Towing with 2.8 super custom

Has any one towed a caravan with a 2.8L flat diesel super custom?
I am thinking about trying with mine as the novelty of sleeping in the van and having to move things around all the time on holiday is wearing off! - but i do still want the advantage of the van for days out when I've dumped the caravan!
Will it have the guts needed when a small caravan is attached to its bum?

(Found a new tow bar on ebay for about £80)

I can only answer for the 3.lt but mine tows a twin axle bailey with 6 up (and loads of dogs).

I would think a small caravan would be no trouble.

Cheers for that - i think I'll give it a go then.

Hi all

This is the exact same question I was about to ask! In fact the first post fits my question perfectly.

Anyone got anymore experience of towing with a 2.8? Mine is a long high camper and is far from the fastest vehicle on the road. It slows down a bit on big hills but I more or less keep up with the traffic and it is rare I am at the front of the queue.

What about getting a tow bar? Do they just bolt on if you get the right part?

Many thanks in anticipation.

The 2.8 peaks at 2400rpm (188Nm) torque wise....specs below for comparison (2.8 spec taken from 1992 link)
http://english.auto.vl.ru/catalog/toyota/hiace/
I've never towed but regarding slowing on hills...a flat out blast along an m-way seems to be very good for curing that. In deisel circles I think its refered to as an Italian tune up

Re: Towbar (1 word) ... using the 'search' facility on site brings a few hits...

Hi - ive been towing a caravan with my 2.8 super custom for a few years now and it tows just fine - like you say its not the fastest thing on the road but it seems happy at the 50/60MPH top speed allowed for towing and the only time its ever been a bit embarasingly slow was in wales going up the side of a mountain! - it got down as slow as 12MPH but it didnt overheat or even show any signs of breaking a sweat.

It seems nice and stable too (i definatelly recommend an anti snake bar of some description) actually it seems more stable in high winds with the caravan than without (think it must be the combined weight).

One thing i would recommend if yours is an auto, is changing the auto transmission oil every year - it does seem to make it degrade faster towing (also a good idea to take the pan off the bottom of the gearbox instead of just using the drain plug as if its the same as my transmission it will leave almost a litre in the bottom of the pan which gets a bit sludgy!)

Also its definately worth checking the mounting points on your chassis before you order your towbar as there seem to be 2 destinct different designs of towbar to fit 2 different chassis designs on these.

wiring up the electrics was relativelly easy too - just had to drill a couple of holes to get the wires in and there was plenty of room to wire up behind the lights.

Basically its really easy to tow with and it seems happy to do it but its definatelly worth giving it a really good service with all the filters changed (especially the diesel filter) every year before the towing starts.

Hope this helps

yes, that definitly helps. lots of good advice there. I get the van serviced every year. And in reply to the previous post, perhaps I have been driving a little too gently in an attempt to save fuel. Been giving it a bit of beans and its fine.

been quoted £200+ to get a towbatr fitted, but they are going for less than 100 on ebay. not sure if I will end up with the right one though!

From memory the two different types of chassis are easy to spot - if you look at the drivers side rear of the chassis where the towing eye is and look at the bolt positions and then go to the other side of the chassis, one type will have the same bolt holes as the towing eye mirrored on the passenger side, and the other type will just have a sort of tab with a large hole in it attached to the bottom of the chassis and no bolt holes above.

(this is assuming that the long wheelbase is the same as the short)

if you've got the one with the mirrored bolt hole pattern it should be a doddle to fit - just take off the towing eye and bolt it on

If youve got the one without the bolts (like i have) then its still not too hard - it still just bolts on in place of the towing eye on the drivers side and then a bracket clamps around the tab on the bottom of the chassis on the passenger side and you just have to drill one hole in the bottom of the chassis and up through the floor to fit one more bolt and your done

Got mine from Witter tow bars.

So if you're any good with the spanners and drill, its not worth paying a garage to do it (you will also need a torque wrench to get the bolts done up correctly - you can get a cheap one for about £20 from screwfix and loads of othe places)

Hope this helps