Is the new GC a robust, outback towing vehicle?
 

We currently have a 100 series cruiser and a Bushtracker off road van and visit the more remote towns in Central Australia.. Birdsville, Innamincka, Oodnadatta, Mt.Dare, Dalhousie Springs and the list goes on. The roads are mostly corrugated and rough with some bull dust holes and as we always drive to the conditions, our cruiser and van have never had a breakage.

We've been reading with interest about the new GC and are really warming to it as a replacement for our current cruiser, but with a monocoque or uni body construction as against a full ladder frame chassis, we're concerned that the Jeep might not be strong enough in the tow bar mounting to take the corrugations towing a 3 tonne van. Also, we have not been able to see a Jeep yet as there is no dealer in our town....so, how strong are the suspension components when it comes to towing a van across the corrugations. We're interested in the Overland model with the Quadra Lift Air suspension, so changing it for an after market suspension in not an option.

We like the look of the Jeep and comparing the dimensions to our 100 series, it looks like a very similar length, width and weight, so that would be a plus for us.

We'd be interested to hear from any GC owners who have experience towing a heavy van in the outback.
Thanks for your thoughts
Cheers
Rick

I'll be very interested to see the replies that come in on this discussion. I have a WH not the current WK so I can't comment on how they perform. Our WH has seen a bit of off-road work but still has std suspensuin (shocks & springs) fitted. If we were/are to tackle a lot more of the places you mentioned on your list then a suspension upgrade would be an absolute must and in fact will be the next modification we do. I would be a bit cautious as it would seem you are about the performance of the quadra-lift suspension in the conditions you describe. Not sure what if any options would be available to you there. Anyhow happy hunting...

Regardless of what people say I would rather have a Cruiser if I was spending masses of time in the bush....you know parts will be easier to come by and mechanics will know their way around it, their are more Tojo dealers in regional Australia etc etc...

As for reliability - it's a Jeep... lol

Yeah, they do look nice, the high square front end, just love it.

I can't comment about the new WK's but I'm sure it could do the job. I have a WH now. Previously I had a WG and it performed well when I did a trip across Central Australia. I didn't tow anything but was fully laden on standard suspension.

In regards to the WK's, I'm not sure if the Quadralift is as good as the custom lift under those conditions.

Wonder if any WK owners went to any of those ares yet.

Don't be so sure. A lot of money was put into this grand to really turn around the brand and build quality was supposed to be a top priority

Hmmm..... Well, we had a problem with our cruiser when we lost all our power steering fluid at the Cooper Creek, about 10ks East of Windorah. We drove into town and pulled up next to the only phone box in town. Our Cruiser had 40,000k on it and was well within warranty and we had RACQ Ultra Care cover. The nearest Toyota dealer was in Thargomindah, 450k from us and we had to get the vehicle to them to get it repaired......see ya then, basically.. Then we tried the RACQ and the nearest agent was Quilpie, 250 k away and they had a flat bed, but we would be up for the difference between the allotted kilometers of towing and the actual distance...

As for parts, the publican in Windorah suggested the once a week mail plane could fly them in from Mt Isa for us... That would be the quickest way to get them. So our only breakdown with the Toyota was not really remote as in still on bitumen road, but it wasn't what you would call a Confidence building experience by any means.
As a humorous side to this, the only service station in Windorah was owned and operated by a lovely old guy by the name of Merv, who had had the business for many years..... He was willing to help me with the repairs, but he was and has been totally blind for many years...... Only in the bush.....
Cheers
Rick

Hi Rick,
I have just returned from a 21,500km trip around Oz from Brisbane to Darwin via Windorah and the Channel Country. We then crossed the Gibb River Road into WA and south via Karajini Nat Pk and down the coast to Albany, Esperance and the accross the Nullabore and back to Bris via Pt Lincoln, Adelaide, Broken Hill and Tamworth.
I have a 2007 WH Grand with the Mercedes diesel motor and towed a 21' Montana off-road van weighing at at almost 3t fully loaded. The car averaged 16.8l/100km for the whole trip without any trouble (other than a couple of services) and not as much as a flat tyre on the car or van.
The vehicle has now done 91500km and needs a few minor things done loke brake pads and shockers.
The 91500kms also includes trip to Cape York via the Old Telegraph Track.
I certainly wouldn't trade my Jeep for a Land Cruiser at 20-30K more expensive which is also an electronically controlled vehicle which can't be fixed anywhere other than a Toyota dealer.

Dave