Which tow vehicle?

[footnlongline]

Thanks to all for your opinions, even those that think I have an open check book. I'll probably go with an '02-'03 Tahoe or Yukon with around 100K miles as there are quite a few in the area in that price range.

Dont overlook a used jeep commander with the 4.7. while I don't use it as my primary tow vehicle because I prefer the mirrors on my truck, it is very capable. I was forced to use it to tow the boat over 600 miles and was very impressed with the power, brakes and handling on that trip. Storage is the downfall with it and the mirrors are kinda small, very very good on steep slippery launching ramps with the quadra drive, very reliable, piss poor gas mileage for a small V8.

[awhillia]

I tow my 2001 23lsv 110 miles one way every weekend in the summer with my 2007 tacoma 4.0 v6. i keep the boat on murray during the week while at work and at home close to norman on weekends. my truck is 4wd and lifted also. Dont worry about the horsepower of the vehicle. You need to be concerned with the towing capacity of the vehicle.

Will a jeep wrangler get a 247 moving down the road at 70mp?. Definitely yes.

Will the same vehicles suspension handle it safely??? Definitly not

Bottom line my truck tows really well even though it is only a 6 cylinder because i stay within toyotas maximum towing capacity which is rated at 6500lbs.

[cjohnson8080]

I think something like this should fit the bill......http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/2094999113.html

[jetskipro550]

There are lots of 01+ suburbans, tahoes, or crew cab trucks that would work well. Same goes with early 2000's Expeditions and F-150's. A few years go when gas was sky high there were tons of good SUV's in the 10-12 range!

[Sixball]

I have been pulling with SUV's and Bronco's before ford had SUV's from 1972. Never had a bad one so my next will be another .

I am hoping my current Expedition keeps humming until some of the new Ford power plants get into the frame rails.

The new Ford V6 has more HP and torque then the current V8.

[Bozboat]

Wow, a Denali. Best all around choice. If you are planning on towing any distance, the first choice would be a Duramax powered Crew Cab. Its not the horsepower so much as it is the Torque curve that makes the large V-8 or the Diesel the better option.

[footnlongline]

I tow my 2001 23lsv 110 miles one way every weekend in the summer with my 2007 tacoma 4.0 v6. i keep the boat on murray during the week while at work and at home close to norman on weekends. my truck is 4wd and lifted also. Dont worry about the horsepower of the vehicle. You need to be concerned with the towing capacity of the vehicle.

Will a jeep wrangler get a 247 moving down the road at 70mp?. Definitely yes.

Will the same vehicles suspension handle it safely??? Definitly not

Bottom line my truck tows really well even though it is only a 6 cylinder because i stay within toyotas maximum towing capacity which is rated at 6500lbs.

who said anything about a wrangler? Trust me, the jeep commander is a true 1/2 ton and will easily out perform any tacoma any day. With 6 people and fully loaded, plus a loaded boat, the commander's suspension did not squat or yield, it out performed a 1/2 ton ram 1500 except for the mirror size. The only draw back to the Commander is when the third row seating is up the storage is next to nothing, and the gas mileage is poor.

[RTS]

Those Commanders are impressive. My wife was given one as a rental when her company car was being fixed. We drove it to Atlanta for Thanksgiving a couple years ago. I usually drive 75-78 MPH on the highway, but that Commander rode so nice I got myself a ticket going 90MPH....did not feel like I was going that fast at all. No Experience towing with it though.

[awhillia]

who said anything about a wrangler? Trust me, the jeep commander is a true 1/2 ton and will easily out perform any tacoma any day. With 6 people and fully loaded, plus a loaded boat, the commander's suspension did not squat or yield, it out performed a 1/2 ton ram 1500 except for the mirror size. The only draw back to the Commander is when the third row seating is up the storage is next to nothing, and the gas mileage is poor.

the wrangler was meant to be used as an example. if you mean out perform as in replacing transmissions then you are correct. you will need to repair your chrysler commander long before the tacoma will break down.

i just think its silly that people base a vehicles towing capability based solely on rated hp. there are many pickups out there especially midsize ones that will tow any malibu fine even though they have a 6 cylinder. Nissan frontier, tacoma, even the dang dodge dakota.

most gm vehicles can be ordered with the 250 dollar option of a transmission cooler which hardly any of them youll find have it. every tacoma that has a hitch from the factory comes with one. a tranny cooler will greatly increase your towing capacity and ability to do it without damaging the vehicle.

if you are set on a tahoe or denali i would highly recommend the tranny cooler. it will look like a mini radiator and will be sitting directly in front of the big radiator. no need to pop the hood you can see it through the grill.

good luck with the search.

[bennekm]

What about an 05/06 Nissan Armada SE? They fall in that price range I believe. I'm on my second Armada and you can't even tell my 23 is behind it...that is except for when I fill up the tank.

I love the back-up camera when hitching up the boat too (Although 05/06 SE's won't have that).

Edited December 9, 2010 by bennekm

[Bobby Light]

What about an 05/06 Nissan Armada SE? They fall in that price range I believe. I'm on my second Armada and you can't even tell my 23 is behind it...that is except for when I fill up the tank.

I love the back-up camera when hitching up the boat too (Although 05/06 SE's won't have that).

Must be when you're headed down hill. Have you ever towed with a diesel?

[bennekm]

Must be when you're headed down hill. Have you ever towed with a diesel?

I have and agree a truck that has a 13k+ lbs tow capacity definitely tows a 4-5k lbs boat better than a truck that has a 9k lbs tow capacity, but dollar to dollar, you're going to get a much newer and lower mileage vehicle if you focus on a gas engine and on a truck that has terrible resale value but does the job very well. At least for me, I think a diesel is an overkill for towing any Malibu...and where I live...I don't have a 1500 foot extension cord that I can plug my truck into at work during a winter day so the damn thing will start.

[Lance B. Johnson]

the wrangler was meant to be used as an example. if you mean out perform as in replacing transmissions then you are correct. you will need to repair your chrysler commander long before the tacoma will break down.

i just think its silly that people base a vehicles towing capability based solely on rated hp. there are many pickups out there especially midsize ones that will tow any malibu fine even though they have a 6 cylinder. Nissan frontier, tacoma, even the dang dodge dakota.

most gm vehicles can be ordered with the 250 dollar option of a transmission cooler which hardly any of them youll find have it. every tacoma that has a hitch from the factory comes with one. a tranny cooler will greatly increase your towing capacity and ability to do it without damaging the vehicle.

if you are set on a tahoe or denali i would highly recommend the tranny cooler. it will look like a mini radiator and will be sitting directly in front of the big radiator. no need to pop the hood you can see it through the grill.

good luck with the search.

These discussions are always so much fun. I think I need to join just so I can say that I have done plenty of work to toyotas and that includes transmissions in tacomas. Do some internet searching and you'll find a bunch of PO'd tacoma owners with bad transmissions. Heck last week end I spent a couple hours at the shop replacing the rear wheel bearings/seals on a Tundra.

I am just saying that I frequently find myself questioning the "established norm" that Toyotas are the best made vehicle. Once it was true, I honestly don't believe it is the case today.

Edited December 9, 2010 by Ruffdog

[cjohnson8080]

Just getting back to reading the many replies..I've spent the last 5 days moving. A lot of much appreciated info...I love the spirited debate. As of right now I'm leaning toward the Tahoe, Denali, Yukon...must have the 6.0 liter. There is a lot of inventory to look at in the area, but as I'm sure you are all aware, it is very time consuming and talking with salesmen at dealers is like getting a root canal. Lucky thing is that my brother is the gm of a dealer in Utah so any deal that I consider will be looked at by him first. Usually I buy my autos through him but the inventory at the auctions is either crap or really highly priced.

Thanks again for all the info!

[footnlongline]

the wrangler was meant to be used as an example. if you mean out perform as in replacing transmissions then you are correct. you will need to repair your chrysler commander long before the tacoma will break down.

i just think its silly that people base a vehicles towing capability based solely on rated hp. there are many pickups out there especially midsize ones that will tow any malibu fine even though they have a 6 cylinder. Nissan frontier, tacoma, even the dang dodge dakota.

most gm vehicles can be ordered with the 250 dollar option of a transmission cooler which hardly any of them youll find have it. every tacoma that has a hitch from the factory comes with one. a tranny cooler will greatly increase your towing capacity and ability to do it without damaging the vehicle.

if you are set on a tahoe or denali i would highly recommend the tranny cooler. it will look like a mini radiator and will be sitting directly in front of the big radiator. no need to pop the hood you can see it through the grill.

good luck with the search.

This says it all about toyota trucks and there so called ruggedness

And people pay good money for those POS.

[Bozboat]

You might be able to find a Ford Excursion Limited, 4x4, with the Powerstroke, 2004 or so, for a reasonable price. Its more of a beast than a Suburban, but its a real truck that seats eight, not an SUV, with this set up you can pull a 10,000 pound trailer up a 15 degree slope at highway speeds, all day long.

[GRANDMASTERSWAG]

Well all I know is my 2010 Toyota Highlander with a 270 hp v6 and the towing package towed by Sunsetter LXi perfectly fine up the Coquihalla in B.C.!

[BSUBU_Kris]

I am pretty sure the Denali comes standard with a transmission cooler, I know mine has one. I have a 2003 Denali XL it has worked great. They are pretty close to your price range. I am going to get rid of mine within the next month and I expect around $14k trade maybe $16k if I sell myself. It has pretty low miles which adds a bit to the price. I suspect you should be able to fine a Denali with higher miles in your price range. I have been really happy with mine and will probably get a new one. Also looking at the Audi Q7 diesel but will probably end up with another Denali. It is a nice car as a daily driver.

[jjackkrash]

This says it all about toyota trucks and there so called ruggedness

And people pay good money for those POS.

I had an 07 2wd Tundra cab and a half. I thought it was an awesome tow vehicle for a 1/2 ton. The engine/tanny combo was awesome, the brakes were awesome, it got very good gas milage, and had a very quiet ride. It was a great tow vehicle. I sold it when I moved from Texas to the PacNW and now drive a an '10 3/4 ton Silverado 2500 with the 6.0l. I wanted 4 wheel drive and also wanted to pull a 5'er, and Chevy had some great incentives going, so I opted not to get another Tundra. The 2500 is a more stable tow platform--its a lot heavier--but there are a lot of things I really miss about the Tundra, including the milage and pep that that thing had. I love my Chevy, don't get me wrong, but that Tundra was certainly not a piece of sh*t.

[jjackkrash]

I think a small V-8 in a half-ton truck or SUV would be fine for your needs. I saw a recommendation for a diesel, but I just can't see advocating diesels for light towing needs. My personal opinion is that a diesel is not necessary unless you regularly tow 10K lbs. loads or more. For sub 6k lbs. loads, a diesel makes no sense to me whatsoever, even if you have an occasional hill to climb. My new gas 6.0l pulls sub 10k loads over hills just fine if you don't expect it to go 80 over the hill and don't mind letting the engine work in a higher RPM range than a diesel, and it pulls sub 6k lbs. loads over passes effortlessly. An 8.1l if you can still find one will pull just as good as a diesel. On the chevy, a diesel is an $8-10k upcharge over a gasser when you factor in the tranny. The milage between the gasser and diesel are a lot closer now with the new emissions equipment. Diesel fuel itself is usually more expensive. Maintenance on a diesel is much more expensive. The diesel engine itself lasts longer, but the rest of the truck wears out just like a gasser, unless you mod the diesel, then it wears out even quicker than a gasser. It just does not make sense to me from a financial standpoint. Also, diesel stinks and gets all over your hands every time you fuel up. Finally, quick runs to the store are really hard on a diesel of you don't let it get warmed up all the way before you shut it down.

For a boat like a VTX, a smaller V-8 should be just fine. I pulled a 5k lbs. trailer behind a Sequoia with a 4.7l from Texas to WA, and it did just fine, even over the 13k foot pass heading into Salt Lake. I regularly pull ski boats over the pass between Eastern and Western WA with the Sequoia. Is the pull the same as a diesel with 800 lbs. of torque and 450 HP? No, but it does just fine, IMHO.

[Levi900RR]

This says it all about toyota trucks and there so called ruggedness

And people pay good money for those POS.

I have a Tundra and I Love it

[Sixball]

Try a F-150 from home. http://www.drivef150ecoboost.com/

[footnlongline]

I had an 07 2wd Tundra cab and a half. I thought it was an awesome tow vehicle for a 1/2 ton. The engine/tanny combo was awesome, the brakes were awesome, it got very good gas milage, and had a very quiet ride. It was a great tow vehicle. I sold it when I moved from Texas to the PacNW and now drive a an '10 3/4 ton Silverado 2500 with the 6.0l. I wanted 4 wheel drive and also wanted to pull a 5'er, and Chevy had some great incentives going, so I opted not to get another Tundra. The 2500 is a more stable tow platform--its a lot heavier--but there are a lot of things I really miss about the Tundra, including the milage and pep that that thing had. I love my Chevy, don't get me wrong, but that Tundra was certainly not a piece of sh*t.

Maybe this will change your mind

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/daily-news/091009-Toyota-Tundra-Investigated-For-Severe-Frame-Rust-Problems/

[jetskipro550]

Did you read that article? It's for 2000 & 2001 Tundras. The old and new ones couldn't be any more different. It is funny though, that the picture they used is from an 07+ Tundra.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a name change in your future. "Footnlonglines has changed his name to Tundrahater"

[jjackkrash]

Maybe this will change your mind

http://usnews.rankin...-Rust-Problems/

Nope.