Jump to content
SAU Community

Towing With The C34 Stagea - Our Experience

C34S2STAG

By C34S2STAG,
in Four Door Family & Wagoneers

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • 1 month later...
KiwiRS4T Grand Master

KiwiRS4T

Posted
Posted

There are guidelines but they don't mean much. The AA lists the 3.0L Maxima (of course it doesn't have a listing for the Stagea) as 500kg unbraked and 1200kg braked but there appears to be no enforcement. People pull huge boats and caravans with impunity. The tow bar on my Stagea has a plate saying 1200kg braked but I have towed a two axle car trailer with only over-run brakes carrying an 1800kg car so over 2 tonnes.

Duncan Grand Master

Duncan

Posted
Posted

yeah the rules vary from state to state (and country for Bob!) too.

In NSW you can tow to whatever the manufacturer specifies (it used to be based on car weight but that is kind of a silly rule).

Since all Stageas came in under SEVS or RAWS, the manufacturer is whoever complied it. So really the legal NSW limit should be whatever a compliance shop is willing to say it is (and they then take the liability if they over estimate).

Also keep in mind the tow bar needs to be engineered as well for a given load if you want to ensure it is legal

  • 3 weeks later...
MANWHORE Grand Master

MANWHORE

Posted
Posted (edited)

Here's my Stagea (a white one) towing my boat (the red one) at around 2 tonnes on a weekly basis and towing a mate's boat (the blue one) at around 1.5 tonnes once

My stagea has a once off custom lift kit fitted - car, towbar, liftkit, exhaust, brake upgrades, everything are all for sale in the for sale section (shameless plug). Liftkit keeps the car at about 400mm guard to hub centre loaded with people, 4wd recovery and towing gear, LPG system and 200kg of ball weight (totalling over 500kg extra weight in/on the car)!

post-10214-0-32679800-1390562280_thumb.jpg

post-10214-0-74644900-1390562624_thumb.jpg

Edited by MANWHORE
  • Like 1
  • 3 months later...
XRATED Veteran

XRATED

Posted
Posted (edited)

Just thought I'd chime in too...

I've been really impressed with the towing ability of my s2 auto lately. Boats, race cars etc...

Centre diff lock has been really useful at the boat ramp and on grass/mud.... even with low profile tyres and coilovers (reasonably low) and a race car/trailer.

We towed the drift car (rb25 s13) this weekend... with 8 wheels/tyres, 3 people, gear, spares, tools and 100lt of fuel 200km from Hobart to Simmonds Plains.... it was a very well built car trailer, but we sat on 110 most of the way no worries, maintained 90km/h + up hill, including overtaking uphill...

Stock rad/fan/shroud, upgraded trans cooling, MV shift kit, cooler kit, 10psi, nistune, coilpacks and r34 brakes. No cooling issues, no trans issues, no braking issues and enough power/torque to not be annoying.

.... the only thing that kind of sucks is the fuel consumption of BP98. But hey, what else will tow that much, that can fit that much stuff, handles that well and is as fun for under 20k?

Cheers

J.

Edited by XRATED
Dobo Contributor

Dobo

Posted
Posted

Sounds great Justin, also interested in your l/100ks. For comparison when i towed my s13 the 500km round trip to winton i got 17l/100ks. pulling 2tn trailer and car with the stag packed full of shit. Mine is way for stock than yours, stock boost, cooling and brakes, front mount, coilpacks, coilovers and that's about it, mine is manual though and i stayed in 4th the whole way, pushing 3.5-4k rpm trying to keep up with the v8 tow boats :P

  • 1 month later...
iruvyouskyrine Grand Master

iruvyouskyrine

Posted
Posted

Good read thanks for all that had input. This is making me want to get rid of my ute and get a stag!

Realistically i will only be towing once every 2 months at most so fuel consumption shouldn't be too much of a problem. Any before/after of how much better the stag towed when you put the RB30 in duncan? I have a spare 30 bottom end here i could slap in if it makes a significant difference I would keep the standard auto trans with another trans cooler and hopefully that would be more than enough to keep it cool.

Anybody else have any input, still umming and aaring as to whether or not i get one, would love to have a practical daily car!

KiwiRS4T Grand Master

KiwiRS4T

Posted
Posted

Good read thanks for all that had input. This is making me want to get rid of my ute and get a stag!

Realistically i will only be towing once every 2 months at most so fuel consumption shouldn't be too much of a problem. Any before/after of how much better the stag towed when you put the RB30 in duncan? I have a spare 30 bottom end here i could slap in if it makes a significant difference I would keep the standard auto trans with another trans cooler and hopefully that would be more than enough to keep it cool.

Anybody else have any input, still umming and aaring as to whether or not i get one, would love to have a practical daily car!

I use my wagon for towing and don't usually boost it that much as it has good low down torque with the RB30 block.
KiwiRS4T Grand Master

KiwiRS4T

Posted
Posted

I use my wagon for towing and don't usually boost it that much as it has good low down torque with the RB30 block...although to be honest there's no "slapping in" the 30 block with awd - there's a bit of work adapting the awd sump to fit!

Dobo Contributor

Dobo

Posted
Posted

Yeah going up the hills on the hume i was pushing a steady 5+psi just to keep up, didn't really show on the fuel economy though. Do it Josh. best daily I've ever owned. Only thing is i love my manual, but towing is the only time I'd wish i got an auto.

XRATED Veteran

XRATED

Posted
Posted

Honestly I thought I was going to end up converting mine to manual, but the MV upgrades are more than good enough to make the auto fun/fast on the daily grind.... plus is a real bonus towing.

iruvyouskyrine Grand Master

iruvyouskyrine

Posted
Posted

More info about the "MV upgrades" please justin? As someone who has only ever towed cars with a manual 4.2TD Landcruiser i am new to the whole automatic side of things haha. I thought a decently sized trans cooler would be sufficient?

zoomzoom Mentor

zoomzoom

Posted
Posted

There is a "stage 1" valve body upgrade which I understand is aimed at towing purposes. Stage 2 is performance oriented with fast shifts. It may also be useful for towing as when I installed mine, MV autos explained that it increased the flow of the cooling systems, which would be aided by a larger cooler.

  • Like 1

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • GTSBoy
      What brakes on R34 GTT(Europe)

      By GTSBoy · Posted

      I would just put EBC back on the "I would not use their stuff" pile and move on.
    • Duncan
      What brakes on R34 GTT(Europe)

      By Duncan · Posted

      Can I suggest you try EBC directly again and link them to as many competitor catalogues as you can to show their listing is incorrect, eg https://dba.com.au/product/front-4000-series-hd-brake-rotor-dba42304/ If you have access to an R33 GTST VIN and your VIN, you could also use a Nissan Parts lookup like Amayama to show them the part number is different between 33 GTST and 34 GTT which may get their attention
    • Kapr
      What brakes on R34 GTT(Europe)

      By Kapr · Posted

      So i got reply from EBC and they just this site where you can clearly see those 296mm fronts on R34 GTT. I send them photos and "quotes" that 296mm are not for 34 GTT and they are too small. But it will be very hard to return them cuz nobody here knows 100% and they just copy those EBC catalogue :-D https://ebcbrakesdirect.com/automotive/nissan/skyline-r34
    • 04-LOOX
      R34 GTR Vspec Garage Sale - All must go!

      By 04-LOOX · Posted

      Hi, is the HKS  Tower Bar still available ? negotiable ? 🤔
    • Duncan
      Duncan's V37.......race car?

      By Duncan · Posted

      From there, it is really just test and assemble. Plug the adapter cables from the unit into the back of the screen, then the other side to the car harness. Don't forget all the other plugs too! Run the cables behind the unit and screw it back into place (4 screws) and you should now have 3 cables to run from the top screen to the android unit. I ran them along the DS of the other AV units in the gap between their backets and the console, and used some corrugated tubing on the sharp edges of the bracket so the wires were safe. Plug the centre console and lower screen in temporarily and turn the car to ACC, the AV should fire up as normal. Hold the back button for 3 sec and Android should appear on the top screen. You need to set the input to Aux for audio (more on that later). I put the unit under the AC duct in the centre console, with the wifi antenna on top of the AC duct near the shifter, the bluetooth antenna on the AC duct under the centre console The GPS unit on top of the DS to AC duct; they all seem to work OK there are are out of the way. Neat cable routing is a pain. For the drive recorder I mounted it near the rear view mirror and run the cable in the headlining, across the a pillar and then down the inside of the a pillar seal to the DS lower dash. From there it goes across and to one USB input for the unit. The second USB input is attached to the ECUtec OBD dongle and the 3rd goes to the USB bulkhead connected I added in the centre console. This is how the centre console looks "tidied" up Note I didn't install the provided speaker, didn't use the 2.5mm IPod in line or the piggyback loom for the Ipod or change any DIP switches; they seem to only be required if you need to use the Ipod input rather than the AUX input. That's it, install done, I'll follow up with a separate post on how the unit works, but in summary it retains all factory functions and inputs (so I still use my phone to the car for calls), reverse still works like factory etc.
×
×
  • Create New...