Offroad-Express

paral wrote:
concering up-hill towing with my Isuzu MU (97nz)
The safety formula given on the Caravan club site is a tow weight of 85% of the towing vehicals curb weight, the MU is given as 1900kg so /85% = 1600kg the weight of my van fully laden was 1100kg,
on the straight it was fine I could get over 100kls ( which i did not exceed ) but climbing up over the Kimia Range to Tauranga we were down to average of 40kph is this ok? or should I be in 4wd? or should I start worrying, we have planned a trip up north next week that will keep us on the road for about 12 days, any tips?....paral

not sure on the expected performance on the MU, does sound a bit slow, but not having been over that route for a long time I'm not sure of the grade.

Being in 4wd won't advantage you, infact will disadvantage. The only gain 4wd will give you is if you are loosing traction (i.e. if it was a gravel track and you were getting wheel spin). On seal there would be no need for 4x4 and if you did it would mean the engine is having to drive more of the mechanics and hence give more resistance / less performance

Can the MU run in 2wd Low Ratio? (I'm sure someone will answer that) I used to use that to get up the crown range when towing in my Prado.

Which engine and which transmission ?

Thanks guys
engine is 4JG2 3.05ltr. auto trans:- 4 cyld.

I tow a 1.7 ton boat with our 2.5 litre skyline which has plenty of grunt all over the north island with no trouble except for that damm Tauranga pass. It is pretty steep and I can only do around 50 but could still go faster than the trucks which seem to do about 20km/h. I would not let it worry you unless the temp starts taking a hike Cheers - Alister

thanks Alister, I now feel re-assured, as we head away to the far north for ten days next week

Thats a pretty big hill that one, I used to drive it every weekend for a year in a mini when i was a teenager and saw plenty of interesting things. I would be happy towing that weight up there at 40km without a hitch. My surf would have overheated going up there by itself let alone towing anything and thats a 3.0 TD .

Mike

I would fit an Auto Trans Cooler and a BIG BORE exhaust.
Any Auto with a Tow Bar should have a trans cooler.
The 3.1 Isuzu is prone to cracking heads so a Big Bore will help get the heat away

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