Towing with Your Sandman

[rallyvan]

Have any forum members used their vans to tow heavy loads in the past? I would like to use my van to tow my brother's rally car (Datsun 1600) when it is complete and would like to get some feed back on how the vans performed with a load on.

[Valencia]

I have towed with my sandman many of times with my work in the building trade sometimes over a ton it towed great on the road with 308 turbo 400 no probs at all brakes could be better but

[RodneyHZ253]

I towed this,boat for years with my sandman and these old boats are heavier than they look .had no problem it was a little difficult on the boat ramps when I put a 3.08 diff ratio in for fuel economy
My van was a 253, 4 speed

[playwme]

I've towed another Sandman, on a really heavy duty trailer, down a pretty steep twisty mountain into the Araluen Valley.
Wouldn't want to do it every day but a 1600 on a light duty trailer should be a breeze.

[HK1837]

These are the rules for NSW as Sandmans are pre manufacturers providing towing data:

If the vehicle manufacturer has not specified the maximum towing mass, the maximum towing mass is:
One and a half times the unladen mass of the towing vehicle, provided that the trailer is fitted with brakes which are connected and in working order, or
The unladen mass of the towing vehicle if the trailer
does not require brakes.

So for say a HZ V8 Sandman van at 2000kg GVM, take off load of 500kg leaves 1500kg. Multiply by 1.5 = 2250kg max trailer weight (minus towball weight). Towball weight comes off the 500kg capacity of the van, so if you have 150kg of towball mass (uncoupled trailer weights 2250+150kg) then you can only have 350kg in the van. This 350kg inlcudes driver, passenger and any load in the back.

[adam perth]

i think the full chassis HQ - WB are one of the best vehicles to tow with as a far as medium large cars go.

biggest mistake people make is loading car on trailer backwards

[HK1837]

They are good. Cross8 leaves one for dead though!

[playwme]

In best Croc Dundee voice.

"that's not a tow vehicle......."
p1000360h.jpg

[agr071]

I towed my HJ Sandman back from Sydney with my HZ Pano. It had one of the servo car trailers, which are heavy anyway.
Hills and standing starts were a problem.
I had:
Tired 308 turbo 400
2.78 gearing and large profile tyres.
If i had to do it again, i'd put the 14" rims on it.

[Taily]

In best Croc Dundee voice.

"that's not a tow vehicle......."
p1000360h.jpg

From the one place?

Score!