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Turbine Wheels?


jonddd
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Our 1994 Rav has some rather interesting wheels that I have never seen on another Rav.

They have the sign Rav4 cast into the metal. The Toyota garage had a vague idea

they were called turbine wheels and were once a special option.

Any observations?

Jon

(If you can't see the photo what have I done wrong?)

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Hi Jon, the first RAV4's did have lots of special editions in its history - is your RAV4 badged as anything specifically?

As an aside, is that an Eriba Triton you are pulling there? How well does she tow behind the RAV?

I've been considering getting a Triton (or possibly a Troll).

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Hi Jon, the first RAV4's did have lots of special editions in its history - is your RAV4 badged as anything specifically?

As an aside, is that an Eriba Triton you are pulling there? How well does she tow behind the RAV?

I've been considering getting a Triton (or possibly a Troll).

I think the car is a very early one. It has no badges apart from RAV4. on the back.

I needed a very cheap car and only bought it in May because it

had a tow bar and I liked the style of the wheels. My wife liked the twin sunshine roofs and the colour.

It had done 97000 miles, no service history but full MOT:

£1200 from a dodgy dealer!

Expecting to be disappointed, I was immediately impressed by the way it drove and how

well it was put together. But what really delighted us was the way it pulled our Eriba Familia 310.

We bought this in March and were towing it with a Mercedes A class 1500. The car pulled it OK and

everything was well within the limits but it had to work hard and the quiet, sedate Mercedes showed

a different character, it became a skittish underpowered buzzbox and felt rather fragile. As a joke one day

I towed the caravan round the block with the 'cheap banger' Rav. It was like night and day!

The extra power and sure-footed roadholding made towing the caravan a pleasure. That

weekend we decided to get rid of the Merc and buy a second, newer Rav.

My wife didn't want a 'big' 4x4 so the 3 door Rav offered the best compromise of power and size.

It is very easy to park but effortlessly pulls the caravan. We love both of them.

(The 2005 model does have one minor irritation, the genuine Toyota towhook has to be

removed before you can open the door).

Jon

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post-65640-1225539766_thumb.jpg

Our 1994 Rav has some rather interesting wheels that I have never seen on another Rav.

They have the sign Rav4 cast into the metal. The Toyota garage had a vague idea

they were called turbine wheels and were once a special option.

Any observations?

Jon

(If you can't see the photo what have I done wrong?)

These where indeed a special fitment to these RAV's... look good... Doubt your get any now..but a search on some of the Japanese sites may throw up some places to get them.... :chinese:

Also on your last post you say you need to remove the tow bar hitch to open the rear door....Yours must be a very high fitted one :g: , as most who have these fitted, and mine...I don't need to remove before opening the rear door..just have to remember it's there before taking another layer of shin skin off :crybaby: .....Or just let the wife empty the boot... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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post-65640-1225539766_thumb.jpg

Our 1994 Rav has some rather interesting wheels that I have never seen on another Rav.

They have the sign Rav4 cast into the metal. The Toyota garage had a vague idea

they were called turbine wheels and were once a special option.

Any observations?

Jon

(If you can't see the photo what have I done wrong?)

These where indeed a special fitment to these RAV's... look good... Doubt your get any now..but a search on some of the Japanese sites may throw up some places to get them.... :chinese:

Also on your last post you say you need to remove the tow bar hitch to open the rear door....Yours must be a very high fitted one :g: , as most who have these fitted, and mine...I don't need to remove before opening the rear door..just have to remember it's there before taking another layer of shin skin off :crybaby: .....Or just let the wife empty the boot... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

We had the genuine Toyota towbar fitted as part of the deal when we bought the car. We needed it in a hurry to go on holiday otherwise I would have shopped around and fitted a cheaper one myself. I could hardly believe it when we went to collect it and they explained that the hook must be regarded as only to be installed just before hitching up and removed as soon as the trailer is unhooked. It comes with a special bag for this and there is even a sticker on the towbar to show that the hook will hit the door. I suppose it is done to ensure that the ride height for a caravan is exactly right. On our old Rav which has a lower hook that just misses the door (although even here a bit of plastic trim has been cut away on the bottom of the door) the caravan is a bit nose-down.

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yup - the genuine Toyota removable bar fouls the rear door. Brinks make that for Toyota. Brinks also make a version where the bar is 20mm lower and the rear door just clears the ball BUT when a 'van or trailer is hitched up, that stops the door opening still.

My Towball is the lower one as I just could not be doing with a towbar that stopped access to the rear boot even when not used but just left fitted :rolleyes:

I recall checking the heights against towing height ranges and the lowered towball only just comes in at the minumum height in the range recommended (permissable?)

Jonddd, do you think the slight nose down aspect makes the Familia any different to tow? I am hoping that as the Eriba Tourings are fairly compact and low profile, it would not make much difference.

Also, some people have reported that on some of the caravans and trailers towed, the lower towbar cause the jocky wheel to snag sometimes even when raised fully - noticed anything like that? :g:

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Our 1994 Rav has some rather interesting wheels that I have never seen on another Rav.

They have the sign Rav4 cast into the metal. The Toyota garage had a vague idea

they were called turbine wheels and were once a special option.

Any observations?

Jon

(If you can't see the photo what have I done wrong?)

When I bought my RAV4 new in August 1994, these alloys were the wheel option. It was the only option I didn't buy. I still have the car although its a little bit different now.

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yup - the genuine Toyota removable bar fouls the rear door. Brinks make that for Toyota. Brinks also make a version where the bar is 20mm lower and the rear door just clears the ball BUT when a 'van or trailer is hitched up, that stops the door opening still.

My Towball is the lower one as I just could not be doing with a towbar that stopped access to the rear boot even when not used but just left fitted :rolleyes:

I recall checking the heights against towing height ranges and the lowered towball only just comes in at the minumum height in the range recommended (permissable?)

Jonddd, do you think the slight nose down aspect makes the Familia any different to tow? I am hoping that as the Eriba Tourings are fairly compact and low profile, it would not make much difference.

Also, some people have reported that on some of the caravans and trailers towed, the lower towbar cause the jocky wheel to snag sometimes even when raised fully - noticed anything like that? :g:

The photo shows the old Rav with the Eriba at Cheltenham racecourse. We must have towed several hundred miles with the old car before the later one. The Eriba tows well behind both of them. The jockey wheel is well clear of the ground even on the lower bar. The Eriba is no wider than the car so you go through gaps with confidence. We don't need extra mirrors either. I like the look of the silver/white Eriba behind the charcoal grey/silver 2004 Rav. They match well and you can tow quite happily at 70mph, although in the south of France pushing hard on the motorway with the aircon on full the mpg was rather high. We learned to keep the speed at about indicated 60 and only have the aircon on when it got really necessary. Then mpg was an indicated 31.5 over several hundred miles. Strangely in Britain the mpg was better, possibly because the gradients used on motorways are not so steep.

Jon

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post-65640-1225539766_thumb.jpg

Our 1994 Rav has some rather interesting wheels that I have never seen on another Rav.

They have the sign Rav4 cast into the metal. The Toyota garage had a vague idea

they were called turbine wheels and were once a special option.

Any observations?

Jon

(If you can't see the photo what have I done wrong?)

When I bought my RAV4 new in August 1994, these alloys were the wheel option. It was the only option I didn't buy. I still have the car although its a little bit different now.

Apart from the fancy wheels as far as I'm aware the car has no other extras, so that must have been the only option the original buyer chose!

Jon

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