Advise on pick ups for towing

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feet

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Hey I have an Iforwilliams 510 which I regularly carry two big 17hh horses together. Does anyone reccomend a goood pickup? If no one reccomends a pick up then what other 4x4 would you reccomend except a discovery?

Regards
Feet :)
 
We have a Nissan navara which OH tows and likes it although obviously turning circle is bigger as it's long wheel based.
However I doubt it would have the weight capacity you need- you will need a 3500 capacity I imagine although sure ROG will be along to correct shortly!
What about the defender, Mitsubishi shogun, or the Toyota hilux(again not sure about towing capacity)
 
I use a mitsubish L200 (I think!) and previously a disco. I know you said no discos but the pick up is horrible, it is so long it 'bounces', any normal 4 x 4 would be nicer, IMO. I tow a 511 but with only one horse in it. I doubt many pick ups would weigh enough for two - maybe an Isuzu would.
 
Pick ups are good in some respects (long wheel base so generally stable to tow with) but can give a poor ride (for you not the horse). We have two pick ups, they are needed for work (farm, do lots of towing of cattle on and off road every week) and I use the double cab one to tow my trailer as I can get all my tack on the back seats and haynets etc in the back. We have a hilux single cab and a L200 double cab. The hilux is a more powerful machine and therefore tows a bit better (although this is an unfair comparison as if you had the equivalent engine in both I would imagine they would be very similar). The turning circle is truly awful, particularly on the L200. The L200 is slightly higher and slightly better in mud. I've not been stuck anywhere in the L200 with the trailer on and we are in Wales with some wet and steep parking areas at some events!
 
I have a Hilux and would say it tows very well, it feels robust, well built and workmanlike, it feels like it will last a long time. There's plenty of space for carrying tack etc and the back seats are a good size (many double cab pick ups have very small back seats). The 2011 model tows 2800Kg so you would have to check the weight you'd be towing.

My son has a 2012 Ford Ranger with lots of fancy gadgets and although it also tows well and has 3495Kg towing capacity it doesn't feel as strongly built to me but is more like a car in terms of comfort whereas our Toyota feels more like the solid reliable workhorse.
 
With two horses you need to check the weight a pick-up can tow. I tow a double horsebox with one horse with either a L200 pick up or an ancient Discovery. The Discovery is MUCH nicer in every way, but then since it probably cost four times as much when new, it should. It is so old I don't travel more than about 25 miles when towing, so if it broke down I can hack back!

However, if all you can afford is the L200 pick up, then it is good. Plenty of power, a pick-up ride, but I have done many long journeys in it all over the country and survived. It is a bit of a "man's vehicle" in that I have to have a cushion to see over the bonnet and when reversing it is so long I fear for the crunch of me hitting something (so far only my son has done that!). Also I did once lose the back end going round a corner and my OH admitted to this too. It is a very long combination when hitched to the trailer.

If all I had was the pick up for towing I would be happy.
 
We had a Navara and unless the back was full it was a terrible ride. We had lots of issues with it (bought from new) and ended up selling it within a year.

I did love the reversing camera though!!
 
I have used an L200 in the past but now have a swb land cruiser which is about the same age as my L200 was and has the same towing capacity or there abouts but the land cruiser is superior in pretty much every way. I wouldnt choose to go back to a pick up now
 
EventingMum said:
I have a Hilux and would say it tows very well, it feels robust, well built and workmanlike, it feels like it will last a long time. There's plenty of space for carrying tack etc and the back seats are a good size (many double cab pick ups have very small back seats). The 2011 model tows 2800Kg so you would have to check the weight you'd be towing.

My son has a 2012 Ford Ranger with lots of fancy gadgets and although it also tows well and has 3495Kg towing capacity it doesn't feel as strongly built to me but is more like a car in terms of comfort whereas our Toyota feels more like the solid reliable workhorse.
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This, recently borrowed OH's dads Ranger to tow, not a huge fan of it because I like my pick ups more rugged but it absolutely peed all over my old l200 and the pathfinder for towing (dont rate the pathfinder at all). It is very car like (another reason I dont like it) but I was surprised how well it towed, couldn't tell there were two fatties in the trailer.
 
I tow my 500kg horse and a Batesons trailer with my Ford Ranger 2.5, I find it brilliant for towing, really good turning circle (which is a help when you have a long vehicle and trailer), a million times cheaper to buy than a Mitsubishi etc. the beauty of a pick up is that at the end of an event if you are really knackered, all you have to do is throw everything in the back and drive home!!
 
My OH tows my trailer with our nissan navara. Never had any problems & has so much power. It didn't even bat an eyelid when we had to reverse said trailer (with largish horse in) up a fairly steep hill in a soggy field! Very comfortable too & copes very well when we had a near miss on a dual carriageway, having to break hard. I believe we would have had an accident had we been in a lesser vehicle. Highly recomend :)
 
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