Club 80-90 Forums

Hi guys, just wondering if any of you use your syncro's for towing ? and how you rate it ?
My bus needs to be a multifunction vehicle, and one thing I was hoping to use it for is towing a large heavy ifor williams trailer. Sometimes full of logs,sometimes a car or building materials.
Now my gearbox is knackered, so I'm in the process of taking it out and getting it upto Aiden. My VC is also shot me thinks, as after an hours drive i cannot even manoeuvre into a parking space
Add to that my fairly powerless Tdi, and shot rear brakes (shoe coming through the rusty backing plate !)......the list goes on and on.
I'm wondering if it is all worth it of if I should just cut my losses, break the van and save myself alot of time and effort fixing and restoring.
I just can't see that there is any one vehicle that fits all my wants, and a good tow vehicle (range rover or landcruiser) is gonna be a guzzler. So I'd then need an estate car on top for family use.
If I fix it will it stand upto towing with it, or will I break the gearbox again ?
Feeling a bit dejected and wishing I had a workshop.
Cheers
Rich

I quite fancy a landcruiser.

jed

I like landcruisers too, also have a soft spot for the old Nissan patrols.
Idont think the T25 has a very good towing ability, I'm sure it's not rated to tow another van on a trailer.
Don't break your syncro, that would be a shame. I'm always on the look out for another moneypit for my front drive....

I owned Jed,s doka, previous to him, and used to tow an Ifor williams 10x5, which was about 2tonne. Towed ok, but was very heavy on fuel, think you would need an mtdi/etdi conversion to make it viable, then the gearbox rebuild, I would sell it to Lloydy for an extortionate amount, and buy a Landcruiser

Hey! not made of money
Just trying to save a syncro from the chop.... I can just picture it on my drive, weld the windows up, jack it up high, 20vturbo lump....mmmm.......

Hi Joker, - Its already running ETdi, just not boosting properly. well early enough ? Kinda reaches maximum power in 1st up hill, change up to second it drops off boost and is gutless, and won't pick up revs to get back on boost. Not ideal.
I have towed with it a reasonable amount, and it performed remarkably well. Its just if I continue to do so will it break
It kinda feels like I'm pushing the limit of what these vans will do.

That Doka looks lovely from the pics, did you restore it or Jed?

Apparently the landcruiser you can tow what you like, and it makes no difference to MPG. But a 4l diesel aint ever going to be economical.

I think the gearbox is the point of no return. I will sunk in the moneypit beyond point of economic return.
As it is its worth nothing. With the gearbox done its worth something, though still not much on the Syncro scale.
Rusty panel van conversion being the bottom rung it seems.

Cheers
Rich

Hey! not made of money
Just trying to save a syncro from the chop.... I can just picture it on my drive, weld the windows up, jack it up high, 20vturbo lump....mmmm.......

That comes quite a few years after the sitting in a pile of rust, oil and other bits that have fallen off. The blood sweat and tears and remortgage of the house.....

Cheers
Rich

Was an import from northern Sweden, so really good body wise, just needed a bit of surgery on front near side, new brakes, oh then i blew up the engine! When you rebuild the gearbox you could you could do that with towing in mind, but bear in mind most pickups, Toyota, Nissan etc are 2.5 tdi.

Roving Rich wrote:

Hey! not made of money
Just trying to save a syncro from the chop.... I can just picture it on my drive, weld the windows up, jack it up high, 20vturbo lump....mmmm.......

That comes quite a few years after the sitting in a pile of rust, oil and other bits that have fallen off. The blood sweat and tears and remortgage of the house.....

Cheers
Rich

Too true stops me smoking though, although I think it would be cheaper..

T25's and Syncro's are generally rubbish at towing with a max towing weight of two tonnes which is sod all really when you consider a decent car transporter weighs around 600 kgs!

I've got an early Landcruiser, its a bit rusty but it would pull a house. Pre turbo so hates hills just like the T25 !! Does 20mpg all the time.

Les

I like towing with my syncro,
in fact that is my main driver for owning it, generally the stuff I tow can begin and end off the road and thats where it scores well.

It does dip the fuel economy dramatically depending on whats being towed and in what terrain.

My 3.5 tonne trailer shouldnt really be loaded up to the max.. at least when its on the road...
and theres a whole load of very new VOSA regs that I havent really got to the bottom of.

The scooby motor has a good torque spread over a big rpm range and the gearbox is freshly Aidend, the gear range is ok too.
I have a feeling that G and 1st are a bit close, I would kind of like 1st to be a touch higher, might not be possible though.

The main thing to think about with any big weight behind you is stopping it, not moving it, I think the syncro vc helps keep that on track.
Unless you get something with ABS or similar and that handles well, I dont know I havent compared really.

But you are right on the mark talking about choosing something that is useful for other things like domestic chores,
and here a syncro is going to be scoring well too.

I used to have a T4 syncro and am considering another, as it did everything I needed and I rarely do the extreme stuff.
Economy and reliability is what I look for now, and it could be that a gas conversion on the scooby T3 would win out over a T4 tdi

I am interested in what else is coming close to these two in performance, versatility and practicality, what else can we think of?

By the way, I cant really see a way round not having something else that does 50+ mpg
just for the odd 1000 mile trip with just one or two people in the vehicle,
which does happen if like me you live at the far end of the country.

And it helps out as the syncro has been in bits more often than together so far,
although we may be passed that stage now!

Thanks for that roller coaster - that is pretty much my requirements. So getting a trailer full of logs out of muddy woods, moving the odd car and general tat.
I thought it was quite capable at all of the above. So you think the gearbox is upto it ? How long have you been towing with it. The Scooby engine seems to have plenty guts, Tdi when running well seems to cope admirably.
We have a 50 mpg blat mobile, as you say, fine for one or two people, but we are a family of four and dog, pram, canoe....etc the Syncro is slow and noisy and not really the thing for a 3 hour motorway run to visit family. It is very versatile, but towing will be one of its functions if it is to earn its keep.
I fancy a nice motorway cruiser, Merc W124 estate as a family car, then the Syncro for towing, holidays play
We seem to be stuck at 3 vehicles to fulfil our needs. Currently have 4, so want rid of MGB and Vito dualiner.
Cheers
Rich

Roving Rich wrote:So you think the gearbox is upto it ? How long have you been towing with it.

Dont know, maybe ask Aidan or someone who has longer experience of it. I would like to know..

Roving Rich wrote: Merc W124 estate as a family car, then the Syncro for towing, holidays play

Now we are talking !!