New Owner - Yippeeee!

[davethemeterman]

:D

Well, after a disasterous year with an Avensis which I am really glad to see the back of, I now have a 2/3Door M Reg Rav4, first registered on 01.01.1995 and having only done 76,000 miles - it has brought back the joy of motoring again, in fact I now want to spend all my time out in my new toy - much to the disgust of 'er indoors. Oh well! There is however one thing I do miss and that is central locking - can my new old bus be modified to incorporate this?

The other thing is that I will have to get a towbar fitted so I can tow my little trailer and this has brought forth comments of now you have a Rav4 why not get a caravan and take me away for a holiday? Well fine, but all the comments I can find about towing a caravan seem to refer to a 4/5 Door model and not to my 2/3 Door one. So, would towing a caravan be a problem? Also, there seems to be the question of single or dual electrics. Having only ever had single before ( with my trailer) what is the benefit of dual please?

[Red Yaris 54]

You must be excited about it .......................you posted three times ;)

I have tidied them up

[bothwell_buyer]

:D

Well, after a disasterous year with an Avensis which I am really glad to see the back of, I now have a 2/3Door M Reg Rav4, first registered on 01.01.1995 and having only done 76,000 miles - it has brought back the joy of motoring again, in fact I now want to spend all my time out in my new toy - much to the disgust of 'er indoors. Oh well! There is however one thing I do miss and that is central locking - can my new old bus be modified to incorporate this?

The other thing is that I will have to get a towbar fitted so I can tow my little trailer and this has brought forth comments of now you have a Rav4 why not get a caravan and take me away for a holiday? Well fine, but all the comments I can find about towing a caravan seem to refer to a 4/5 Door model and not to my 2/3 Door one. So, would towing a caravan be a problem? Also, there seems to be the question of single or dual electrics. Having only ever had single before ( with my trailer) what is the benefit of dual please?

Well done - they are so good I bought another one!

Both have towbars. I have towed a 2 ton caravan with my turbo engine'd version - it was necessary but really too heavy. I have also towed a Jaguar XJS sitting on a car transporter for 500 miles with my 3 door RAV - apart from keeping to 40mph, it was fine...speed reduced due to the XJS having to be reversed onto trailer so the rear end was heavier than the nose of the trailer. The car should tow a caravan without any problem. the handbook should tell you the optimum weight but its usually about 85% of the car weight - you'll get away with a bit more.

The dual socket is for a 2nd socket to run the caravan fridge and accessories from the car whilst its travelling.

On central locking, it should have it, so someone has removed it.. there have been problems with the early alarm systems and people losing irreplaceable remote fobs...it might be that a mechanic removed too much of the wiring.

An auto-electrician should be able to rig up the central locking - you will be able to get most parts from a scrap car if need be; and fit a new alarm system.

[davethemeterman]

Thanks for all your very helpful advice

Cheers

Dave

:D

Well, after a disasterous year with an Avensis which I am really glad to see the back of, I now have a 2/3Door M Reg Rav4, first registered on 01.01.1995 and having only done 76,000 miles - it has brought back the joy of motoring again, in fact I now want to spend all my time out in my new toy - much to the disgust of 'er indoors. Oh well! There is however one thing I do miss and that is central locking - can my new old bus be modified to incorporate this?

The other thing is that I will have to get a towbar fitted so I can tow my little trailer and this has brought forth comments of now you have a Rav4 why not get a caravan and take me away for a holiday? Well fine, but all the comments I can find about towing a caravan seem to refer to a 4/5 Door model and not to my 2/3 Door one. So, would towing a caravan be a problem? Also, there seems to be the question of single or dual electrics. Having only ever had single before ( with my trailer) what is the benefit of dual please?

Well done - they are so good I bought another one!

Both have towbars. I have towed a 2 ton caravan with my turbo engine'd version - it was necessary but really too heavy. I have also towed a Jaguar XJS sitting on a car transporter for 500 miles with my 3 door RAV - apart from keeping to 40mph, it was fine...speed reduced due to the XJS having to be reversed onto trailer so the rear end was heavier than the nose of the trailer. The car should tow a caravan without any problem. the handbook should tell you the optimum weight but its usually about 85% of the car weight - you'll get away with a bit more.

The dual socket is for a 2nd socket to run the caravan fridge and accessories from the car whilst its travelling.

On central locking, it should have it, so someone has removed it.. there have been problems with the early alarm systems and people losing irreplaceable remote fobs...it might be that a mechanic removed too much of the wiring.

An auto-electrician should be able to rig up the central locking - you will be able to get most parts from a scrap car if need be; and fit a new alarm system.

[bothwell_buyer]

I have a copy of a Haynes manual which was sold in the USA to cover the 1996 - 2000 RAVs. It covers the 1994/5 BG models as well. If you need any info, there is either stuff been posted in this forum if you search or i can copy it on.

The alarm systems around 1994 seemed to vary.

My first RAV, bought new in Sept 1994 had an alarm system from a supplier who went bust the same year.

My second RAV, registered in August 1994 which i got this year has only 79,000 miles on it but a different alarm system on it.

The 1st has its original immobiliser alarm ripped out but the central locking works.

The 2nd car has an alarm which arms itself 30 seconds after disarming it!! This one is in the garage to get the engine switched to a turbo 3SGTE, so we'll sort the alarm as well.

On my 1st RAV, I've switched the wheels to MAK 18" and the road holding is excellent. previous to that, i fitted alloys which are now obsolete from an alloy wheel specialist - it gave the car a slightly wider track whilst still using the 215/70 16 standard tyre. Road holding again was excellent.

the 2nd car hasn't had a good thrashing. It has only done 79,000 miles and is in better condition than my 1st one which is almost on 170,000 miles. Once the turbo engine is in, and the thru exhaust, we'll see how it behaves before deciding on wheels.

The early petrol RAVs had the 3SFE engine fitted, shoving out 127bhp. Cos the 3 door is so light it gives it a good power to weight ratio and good performance. The gearbox is over-engineered to cope with 300bhp+. The clutch is strong and should see 50,000 miles. there are options to fit stronger clutches if you get to that.

The transmission train is also strong with the only possible weak spot being wear on the rear suspension bushes.

For caravan towing, you can use spring assisters (rubber inserts on the springs) to stiffen the rear suspension. A cheap and effective alternative to changing springs. there are also adjustable shockers available from 4x4 suppliers for front and back. despite what the T dealer may say, you can split the front strut to replace the shock absorber with a new adjustable type if you wish.....been there and done it.

Last thing is the rear rubber diff mount - it benefits from a silicon based stiffener.

I found when towing that the rear door would only open slightly before it was fouled by the trailer coupling. I just got used to it. Others here have posted stuff about removable tow balls and so on which you may care to read/search. I have a Toyota rear step fitted which is a bit worse for wear/rust so I know nothing about whether you can fix a stabiliser bar ....

[davethemeterman]

You must be excited about it .......................you posted three times ;)

I have tidied them up

Many Thanks!!!!

[davethemeterman]

I have a copy of a Haynes manual which was sold in the USA to cover the 1996 - 2000 RAVs. It covers the 1994/5 BG models as well. If you need any info, there is either stuff been posted in this forum if you search or i can copy it on.

The alarm systems around 1994 seemed to vary.

My first RAV, bought new in Sept 1994 had an alarm system from a supplier who went bust the same year.

My second RAV, registered in August 1994 which i got this year has only 79,000 miles on it but a different alarm system on it.

The 1st has its original immobiliser alarm ripped out but the central locking works.

The 2nd car has an alarm which arms itself 30 seconds after disarming it!! This one is in the garage to get the engine switched to a turbo 3SGTE, so we'll sort the alarm as well.

On my 1st RAV, I've switched the wheels to MAK 18" and the road holding is excellent. previous to that, i fitted alloys which are now obsolete from an alloy wheel specialist - it gave the car a slightly wider track whilst still using the 215/70 16 standard tyre. Road holding again was excellent.

the 2nd car hasn't had a good thrashing. It has only done 79,000 miles and is in better condition than my 1st one which is almost on 170,000 miles. Once the turbo engine is in, and the thru exhaust, we'll see how it behaves before deciding on wheels.

The early petrol RAVs had the 3SFE engine fitted, shoving out 127bhp. Cos the 3 door is so light it gives it a good power to weight ratio and good performance. The gearbox is over-engineered to cope with 300bhp+. The clutch is strong and should see 50,000 miles. there are options to fit stronger clutches if you get to that.

The transmission train is also strong with the only possible weak spot being wear on the rear suspension bushes.

For caravan towing, you can use spring assisters (rubber inserts on the springs) to stiffen the rear suspension. A cheap and effective alternative to changing springs. there are also adjustable shockers available from 4x4 suppliers for front and back. despite what the T dealer may say, you can split the front strut to replace the shock absorber with a new adjustable type if you wish.....been there and done it.

Last thing is the rear rubber diff mount - it benefits from a silicon based stiffener.

I found when towing that the rear door would only open slightly before it was fouled by the trailer coupling. I just got used to it. Others here have posted stuff about removable tow balls and so on which you may care to read/search. I have a Toyota rear step fitted which is a bit worse for wear/rust so I know nothing about whether you can fix a stabiliser bar ....

Thanks for all the helpful advice.Think I will get locel auto electrician to take a look before I go much further with central locking - alarm that is there at present seems to work fine - as I discovered when I forgot tot turn it off before unlocking the door!!1 Duhhh!!!

Thanks also for suggesting spring assisters and rear rubber diff mount stiffener.

Cheers

Dave