The first thing to check would be the fuse or relay that protects the power-windows’ electrical circuit. Designed to protect wiring from an electrical spike or short-circuit, these fuses and relays can also fail for no apparent reason apart from old age.

If one window went south on its own, you’d be looking for a problem specific to that door, but since they all went out at the same time, you need to look for a fault a little deeper into the wiring. Which is where a blown fuse or dud relay comes into the reckoning.

The first job is to find the fuse or relay in question. The owner’s manual (which should still be living in the glove-box) will have a chapter that shows the location(s) of the fuse boxes in the vehicle. You might find there’s one under the dashboard near the steering column, and another under the bonnet. The same chapter in the handbook should also identify which fuse and relay does what, but this info should also be printed on the inside of the fuse-box cover.

Once you’ve identified the fuse or relay, you can check the fuse visually, or have an auto electrician check the relay for proper operation. If that component is the problem, a quick, simple and cheap replacement will restore the windows to full health.

If that doesn’t work, then an auto electrician is probably your next stop, as you could be searching for a broken wire or a failed switch-block or some other obscure fault.

The last decade of dual-cab four-wheel-drive utes have emerged as the tow-vehicles of choice, and you see them everywhere filling roles exactly like the one you have planned. Popular models include the Ford Ranger you’ve nominated, Toyota HiLux, Mazda BT-50, VW Amarok, Mitsubishi Triton, Nissan Navara and Isuzu D-Max. But there are also cheaper alternatives including makes like the South-Korean made Ssangyong and various Chinese brands like LDV and Great Wall.

Just make sure you know exactly how much you need to tow before making a decision as some of the cheaper models don’t have the same outright towing capacity and even if they do, some of them don’t have the engine performance to make towing as easy as it should be. For parts availability, the Toyota would be king in really remote areas, but any of the major brands are pretty well covered in Australia.

Meantime, don’t rule out ute-based wagons such as the Ford Everest, Isuzu MU-X, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Toyota Fortuna. These offer better ride comfort when unladen thanks to more sophisticated rear suspensions and most have as much or almost as much towing capacity as their ute brethren.

Air-conditioning can really add another layer of stress to an engine. Since the air-con compressor is driven off the engine (via a belt) it's just another thing for the engine to deal with. And since the engine has to make more power to run the air-con and travel at the same speed, it uses more fuel. And more fuel burned equals more heat, it's pretty basic physics to that point.

Any vehicle with a cooling system that is already a bit marginal can easily be made to overheat by switching on the air-conditioning. So the first thing to do is make sure there are no leaks in the cooling system, the radiator is not clogged internally or covered externally in dead bugs, the radiator hoses are not collapsing when you rev the engine, the water pump is working efficiently and the radiator cap is holding pressure (the boiling point of the coolant rises as you pressurise the system. Again, basic physics: Water boils at 100 degrees-C at sea level, but at the summit of Mount Everest, if you set up your camping stove, you'd boil water at just 68 degrees-C due to the lower atmospheric pressure).

The other thing to check is the condition of the cooling fans. The engine will have its own fan, but cars with air-conditioning usually have a second cooling fan that starts up when the air-con is switched on. You can tell if this second fan starts up by listening for it when you hit the A/C switch. If it isn't coming on (or the engine's fan is broken, slipping or doesn't have the correct shroud fitted) than this can easily lead to overheating.