towing swb vs lwb

[1justin]

hi i brought a swb safari offroader and will be trailed around, so now im looking at buying a swb safari for towing and my weekend vehicle, i dont have kids so i dont need the space of the lwb and will be doing a lil offroading in it so would prefer the short

so the question is will a short wheel base be ok for towing the big lump around or a bit unstable compared to the long

and should i bother buying a non turbo one or wait for a turbo one to pop up

also is there anything wrong with getting an auto, as everyone seems to go for manual in the gq even tho most consider autos better offroad(in genearal), as if the gq auto is a bit of a bag?

let my know if ya selling a shorty with a nice wide car trasporter to !!!

cheers

[andy3542]

Iv towed Filthy4x4's Safari with my swb a bit now and i havnt had any issues (even when we had the trailer breaks fail and a 3.5hr drive), iv always had it loaded up with a weekends worth of gear. Just have to remember that youve got 3.5t behind you.

Mines manual so cant comment on the auto.

Id recommend getting a turbo one, na can get very gutless on the hills. Im saving at the moment to turbo mine.

Even though you dont need the seats a lwb would be handy for carrying gear/sleeping in if youre doing over night stuff. The swb seems to fill up very quickly.

[1justin]

ah cheers sounds like the short will be a go then, finding a turbo one will be the trouble now

[mudlva]

Imho all lwb vehicles tow better than shorties.
It just comes down to the wheel base of tractor unit verse trailer lenght

My2c anyway

[Suza]

Imho all lwb vehicles tow better than shorties.
It just comes down to the wheel base of tractor unit verse trailer lenght

My2c anyway

x2
LWB is less twitchy and you will feel less movement from what you are towing

[Jay]

Imho all lwb vehicles tow better than shorties.
It just comes down to the wheel base of tractor unit verse trailer lenght

My2c anyway

x2
LWB is less twitchy and you will feel less movement from what you are towing

x3 - Without opening a whole can of worms..... 80 series tow wagon... comfortable, capable offroad, factory turbo etc etc etc

Jay

[1justin]

cheers yea i get that long would be better just checking that short will do the job alright.

yea wouldnt mind a 80 alough they are a can of worms so will give the safari a go as should be a good dual use (towing and offroading)

theres a lwb manual turbo for sale in chch for 5k so that could be a go till i find a nice shorty

[skid]

What they all said ^^^^^^^^^^

Also with LWB you have a place to sleep on those overnight trips

[darinz]

I've done a lot of towing with both a SWB gq (auto with T3 turbo etc etc) and a LWB (auto factory turbo).
The LWB is twice the tow wagon.
And I'm biased about auto's as I think if you fit a good cooler and a shift kit then they are better than the manual.

[1justin]

cheers and what places should i check for rust when i go to look at it

[darinz]

Firewall
Radiator support panel either side of the radiator in the seal where the inner guard joins.
Gutter.
The seams in the floor near where the rear seat bolts in.
Around the sunroof if a factory one.

Well those are all the places I've found rust in various GQ's.

[mazdamike]

a swb saf on a trailer would be pushing the 2500kg tow rating would it not tow wagon might pull it alright but the insurance companys have been knowen to void a policy dute to overloading.

[1justin]

good point. havent had insurance for a few years anyway mite be time to get some. looks like ive got this factory as long wheels base sorted now be good to test it out

[1justin]

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =655726196

1992 Nissan Patrol 4WD 4.2L Turbo Diesel lwb

just picked up this truck seems pretty tidy, will take it in next week to get it checked out, got factory rear diff lock to but havent tested it yet, way faster then the non turbo one i drove last time lol

cheers for the advise guys

[3VILC]

I thought about that what I had my GQ, you eventually get to the point where its too hard to keep road legal and not so nice to drive if you want a full on wagon to beat around the bush, and as mentioned your pretty limited with towing that much weight, mine came in at around 2250kg, add a trailer to that and your getting pretty heavy. Definately wouldn't consider towing it with another shorty. I think the LWB has a 3500kg tow rating from memory so wouldn't be a problem there, and I suspect the one ton difference in tow rating is purely due to the stability of the LWB.
I ended up getting rid of the GQ and getting an old hilux for a bush wagon and a late model terrano to tow it (i know i know, a nissan towing a toyota amuses everyone ) And while the hilux is a lot lighter than a GQ its still a lot of weight to tow stabilty wise

[mazdamike]

you will find that the gq lwb is 2500kg, even the early 80seires is 2500kgs got told they didn't step up to 3500ks till the big brake 80s, lots of late model post 2006 have good tow rates.