Maverick
old-school
- Location
- Anywhere, thanks to my geeky droid
I also really like my PSD X, and I agree that the gasser supercrew I drive is "easier" as a daily driver. Like glockman, my X now sits most of the time, which is ok because of the uber-expensive tires on it. I don't pay for the tires on the pickup. Or the insurance. Or the oil changes.
However, I used my X as a daily driver for a few years and was fine with it, you could even say that it was "reasonable". In the winter I have it plugged in on a timer, starts warming around 4-5 am, no problem when I head to the gym at 6, in fact, on cold mornings I drive it instead of scraping ice off the pickup. It's blowing warm air before I leave the neighborhood. It gets used on the weekends to go to the cabin, pull toys, etc. It's really not that bad to live with, and I really enjoy driving it, especially when I can cruise along for a while, but even my 6 mile commute to work on 13th east isn't bad. I'm sure to honk as I pass Cruiser Outfitters.
Back to towing: gas, diesel, whatever. It all works. I don't pull any faster with my X than my '99 burb, but it gets moving easier and has an easier time doing it. Towing with my '81 1/2 ton burb stressed me out and pushed me to the '99 3/4ton burb. It did great, but it developed some other issues and I wanted to try diesel. I don't like to be stressed when I tow, and the X affords me that. I'm (usually) not holding up traffic, and not thrashing the engine/transmission, etc. To me it's well worth the price of admission.
1/2ton vs 3/4ton vs 1ton is the more important consideration. I didn't mention it above the but the most important thing is handling the load and especially emergency manuevers. Three situations come to mind.
First was several years ago in Moab, we were headed out of town in my '99 burb on a rescue, and my buddy's jeep was on my trailer (so he could help fetch the stranded rig). South end of town we were starting to speed up and someone pulled out right in front of us. My friend braced for impact cuz in his mind, based on his experience towing with his (as I recall) 1/2ton Dodge, there was no way to avoid impact. I quickly braked and didn't even need to swerve; there was no panic or really any drama. Heavy burb, good brakes, trailer brakes, etc, did the job. He was amazed. He upgraded his truck.
2nd was on I-15 northbound in Lehi, coming home from Moab(?) a few years ago in the X. Jeep on the trailer, 65-70ish, middle lane, heavy traffic, safe following distance. Suddenly there's brakes lights everywhere and the guy next to me in the left lane swerved in front of me as he slammed on the brakes. This time I thought I was gonna go through him and the 2 cars in front of him. I stood on the brake pedal and braced for impact. Brakes worked, steering wheel kept me a little busy for a second and there were lots of funny sounds, but no impact, just some excess adrenaline for a few minutes. And a huge sigh of relief. No idea what caused all the brake lights and sudden slowdown, just glad that we dodged the bullet.
3rd wasn't really me, it was an observation by my son Matt, who was 10-11 at the time (maybe younger?), commenting on a neighbor's new mega-monster camper trailer to pull with their newish 1/2ton burb, "Dad, can it handle the load?" and my response to him was maybe, but I wouldn't do it. I commented to the neighbor, "that's a lot of trailer for a 1/2ton". "Oh, it will be fine." A week later it ended up on it's side, destroyed.
I have more examples that I won't bore you with, and I'm sure many of you do too, along with plenty of experiences pulling a skid-steer with a ZJ and it was "just fine". Ok.
Let us know what you end up with.
Last edited:
