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Hi guys, been a tenter all my life and now decided to move into campervan.

bought a toyota hiace hightop 1995 m reg jap import.

Having a shed load of problems....   but.....hey......lets be positive.

anyway, looking to get a tow bar for it and need to find out how to identify the mark? lots of tow bar websites seem to cover the  1995 year,  but need more specific info, ive looked on the reg document, but nothing as obvious as mk1V or mkV 

help please if you can. i have a feeling this is the first of many questions........just cant wait to get out in the van!!

thanks

sarah

Quote: Originally posted by -mojo- on 06/11/2013

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It's possible it's a Granvia or one of the other MPV variants, but they probably all share the same or very similar floorpan.

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Although the Granvia is based on the Hiace Powervan if it is a Granvia it will say so, both on the rear of the vehicle and on the reg document.

You could always ask on here -
http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/forum/9-toyota-mpv/ I've found people on there very helpful in the past.

If it's the one shown in the first image in Sarah's gallery, its a "snub-nosed", pre-Powervan type of Hiace...

As mojo says,Wiki is usually quite handy for identifying model designations..

Tigermouse..Can I ask..Is that "Toyota owners club" forum worth signing up to then?...

I signed up to a couple of Aussie(I think?) based forums...one has been quite helpful(toyotafans.net),the other(toyotaowners.net)was a waste of time..but even the helpful one ,doesn't get much "traffic"...

Quote: Originally posted by pepe63 on 06/11/2013

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If it's the one shown in the first image in Sarah's gallery, its a "snub-nosed", pre-Powervan type of Hiace...

Looking at the op's pic it's definitely not a Granvia but without a full shot of the front I've no idea what it could be.

As mojo says,Wiki is usually quite handy for identifying model designations..

Tigermouse..Can I ask..Is that "Toyota owners club" forum worth signing up to then?...

It's a long while since I've been on there tbh. Not being technically minded I joined three years ago to get some advice when I had a problem with what I thought was something draining the battery on my Granvia - I found those members who responded to my questions were very helpful, and reading through other posts on that particular forum they seemed to be quite a friendly bunch. It was also possible to get very competitive insurance for Jap imports through a specialist broker. Maybe reading through the various topic posts to get a feel for the forum would help you decide whether or not to join.

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now that you've mentioned the gallery pepe63  i can see  its  a hiace supercustom , this as pepe68 mentioned  shares the same chassis as the old hiace compact van which was available  here.... the good news is that many of the parts are interchangable and all are available from toyota  if you supply them with the chassis no ... I  fitted a towbar to my super custom camper so they are definitely available here but you need to know which model,  as I remember identifiable through the chassis no ie H107*****....a great source of info is the supercustom forum

this bar may fit  ?

Well, thanks for all the info everyone. such a helpful lot

took a look at the super custom link, and theres a few on there very similar to mine.

not sure how to incorprate pics into my message so will put 2 more pics of the van in my gallery. hope the parts are readily availbale, few things we want to do.....eventually.

took a look at the tow bar on ebay and will mail them the chassis number.

will be back for more info on engine info (as i have no manual,) awnings, bike racks,

sunvisors, wind deflectors etc .

when i  have a positive id, will post reply.

thanks again all 

Your van looks very smart Sarah..

Personally, I think that model of Hiace is a far nicer looking vehicle than the "Powervan" version we have...

Oh, cheers pepe63!  i thought it looked smart too, but seems looks dont get you very far, only got as far as the local beach in the past 6 weeks, been in the repair shop ever since....

now waiting for a phone call from the mechanic with very long list of jobs that need doing.

THINK POSITIVE i keep tellinig myself!

i think it may be a 4th generation H100?? 

so as soon its home..........

2.8 diesel auto.  A very similar one sped past me on the M4, I was in my car, he must have been doing 85 or 90! Can't see me gettin past 70 in  mine. I looked around a good while and liked the layout of them plus the fact they have 6 or 8 lap belts. Always seem to have other peoples kids in tow for camping weekends. Although my 14 yr old daughter thinks it "minging" & said " why can't we have a Vdub! Haha...never get anything right! Any ideas where i could find an owners manual?

As you say, BE POSITIVE!

We had "issues" with *ours a couple of months back...On the way back from a festival,it started to make a hell of a noise from the rear axle...

(*it's only a plain van, which we're using as a "camping-van-base" thingy!)

...and our "usual" mechanic told not to waste our time and money on it and to just write it off!?...after  "shopping around"(and much encouragement from on here! ),we ended up getting it fixed for 180 quid!(..turned out to be just the "nose" bearing in diff).

The general consensus seems to be, get 'em fixed, look after them..and they'll then out last us!   

Oops! Sorry Tigermouse..I failed to respond to your post. Thanks for your thoughts on that "..owners club" forum...I may give it a look.

No probs pepe63.

My Granvia is a 3.0 turbo diesel, same engine as in the Landcruiser.  At today's fuel prices not cheap to run as a commuter vehicle but pretty good over long distances, and it goes like s**t off the proverbial shovel - in fact I have to watch it as it's very easy to go over the speed limit with it.

This may be a daft question..but I'll ask it whilst there are some Hiace owners about..

Why have they got(or need), two starter batteries?

(..well our Powervan has anyway...)