Hi from new member Tim R (Q-Perkins suitability for towing?)

Hello Everyone,
My wife & I have been lucky enough to do extensive outback travel over the last 20 years mainly in Toyota's with tents, swags & a camper trailer.
Our current vehicle is a computer managed machine with electrics & sensors on nearly every part! We are currently looking at the Oka as a back to basics, repairable, non-computer managed, offroad capable touring vehicle.
On our last crossing of the Simpson Desert we came across 3 instances where the vehicles were stranded due to electrics.
We currently tow a small off-road caravan (13'6") which we would like to continue where the track conditions permit, but where destinations are unsuitable for our van, we will park the van and travel in the Oka only.
We would appreciate any feedback from owners who tow with the standard Perkins 110MT.
Because we prefer to travel on the back roads where possible, we do not need to travel at a constant speed of 100km/h with the van.
I've read some of the posts about the Perkins lack of power (vehicle re-powers) but our priority is reliability & serviceability.
Initially we would rather not go down the re-power option.
Once again, hello and we look forward to your comments & experiences.
Regards, Tim & Melissa

Welcome aboard.

Depending on the weight of the van, the standard Perkins would probably do OK. Also given that you dont want to go fast helps.

The Perkins is a great little engine, it just doesnt like hills etc in the OKA.

They are very old school with one wire that determines if it runs or doesnt. So couldnt get simpler for a outback tourer. They are not to bad on fuel and parts are easy enough to get.

Thanks, appreciate your comments. The van weighs up to 2 tonnes when fully stocked!

I think the OKA would be OK.

Others will be able tell how they go towing. I must admit never towing anything with a OKA.

Tourist Buses full with 12 or 13 people and big trailers got around for years.

Also depends on what you pack into the OKA as well I guess.

Tim, ours is repowered now but it's mostly just for the heck of it; we have spent more than a decade towing either two tonnes of boat or two tonnes of camper trailer with the standard 110 all over the place, and if you're happy with towing that weight at mostly 80km/h (70-90) you'd be happy with the Perkins. It will tow faster, but realistically, it doesn't like hills or headwinds. It's an immensely reliable motor and has heaps of torque. If you're so inclined, you can squeeze more power out of them. I was always happy with travelling a little slower than most traffic, as everybody else had the stress of overtaking, not us.

Hi Tim.

Welcome aboard.

I have a fuel trailer, 2000lt, which is a pig of a thing behind a landcruiser but tows like it was meant to be there behind the OKA. I'm only doing 60kph, but that's more to do with not wrecking the trailer than anything else. Just ticks along in 5th comfortably.


Mine isn't the original 110, rather the 135Ti intercooled version of the same motor.

Where the OKA goes the trailer goes.
The Perkins has done the job for more than a decade.
At around 7 tonnes, what doesn't slow up on hills ??



Even crossing the Simpson, with a little help.

Hi Tim
266 rarely goes anywhere without towing. The van in the pic weighs 2.2 tonne loaded for travel and puts 170kg on the tow hitch. We can cruise at 80~85 all day. On highways, large trucks will always overtake us on the flats and the foot of hills, but on long hills we generally catch them and overtake about half way up.





Only three problems towing with an Oka as far as I can see:
-The brick aerodynamics mean headwinds are a real PITA
- In hot weather their performance suffers a fair bit, but in cooler weather we have all the power we need
- Reverse gear is a bit too tall for good control, we generally use low range

Towing with an Oka is fairly relaxed and stress free and you get a chance to look at the scenery. Avoid looking in the rear vision though if a conga line of traffic behind bothers you.

Would a auto gearbox improve the situation.

When i was farming and mine was a bus configuration (4.4T) i used to tow around a hay trailer that was roughly 3.5T so about 8T all up and it still made 100km/hr it was just slower getting there but uses the same fuel to get the same distance. The brakes didn't work on the trailer either and the oka brakes pulled the whole lot up pretty well! I've done the airbox upgrade which for me has been a big improvement (the standard airbox restricts flow). I will be doing an engine upgrade at some stage but the old perk goes alright and really good on fuel! I get about 12L/100km with the standard 8.25x16" tyres (same while towing) and about 15-16L/100km with my big knobby 325/75R16's.
Cheers, Alister

Hi Tim, do you need more conformation on the all the above posts?
I tow this trailer 80% of the time, on road and off road; it weighs loaded anywhere from 1500-1800 kg, and the aerodynamic coefficient is even worse than that of the OKA, very close to 1.0







I agree with all the previous comments, although I can't get easily 100 Km/hr. Comfortable speed for me is 80-85Km/hr, and even then I can't get 12 litres per 100 km, mine is more like 17 litres, and uphill changing down a gear or two is a matter of course.

Hi Hank,
thanks for the information, its good to get first hand experiences. Its sounds like the perkins will do what we want,and changing up and down gears is fine.

Welcome to the site Tim,we have an XT with only 2 engine mods. An Optiair 1100 air box and air to air intercooler then tuned on a dyno.Well worth doing performance wise but have just done them so do not know of any fuel savings yet. We are set up to go prospecting for extended periods and to do that we tow a 17ft trakmaster off road van,fully optioned so it weighs around 3 ton ready to go bush.We have also not towed the van since doing the mods but know it will be better. It was ok before,just slow getting going.I also agree with everyone,you just have to accept the reduction in overall performance and enjoy the overall versatility of the vehicle as a whole. I am sure you will. Regards Chris.

Hi Tim, Our Oka #80 tows our 18' Elros Offroad Caravan without any worries. Here is a picture of it crossing the Nullarbor Plain :- www.caravanparkphotos.com.au/elross/ Cheers Richard

Thanks Richard & Beverley, appreciate your comments. Cheers, Tim

Thanks Chris, we also have a Trakmaster so it is encouraging to hear your feedback!
Cheers, Tim