Towing Capacity

JohnnyDelica

New Member
Does anyone know what the towing capacity is for the 1991 Delica Exceed? I have a Coleman E1 pop up trailer that has a GVWR of 3,500 lbs. It has trailer brakes, but I'm thinking this might be too heavy? Maybe some of you out there are towing and can shed some light on your experiences and different weights you are pulling. Thanks!
 
The towing capacity for a 4WD is 3300lb braked, 1300lb unbraked. 130lb maximum hitch weight. (Source: NZ Automobile Association list)

towRating.png

(Note: Weight in kg. The L300 had a facelift in 1994, but the pre-facelift 4WD continued to be sold until 2000)

However- towing capacity calculation is an odd thing, and any one factor can cause the manufacturer to limit it: it might be chassis strength, vehicle weight, a weak gearbox, inadequate engine power, or extra wear and tear leading to an unacceptable number of warranty claims.

I'd say the L300's weak points are chassis strength (the chassis behind the rear axle isn't particularly strong, especially the crossmember/valence behind the bumper where most trailer hitches are attached, which explains the low hitch weight). If you're installing a trailer hitch make sure it ties into the chassis rails just ahead of the leaf spring shackle attachment points, not just the rear crossmember.
I tried to purchase an off-the-shelf hitch, but all the ones I found were a bit weak looking, or bolted to the towing/tie-down points, or only had a couple of attachment points. I ended up just building my own (Google Photos album here)

The L300's short wheelbase can be an issue if you're towing something long with the weight at the ends rather than over the trailer's axle- a long trailer can shove an L300 around if it's improperly loaded.

The L300 4WD certainly weighs enough to tow 3500lb safely, and the drivetrain is strong enough as long as you don't use overdrive (auto) or 5th gear (manual) while towing.

I have fitted air adjustable shock absorbers to mine, and they're brilliant for levelling the back end when the trailer is attached.

My caravan only weighs 2200lb, plus another 1100lb of gear, food, water, and beer in the Delica. The original, tired engine was a wee bit slow. It would do 60mph, but it was a bit hotter than I liked, and it wouldn't maintain 60 up hills. 55mph was better. The new Hyundai D4BF engine is fine- still no speed demon when towing, but it'll hold 60mph all day, albeit at 3500rpm in 4th. The caravan doesn't push the delica around at all.

I've towed trailers full of sand/gravel/dirt (about 4400lb) and while nothing immediately exploded, the weight was far more noticeable, shoving the van around quite a lot. 50mph was comfortable. I managed 60mph (eventually, and briefly) but the handling wasn't confidence inspiring.
 
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Grant, any chance of updating the link? Google+ has been discontinued...
Updated. Rant alert: When Google rename/discontinue/merge their products I wish they'd just redirect existing links, rather than breaking everything. Picasa to Drive to Google+ to Photos; every damned time.
 
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Updated. Rant alert: When Google rename/discontinue/merge their products I wish they'd just redirect existing links, rather than breaking everything. Picasa to Drive to Google+ to Photos; every damned time.
That's disgusting... I can't believe you left the ends open like that. And isn't it illegal to use a hitch without the proper certification tag in NZ.
I'll do you a favor and buy it for scrap.

;)
 
LOL! You have no idea how many times I changed my mind about capping the ends. On one hand enclosing the ends would make the section stiffer, on the other hand it might trap water/mud/encourage rust and the interior wouldn't be paintable. In the end I figured a) it's plenty stiff enough and b) it's too thick to rust out in my lifetime: so I went with what was easiest. I was perhaps a little sick of cutting, welding, and grinding by that stage.

Weirdly- and happily- in NZ you're allowed to make your own trailer hitch for towing things up to 5500lb*. Vehicles have an annual safety inspection, and as long as the inspector thinks your home made hitch looks good you're all set. My van came with a super shitty hitch repurposed from something else, pigeon-poo welds on all the brackets, bolted to the rear bumper bolts (those long 8mm bolts that stop the bumper falling off) with one bolt through the towing loop, and it passed inspection every time. I sure didn't trust it.

*If you tow anything heavier than 5500lb your trailer hitch has to be certified, but in practice no policeman has ever pulled over a vehicle and weighed the trailer.
 
The L300 4WD certainly weighs enough to tow 3500lb safely, and the drivetrain is strong enough as long as you don't use overdrive (auto) or 5th gear (manual) while towing.

When you say strong enough, are you talking power to get/keep the thing moving? Or will explode due to the extra stress?
 
The not-exploding thing. The drivetrain components (engine through to axles) fitted to the L300 are also used on vehicles that are heavier and intended to take much more abuse (Pajero/Montero, L200, some Fuso trucks), and the suspension is beefed up to cope with off road use.

Power to tow 3500lb? The diesel engine will do it, but it will be slow. Possibly astonishingly slow if you're climbing hills and trying not to overheat.
 
I plan to tow a small aluminum cargo trailer from time to time. It only weighs 250 lbs unloaded (max loaded weight 1000 lbs). So far, so good, I’m fairly sure my 1990 diesel L300 (automatic transmission) with its shiny new D4BF engine can handle it happily!

However… I have wondered if it might also be possible to tow (probably just once) a 2006 Acura RSX using a tow dolly and one of those nice Class III hitches from @Xplormor Offroad

Tow dollies that have the front two wheels off the ground seem to weigh between 550-750 lbs. The Acura weighs just under 2750 lbs unloaded. So that’s 3300-3500 lbs total. Proposed trip would be up the coast road (Hwy 101) just over 600 miles. That’s an easy road much of the way, but there are some hills still! And the Delica will have some things in it, not anything excessive, but tools, camper stuff, etc.

Is it possible? And perhaps more importantly, is it wise? I don’t want to put my van at risk! I did change out the radiator too (mostly as someone had put in a smaller one before I acquired the van, so now it has what it should have had originally, a new stock Hyundai one plus thermostat).
 
In my experience my Delica would tow my 15ft aluminum boat(1200lbs to 1500lbs or so loaded) pretty well, but towing a utility trailer with 2 riding mowers, that weighs less total made my van feel "tired" after a few trips in a day just from the wind resistance of the the expanded metal ramp.
I wouldn't tow more than my boat these days and use a proper tow vehicle for towing anything more; 1) a Delica os just underpower for pulling much more and 2) they definitely aren't set up for stopping and controlling a heavier load, especially in a sketchy or emergency situation.
An example from my past. My old 77 Wagoneer with a 360 and full time quadratrac literally got our old dump truck rolling on a few occasions and pulled it around the farm(even better in low range) but stopping it was a whole nother thing. Just cause it can make it roll doesn't mean it can stop it.
 
I should have added in my post that the tow dolly would have its own brakes! Electric or hydraulic, depending on the dolly. I’ve no experience towing, and I really appreciate hearing yours @Allular ! I kind of imagined it’s a bad idea to try to tow such a heavy load such a distance, even as a one-off event and with the new D4BF engine.
 
Are there things that can be done to increase towing capacity? We're looking at an 18' long trailer with a tongue weight of 407 lbs and a total dry weight of 2,919 lbs which doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room, especially once you start adding gear. Does having a gas engine with the higher RPM change the tow rating?

Assuming @Growlerbearnz's hitch mod above could solve the low tongue weight issue, could an increase in HP also increase towing capacity? I've got an engine-out rebuild in the works (4G64 gas version) so may have options to increase HP during the build.
 
The tow rating isn't really a hard limit, and there's no defined way to calculate it.

In your example above, I'd be most concerned about the tongue weight. 400lb is a lot to hang off the back of a short wheelbase, high riding vehicle. Even if you build the tow bar to transfer the load into the chassis safely, the dynamic effect of that much weight behind the axle could be exciting. I would want to make the leaf springs stiffer: load helper springs to take the weight, and air adjustable shocks to fine tune it.

More power is always a good idea for towing, particularly more torque. If you're doing long distance towing you'll want to upgrade the cooling, and be prepared for terrible fuel economy.
 
As always, thanks for the feedback Growler - certainly gives me some things to think about. I've been toying with the idea of adding a turbo to my build, and was going to look into adding oil and transmission coolers but I think my main concerns is what you mentioned - that heavy tongue weight. Delicas are already exciting enough to drive :D
 
I'll throw one more thing to keep this thread going.

In search of an L300 Delica, and I plan to tow my 'large' teardrop'; less than 2000lbs fully loaded. Its a TAG Nucamp XL Boondock for those interested. It has electric brakes, which I will wire up as I have on my last (2) tow pigs ('99 Isuzu VX, pictured below, and '12 Subaru Outback).

My query is... whats it like to tow? Obviously the Delica can tow, as many have shown here and in the Canada forum. I'm set on a manual diesel; I see above that @Growlerbearnz mentioned 3500rpm in 4th at 60mph, although I'm fine doing 55; I'm never in a rush, and the kids have 12 bathroom breaks an hour anyway.
How loud is it? Probably fine in the back, but will my passenger hate me?
Tire size; many people put 30" tires on, but I'm thinking to go back to stock (28"?) to save some rotational mass and power. Or is that a mistake with how low the gearing is already on a Delica?

Also on my list is radiator, EGT gauge, boost gauge, boost controller; what else? I tow every 6-8 weeks for weekend camping right now, and usually driving less than 300 miles at a time. So not every day, and usually not too far.

Thanks in advance! Loving the Delica community so far, and can't wait to start giving back more once I get my Deli!!!

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Honestly, I didn't have anything to add and totally lost interest in towing blah blah when I saw the Isuzu in your pic! Wow! I always kinda lusted over those. How you like it? (Sugar coat it! Don't ruin this for me!)
 
I don’t want to hijack my own question too much, but… the VX was great! And obviously I put it in there as an attention grabber, hahaha. PM me and I’ll tell you all about it; I always wanted one, and had that one for almost 15 years. My first love. My baby. Sold it 6 days ago. So obviously I’m into weird and unique Japanese vehicles; just need one with a few more seats and storage

So as long as an L300 Delica isn’t louder than a small suv on 33” MTs with a performance exhaust hauling down the highway in 3rd gear, then we should be good. Def won’t be worse gas mileage!!
 
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