Replacing tow vehicle

Trevor Davies · 01-11-2004, 10:30 AM

We have an '01 19ft Bambi. Currently our tow vehicle is '92 F-150 standard with a 6 cylinder. Two things are wrong with this picture - the trailer looks way better than the truck and the gear ratio in reverse is a bit high for slow, steady campground parking.
We saw a magazine cover a couple of years back with a Nissan Xterra pulling a Bambi. Does anyone have any experience pulling with a shorter wheelbased vehicle? My wife has her eye on the "big" Mazda 4X4. I'm not a huge Ford fan or anything but wonder about that company's Ranger 4X4 as a tow vehicle as well. Both vehicles come with +200 h.p. 6 cylinder engines.

The 4X4 thing is probably approrpriate here today - east of Lake Huron we're having whiteouts and high winds.

Silvertwinkie · 01-11-2004, 11:11 AM

I towed a Bambi with a V8 Chevy sedan. Worked very well. I'd stick with a V8, but if a really good V6 came around, it could be useful. Just keep in mind that when I had my Bambi, I towed up a small mountain, it did really take all that it had. Of course then it had 2.93 gears. Whatever you go with try to make sure it's got at least 3.42 gears or even 3.73s.

JimBrownUT · 01-11-2004, 12:06 PM

Trevor:

We have a 99 19' Bambi towing with a 2000 Toyota 'Tundra V/8. I only purchased the Bambi in October of 2003. We have towed about 1000 miles. Average mpg is about 12 pulling the loaded Bambi. The Tundra gets 19 mpg on the road without the Bambi and about 15 in the driving I do day to day.

I recommend you check out a Tundra. I had a Dodge prior to the Tundra. The Tundra drives and handles much better than the Dodge 1500. Prior to the Dodge I had a Nissan pickup.

I think Toyota cars sell for a couple of thousand more than other comparable cars/trucks but you get the money back if you ever go to sell the vehicle.

Check out the new Tundra 4 door. What a sweet vehicle for pulling a Bambi.

Jim Brown
Liberty, UT

Porky Pig · 01-11-2004, 12:33 PM

The Tundra is a very good suggestion for towing the Bambi. It is an excellent product.

Also, the new F-150 would be a good choice.

Check out the February issue of Motor Trend.

uwe · 01-11-2004, 04:22 PM

Look into late model or new Suburbans, they make fine tow vehicles.
I am experiencing similar mileages as Jim Brown is mentioning on the Tundra.
I have seen 13.5 towing on flat terrain.
My 97 Suburban 1500 has a 5.7l Vortec, and 3:73 gears. It tows my 1971 Tradewind very comfortably, plus makes a great daily driver. Much better than I had expected when I bought it a few month ago.

jordandvm · 03-20-2004, 02:21 AM

I know this is an older thread, but wanted to comment about tow vehicles. I have read most of the threads about tow capacity, but have not seen anything related to Ford minipickups I have a 2002 Ford Ranger 4x4 supercab with automatic transmission. I love my pickup! It's my first 4x4 vehicle. I haven't seen any threads with this tow vehicle yet, so I thought I'd add my 2 cents. I have on order a Bambi 19' CCD, due about 6/01/04. I have researched my tow vehicle's capabilities extensively because I was paranoid whether or not it works, and found that it should tow a 19' CCD with no problem! 9500 lb max GCRW and 5600 lb max trailer weight. Acording to my calculations, I will be 1000 lbs under with loaded trailer and tow vechicle. Now..........This is all theoretical! Will it really tow this trailer OK? I don't care if it lugs down to 45 MPH on a steep incline over the Cascade's Mountains in Oregon! I'm on vacation, and I can take my time arriving at my destination. Will it overheat or tear down my transmission?? I will have to shift down into D2 or D1 on my steering column. Does that mean I can't tow this trailer? Do I need to buy a different vehicle? So, I feel comfortable with my current tow vehicle untiul someone tells me otherwise. Am I crazy?

Silvertwinkie · 03-20-2004, 08:47 AM

Since tou asked... I think you are. I mean the Ranger is a small little thing. Sure you don't care if it chugs down to 45 on a hill, but what about stopping, handling, etc?

I'd rather see you in a V8 Explorer before you went off and towed with a Ranger. I've towed a Bambi with a 350 full frame car and I'll tell you, even with that tank, you sure knew it was back there.

If it were a 16' CCD, I'd be far less concerned.