What do you use to tow with?

[alsancle]

In honor of the "interest in prewar cars dwindling" thread going sideways with truck discussion,  I thought I would start a dedicated thread to what we use to pull our trailers.

 

Back in 1998,  my dad ordered a brand new two wheel drive Suburban 2500 with the 454 tow package.   He got the optional fender flares and running boards and the whole thing looks like the mystery machine from Scooby Doo.   Not the best looking truck, but a great setup for pulling.    21 years later,  it still only has 65k miles on it.

 

2018 is the last year you can buy a stick in a full size America truck.   That would be the Ram 2500/3500 Cummins. I have my eye on one,  but I just need to find the 55k.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2018-Ram-3500-Big-Horn-4WD-Diesel-Truck-Keyless-Entry-Steering-Wheel-Controls/362612387314

 

 

Edited May 16, 2019 by alsancle (see edit history)

[Curti]

We have something else in common AJ.  Maybe I should put white walls on it 

[CarlLaFong]

2016 Ram for me, 6 speed manual and Cummins Diesel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2019 by CarlLaFong (see edit history)

[1937hd45]

Congratulations on the 21 year old Suburban! Four more years and it can be on the Hershey show field. They should have a Tow Vehicle class with a photo of the vehicle they brought to the show 25 years ago. Bob 

[Mark Shaw]

My every day driver and tow vehicle is a 2013 GMC Yukon Denali. 

This is a luxury SUV that fits in my home garage (folding mirrors) and hauls my 20' Aluminum Enclosed Trailer with any of my cars.

6 Speed Automatic Transmission, AWD, Flex Fuel, 6.2 Liter Gasoline Engine, 20 MPG Hwy., 15 MPG City.

GMC Yukon Denali: 403 HP (301 kW) @ 5700 RPM SAE, 417 lb.-ft. (565 Nm) @ 4300 RPM SAE Certified.

 

[Matt Harwood]

We currently have a 2009 3/4-ton Suburban to pull our 24-foot enclosed trailer. It's adequate, but on the mountains going to Hershey, it spends a lot of time in 3rd gear (out of 6). The 6.0 gas V8 is plenty punchy around town but laoded down, it works pretty hard. I will say that it tracks well and pulls straight and I'm very pleased with it all other times when I'm not trying to climb a mountain. Until recently, it was also Melanie's daily driver and it's still the best road trip vehicle you can own if you have a family.
 

Unfortunately, the previous generation was the last 3/4 ton Suburban you can buy. They're all half-tons now. Bleh.

 

If you're looking at a tow vehicle, I would recommend reaching for a diesel. I'm not sure the stick shift is necessarily an advantage--I've had plenty of cases where manipulating a clutch would have really made life harder while towing a trailer. But a diesel engine will make towing easier and safer. I think a 3/4-ton pickup with a diesel is adequate for most hobbyist-level needs where towing is infrequent. Duallies are awesome and with the new Dodges coming with 1000 lb-ft of torque they can probably climb the Rockies without a downshift, but they're also terrifyingly expensive and it's hard to justify having that much truck when it's not connected to a trailer.

[Xander Wildeisen]

2008 Ram 3500 mega cab, 24ft enclosed Interstate supercoach.

[Dave39MD]

2006 Chevy Duramax with Allison tranny.  Pulls great and with 242,000 still going strong.

 

Dave

[Walt G]

2 hours ago, alsancle said:

the "interest in prewar cars dwindling" thread going sideways with truck discussion

Thanks Al for that comment, I gave up reading the pre war dwindling discussion because it did drift into a totally different topic of truck towing - huh, why ? Both kind of interesting ( although I personally have never towed anything via trailer open or closed, only towed stuff locally 40 years ago on the end of a rope or a chain short distances ) but I really appreciate those who are reading and posting for staying on the topic.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

First love the 39 Chevy Dave.  Actually a good friend still has one he restored between 77 & 80.  A local show winner, not bad for a restoration done mainly during High school summer vacations.

 

So i dont tow but this towing story relates to same friend.  Around 1981, at age 20 he drove a then 20 year old Dodge slant 6 pickup across the country to fetch a Packard 110 in Kansas I think.  He still has the Packard which is getting there, a 35 year long project...  of course no more summer vacations!!

 

The Dodge, well it sort of survives as he has since bought a few of those sweptside pick ups and the first one lives on in parts...

Edited May 16, 2019 by Steve_Mack_CT (see edit history)

[CarNucopia]

I tow with a 2016 VW Touareg TDI. which is rated to pull 7,700 pounds. I think the most I've towed was an open trailer at around 6,000, but the thing did it like a champ. I did one 1,000 mile day pulling a U-Haul trailer. It's super comfortable and a great daily driver.

[Rusty_OToole]

Friend of mine towed a 54 Packard Patrician home from Pennsylvania on a tow bar, with a 93 Pontiac Grand Am V6. Canadians do things differently. You don't need a 10 ton truck with a 500HP engine to tow a car.

[Brass is Best]

Hard to beat a Chevrolet.

[Lebowski]

This isn't going to impress anyone but here goes anyway. I have a 2018 F-150 XL with the 290 hp 3.3 V6 that I bought in November 2017. A week after I bought it I drove 280 miles with a U-Haul trailer behind it to northern Indiana and bought my 1970 Chevelle SS396. The truck only had 94 miles on it when I left that morning. It has a 5000 pound towing capacity but it pulled the 3500 pound car on the 2200 pound trailer (5700 pounds total) just fine at 60 mph in tow mode all the way home. I need the 8 foot bed because my wife is a gardening nut and needs several truckloads of mulch, compost, dirt and straw bales every year. After a year and a half I have only put 2500 miles on it.... 

[edinmass]

This is one set up........50 foot trailer.....

Edited May 16, 2019 by edinmass (see edit history)

[edinmass]

My favorite rig I have ever owned..........fantastic unit...........34 foot tag triple 21K with 13k capacity. Stops fantastic, and the spread axle set up is a must. 

[alsancle]

Like I said before Eddy,  I can't believe that thing is a bumper tow.

[oldcarfudd]

Ditto on the diesel Touareg.

[Paul Dobbin]

For tours an longer trips we use a diesel pusher Airstream Land Yacht.

 

For short trip and hotel stay tours we tow with a GMC Yukon.

Edited May 16, 2019 by Paul Dobbin (see edit history)

[Bloo]

 

[Bhigdog]

2004 Dodge 2500 Cummins. 2 doors, 8' bed. Don't see too many of them anymore. Car and trailer gross out about 10,000. Dodge rarely breaks a sweat. I worry more about trailer tires than I do the truck............Bob

[alsancle]

2 hours ago, Lebowski said:

This isn't going to impress anyone but here goes anyway. I have a 2018 F-150 XL with the 290 hp 3.3 V6 that I bought in November 2017. A week after I bought it I drove 280 miles with a U-Haul trailer behind it to northern Indiana and bought my 1970 Chevelle SS396. The truck only had 94 miles on it when I left that morning. It has a 5000 pound towing capacity but it pulled the 3500 pound car on the 2200 pound trailer (5700 pounds total) just fine at 60 mph in tow mode all the way home. I need the 8 foot bed because my wife is a gardening nut and needs several truckloads of mulch, compost, dirt and straw bales every year. After a year and a half I have only put 2500 miles on it.... 

 

I'm a hobby farmer too.  I love my F150 with the 5.4  but I couldn't pull anything heavy with it.  At least not very far.

[edinmass]

Those goats are good eating.............you city farmers seem to think they are pets. Don’t wait too long or you’ll have to cook him for hours as the older they get, the tougher they get.......then they become “stew only”.

[J.H.Boland]

I've posted this photo before,but it fits the topic. I bought this '72 Chevy C20 3/4 ton in 1984 and restored it in 1988. It has a 400 sbc with an RV cam,a 700R4 automatic,and a Dana rear with 3.73 gears.It doesn't have the torque of the newer haulers,but suits my needs to a "T". I use it for tow,show,and go.

[Eldovert]

1994 Dodge diesel..595,000 and counting

[Guest]

Deleted from Earl's thread and moved here. 2002 F-350 Regular cab dually 7.3L Diesel.  24 ft tag. The truck has a goose neck hitch installed in the bed, and sometimes I think I'd like to have a 34-36 foot enclosed goose neck trailer, but it probably won't happen.

[Modeleh]

Come on I thought you all were old car guys! Let’s see some classic tow trucks!

66 F250 4x4 

[4Hud]

Here is our set up, the photo was taken in Jasper National Park, Alberta on the way back from picking up our newly acquired 1920 model 'T' from the Kamloops, British Columbia area a few weeks ago. 2000 km round trip. Ya, the Dodge has a Hemi, plenty of power but it's a little thirsty.

[Restorer32]

In our experience there has never been a better tow vehicle built than the Ram 2500 or 3500 Diesel. We are on our 4th. I drove my '99 270,000 miles basically trouble free. I only replaced it after I had knee replacement surgery and had trouble pressing the clutch. My current model,  a 2004,  shows 180,000 miles and still runs strong. Pulling a 24' trailer with a heavy antique onboard it averages 13-14 mpg. 17 or better when running empty.  One problem, you have to keep in mind that there is a trailer behind you. It is easy to forget it's there and I mean that sincerely. The Cummins is amazing. Now we mostly tow with Son's 2011 Ram 3500 Dually Cummins. Tremendous power but less fuel economy, around 10 mpg when towing.  Both my 2004 and Son's 2011 are automatics and so far no problems after at least 100,000 miles towing.

[alsancle]

14 hours ago, Bhigdog said:

 I worry more about trailer tires than I do the truck.

 

Bob,  this is the part of the thread where Ed Minnie jumps in and gives a dissertation on trailer tires.    He's going to say that:

 

1.  You need to be running the heavy axles with 16 inch wheels.

 

2.  Buy the commercial tires  (Ed what brand?)

 

 

[Rooney3100]

2004 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins.....

[charlier]

2012 Toyota Tundra,  5.7L V8

[edinmass]

Sailun Brand trailer tires......16 inch. Best trailer tire in the world.

[leon bee]

I only ever pull a rusty car hauler. Been working on my soon to be tow rig: 75 Lincoln Mark IV. 460 with 4 wheel disc brakes. Wonder what kind of gas mileage that's gonna be?

[charlier]

2 hours ago, edinmass said:

Sailun Brand trailer tires......16 inch. Best trailer tire in the world.

 

Maybe someday Sailun will make 15 inch tires for those of use that need them.

 

Until then I guess I will keep buying Maxxis Trailer Tires. 

[dei]

For the last several years I've used my F-150 to haul my antiques to fairly local car events.

 

[Laughing Coyote]

Here's mine. A 2007 Chevy 2500HD with the 6.0 and 6 speed trans. I pull my 7' x 16' box trailer and my 5'x 10' dump trailer. It has 122,000 on the clock.

 

 

[30DodgePanel]

On 5/16/2019 at 8:12 PM, Modeleh said:

Come on I thought you all were old car guys! Let’s see some classic tow trucks!

66 F250 4x4 

 

 

 

I'm the last one to agree with anything Ford but I have to say, I love your thinking. Very cool 

 

What's the tow capacity on a 66 F250 4x4 (just curious) ? 

[hidden_hunter]

I rely on the old mans x5 50d - about the only not totally agricultural thing you can buy here that has the towing capacity to take the 22 cadillac(it's something like 4200lbs) we don't get any of the pickup options at all so it's pretty much a hilux or ranger with nice markup.....

Edited May 19, 2019 by hidden_hunter (see edit history)

[Xander Wildeisen]