A friend of mine has a 1996 80 series Landcruiser which has been seriously modified. It has a 6.5lt. V8 Chevrolet Diesel engine and the chassis has been lengthened 300mm and has been converted to a dual cab ute. He has all the engineers certificates for these modifications.

His problem is that the original Cruiser was rated to tow 2.5t (I think that's correct) but he is about to purchase a new Spinifex caravan which will have a tare weight near 3t.

Can he get the towing rate rerated?

Replies appreciated.

Regards Chris

Chris,
My understanding is the the 97 and 98 landcruisers have the same towing specs as the 100 Series from memory they can tow up to 3500Kg. The 96 model could well have the save specs as the 97/98 series. On behalf of a friend I organised the paperwork from and Engineer in Vic ( who has done the upgrade) so he could pass the paperwork onto and Engineer in SA to have his LC upgraded ie its only a paperwork submission. Friend did not go ahead with the upgrade.

To me its definitely doable from a Standard 96, 80 Series, I do not know what impact the other vehicle changes would have on the upgrade.

I would join the Lcool Forum and access the history.

Note my comment above needs to be checked out with a certified engineer and I have found that not all certified engineers are specialists in Vehicle and/or caravan upgrades.

To me, It could also be easier to do the upgrade in the Vehicle manufacturing states ( for now) than say NSW and Qld.

Peter

Hi shenton1,
There is nothing money can't fix as they say.
My concerns would be the amount of that money required to swap it for a re-engineered ticket. May be a dual rear wheel set up would get him over the line, I don't know.

I have had friends with the same story and the news was always that the expense was not justified. Considering that the body has already been worked on in lengthening etc, it may make that particular truck in the too hard basket.
My first thoughts are, would not the original engineer be the one to approach first? Maybe that might not be possible.
I reckon lengthening the tray on even a 100 series would detract from that vehicles download weight. Of course I really don't know that though.
I also know of some Eighty series that do pull above their weight and since new, they have never been checked by weights and measure to see what their status is. Neither have I for that matter, in all the years I have dragged vans around.
Chickens will come to roost for them if they ever have a bad accident though.... so, not recommended.
Not much help to you I am afraid.

Peter.
I have sent you a PM.

Regards Chris

Even if he succeeds in getting the tow capacity uprated he'll still be limited by the towbar capacity.
OJ

Thanks for your input John.
It will be interesting how this pans out.
I will pass your comments to the person in question.

Regards Chris

I think someone's got their sums wrong - you're stating a Spinifex around 3 tonne Tare, so it will have tandem axles, which are generally quoted as 400kg payload.

So, in reality your mate is trying to tow around 3 and half tonnes with a tug rated for 2 and a half tonnes - it just doesn't stack up. You can't just uprate an old landy from 2.5 to 3.5 tonnes just like that.

It needs a serious rethink !