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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / RVs / November 2004Tow Vehicle Suggestions
As luck would have it and the luck wasn't good. I'm looking for a new tow vehicle? Still have the Xterra but the S-10 was T-boned by someone running a red light. I have a Trailblazer for a rental car and it tows the P/U nicely. Just wondering from real world experience what your thoughts are on other tow vehicles. Any suggestions, remarks or comments greatly appreciated. REMOVE "thejunk" TO SEND EMAIL Rich & Lloyd '98 Flagstaff-824D '01 S 10 4X4 ext cab & '01 XTerra Best Sports City in America (St. Loius, MO 63111) http://www.RainbowRV.com http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/rainbowrvrsmidwest WE needed a new TV a few months ago. I didn't want anything too big, but I did want a fair amount of power. Everything pointed to a V8 4Runner (Toyota). Consumer Reports likes it (but not the V6) and every other car review site I could find concurred. It is one of the smaller SUVs built like a truck. It tows 7300 lbs. I think the 4wd version tows 7000. If you go with a v6 the numbers go down to 5000. We towed it 4000 miles from So Cal to Lassen, Crater, Tetons, Yellowstone, Bryce and Zion. It was great. Are you buying new? I had an incredibly positive experience by using the net. I went to Edmund.com and priced it out. Then I filled out a form there which sent my request to 4 local car dealers. For a day or so, the emails flew as I made sure they knew exactly what I wanted. At one point we went to the lowest priced dealer and did a test drive. As we drove up, the sales men were at us like locusts. I just said I am doing this thru the 'net and the immediately backed down and got the fleet manager. I spent $12 to get the Consumer Report price sheet for this model, and figured the lowest price car was making about $440 on the deal. I could live with that. Also using those figures, I tried to get the other three dealers to go lower. Two never even bothered to write me back, and the third made me an offer of $14 lower. I figured I was at rock bottom. I emailed my decision to the dealer. Two days later I went to pick up the car, and was out within an hour (but we did not finance or have a trade in). It was such an easier experience than the last time I bought a car from a dealer. We were there almost all day, and at times things quite unpleasant - same dealer, BTW. Laura > As luck would have it and the luck wasn't good. I'm looking for a new tow > vehicle? Still have the Xterra but the S-10 was T-boned by someone [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > http://www.RainbowRV.com > http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/rainbowrvrsmidwest HpyKampers... you need to give us more details on what you are looking for... price range.. any ideas if you are going on the dark side...etc... because all vehicules are tow vehicules...I've towed: small Pop-up with Caravan... sucked big pop-up with Astro.. did great actual 25' TT with Astro ... sucked actual 25 TT with Silverado1500 4.8L 2x4 ext cab did great actual 25 TT with Ram 1500 SLT 4x4 Quad cab Hemi powered, does great. For a pup-up, in my mind, any frame based vehicule should do OK. Bigger Engine will do better in mountains. Mel HpyKampers a écrit: > As luck would have it and the luck wasn't good. I'm looking for a new tow > vehicle? Still have the Xterra but the S-10 was T-boned by someone running a [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > http://www.RainbowRV.com > http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/rainbowrvrsmidwest Looking at small/midsized pick up truck. I liked the Colorado but doesn't tow as much as the S-10. Also interested in the small/midsized SUV. Would like to stay as close to or below $30,000.00 if possible. Thanks for the tips so far. The onlinse thing sounds less harsh then battling it out in the show room. I'll keep that in mind :-) REMOVE "thejunk" TO SEND EMAIL Rich & Lloyd '98 Flagstaff-824D '05 Trailblazer '01 S 10 4X4 ext cab (CRACHED) & '01 XTerra Best Sports City in America (St. Loius, MO 63111) http://www.RainbowRV.com http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/rainbowrvrsmidwest > Looking at small/midsized pick up truck. I liked the Colorado but doesn't > tow [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > The onlinse thing sounds less harsh then battling it out in the show room. > I'll keep that in mind :-) I've found that a full sized pickup is really hard to beat. My '01 Chevy 4x4 with a 5.3 gets 20mpg on the hwy empty, and between 12 and 14 towing. My TT is 26', fully loaded goes about 6,000#s. My last tow vehicle was a Chevy Tahoe with a 350; the longer wheel base of the pickup makes an unbelieveable difference in towing ease. I honestly hardly feel the trailer behind me. I personally wouldn't consider going back to a midsized tow vehicle, my mileage is at least as good or even better, and the smaller vehicles simply are controlled by the trailer. I'm limited to a midsized tow vehicle at most due to the smallness of my garage. The S-10 will fit with the bumper to the back wall and the door clears the front bumper by about 1". It's an older garage built in the 50's. You'd think with the size of cars back then it'd be big enough but it's not :-(. The Trailblazer I'm driving now is surprisingly shorter then the S-10 pick. Who'd a thunk? <G> REMOVE "thejunk" TO SEND EMAIL Rich & Lloyd '98 Flagstaff-824D '05 Trailblazer '01 S 10 4X4 ext cab (CRACHED) & '01 XTerra Best Sports City in America (St. Loius, MO 63111) http://www.RainbowRV.com http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/rainbowrvrsmidwest And I had to get out my tape measure to see if I could fit in a short box, crew cab 2500HD Sierra. It fit!, with all of two inches to spare so I got my Duramax but I had to give up the idea of a long box. > I'm limited to a midsized tow vehicle at most due to the smallness of my > garage. The S-10 will fit with the bumper to the back wall and the door clears [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > http://www.RainbowRV.com > http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/rainbowrvrsmidwest >And I had to get out my tape measure to see if I could fit in a short box, >crew cab 2500HD Sierra. It fit!, with all of two inches to spare so I got >my Duramax but I had to give up the idea of a long box. I just helped my neighbor take out the cement "parking" strip in his garage, so he could pull his new chevy 4 door short bed into the garage... with the bumper kissing the back wall, his garage door clears the back bumper by maybe an inch and a half... lol In my garage, I have steps going down to enter in the house, with railing to prevent falling in the steps. I had to remove the railing from my garage to actually be able to park the truck. So I'm ending up having 1 1/2feet to go down my stairs and 5 inches in front of the truck. Mel mac davis a écrit: >>And I had to get out my tape measure to see if I could fit in a short box, >>crew cab 2500HD Sierra. It fit!, with all of two inches to spare so I got [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > with the bumper kissing the back wall, his garage door clears the back > bumper by maybe an inch and a half... lol but it's worth it, right? HEMI.. >In my garage, I have steps going down to enter in the house, with >railing to prevent falling in the steps. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >> with the bumper kissing the back wall, his garage door clears the back >> bumper by maybe an inch and a half... lol YES... but this modification was initially done when I had my Silverado. with only a small 4.8L in it!! ;-) Mel mac davis a écrit: > but it's worth it, right? HEMI.. > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] >>>with the bumper kissing the back wall, his garage door clears the back >>>bumper by maybe an inch and a half... lol Recent articles have me feeling even better - and luckier - than I did about the L-O-N-G pickup I bought three years ago. I took a ruler and measured 18-inches of clearance between the truck and the overhead garage door and 24-inches between the pickup and the rear wall of the garage. > And I had to get out my tape measure to see if I could fit in a short box, > crew cab 2500HD Sierra. It fit!, with all of two inches to spare so I got > my Duramax but I had to give up the idea of a long box. In 1991 I bought a "spec home" - a typical split entry with a two car garage beneath. In October, 2001, to my surprise and delight, I discovered that the Silverado I wished to buy (and did buy) with the extended cab and LONG box (246.7-inches overall) would fit into my garage without having to move A THING! I bought the pickup "off the lot". It is a true rarity to find a "lot vehicle" of this configuration. I just pulled-out the 2002 brochure and was a little surprised to learn that my pickup with the LONG box, although not a true four-door, is actually 9.4-inches LONGER than the crew cab model with the short box. The crew-cab with the LONG box would fit in my garage with room left over. In any case, the long box is definitely worth the price and size. With the cab-high topper, it is a cavernous camping vehicle. Moo ha ha! :) JR  Signature2000 Skamper Ultra 249 TT 2002 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD Vortec 8100 - Allison 1000 >Recent articles have me feeling even better - and luckier - than I did about >the L-O-N-G pickup I bought three years ago. I took a ruler and measured >18-inches of clearance between the truck and the overhead garage door and >24-inches between the pickup and the rear wall of the garage. I could probably get the Ram into the garage, but it would be really uncomfortable going out to the driveway to work in the shop, do laundry or get the grand kid's toys.. lol If you are interested in mid-sized SUV's I would recommend a Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 4.7 V8. I have had two so far, the first a 2000 Laredo, the second a 2003 Limited. We have had great luck with both, only got rid of the first because it was a lease through a former employer, the second I bought with my own money. The V8 with a tow package has great towing capacity and tows great. They just released the new grand cherokees which are a little bigger and should tow even a little better, or will get you a better deal on a 2004 since they are making room for the 2005's. Slacker 2003 Grand Cherokee 2004 Starcraft 2411 and you'll be able to get the Hemi in the 2005 version!! ;-) Mel Slacker a écrit: > If you are interested in mid-sized SUV's I would recommend a Jeep > Grand Cherokee with the 4.7 V8. I have had two so far, the first a [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > 2003 Grand Cherokee > 2004 Starcraft 2411 Mel, what kind of mileage do you get with your Hemi pulling the trailer? We have a 19foot hybrid, but haven't pulled it any farther than to the state park about 5 miles from home since we got the Hemi! > HpyKampers... > > actual 25 TT with Ram 1500 SLT 4x4 Quad cab Hemi powered, does great. > > Mel Ernie, I'd have to convert in Mileage... (I,ll press the button to M instead of KM when I get back home)(unless someone wants to do the maths...) but in KM the truck gets around 16Liter/100km in city arount 11L/100km on highway... and ranged from 18-21L/100km with the trailer on it (But I keep the speed I want!) I've compared this to my neighbours Jeep with V6, he gets 26-29L/100KM when he hitches his trailer. sure it's a gas sucker but we use it almost only to tow, we've put only 6000km (ie around 3600M) in 5 months. Mel Ernie a écrit: > Mel, what kind of mileage do you get with your Hemi pulling the trailer? We > have a 19foot hybrid, but haven't pulled it any farther than to the state [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> >>Mel Finally..... my last month average was 19.9L/100km which is US 11.8Miles per gallon. so I probably get arount 8 on highway without trailer... and 12-13 with the trailer! Mel meldx a écrit: > Ernie, I'd have to convert in Mileage... (I,ll press the button to M > instead of KM when I get back home)(unless someone wants to do the [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] >>> >>> Mel >Finally..... my last month average was 19.9L/100km which is US 11.8Miles >per gallon. so I probably get arount 8 on highway without trailer... >and 12-13 with the trailer! > >Mel whoa... are you sure that those numbers aren't backwards, Mel? If those numbers are right, don't ever unhitch the trailer! >>Finally..... my last month average was 19.9L/100km which is US 11.8Miles >>per gallon. so I probably get arount 8 on highway without trailer... [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > whoa... are you sure that those numbers aren't backwards, Mel? > If those numbers are right, don't ever unhitch the trailer! We used to tow with a Sienna. As long as the towing was on a fairly flat highway, our mileage was better pulling the trailer. I guess it was because if I am not pulling the trailer, I am driving around town - which is hell on mileage. Laura >>>Finally..... my last month average was 19.9L/100km which is US 11.8Miles >>>per gallon. so I probably get arount 8 on highway without trailer... [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > >Laura very possible that you also have a heavier foot when not towing.. *g* we get 15 mpg on trips... but that goes down to 8mpg towing.. one trip, where we were out of Calif. for 4 days, we went up to a little over 9 mpg... damn Calif. "gas".. > that goes down to 8mpg towing.. This is GREAT!! :) Between you and Mel, I feel even better about my 496cid V8. I'm getting about the same mileage when towing our 25-ft TT at 65mph. Of course, solo consumption isn't much better, but it's what I expected when I bought a big block gasser. Just 12 more payments and then I can even AFFORD the gas! :) JR Signature2000 Skamper Ultra 249 TT 2002 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD Vortec 8100 - Allison 1000 oups... you're right! Maybe it was a wish that will not come true! MEl mac davis a écrit: >>Finally..... my last month average was 19.9L/100km which is US 11.8Miles >>per gallon. so I probably get arount 8 on highway without trailer... [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > whoa... are you sure that those numbers aren't backwards, Mel? > If those numbers are right, don't ever unhitch the trailer! The European/Metric of measuring gas usage is the reciprocal from the American way the conversion is as follows : (l/100km) = 235 / (miles/Gallon) (miles/Gallon) = 235 / (l/100km) i.E. 235 / 11.8 = 19.9 Hope this helps Tom > oups... you're right! > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >> whoa... are you sure that those numbers aren't backwards, Mel? >> If those numbers are right, don't ever unhitch the trailer! thie means that if I do 13L/100km on highway, that represents 18M per G. thanks Mel +Tom+ a écrit: > The European/Metric of measuring gas usage is the reciprocal from the > American way [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] >>> whoa... are you sure that those numbers aren't backwards, Mel? >>> If those numbers are right, don't ever unhitch the trailer! |
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