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Noob tow rig questions

L

LT.

Well-Known Member
Location
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Everyone has had good ideas here and I like all the help the RME faithful are offering. One thing I would add to is on the mileage on any Diesel. The trick is to find the RPM range your Diesel is going to like. I have found that the Cummins likes to run between 1600 and 1750 for the best mileage. Of course you can figure higher RPM ranges for the D-Max and the Power Stroke. Mostly because of the engine design. Both of my Cummins motors would average above 20 mpg with correct driving habits and keeping the suspensions stock while driving highway speeds empty. My last Cummins would average between 18 and 18.5 with the 6" lift and 315's empty. This was with a standard tranny, though. Over 20 mpg can be had but, at a cost of upgrades and slower speeds. Some time ago if you wanted to tow the only way was with a Diesel. The lines have been blurred some now with the fuel prices and the price of maintenance on each tow rig. Sixstringsteve has shown quite a few rigs and all are within the realm of his towing needs and has even hit on the idea that towing is only part of the job description of the vehicle. This is the biggest decision you may make for off roading. Good luck.

LT.
 
ricsrx

ricsrx

Well-Known Member
Steve as my last offering on this, I have upgraded 3 times, 1st gas, 2nd diesel, 3rd diesel, as stated the truck is a large investment, and as stated it cost to upgrade in short intervals, You stated your end goal of what you what to do with the truck, so purchase as much truck as your pocket book will allow to get you to that point. I think it has been proven that a diesel is the end result of your search, so why would you purchase any thing less, if your afraid of the cost of maintenance and fuel and everything else then why are we talking about it, if you cant aford in now,would you be able to chunk up 500 bones in 2-4 years on a new pump,kinda like when you buy a motor home, if your worried about the gas mileage then you shouldn't even go there because there is no such thing as good gas mileage.
I lived in the 70's and 80's, there was nothing to talk about when it came to the trucks power and brakes, my dad had the 72 burb 4x and one brother had an 87 burb and the other had a 95, and when i got my first diesel, i was the one at the top of the pass with a truck that didnt just puke his guts out to get there.
you say you would be satisfied with a gas motor going up parleys at 35mph, I say the first time you do it and your truck is running hot and you can tell your slowly burning it up. then you realize you can never have enough torque,HP and brakes.
If i was in your shoes i would buy as much 1995-01 low mileage F250/350 ford crew cab long bed, 7.3 Power Stroke as you could afford, or go up to the 04 dodge if you can afford more, and drive your Toyota to work.
Good luck, what ever you decide i will be stoked to see you on your way!!!
just my 2 pennies
 
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jentzschman

jentzschman

Well-Known Member
Location
Sandy, Utah
ricsrx said:
Steve as my last offering on this, I have upgraded 3 times, 1st gas, 2nd diesel, 3rd diesel, as stated the truck is a large investment, and as stated it cost to upgrade in short intervals, You stated your end goal of what you what to do with the truck, so purchase as much truck as your pocket book will allow to get you to that point. I think it has been proven that a diesel is the end result of your search, so why would you purchase any thing less, if your afraid of the cost of maintenance and fuel and everything else then why are we talking about it, if you cant aford in now,would you be able to chunk up 500 bones in 2-4 years on a new pump,kinda like when you buy a motor home, if your worried about the gas mileage then you shouldn't even go there because there is no such thing as good gas mileage.
I lived in the 70's and 80's, there was nothing to talk about when it came to the trucks power and brakes, my dad had the 72 burb 4x and one brother had an 87 burb and the other had a 95, and when i got my first diesel, i was the one at the top of the pass with a truck that didnt just puck his guts out to get there.
you say you would be satisfied with a gas motor going up parleys at 35mph, I say the first time you do it and your truck is running hot and you can tell your slowly burning it up. then you realize you can never have enough torque,HP and brakes.
If i was in your shoes i would buy as much 1995-01 low mileage F250/350 ford crew cab long bed, 7.3 Power Stroke as you could afford, or go up to the 04 dodge if you can afford more, and drive your Toyota to work.
Good luck, what ever you decide i will be stoked to see you on your way!!!
just my 2 pennies
Click to expand...

x2

Again, if you are really going to build a rig for your wife and want to tow both, get what can do it now.

Like I mentioned, my buddy has a f250 triton v10 and HATES it! He wishes he would have got a diesel in the first place.

Good luck man. I know its sucks looking and trying to get something that will work in all the right areas. If its too hard now, then just wait a little, for the right time. You said it may take awhile to sale your d cab, so give it time and see what happens. Dont rush. You have lots of time....
 
sixstringsteve

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
If I wanted the best tow rig, I would save up and get a nice dodge. But I'm still trying to decide if I want a nice tow rig that can DD if needed, or if I need a DD that can tow if needed.

I don't doubt at all that a diesel will be the best for towing, but will it be best for driving to work 1-2 miles a day? I have a two-car garage, cc&r's to obey, and I don't have an RV pad to park 4 cars at. I don't think i can commit to buying a rig that will only be used once or twice a week to tow. i need it to do the in-between stuff too. If you guys think a dodge will hold up to daily driving and I won't destroy it going to work 1 to 2 miles away, then that would solve my needs. If that's going to be hard on the truck and destroy it, then the diesel won't work for me.

I'm sure all this going back and forth is killing you guys. I really appreciate your patience. I'm learning a lot. I never grew up in a house where tow rigs were ever discussed, so this is all new to me. Sorry for all the lame questions and vascilating back and forth, it's hard for me to make decisions.
 
sixstringsteve

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
That being said, I'm starting to re-think my desires to build a second crawler for my wife. It'd be at least 5 years till then, so i don't want to plan my tow rig around that. It may not even happen. She'd rather use the $ for something else, so it may not happen. Once again, sorry for all the back and forth.
 
sixstringsteve

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
One more question about diesels. I've seen plugs hanging out the grill in the winter. Do I need to plug it in overnight to keep the block warm?

What if I go to work in the snow and park it for 8 hours? Will it start up, or will that be an issue with me not being able to plug it in?
 
jentzschman

jentzschman

Well-Known Member
Location
Sandy, Utah
It sounds like a gas truck may be better then. But if it were me, I would still get a diesel.

I like them. I like to have the power when I need it. Granted, I dont tow, or work in a field that requiers me to travel with a load, but, I want to make my toy my trail rig for the future, so I would want something that can move it with ease.
 
sixstringsteve

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
Trevor, would you still get a diesel if you were dd'ing it 2 miles every day in the snow? If I could do that without killing the truck, it sounds ideal.
 
sixstringsteve

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
jdub said:
Towing has slowly and painfully become a dying obsession. I feel like the cost's outweigh the bonuses for myself and my personal lifestyle. If I owned a truck for work or other reasons than a handful of tows a year my opinion would be different. I look at 10k into a rig and a trailer and think of how far that $$$ could spread to your taco's you already have. Wheel yours work on the '81 for your wife to wheel and use the extra money that you didn't spend to acquire all that truck, insurance expenses, straps etc. and buy some fuel and flares and drive them both to moab and st. george.

I continue to look. I would die for a 3door burban to tow with but I would have to change so much, wouldn't I just be better to drop that cash into my Scrambler? It does St George in 4 hours and at 17mpg with the a/c on.

I mentally have gone through the same scenario that you have. I even found a 71' chev wedge truck but when I need to move houses I will need to ratchet everything down to the wedge...

I am excited to see what you go with. I think everything you have shown us is a good candidate as far as being able to do the job. I have seriously considered the 4wd van too. There's one even at 1800$ on ksl that will need some work. Will it be reliable, probably not. But cool. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Maybe I just need to drive the '81 out there. I've never had a rig that I could wheel hard, I always had to drive it home at the end of the day, and that really affects how you wheel it. But I'm starting to wonder if I'm committed enough for this whole tow rig thing... I just don't think I can afford the tow rig lifestyle.
 
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skippy

skippy

Pretend Fabricator
Location
Tooele
as far as plugging the truck in it doesnt get cold enough here to need it. it is nice when you go start it and its already warm though thats nice but not neccasary......

As far as daily driving your truck i would say 75 percent of diesels on the road are daily drivers Everybody is buyign diesels now just cuz its the cool thing i have talked to so many people with sweet diesels and they have absolutely nothing to tow daily driving wont hurt the truck a bit
 
skippy

skippy

Pretend Fabricator
Location
Tooele
we bought a tow rig to haul the wheelin rig but we also have a camp trailer and a 4 wheeler trailer so if a camp trailer or something like that is in your future then a diesel is definately what you want its nice cruising to the trail in a super comfy rig watching movies and go wheelin if it breaks just limp it to the trailer on your off on your way
 
sixstringsteve

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
Cool. Will daily driving for only 5 min each way hurt? I mean, that's not ideal for any truck, but I thought diesels have to cycle up and get warm for a few minutes 'till they're warmed up.
 
skippy

skippy

Pretend Fabricator
Location
Tooele
yes and no as long as you dont drive it like you stole it until it warms up you will be fine i used to let mine warm up for 5-10 minutes while i was making my lunch for work and then i would drive 5 minutes to work. if its a huge concern just plug it in and its already warm for ya
 
sixstringsteve

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
yeah, if it were a 4-door shortbed I'd be all over it. I'm not crazy about the color, and I think a suburban would be cheaper and easier to drive.
 
skippy

skippy

Pretend Fabricator
Location
Tooele
yeah but its a super clean truck. you need to go hook up a trailer behind a gas rig and a diesel rig and see what you want that way ...lol it will make up your mind
 
sixstringsteve

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
Like I said, I'm 100% convinced that a diesel will tow way better. Unfortunately this rig isn't just for tow. It'll only be towing about 5% of it's life with me.

But I would like to hook it up and try it. I need to learn how to tow before I just start driving around with a big old trailer on the back.
 
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