TurboMinivan
Still plays with cars
- Location
- Lehi, UT
For as long as I have been into Jeeping, I have wanted a tow rig. It's only natural, of course, since having a trailer and a tow rig ensures you can make it home after a wheeling trip no matter what sort of carnage happens on the trail. Peace of mind in spades.
I've decided that the moment is finally approaching: the next vehicle I buy will be a tow rig. I will have a very limited budget for two main reasons: (1) I refuse to finance this purchase, and (2) I cannot justify spending lots of money for a vehicle which will see extremely limited use. I have many other vehicles to use for daily driver duties; If I'm not actively pulling a trailer or hauling large cargo, this thing will stay parked at home. Taking that into account, I am looking to spend less than $5000 (and hopefully less than $4000, if possible).
I also happen to be a frequent visitor and contributor on The Car Lounge. For those who don't know, this is a ginormous car-based forum with thousands and thousands of members from around the globe. As you would expect, it attracts car enthusiasts of all sorts. The topic of towing comes up there every so often. Off the bat, I've gotta tell you: there are some real morons in that forum when it comes to towing. Some guys will suggest you could safely pull a 2-horse trailer with a Geo Metro (after all, Europeans pull their camper trailers with tiny little sh!t box cars every day!). On the other end of the spectrum, some people suggest you use a full-size heavy-duty diesel pickup for pulling anything larger than a rowboat.
My intended load is, naturally, my Wrangler. I haven't ever weighed it, but I seriously doubt it tops 4000 pounds. I would haul it on a two-axle car hauler designed and built for that task; I suppose that might weigh 1500 pounds or so. This would give me a hypothetical GTW of 5500 pounds. Because I like to have a margin of safety and I plan for things like steep hills, I personally require my tow rig to have a trailer weight rating of at least 7500 pounds. If the rating is even higher, that's an added bonus which will give me even more peace of mind.
All along, I figured I wanted a full-size half ton extended-cab pickup. This would meet my trailer rating requirement nicely, I figured. The extended-cab configuration would give me a longer wheelbase, promoting stability (which is also very important to me). So now I just have to find one I like that fits my budget.
Reviewing some threads in TCL, I see a number of people who tow similar loads that strongly suggest stepping up to a heavy-duty pickup rather than a half ton. The idea is that the 2500 gives you greater capability and durability: bigger brakes, stronger (automatic) transmission, heavier duty suspensions, etc. I know they're correct about all that, but I am left wondering: is that overkill for my intended application?
As I have casually started to look around, I was dismayed--though not surprised, being a car salesman and all--to see market prices for trucks. I apparently have to go pretty old (~15 years) and high on the miles to get into my desired budget range. But then I noticed something: large SUVs seem to have lower prices than equivalent pickup trucks. I could get into a Suburban for significantly less money than a comparable Silverado, for example. Some of the Suburbans are rated to tow quite a bit of weight, right? This question is almost a holy war in TCL, as the 'tow guys' keep going on and on about how SUVs were designed to haul people and/or cargo, while pickup trucks were designed to pull trailers. "If you want better control of your trailer, stick with a pickup," they say. "SUVs have different rear suspensions that are inadequate for heavy trailering," they solemnly state.
I just read through the stickied threads in this forum, so I thought I'd ask the guys who can best relate to what I want to do. How do you all feel about using large SUVs compared to full-size pickup trucks? Am I better off to avoid the SUVs? (Is that maybe one reason why they're cheaper than pickups?) Also, what about the 1500 vs 2500 debate? When it comes to hauling a Jeep on a a trailer, is there any merit to this argument?
I am very open to anything and everything you guys have to say on the topic.
I've decided that the moment is finally approaching: the next vehicle I buy will be a tow rig. I will have a very limited budget for two main reasons: (1) I refuse to finance this purchase, and (2) I cannot justify spending lots of money for a vehicle which will see extremely limited use. I have many other vehicles to use for daily driver duties; If I'm not actively pulling a trailer or hauling large cargo, this thing will stay parked at home. Taking that into account, I am looking to spend less than $5000 (and hopefully less than $4000, if possible).
I also happen to be a frequent visitor and contributor on The Car Lounge. For those who don't know, this is a ginormous car-based forum with thousands and thousands of members from around the globe. As you would expect, it attracts car enthusiasts of all sorts. The topic of towing comes up there every so often. Off the bat, I've gotta tell you: there are some real morons in that forum when it comes to towing. Some guys will suggest you could safely pull a 2-horse trailer with a Geo Metro (after all, Europeans pull their camper trailers with tiny little sh!t box cars every day!). On the other end of the spectrum, some people suggest you use a full-size heavy-duty diesel pickup for pulling anything larger than a rowboat.
My intended load is, naturally, my Wrangler. I haven't ever weighed it, but I seriously doubt it tops 4000 pounds. I would haul it on a two-axle car hauler designed and built for that task; I suppose that might weigh 1500 pounds or so. This would give me a hypothetical GTW of 5500 pounds. Because I like to have a margin of safety and I plan for things like steep hills, I personally require my tow rig to have a trailer weight rating of at least 7500 pounds. If the rating is even higher, that's an added bonus which will give me even more peace of mind.
All along, I figured I wanted a full-size half ton extended-cab pickup. This would meet my trailer rating requirement nicely, I figured. The extended-cab configuration would give me a longer wheelbase, promoting stability (which is also very important to me). So now I just have to find one I like that fits my budget.
Reviewing some threads in TCL, I see a number of people who tow similar loads that strongly suggest stepping up to a heavy-duty pickup rather than a half ton. The idea is that the 2500 gives you greater capability and durability: bigger brakes, stronger (automatic) transmission, heavier duty suspensions, etc. I know they're correct about all that, but I am left wondering: is that overkill for my intended application?
As I have casually started to look around, I was dismayed--though not surprised, being a car salesman and all--to see market prices for trucks. I apparently have to go pretty old (~15 years) and high on the miles to get into my desired budget range. But then I noticed something: large SUVs seem to have lower prices than equivalent pickup trucks. I could get into a Suburban for significantly less money than a comparable Silverado, for example. Some of the Suburbans are rated to tow quite a bit of weight, right? This question is almost a holy war in TCL, as the 'tow guys' keep going on and on about how SUVs were designed to haul people and/or cargo, while pickup trucks were designed to pull trailers. "If you want better control of your trailer, stick with a pickup," they say. "SUVs have different rear suspensions that are inadequate for heavy trailering," they solemnly state.
I just read through the stickied threads in this forum, so I thought I'd ask the guys who can best relate to what I want to do. How do you all feel about using large SUVs compared to full-size pickup trucks? Am I better off to avoid the SUVs? (Is that maybe one reason why they're cheaper than pickups?) Also, what about the 1500 vs 2500 debate? When it comes to hauling a Jeep on a a trailer, is there any merit to this argument?
I am very open to anything and everything you guys have to say on the topic.
