Tow Vehicles

Roy,
You certainly are considering all the windfalls/pitfalls. Whatever you choose, I'm sure will be a well educated decision.

Give us a clue though, what WOULD you drive that could tow and still be a daily??

I see that Parisienne wagon woody in your future....

All kidding aside, here are a fe logical thoughts, pickup or SUV, but sporty

F-150 Lightning - say one at an auction with 68k go for 14.3. 360 hp can't be bad
GMC Syclone or Typhoon - really cool if you can find one not Yo'd
Impala SS - The RWD one

Or, since you have 0 debt, opt for the Cayenne Turbo.....

[This message has been edited by eh_tony!!! (edited December 02, 2003).]
 
Buick Roadmaster Wagon. 455CID, cushy interior, soft springs and a real frame. Now you're talkin'!

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Gregg Baker, P.E.
Isaac, LLC
http://www.isaacdirect.com

[This message has been edited by gsbaker (edited December 03, 2003).]
 
None of the "trucks" that you cite have any real towing capacity. Interestingly, neither will the new Dodge V-10 hotrod truck according to Autoweek.
It is a tough choice and I have found myself on several occasions driving the tow vehicle to work when I was between cheap daily drivers. Luckily it is pretty easy to find a good but cheap Miata, RX7, MR2 or such that I can drive on a daily basis.
 
I would argue with that Whenry. IIRC the Lightning can tow a rated 5000 lbs. In fact, it comes standard with a class III tow package. (according to a review)

Additionally, I'm quite confident that it is underrated as the regular F150 can haul 7000 or so.
Lightning vs F150.
More power, stronger tranny, better brakes..

The limiting factor is probably the rear suspension rate/travel. So put some add-a-leafs, air bags, etc back there if you need to get over 5000.

Oh yeah, and trailer brakes.

Correct call on the typhoon towing.. I had forgotten that. Then again they are hand grenades anyway.

There used to be a guy down here in NC that towed with an old ambulance (the gostbusters one). I've also seen a hearse.
 
Memories of a hearse-yes indeed a friend in Pittsburgh actually towed his Sprite with one in the '60s. Big wagons and even El Caminos and Rancheros can be used to tow with if set up properly. A well known East Coast Cobra 427 driver used a Caddy with a torsion type hitch to tow a huge open trailer in the '60s. Can be done if done right.
Today's trucks are a different breed. Be very careful , as others have noted, about capacity. I had the unfortunate experience with our brand new Dakota of finding out how little they really can haul. I bought the truck because it is rated for 6010 total-including the tongue weight. It sank over 3" from the getgo and stayed there. Chrysler had to replace the springs-but refused to put a heavy-duty set on (they claim it is not in the parts book). The only warranty acceptable substitute is to go with Timbren bumpstops to add 1k of capacity. Be sure to balance the trailer for about 300-500 pounds on the ball. Our rig is now riding just fine with the 4.7 under the hood. A 5.9 would have been nicer <G>. The mention of the Lightning or SRT-10 is a different matter as they are designed more as sport trucks than full tow setups. The 2003 Dakota RT was a nice high output truck-but was lowered at the factory-which makes towing a race trailer interesting. The full size Ram or F-150 is better suited to a closed trailer and average race car versus our open aluminum trailer and CRX.
Our solution was and is not cheap-wish I could have done a Big bore Bronco, more practical in winter they say.
Just some thoughts....

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Grandpa's toys-modded suspensions and a few other tweaks
'89 CRX Si-SCCA ITA #99
'99 Prelude=a sweet song
'03 Dodge Dakota Club Cab V8-Patriot Blue gonna tow

[This message has been edited by jc836 (edited December 03, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by jc836 (edited December 03, 2003).]
 
what can I live with as a daily driver? Well, it has to be easy to drive and park in Manhattan (I have friends and relatives there), and it's got to have AWD. That leaves me with anything from Subaru, a few audi's, a bmw, some vw's, maybe a MB or two, Aero's, Matrix's (fake AWD, imo), etc.

In other words, I plan on driving my RS into the ground before I buy a new daily driver.

Well, I've got time, so I'll see what deals pop up.
 
I hate to say it, but a Ford F-350 Super Duty crew cab diesel meets all of your requirements!

Easy to drive: Heck yeah! If anything gets in your way, you don't need to stop. They'll move (one way or another!)

Easy to park: Can you say 700 ft*lbf of torque (or something like that)? You can easily make a parking spot big enough for yourself.

AWD: Well 4wd is pretty close and essentially serves the same purpose...

So, as you can see, there really is no reason to limit yourself to those smaller, wussy cars!
biggrin.gif



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Bill
Planet 6 Racing
bill (at) planet6racing (dot) com
 
Roy,

I live in Manhattan as does my daily driver. It costs a fortune to park the dd in a parking garage along with 300 others (don't ask, I've paid less for my apartment rent). I take the subway to work and only use the dd on weekends. I would drive my dd (88 Integra)to the car, stored 15 minutes away in NJ, and then drive the racecar to the track. My race car and trailer now live in someones backyard 45 minutes from home. After 5 years I decided that renting a truck and trailer to tow to distant tracks was getting very old. I borrowed a friend's V6 S-10 and trailer for a trip to the Glen and hated the way the rear yanked the front around. Living where I do I could only have one dd. I assessed my needs and decided that keeping the total car/trailer weight down was important as it would require less of a tow vehicle. I decided on a Trailex aluminum trailer (750 lbs.) pulled by a Cherokee with a 4.0 six cyl. This is a fantastic combo for a 2000 lb. car with 300 lbs. of stuff in it. It would do 70+ easily over the steepest grades between NYC and Pocono or Watkins Glen. I have surge brakes (KISS) and occasionally heavy braking caused some swerve, but never out of control. After 100K miles on the Cherokee I could not resist Jeeps leftover sales and got a Grand Cherokee with the 4.7 eight cyl. Ecstasy. This combo is terriffic. I do not need to take my entire garage with me, so the load is reasonable. I don't have a garage anyway. The Jeep is compact, can be found with a tow package factory installed, is AWD for winter shits and grins, and doesn't gulp gas like pick-ups. Take a look at Trailex.com. The extra cost of such a trailer is (IMHO) offset by not needing to go to the 'burban sized vehicles.

Dave Z

Originally posted by Roy Dean:
what can I live with as a daily driver? Well, it has to be easy to drive and park in Manhattan (I have friends and relatives there), and it's got to have AWD.
Click to expand...
 
Check the box weight of the enclosed trailer. My WellsCargo was over 3000# plus racecar(SM now) plus spares plus stuff. My total weight is just under 8000# and that does not include passengers, baggage, cooler, and the other stuff that we take for a race weekend. I unfortunately have to cross mtns any way that I go to a racetrack which just increases the stress on tow vehicle. I've had vans, 'Burbs, Expeditions and now V-10 Excursion. I would love to have the PSD but could not justify the extra $10k difference(the used market is real soft on the V-10) Excess towing capacity is great. And much safer.
 
A "little CRX" in an enclosed trailer of what sizeI might ask. The Durango with the big V8 will do fine with a 20' trailer open or enclosed. Our Dakota is the same basic truck and pulls our little CRX on a 20" open aluminum trailer to Pocono and The Glen with minimal difficulty-ther is only 1 hill that it slows down on and that is on the way home <G>. Consider what the Durango is rated for and what it will actually weigh. The trailer poses its own issues depending on size. If you go smaller than 24 feet be warned that the room inside diminishes accordingly. More food for thought.

------------------
Grandpa's toys-modded suspensions and a few other tweaks
'89 CRX Si-SCCA ITA #99
'99 Prelude=a sweet song
'03 Dodge Dakota Club Cab V8-Patriot Blue gonna tow
 
If you can swing it, the new Durango's (made it bigger) towing capacity is listed at 8950. For reference, current 1500 Ram trucks are listed at between 8400 and 8600.

2500 Ram is 12,900.
Excursion is 11,000.
2500 Suburban is 9600 with 6L engine, 12000 with 8.1 L engine

(OK, so those are a little bigger than you want...)

Yes, I've been shopping. This stuff happens to be on a piece of paper beside my desk.

Jarrod
 
Can you say HEMI....yeah!

I have used Dakotas since 1991. Since I like to carry fuel to the track, an SUV (Durango) is out of the question.

The Dakotas are a perfect size for a D/D and a Tow Vehicle. (I suppose the Big Toyota is equivalent but when we're talking a tow rig we're talking real 'Merican!)

The only problem with them is that they are Chryslers.

I have looked elsewhere, but my next tow vehicle will be another Dakota.

Good luck!
 
I was amazed at the towing capacity of my '93 Dakota with the base 3.9 V6 and 5-speed. It was a daily driver and towed 8-10 times a year, mostly to Blackhawk & Road America, but I made occasional trips to the other side of the pond.

But I wasn't impressed with the electrical system (I think I had the only Dodge with Lucas parts
smile.gif
) or the paint (it suffered from the peeling paint syndrome that plagued a lot of cars from late 80's/early 90's) or the fuel pumps (I was on my third pump).

I figured for occasional towing duty, I was fine. I used to get tired very easily when towing longer distances (4 hours or more) and found that a set of helper springs (the $30 type that clamp on to the axle) made a world of difference in the handling while towing. I found I didn't get nearly as tired with the helper springs. They only took 5 minutes to install so I only bolted them in before I packed for a race weekend. They were a little too stiff for everyday driving and made the truck kinda tail happy when wet.

Brakes were kinda marginal even with electric trailer brakes, but I found that upgrading to a premium set of aftermarket pads from Autozone took car of that problem.

My wife wanted me to upgrade tow vehicles this summer. I lucked into a '89 Suburban with a big block motor w/FI that had 97K miles for $2500. Bought it from a friend who picked it up four years ago and he only put 10K miles on it to tow his boat with. Needless to say, the increase in torque and towing capacity (it's kinda cool winning the drag races from the toll booths), plus the ability to keep everything locked up inside is wonderful.

The gas mileage sucks, but since I only use it for towing and occasional travel (3 or 4 times a month in the off season) this isn't an issue. My 'Towing' gas mileage is only 1 MPG worse than it was with the Dakota which was pretty effecient as a DD but drank heavily when towing.

[This message has been edited by Greg Gauper (edited December 04, 2003).]
 
I've towed for the past 2 years with a V8 Durango that has the factory installed tow package and it has been great. I pull a Rabbit and a 15 foot open trailer that has no center plates. The trailer weighs 1300 lbs; so total tow weight is probably in the 3700-3800lb range, depending on how much stuff I bring along.

The tow from Boston to Summit used to be a grind. Now it's a piece of cake!

Jim
 
Roy - I was in the same situation 6 years ago and bought a two-year-old (at the time) Jeep Grand Cherokee with a 5.2l V-8. I tow a 1st generation Honda CRX (not that much heavier than the Swift) on a two-axle open trailer. I've had no problems going through the Berkshires on the way to LRP, and the Jeep's small enough to have been used as a daily driver for much of the last 6 years (ok, so I broke down and bought myslef a new MINI for fun this year). My only other advice is to get a weight-distributing hitch for the set-up and a good trailer-brake controller. With my set-up, I can tow at 75 MPH all day - nicely balanced, no sway from the trailer. The trailer has a tire rack and a pickup-truck tool-box mounted on it, so all the heavy stuff (jack, jack-stand, tires) all live on the trailer and not in the Jeep.

-noam
 
I too had a 6 cyl truck (4-Runner) to tow an open trailer. It was fun until I drove up a long hill on the way to LRP. Started at the bottom of the hill doing 55... 1/2 mile later doing 25 at the top.

I now have a GMC Suburban 2500. Great tow/crew/stuff vehicle. I bought a '99 used. They are a great bargin... the 2000's are about 10K more (new engine and body syle.)

I now tow a 24' enclosed trailer and barely know it is there.

Anthony R.
NER - ITA #86
Honda CRX Si
 
Thanks for all the input, guys. From what I've heard here (and from some other information I've gotten, see below), I'm probably going to buy a year or two old full size pickup. A friend has volunteered to let me keep the trailer at his place.

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If I were you I'd look ahead a little. One day you may have a bigger/
heavier race car or will undoubtedly be asked by a friend to tow some
regular car. Those little trucks work to tow short distances but they really
aren't up to the task on a regualr basis. Don't looking only at the engine
as the determining factor of a suitable vehicle. These are the important
things. Vehicle weight: heavier is better cause the trailer will make up a
smaller portion of the CVW or combined vehicle weight. This also contributes
to a heavier axle, bigger brakes, tranny coolers and heavier chassis. Most
trucks can tow more than their weight but this is best left to good towing
equipment like goosenck trailers/ air shocks/ load distributing hitches/etc.
If your trailer weighs in less than your truck, your towing will go much
easier. Wheelbase: longer wheel base makes for a more stable weave free
ride. If you get a small truck the bitch will weave at speed. Sure you may
have enough engine to tow at 75-70mph but the weave will make the towing
scarier than the track time. Rear overhang: very important especially if
you are looking at a small (midsize is the same) truck. The shorter the
overhang the closer the hitch is to the axle. This is important since this
will have a huge effect on the trailer's tendance to swing out in a turn,
which contributes to weave. The longer the wheelbase, the long the
acceptable amount of rear overhang is tolerable. This also affects the
amount the front end of the truck lifts with the weight of the trailer.
Example of the worst choice possible: Ford Bronco2.
Just so you know: a typical 16' car trailer weighs in around 1500 lbs. 14'
would be better but they are hard to find. So you need to assume you will
be towing 3300 lbs and an extra 200-300 lbs of gear for a weekend. BTW
Beware of Chrapsler trannys. I hear that the ones on the full sized Rams are
sh!t.
 
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