Our Tow Vehicle - a LandCruiser

We have been asked a few times about our tow vehicle. It is a 2005 Toyota Land Cruiser 100 series with manual gears. We bought it second hand back in 2009 with relatively low kilometres from a mining company. It already had a bull bar. It also had a snorkel. We get an average of 430km to a tank while towing the van.

Now I really have to confess I have not the slightest bit car knowledge. (There's even a family lore about the time I reported to Rob about a friend of his buying a new car. Rob wanted to know more...Ummm it is white...ummm I think it is a sedan.... ummm... Boy did I get told off! Now I know to ask whoever to give me all the details a guy would want to know and I write it down so I don't forget!) I have since learnt a little more but not much... I now know the difference between most vehicle types such as 4WD, sedan, station wagon, ute, pantec truck etc... but some seem harder to define as the definitions blur somewhat! I can recognize a few car trademarks, and even a few cars now by sight because we had one of them once! That's why I love the VW Beetle - it is so distinctive. Yay Herbie forever! Oh what the heck I am hopeless and I acknowledge that... Now back to the car we have and yes, I have to run to Rob for most of these details!

Cooking on the back of the car

The seats are really comfortable which is important to me and it gets me from point A to point B without any hassles. I am not completely hopeless either around a car. I can change tyres, I can check and fill the oil. I know what the radiator is and how to fill it without cracking it. I do hate checking the tyre pressure with the little duvey lackey Rob has, but I can do it at the garage. But I love being a woman, on the 2 occasions I have had a flat tyre, some gentleman has come along at just the right time and changed the tyre for me! it life wonderful! :)

The back opened - I never promised it would be tidy for you!

Since the purchase Rob has added various bits and pieces including a turbo glide...(I have no idea what that is for but he is very happy with it! LOL). Rob installed rear vision cameras on both the van and the vehicle and an electric brake controller.

Rob built a cargo barrier and some custom boot storage to hold some of the tools, spare car parts, a few ropes and lots of 'stuff' that he feels he needs to carry. Normally the drawers have a stainless steel 'cover' which doubles as a bench top for cooking and food preparation etc.

The smaller drawer

The 2nd larger drawer

Above the boot storage we store our 110litre Waeco fridge, which can slide out for access right next to the plug to run it. Take note of the simple small fat screwdriver that acts as a brake for the slider! It does the job wondrously and is cheap and simple to operate!

Thankfully he also built me a permanent step so I can climb on it to see into the fridge. He has a spare battery installed under the bonnet and another spare battery in the boot.

My step near the tow ball

In the boot area we would normally also carry a One minute pop up tent, 2 self inflated air mattresses, sleeping bags. In the back seat area we carry the Camps 6 book and a small cooler bag with iced drink and fruit for nibbles on the road within handy reach of the passenger seat and a spare jacket for each of us if it cools down. 

The Nifty fold flat open fire BBQ cooker that Rob made

On the floor area on one side would be the Cast iron camp oven and the Nifty Barbeque. On the passenger side would be the 2 camp chairs for picnics. In the back seat area I like to keep a bag for the current in the car craft project and some incidentals such as toilet paper, wipes, a mini first aid kit and a fire extinguisher. We tend to remove a lot of these things when we are home.

The One minute pop up tent