggest noticeable difference while towing. I have just ordered a Chip Express chip from UK for roughly $600....

Once I have this installed ill post some on the changes if any. Otherwise I may just be looking for a new truck to do my towing.

Not sure if this has helped but just letting you know your not alone with the lack of power and frustration while towing.

Cheers Nathan

 

[pbk1776]

Hopefully someone from Sydney can show me their one with chip and exhaust to see how they pull

 

[180degrees]

Hopefully someone from Sydney can show me their one with chip and exhaust to see how they pull

like a 14 year old

they are not the best tow vehicle though, like my one the other day at the tip tipped the scales at just under 2.1T 1/4 tank of fuel and just an old mattress in the tub, only mod really is an alloy bullbar. So I imagine the OP's van plus other crap have the car tipping the scales at around 5T so considering it pulls that kind of weight is still pretty good just there are much better options out there.

 

[pbk1776]

well that rating of 3500kg in my tow bar is a piece of CRAP

 

[Bvandermaat]

Hell mine does not have a problem towing anything. Anything up to 1.5T is hardly noticeable.

Ok a list for the ZD30 guys to improve towing a bit. Then it is up to driving skill.

1: EGT Gauge!
2: EGR blank plate (stops exhaust gas going through your intake)
3: Free Flowing Exhaust from the turbo back. High flow cat as well. (the stock dump pipe is mighty restrictive)
4: Landcruiser 80 series airbox (allows the turbo to spool quicker and breathe better)
5: Manual boot controller (18psi seems to be the best place to set it according to various forum members)
6: Intercooler of some kind. Top mount is good if you want a winch but front mount can be larger. Bryce also had an awesome water to air cooler which worked great.
7: Chip.
8: High Flow turbo (I have a T25 off a TD42 Patrol that I had customized to push hard down low. The only problem is it runs out of puff at 3500rpm)

But that is just my opinion. If all that fails just stick a LS1 in it like Scotty did.

 

[Old.Tony]

well that rating of 3500kg in my tow bar is a piece of CRAP

It's actually standard for a 50mm towball and quite within the limits for what your vehicle is allowed to pull.

The figure is the limit of the sideways pull (weight) that you're allowed to place on the towball. Since our towing limit is 3000kg then the ball is well suited to the task. The design includes handling shock loads that may be in excess of 3500kg.

I've heard it recommended that we replace our towballs every two years. I'm guilty of not doing this - I've been using the same towball for 5 years now, and have put probably 60,000km with 1.8T behind it across all sorts of terrain. I think I will be rectifying this soon!

 

[180degrees]

Old tony if the towball (being made of steel) is not exceeding its yield stress then you shouldn't have a problem, which I assume its designed not to do when you tow within the limits of the vehicle.

 

[robmacca]

It's on take off and more so inclines that are the issue and I still believe it comes down to gearing. Mines fine once u are moving. It's the 1st gear ratio all the modern 4wd's these days thats the issue imo..... It's all well and good having these high load rating tow vehicles, but it doesn't mean much if u always have to drop it into LR to get moving on inclines....Having a lower 1st gear would go a long way to solve the problem .... imo

Having or doing all what u said all goes to help, thats for sure, but I have a lot of what u suggested and I still have issues when trying to take off on incline when towing the van which is around 1.8T>1.9T in weight.

A lower 1st gear to help me get the car moving and then theres no problems....

Hell mine does not have a problem towing anything. Anything up to 1.5T is hardly noticeable.

Ok a list for the ZD30 guys to improve towing a bit. Then it is up to driving skill.

1: EGT Gauge!
2: EGR blank plate (stops exhaust gas going through your intake)
3: Free Flowing Exhaust from the turbo back. High flow cat as well. (the stock dump pipe is mighty restrictive)
4: Landcruiser 80 series airbox (allows the turbo to spool quicker and breathe better)
5: Manual boot controller (18psi seems to be the best place to set it according to various forum members)
6: Intercooler of some kind. Top mount is good if you want a winch but front mount can be larger. Bryce also had an awesome water to air cooler which worked great.
7: Chip.
8: High Flow turbo (I have a T25 off a TD42 Patrol that I had customized to push hard down low. The only problem is it runs out of puff at 3500rpm)

But that is just my opinion. If all that fails just stick a LS1 in it like Scotty did.