tow vehicles

I think the Tundras are great. Like driving a lexus, only taller. Smooth and powerful. I was going to purchase some for company work trucks, really wanted to, but the load capacity was about 1000 pounds short of what I needed so had to go to ford instead.

El and Bill: What did you do with your diesel and the Alaskan Camper? We just bought a Ram diesel and a camper, now I find you have switched. Can't keep up with you.
 
El & Bill,

Wonderful...thanks for the info on the Tundra...think we may take a test drive soon. Have a 2000 Ford 150 XLT with 100,000 on it. Has pulled our 22 last summer beautifully up to the San Juans a number of times.

Have test driven the Dodge 2500 with the diesel...love it but think it may be too much. Like the Fords but open to the Toyota. Gas mileage would be nice in the Toyota.

Thanks again,

JohnF
 
Lloyds --

Our 1993 Ford F-250 diesel has 300,000 miles on it and the slide-in '93 Alaska camper was lived in for 7 years before we bought Halcyon. We continued to use the camper as our home for the past 5 years, when not living on the boat. As you probably know, the Alaska camper has a hydraulic lift and we must have used it up and down thousands of times in those years -- we got our money's worth out of that great truck and camper - virtually no expense except routine maintainance. We were 'houseless' but certainly not homeless.

We gave the outfit to one of our Colorado kids last month. Both the truck and camper are now refurbished (cost a total of $300, to tweak the injectors to meet Colorado emission standards) and they use it as a weekend and vacation camper for family outings (and their two small boys love to 'camp' in it in their driveway).

The Tundra has a SnugTop (a simple cover over the bed of the truck) and we have it setup to sleep and 'camp' in the back when not pulling the boat-camper.

So, not too hard to keep up with us -- we had the same vehicle and 'home' for 13 years -- and hope to keep the Tundra for that long as well.

John - check the consumer reports for frequency of repair, etc. on the Ford, Dodge, and Chev compared with the Toyota. (The Tundra is built in the US {and we even own a little Toyota stock} so it ain't un-American to buy one.
 
El and Bill-

Thanks for the information on the Tundra!

This full sized truck with the Toyota reputation is going to make a very serious dent in the sales of "American" brand full sized trucks, one of the last bastions of sales domination by American manufacturers because of up to now, of lack of serious compeition. Enter Nissan, and ............

The partial manufacture and assembly in this country will eliminate some folk's objection to the "foreign' nature of this vehicle when they're shopping. Some will remain brand loyal to their traditional truck make, but many will not. Regional differences will be huge!

And this is happiening just when Ford, GM, Etc. were reorganizing, going through bankruptcy, etc.!

You're right, check where you have your stock money invested!

(I know some of these new trucks have been on the market for several years, but all these changes take time.)

Joe.
 
El & Bill,

Well tonight I test drove both a 2006 Toyota Tundra V8 4x4 TRD package with 4 doors and a 2005 Ford F150 4x4 Lariat 4 door with 3,800 miles (demo vehicle).

They both seemed to drive smooth. Made an outrageous offer on the F150 and they agreed....it was outrageous! :smilep Just figured I'd really see how crazy they wanted to get on March 31st because they had called me and said get crazy...right up my alley!

Oh well back to the drawing board. Do kind of want that Toyota but want more for it than an F150 XLT 4x4 with 4 doors when they are on ad.

We get Consumer Reports...do you recall which issue? Was it the current one or a while back?

Thanks again for all the info.

Crazy John Frazey (& Amy too)
 
John and Amy --
Our son belongs to consumer reports online and we checked on the ratings for trucks online over at his place. Might want to check on the tow ratings between the F-150 and the 271hp V-8 Tundra. Good luck on your looking.
 
Yeah, the current Tundra's tow rating is around 6900 lbs I believe. I have one! I think the great thing about the current tundra is it's uniqueness, it's a great communer and when you need it to, it will pull! However,...not enough for some.

That's whats happening with the current 1/2 truck market. The new-gen. trucks such as the new F-150 are getting beefed up. Soon next year, even toyota will come out with a new tundra...with a 10,000 lbs tow-rating or such, I forgot.

I don't like the looks, so I'm still gonna keep mine!
 
Zydecomo you used the page address in your above post. You have to use the photo address.

It is

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________
Dave dlt.gif
 
Help,

My tow vehicle has developed rust on the rocker panels, and the body shops seem to only replace parts. The vehicle is a 2 door 1994 Explorer Scout. (Seems that not enough of them were built so the after market on rocker panels is non-existent. Ford has some, but at outrageous rates.)

I have been looking at used SUV's, but most available have a 3500# towing package. (The wife wants to have the third seat so we could carry all 5 grandkids at one time.) The boat is a 1983 Classic 22' Angler.

The 5000# SUV's are to expensive to buy or to run. (Ford Expedition types.)

Any ideas.

Fred
 
FWIW. In addition to tow ratings, consumer reports, etc. you may want to consider truck fueling. I have a diesel and when hauling the TomCat it is easy to pull into a truck stop for fuel. I also have a gas vehicle that has hauled an RV trailer and I was not able to get around easily in all gas stations designed mostly for cars, not trucks with trailers.
 
We towed our 22 with the Honda Pilot part time. It is a V 6, fairly economical--about 12 to 13 mpg when towing in the 20 to 22 mpg on the highway, and has the 3rd seat. The tow rating for a "house trailer is 3500 lbs, for boats 4500 lbs.

Trailer life has a towing guide with general comments:
http://www.trailerlife.com/downloads/20 ... g_p7_9.pdf

Each year a report is given with the specific vehicles such as:
http://www.trailerlife.com/downloads/00towingguide.pdf (2000)

http://www.bobstravelcenter.com/etc/200 ... atings.pdf (2006)

The tow capacity may change from year to year, and models change.

There are several of the SUV's which have the third row seats (such as the Honda pilot, Toyota four runner, Nissan Pathfinder. Generally these are on either truck or crossover platforms, thus available to tow more capacity, and a bit more economical to run.

We own a 2000 Ford Excursion 7.3 L diesel for our towing. It gets 20 mpg on the highway when towing an empty trailer--but drops to 9 miles a gallon when towing the CD 25. I suspect it would be about 12 miles a gallon when towing a CD 22. The interior of these is huge, and even adults can get into the 3rd seat.

Of course there is a balance between the cost of the vehicle, the capacity and the cost to run. If the vehicle is heavy duty and has the tow capacity it will burn more fuel, and that is why the suggestion of the diesel as in Boodalu's post.
 
Sorry for bumping this back up, but wanted to add that several manufacturers will be offering new, "light duty" diesels in the next couple of years. 1/2 ton diesel pick ups are planned by all 3 domestic manufacturers for 2009/2010 model years. From what I've read, these engines will be V6's and small V8's in the 4.0 to 5.0 liter range.

http://www.biodieselnow.com/blogs/truck ... iesel.aspx

This could represent the best of both worlds for towing 22' C-Dorys (and maybe even the 25's). A modern turbo-diesel in that size will have greater torque than a gas V8, and should still deliver good fuel economy (25 mpg on the highway).

Of course, I'm not a C-Dory owner yet, and have a bit of an oddball tow rig (a diesel Jeep Liberty, 300 foot pounds of torque and 28-30 mpg on the highway). I'm hoping that with a tandem axle trailer and surge brakes my little tractor will be up to the task for a 22' Cruiser. Folks have had good success towing small RV trailers with them.
 
The subject line is in jest, but the price of diesel is outrageous. I really like my 2000 F250 7.3liter, but I do not like the cost when it comes to filling it up. I don't understand all of the reasoning why it went from a per gallon that was less than regular to a per gallon that is above premium.

Even though I like the power of the diesel, I would think seriously about going to a gas engine if I ever replace the moose.

Steve
 
Do not forget that diesels are inherently more fuel efficient than gasoline engines. B20 bio-diesel here in Portland was running $3.40 the last time I filled up, regular unleaded was around $2.89. On the other hand, a gasoline Jeep Liberty averages 20 mpg on the highway, my diesel gets 28 mpg.

With big pick ups, the advantage is greater. An older Dodge Ram with the 5.9 Cummins inline 6 can get as high as 24 mpg on the highway. The biggest gas V8 option can't match the diesel in torque, and is lucky to get 18 mpg on the highway.
 
I folks,

I thought I would let you know what I did with my Explorer with the rusted rocker panels.

After listening to four auto body people tell me that it would not pass inspection, I purchased some metal tape, applied it on top of the rocker panels, painted it with primer and flat black paint, took the car to the inspection center and got a sticker.

One more year.

Thanks for your help,

Fred Heap
 
I'll be the odd man out. I have a Regular cab Chevy 1500 with a 4.3L automatic. It's kinda like my CDC...doesn't get there fast but gets decent mpg. On a recent highway trip I got more than 17 mpg.
 
Good morning brats!

Yes a diesel is a great investment - for some. Diesels retain more of their value than gas. Traditionally they need very little care and do have about 30-40% better mileage than the gas counter part. The Cummins can actually go 15,000 miles between oil changes! I have done quite a bit of research into the various models and makes. If you want one of the best tow rigs and spend the least amount of money - your swiss army knife would be a 5.4L F250 - great towing capability and the track record of the F-series can't be beat. The trend in trucks is moving to the four door/crew cab - if your a long term owner and don't need or ever think you'll need the space you can pick up a great deal on an extended cab or regular cab pick up for a song. When I sell a truck I always ask, what are you primarily going to do with your new truck. If it's moving a lunch box from point A to B 90-95% of the time they are probably best served purchasing a 1/2 ton with a V8 - take a good look at the Ford F150 or Dodge 1500 as they can get them in any configuration to suit your lunch box to five additional guest. What are your needs vs wants? What is your budget? What are you and will you be towing? Many times we look at our wants more than needs. I personally bought big enough that I would not need to buy in the future if I choose to purchase a larger camper or boat. Another approach is to insure you have a good mileage car and drive your launch box - this keeps the miles off your truck and contributes to conserving our natural resources.
Good luck with your decisions - feel free should you wish to discuss any of the above to pm me.

Take care maybe see some at SBS tomorrow.
 
With the anticipated purchasing of a C-Dory in the near future I decided to take the plunge and purchase a tow vehicle now. I purchased a 2005 F-250 w/ a 6.0 liter turbo-diesel, crew cab, short bed from a co-worker's step-dad. More than enough torque/interior room etc for my needs, it has low mileage and I know the history & original owners. ALthough I have a 4.0 liter equipped Explorer I was not satisfied with the limited tow capacity @ 5k lbs.

Being a diesel I anticipate this truck lasting many years to come as opposed to a gas truck while getting slightly better gas mileage per gallon.
 
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