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[rayvic2012]

Hi all. Wife and I are not Navara owners....yet! We will be in the market for a Dualcab diesel with "tupperware top" which we will be using to tow a c'van of approx 16', single axle, and will need all the helpful suggestions as to which model, best fuel return, power/weight, towing setup, extras, etc.
Cheers, rayvic2012

 

[scooba_285]

welcome to the forum!

 

[nathand22]

Gday and welcome.
If you are looking at towing, you will want to get an auto.

 

[user 10312]

Welcome rayvic
There is some good deals around on 2011 plate trucks.
If your towing an auto is definatley the go. The torque multiplication effect you get with an auto kind of soaks up the doey feel just above idle.
The ST is good value but ST-X does have more grunt.

 

[Old.Tony]

Welcome to the forum, Ray.

Absolutely +1 on the auto, which means you're looking at a D40. The auto won't give you clutch grief and every D40 auto I've driven (my own, a Titanium, another demo model and an STX-550) has been wonderfully smooth.

I've got an 18' tandem axle ... wait, there's a pic here somewhere ...

That's the Ernest Giles Rd, in Central Australia.

Anyway, you can either get the Nissan tow pack or get it from ARB. Both will be rated for 3T, both should have 50mm hitch receiver in the back, so you can change out the towball for a weight distribution hitch, or a bow shackle recovery point.

Hauling a single-axle van - if it's full height - won't return much better fuel figures than we're getting (except your newer car uses about 1LPHK less than mine because of its extra power).

We get unloaded highway about 10.6LPHK. Unloaded city about 12-13LPHK depending on traffic. Loaded (not towing) city up to about 14LPHK. Towing on flat highways starts at about 15.5LPHK and goes up with inclines and traffic to 24LPHK but typically our average is 17LPHK towing.

We have added a Long Ranger auxiliary fuel tank, giving us a fuel load of 150L which on long hauls we supplement with 4 jerry cans giving us 230L of diesel. It's proven quite handy on long hauls!

 

[rayvic2012]

Hi all. Thanks for the welcome/info. I've taken on board the "auto" idea and to be honest my wife wouldn't want it any other way as she too will be driver. Thanks for the fuel info Tony; it will be helpful in estimating distance/fuel/costs when travelling. I have heard that there are some pretty good deals on offer for new units but budget will dictate that we will have to purchase a used vehicle. Wife is about to retire from the workforce (I've been out 4 years now) and we will have time to look around for a decent vehicle and upgraded c'van, hence the request for advice/help. We will be new to the "grey nomad" adventure but looking forward to it.
Cheers, rayvic2012.

 

[Old.Tony]

We've been looking at new caravans as well, and went to the Newcastle Caravan and Camping show this weekend just gone.

We were dead set on getting a Lotus Freelander (with modifications) because it ticked a LOT of boxes (oven, large fridge, separate toilet & shower, washing machine, queen size bed, large windows, door just in front of the tandem axles, 16" wheels etc).

At the show, we discovered something even better - the New Age "Big Red". This thing's cabinets are made from material half as thick as the Lotus (and yet could support my weight hanging off them), and there was no footwell to trip over. LED lighting everywhere, all the stuff that we'd want ... nice windows, blinds and all of the mods we were after for about $90K.