Show us your small Tow Vehicle set-up

[ALANSD]

I have heard all about the VW Diesel tow vehicles, and other smaller ones.

How about showing your set up with one of these smaller rides?


I am looking into replacing my V10 Excursion with something drastically smaller. My Overlander is about 4500 lbs.

If I could do it with a VW diesel I would be very pleased. Its the non-towing daily around town driving of the EXC that is killing us.

[handn]

You are lucky Alan, most medium sized crossovers and suv's tow 5000 pounds. Among the more popular ones are the Toyota 4 runner, Nissan Xterra, Nissan Pathfinder, ect.
My AS weighs 6300 pounds so I am keeping my 2000 diesel Excursion. It refuses to die and gets acceptable mileage solo or towing and I can load it with anything I want even my exercise weights. I hate to drive it in the city. Fortunately, we live in a rural area.
I am leery of the new diesels. Lots of manufactures have come out with diesel vehicles and not supported them and orphaned them. Gas is cheap enough in the U.S. that the economics of a diesel are marginal.
VW is one company that has stuck with diesels for a number of years and there are several Toureg threads about how well they tow.
If your Ex is in good condition, you will have no trouble selling it.

[AWCHIEF]

I recently swaped my F150 Supercrew Cab Ecoboost for the same reasons. Just too big and uncomfortable for daily driving. I traded it in on a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 5.7 Hemi 4X4. It has a tow rating of 7200lbs. So far MPG is at least equal too if not a bit better than then the F150. It is a breeze to drive in close traffic and park compared to the F150. The new 2014 Grand Cherokee with the diesel is getting very good reviews but frankly was a bit out of my price range.

[ALANSD]

I am thinking something.....even smaller.

[cameront120]

Have you spoken to Andrew at Can-Am?

[ALANSD]

not yet, but I have read everthing I could find that he wrote. Seems like Dodge Intrepid is a favorite choice of his.

[andreasduess]

The Fantasy Tow Vehicle thread talks about smaller tow vehicles and how to set them up.

I tow with a mini-van, not sure if that qualifies as "small".

[Denis4x4]

2013 Grand Cherokee Overland Summit with the hemi and factory tow package. Great road car with all of the bells whistles. 20+ MPG on a fast road trip to SoCal last month.

[mstephens]

Originally Posted by ALANSD

not yet, but I have read everthing I could find that he wrote. Seems like Dodge Intrepid is a favorite choice of his.

I recently purchased a 2012 Chrysler 300 to replace my Suburban as a TV for my 25 Flying Cloud. I based my purchase in large part on Andrew having setup several of them for towing large Airstreams. The car is a delight as a daily driver, and they are priced well below competitive offerings, making it a real deal. I bought the "S" model which is V6 and 8-speed. I've been getting 25 MPG so far non-towing.

My setup is being built locally, and I will have it ready for towing in a few weeks if all goes well. We will get our first outing in January.

I am really looking forward to it. I think it will tow superior to my 'Burb, and it certainly is a better daily driver.

I also strongly considered: Edge, Flex, Charger, Cadillac CTS/DTS.
Good luck!

[jcl]

Originally Posted by ALANSD

If I could do it with a VW diesel I would be very pleased. Its the non-towing daily around town driving of the EXC that is killing us.

A VW Toureg is rated to tow 7700 lbs, with 770 lbs tongue weight. That is without any additional modifications. It is on my radar. I would consider strengthening the hitch for additional safety with weight distribution equipment.

An Audi Q5 is rated right around 4400 lbs from memory.

[ALANSD]

the Chrysler 300 is in my list..Toureg are a bit out of my $$range.

[MrUKToad]

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f463...ml#post1264726

[SteveH]

Here's my smaller tow vehicle, but I don't tow our Airstream with it. However, it does have a 5,000lb tow rating, a 270HP V6 engine, and tows the Casita (3500lbs +,-) well up to about 65mph. Above that, it's struggling.

[m.hony]

Why 2 campers?
I know someone who has 3- 1 is never used and another is used 2-3 times per year-

[ALANSD]

Originally Posted by MrUKToad

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f463...ml#post1264726

Great link thanks!

[Rocinante]

I don't want to get into a "my TV vs. your TV" discussion. That said, I learned something very interesting while perusing the Ram trucks site and playing with their towing calculator. Apparently, as you add payload weight to your vehicle, you need to subtract that weight from the tow capacity of your vehicle. I know, some of you will say, "No, duh!", but until I tried this calculator thingie, I had no idea. Thank goodness the numbers still work for our TV and TT, even if we max both of them out (we still have over 1,000 pounds of buffer as long as we don't overload the TV), but it was kind of a shock to a neophyte like myself.

Here's the link. Sorta kinda like a footnote to back up my otherwise fact-free opinion.

http://www.ramtrucks.com/en/towing_guide/tow_chart/

Go to the link above, configure the truck you have in mind (for me it's a crew cab, short bed, 4x4), scroll down to the model (for me it's the Laramie with a 3.92 axle) and click "Open Payload and Towing Calculator." Then play around with it. I learned a whole bunch in about 5 minutes.

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by m.hony

Why 2 campers?
I know someone who has 3- 1 is never used and another is used 2-3 times per year-

Longer story than you want to hear, or I want to type, but I have some hobbies that has events that I like to go to by myself camping, and do not want to take the Airstream for several reasons.

[kscherzi]

Originally Posted by Denis4x4

2013 Grand Cherokee Overland Summit with the hemi and factory tow package. Great road car with all of the bells whistles. 20+ MPG on a fast road trip to SoCal last month.

I really like the combo. How do you reconcile the tongue weight of the trailer and tongue weight rating of the SUV?

[Bbelk]

[kscherzi]

Originally Posted by Denis4x4

2013 Grand Cherokee Overland Summit with the hemi and factory tow package. Great road car with all of the bells whistles. 20+ MPG on a fast road trip to SoCal last month.

I like the combo. How do you reconcile the trailer tongue weight vs the lesser Jeep tongue weight?