What vehicle for towing an Airstream 25'

[slowmover]

In South Texas the argument is in favor of full replacement Ranch Hand bumpers. The upfront cost will be lower than damage caused by livestock or wildlife in collisions.

That still does not negate the fact of pickup truck rollover.

A pickup has its uses, but it is not the intelligent default choice for towing one of these trailers.

[snarlz]

This has been both a very interesting...and entertaining...thread! Being new to both towing and Airstream in general, I'm getting more comfortable with the idea that my F150 5.4L, 4x4, 145" WB, 7200# GVWR/15,500 GCWR could handle the FC 23D without any major issues.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by snarlz

This has been both a very interesting...and entertaining...thread! Being new to both towing and Airstream in general, I'm getting more comfortable with the idea that my F150 5.4L, 4x4, 145" WB, 7200# GVWR/15,500 GCWR could handle the FC 23D without any major issues.

Hi, you should be fine; I towed my 25'er for ten years with a 5.4L Lincoln Navigator.

[JCWDCW]

TV questions bring out all of us with opinions. Distill it all down and do like you did ... with all the available info make your own informed decision! Its a 23 foot AS...you definitely don't need a 1 ton Dually
JCW

[ROBERT CROSS]

“Its better to have what you don't need when you need it, than not to have it when you don’t.” RLC

[Road Ruler]

Originally Posted by rostam

My answer to 1) is, only once. And it was actually last year. I was driving and a creature jumped in front of me. I made a sudden lane change at highway speed (an instinctive reaction), and avoided an accident. My point is this has happened only once in 25 years of driving. Also, I was driving a 6000# full size SUV with over 10 inches of ground clearance, and I still managed to safely do the lane change.

The advantage of a quality performance vehicle is that you can make the maneuver at a higher speed compared to something like a typical pickup. Check out the handling vids on the Can Am web site to see the differences.

Originally Posted by rostam

My answer to 2) is, no. I cannot think how a vehicle with a lower COG and better handling would stop any of the accidents I was in. Actually, the only loss of control accident I had was with a sporty sedan.

I too was in a loss of control accident years ago but the handling attributes of a front heavy 69 Corvette (427ci) is weak compared to the performance vehicles made today.

Originally Posted by rostam

This makes me question the importance of handling attributes in accident avoidance (towing or not). I would love to hear the experience of others folks, and see if its any different than mine.

We were doing a back road run on a road I had never traveled before. It was dusk and a sharp right hand turn seemed to come out of nowhere. G35 with 23' in tow, we made the aggressive turn and the rig felt like it was on rails with no drama.

[dkottum]

On the handling question, my understanding and experience is if you can make the maneuver with the tow vehicle, the properly hitched Airstream will just follow.

You can view some examples of this on Can-Am RV website where they have tested a variety of them, some vehicles good and some not so good.

Guess which ones are good. Hint, low center of gravity and independent suspensions.

[m.hony]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

“Its better to have what you don't need when you need it, than not to have it when you don’t.” RLC

Is that sorta kinda like "It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it."?


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[DoublTrouble]

You guys are "at it" again.
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