celsior/ls400 for towing?

bossman · Post by **bossman** » Sun Aug 18, 2013 10:03 pm

hi, I am thinking of buying a celsior for towing my track car. has any one on this forum got a celsior or ls400 and used it to tow a car trailer? i know there is enough power but I am curious if the air suspension will coupe?
cheers

Mr Ree · Post by **Mr Ree** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 11:00 am

What is the combined weight of your racecar and trailer?

Is it braked? Single or twin axle?

ryanfels · Post by **ryanfels** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 2:13 pm

I had a JZS147 crown that i used to tow my Mark 2 with. The air bags made it awesome to tow with as it would just pump itself up once it felt the ass sink down with the weight

holden_fan2005 · Post by **holden_fan2005** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 6:47 pm

I had a soarer (on lowering springs) and it was mint for towing. Used to tow my crx with a tandem brakes (overkill I know..) and you'd be overtaking trucks and other cars no worries. Would cruise really well!

You would want to put a BIG trans cooler on it though. I only had a little one and a fan and the pan oil temp would still get up to 130-150 through the desert road.

touge_ae101 · Post by **touge_ae101** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 7:05 pm

ls400's tow mint. heaps of grunt etc. although soft springs in the back just means they sag quite a bit but doesn't really effect the handling. would ideal if you had a good tandem trailer to take most of the weight of the car.
Can't complain with 1uz power for towing and the auto gearboxes are actually quite good for that kind of duty.

92mr2paddy · Post by **92mr2paddy** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 7:14 pm

my mate used one for a bit, had no problems,, apart from the gas bill, lol

solitaire · Post by **solitaire** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 8:16 pm

Never towed a car but towed a twin axle furniture trailer full of furniture and it didn't even miss a beat. Towed a car with it off trailer and it had bags of power in reserve.

Bling · Post by **Bling** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 8:26 pm

What are the rated for, out of interest? Would be surprised if it was for a car and trailer :wink:

Could be something to think about though, if it's above its capacity, insurance may walk away.

blindnz · Post by **blindnz** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 9:02 pm

2 ton braked apparently
http://www.ls400data.com/specification.html

gtpornstar · Post by **gtpornstar** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 1:13 am

most likely correct for 2k but your tow bar is probably limiting it more than the car itself. I doubt any tow bar made in nz i s capable of 2k braked loads for the ls400 but i could be wrong.
My hiace is 2k braked and i paid for the upgraded version.

wde_bdy · Post by **wde_bdy** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 8:53 pm

gtpornstar wrote:My hiace is 2k braked and i paid for the upgraded version.

Be interested to see the factory rating, because my research says factory is less than that and a towbar manufacturer doesn't upgrade the whole vehicle.

Callum

gtpornstar · Post by **gtpornstar** » Fri Sep 13, 2013 12:16 am

The rating of the tow bar is issued for the tow itself and not the vehicle.

blindnz · Post by **blindnz** » Fri Sep 13, 2013 7:53 am

I think that was his point. You can put a 2t rated tow bar on a starlet. The tow bar might be sweet doesn't mean the rest of the car is.

Bling · Post by **Bling** » Fri Sep 13, 2013 5:11 pm

Tow ball on my old corona was good for 3.5 ton, what a machine :lol:

Have seen cars get bracing so they can tow large boats before though. Commodore and something around the 6.5-7m range. Probably still not legit with the bracing mind you.

thegreatestben · Post by **thegreatestben** » Fri Sep 13, 2013 10:13 pm

I know when I was in Aussie, the rules were only the vehicle manufacturer could sign off an increase in tow capacity of a vehicle. Toyota's answer was always NO.

The_Lorax · Post by **The_Lorax** » Sun Oct 20, 2013 12:20 am

I'm looking at this as well. I need to tow a double axle car trailer with a 180sx on it.

I have a 1990 ford courier with a poxy 2 litre carby in it. The ute is rated to have a 1000kg load in the tray or 1000kg braked on the OEM tow bar. The ute is worth around $2500 at the moment.

Trying to figure out if I should sell the courier and buy a rough <$3000 soarer to tow with, or motor swap the courier to a vg30de or similar and cert it with a brake upgrade.

Either way will need a beefy tow bar installed. I have about $4-$5k for a tow vehicle (If I sell the courier) so a surf or xr6 ute is out of the question.

Jdawg · Post by **Jdawg** » Sun Oct 20, 2013 7:22 am

gtpornstar wrote:The rating of the tow bar is issued for the tow itself and not the vehicle.

No, the Towbar rating, the little plate on the towbar, includes the vehicle. Takes into account things like towbar mounting and vehicles brakes.
I have looked into this recently as I needed a vehicle rated to 2500kg.
The HiAce mentioned would likely have been 1200kg from factory. "Uprated" would have included stronger bar, mounting and if done from the factory, normally includes trans cooler, rear suspension and brakes to get the higher rating.
Hire places and cops look at rating tag, sounds like insurance do too when things go wrong.
http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/glove ... owing.html
http://www.aa.co.nz/cars/maintenance/to ... g-weights/

fj40cruzapete · Post by **fj40cruzapete** » Sun Oct 20, 2013 7:56 am

cant look past a v8 jeep cherokee mines rated to tow 3250kg

Jdawg · Post by **Jdawg** » Sun Oct 20, 2013 9:50 am

That's what I did get, a 1999 4.7. GC, nice comfy seats

Bling · Post by **Bling** » Sun Oct 20, 2013 10:57 am

I think i'd rock nearly any heavy 4WD over any typical car. Towing large weight with a car just doesn't sit right with me. Especially when you're talking about loads heavier than the car itself. They just aren't designed for that sort of usage. Insurance will just laugh if you ever got in trouble while towing. And fair enough too.

Work van is a 2.2L diesel and is rated to 2.8T braked, not too shabby

keen to try that out one day.

What about something like a pathfinder / terrano? They aren't all that expensive. Probably the same as the above mentioned 4WD's though, but with less towing capacity. Parents used to tow a 6.5m boat up all sorts of hills with there ~1999 Pathfinder (auto). It never seemed to care. Had a nissan towbar, but I can't recall the exact towing specs. 750kg unbraked, but unsure on braked, i'd say somewhere around the 2T mark.