Best vehicle for towing boat/camper?

[CSI-WALLEYE]

Hi all,

I am looking for a vehicle to go fishing/camping. I have a 14ft boat and a 12 ft Boler. max weight is less the 1500 lbs. I am looking for something that can handle that weight and is very dependable and tough. I have been looking at the Delica, Pejero and the hilux. I would also like advice on the best way to get one of these vehicles to Edmonton. Is going through a comany like Tera2 importers the way to go, or is getting together with other posters and doing the shipping yourself better? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[solanoid]

CSI,

Welcome, I am pretty new to the delica world, but in my opinion, the BEST option is to find a delica that has already been registered in Alberta, I just had my oop done and it sux! second to that, its much easier to have an impoter bring in a quality vehicle and take care of all the B.S. for you, as opposed to doing the leg work yourself (saving a couple of G's)
Take the time to scope this site, there is MUCH info that will help you (i.e. dealer feedback) The guys on this forum are AWESOME and they genuinely care about one another, always willing to help.
But you are on the right track, DELICAS RULE!

As far as towing...1500 lbs is not much weight, I dont know what delicas are rated for but Im sure that you wont have any problems, even with a smaller L300.

Best of luck brah! I live in Edmonton as well, if you want more info on my delica experience you may PM me,

Aaron

[mararmeisto]

After having driven and towed with both, you could tow your trailers with an L300 and shouldn't have too much of an issue (hills is the biggest problem here in BC), but don't expect to flying down the highway at 120 km/h and maintaining speed up a hill. Better response will be realised from an L400 or a second-generation Pajero, with the 2800cc engine in it. It's not massive, but it does tow better.

That's been my experience. Even with the larger engine, I still want to keep the tow weight to little more than 1 tonne, though.

[sasquatch-hunter]

Towing a Boler with a L300 isn't a problem. But you have to pay attention to the engine and transmission temp during the summer months. I guess the 2800cc would be better for towing (in a hurry).

[Firesong]

I've towed a 14ft lund and some small trailers.
If you go with a L300 you will be disappointed.
L400 or the newer Pajero with 2.8td is the only option.
A wind hitting the sail of a boat will make you clench
your teeth!

FS

[mararmeisto]

...ut you have to pay attention to the engine and transmission temp during the summer months...

Regardless of which motor you choose, you should install a pyrometer to keep an eye on your exhaust temps. You can adjust it much more quickly (by easing off the accelerator) and thereby keep from overheating your engine. Usually, by the time you see the water temp gauge rising, it's already too late (due to the residual heat in the block), and it takes longer to cool down once it starts going hot. Some call it driving by the pyrometer, and it is helpful (especially if it saves you from having to change a turbo). It'll also increase your fuel economy, because for a diesel, excessive exhaust temps means unburnt fuel.

Also, I'd flip the axle upside down on your Boler, otherwise you're going to require a step-up adapter for the the tow bar - it'll be too low otherwise, especially if you're going off on some back roads.

[delicioso!]

i'll add my 2 cents, before you've hopefully decided on a hilux...stay away from them, 2.4lts are know for blowin heads, even the 3lte's on teh newer hiluxes...

but good to hear that the l300's and l400's are a okay.
cheers.

is drivin with a pyro thesame across the board? what temps are you guys lookin out for in your delicas before backin off?

[psilosin]

i'll add my 2 cents, before you've hopefully decided on a hilux...stay away from them, 2.4lts are know for blowin heads, even the 3lte's on teh newer hiluxes...

...there is no such thing as a 3LT(E). The new 3.0litre turbo in the '95+ Hilux Surfs/Prados/Hiace is the 1KZTE. It replaced the 2.4L 2LT(E) which has a bad rep in Canada.

The Hilux trucks available to us still have the non-turbo 3L engine which is 2.8Litres.

I've had 2 Surfs (one 2LT, other 2LTE) mostly concurrent, not as replacement for each other, since 2004 with 0 problems. Great SUVs if you treat them like you are driving a VW Van (ie not like a race car) but I would not want to tow much weight from a vehicle with a 2L, 3L, 2LT or 2LTE at Canadian highway speeds. They do not have a lot of power to spare. Never driven a 1KZTE equipped vehicle...they are said to have lots of zip.

I am interested in seeing what a L400 is like for towing a boat.

[delicioso!]

thanks for the correction. 3l. eitherway, i've read enough to stay away from them...even the 3lt heads used on the 2.4s have also blown...so i've heard, (and same on prado's). i had a 91 hilux/jdm and it was gutless, but fun to drive! curious to see how the newer hilux/1kzte are doing, i'm hearing some heads in those have gone too, i would love a crewcab pickup with the better motor one day! 3L non turbo pickup, is prolly the safest one?
cheers.

[psilosin]

thanks for the correction. 3l. eitherway, i've read enough to stay away from them...even the 3lt heads used on the 2.4s have also blown...so i've heard, (and same on prado's). i had a 91 hilux/jdm and it was gutless, but fun to drive! curious to see how the newer hilux/1kzte are doing, i'm hearing some heads in those have gone too, i would love a crewcab pickup with the better motor one day! 3L non turbo pickup, is prolly the safest one?
cheers.

Sorry if I sound(ed) like a turd burglar for correcting you but I am admitingly a big fan of the Hilux Surf so if I get a chance to ramble on about them I usually do.

Like this:

The 3L heads will definately also crack when used to repair a 2LTE because 99% of the time no one actually repairs the fault in the cooling system that caused the crack in the first place. The head cracking is a manifestation of a number of possible cooling system problems. The cooling system is pretty marginal so any flaws in its operation lead to trouble. Some as simple as the Surf's tendency to trap air pockets in the cooling system when changing coolant. Others like the silicone in the fan clutch being dried up after 15 years so your engine fan never works properly. Etc etc.

The Surf/Prado is definately far from perfect but I think a large part of its bad rep here in Canada is bad luck. The L series engines are used around the world in some nasty climates liek Norway and in Africa and are very reliable. IMO it was a stroke of luck that the Delica didn't really start to get popular until headlight issues with the Townace vans virtually eliminated them from importing and the RHD craze was also dying down. There would probably be many more stories of problems with Delicas in Canada if Delicas were a bigger portion of the initial import boom in 2003-2005 when many fly by night importers imported the cheapest crap to flip for profit and performed essentially zero maintanance before selling to people driving them over the coquihalla. The high quality Delica dealers that import high quality vehicles and perform a huge list of preventitive maintanance and the ton of pro-active information available to people through the Delica.ca website probably has contributed a lot to do with the excellent reputation the Delica has garnered here. Well that and that they are cool as %$#@

[delicioso!]

haha, no worries, hope i didnt offend. i hear ya man, i loved my hilux, but got scared off enough with all the bad rep stuff i heard. i hope yours keeps on goin and runnin cool. yeah, i've read all the same stuff you mentioned from mud, thanks for the further clarification, dang steam pockets!. yes and i remember when the town/lite aces were comin out of jdmparts/mustang connection...till the headlight thing became an issue...no delicas yet at the time, lol. so thanks toyota! actually, that's when i first started seeing delicas for sale too and i've always wanted one! well, looks like we've both been convinced to go the mitsubishi way, lol. hope you're rig from Mardy comes healthy and ready for some mileage! cool as %*^*^ indeedy!
cheers.

[jessef]

I would think there's just as many cracked L300 (2.5L) and L400 (2.8L) heads as the Prado/Surf's.

For the same reasons above, you 'hear' of the surf's being so bad because they were the craze to import a few years before the L300 Delica's took off.

If the L300's were more popular than the Surf's and Prado's when they starting coming in, then you would have 'heard' the same thing. Stay away from 2.5L Mitsu engines because the heads will crack if pushed too hard.

Just from this forum alone, I counted 13 cracked L300 heads since August in the past 6 months. I would hate to hear the total in the past few years. This means that the 2.5L L300 head is prone to cracking. Why ?

Most in part due to improper maintenance : old cooling system and timing or someone replacing either cooling/timing and not fully well know what they are doing and mess it up.

To resolve this, make sure your cooling system is in top shape and your timing belts/pulleys/tensioner is as well. Don't take someone's word for it unless they are a trusted source.

And have a pyrometer (egt) gauge installed. This is the L300's lifesaver for our climate/environment.

[delicioso!]

hmm, interesting angle. i guess it's also perception. i think the fact that we drive these rigs far longer, faster, and through tougher terrain in canada that IT'S the driving style/environment that's being the real issue as well. typically heavy right footed drivers in n.america vs the more conservative drivers in japan with carefull/thorough maintenance done by what i would think are more reliable, knowledgeable, and honest mechanics in japan. having been to japan, there's nothing there like the coq or hwy 401! so essentially, the surf was made into the example of how not to treat/drive a small diesel jdm rig, i get it. dunno though, the bad rap the 2.4s got hasn't been touched by the terranos and mitsus, from what i perceive..or "heard"... but that's just my 2 cents worth of anecdotal jibber jabber, lol.

well, i hope the poster finds the right rig for towing!

wishing everyone's diesels are running smooth and healthy. :)

[delicioso!]

but speakin of delicas, pajeros and hiluxes, now that the l400's are here, have the newer strada pickups with what i would assume, the 2.8 turbo/intercooler motors been selling out west? my late uncle had a sweet early 2000's strada with i think a turbo/intercooled 3litre diesel that hauled ridiculous a55...i'm guessing this motor came right after the 2.8... anyway, another diesel pickup crewcab with a decent motor to add to the mix! while there, add the terano(?) crewcab pickup diesel too.