Hello everyone, time has come now to upgrade my work car (TN) and seeing as i have had about 10 of them so far i thought i would splash out and get a TF and above. Now i want it to be a wagon for a whole lot of reasons but mainly coz then i can put my fridge back in the car for cold water on friday afternoons...

My problem is from reading all the posts about towing i know that it can tow the caravan i have but it would be close to the limit (we only have a small 15 footer and it weighs 1200k unladen so fully chocked would be under 1500k i reckon - i have towed it with my TN but lets just say it wasnt convenient! and downright scary (the decision to get a new car was made within about 2k's of a 400k drive!)) The problem is we will only tow abotu 4 - 5 times a year for, at most, 500k's so as i do about 800k's a week i want it to be comfy for the rest of the time.

What i would like to do for my own personal taste and a bit of fun is put 18's on it (Not to mention doof doof and various other techno bits!). Now my brother has a Verada wagon and i reckon 18's (or 19's is The Minister For Finance says yes) would fill out the guards a bit better but as i want to tow with it dumping it is not an option. What is the reality of towing with 18's with say 35 - 40 profile tyres on it. Or do i need to put the stock tyres back on it when i want to tow with it?

i've towed 2500kg on 18's for some great distance and quite often no worries, but they were not a 40 series tyre lol

i have towed 800kg on a 35series 18" tyre behind a 1.5L 4cyl a few times too no worries

but if you are worried about it and only tow a few times a year why not keep the stockys for just that

Hey there mate.

I have a KH wagon with a heavy duty bar on it. I tow quite a bit with it.
You will have no troubles at all towing 1500kg (with trailer brakes).

To be honest with you, i lowered mine just a bit with kings lows and it tows a lot better. Strange sounding i know, but it is firmer in the rear and gives you less of that wollowing feeling. I have never come accross any issues with it being lowered towing heavy loads. As i said, it tows much more stable now that it is lowered than before i lowered it. Its all about loading the trailer/boat right. You dont want too much weight on the back but then again, not to little either.
My rule of thumb has been, load it so there is enough weight on the car that you cant without a big struggle or 2 people pick it up off the tow ball.

A wagon is also the best choice for towing as it has the solid rear end suspension setup. Also, from experience, having a KE and a KJ AWD, the sedan gets a little loose in the rear because of the IRS setup. No fault of the car, but as everyone knows, solid rear ends tow much better than cars with IRS.

I tow a 1500 odd kg caravan with my car and also with my old mans new VZ acclaim wagon. Just comparing the two, the Verada feels much more stable, secure on the road than the commodore. Yes the Commy is rear wheel frive which is only really an advantage when starting off in the wet but as for feeling comftorlbe and safe, the Verada feels much better. The old man also seconds this.

It will feel much nicer than the TN does, will be a whole different car.
The only other thing i would do eventually would be to change the brake pads to something like an Bendix Ultimate. Magna/Verada stock pads struggle at the best of times especially when you start loading them up.

Thought i would give an update. We went the whole hog and ended up getting a KF Verada sedan. Not exactly what i wanted to do as the wife gets it but then again it keeps a happy household. We will see how it goes towing. I have heard that the Radas have a bit more "sloppier" suspension but hopefully it wont make that much difference. One thing is for sure is that it has the power to do it!

I towed a car carrier and a 98 Pulsar tonight (mates missus smashed a guardrail in the wet), and im on 19's.

Just on a regular 500Kg towbar.

Didnt miss a beat, just remember to allow extra space for braking.

i just towed a duel axle box 1300km, my car was at load majority of the time and it drank heaps on juice it was about 1000kg unloaded and i did it dumped on 18s heaps cumfy ride

i just towed a duel axle box 1300km, my car was at load majority of the time and it drank heaps on juice it was about 1000kg unloaded and i did it dumped on 18s heaps cumfy ride


So im assuming that from the last couple of posts that towing on 18's can be done just with a bit more care... The main place we go has got about 80k's of shocking dirt road to get to it so for that i might keep the old tyres but for the rest i think a visual upgrade is on the cards!

just make sure that the tyres you get have a greater load rating than the stock ones and it will be fine

the car is designed with the ability to tow a certain amount as long as you dont exceed that weight the tyres and rims will be fine even 18 or 19 inch as long as the are the correct load rating for the car . if your worried some brands make reinforced or extra load tyres