Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 06-16-2015, 04:12 PM   #21
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Western AZ
Posts: 2,404
Quote:
Originally Posted by soniclos View Post
I can say I really like how well my 2014 Ford FLEX Ecoboost tows our 2014 Vcross Vibe 6504. The empty weight is about 3200 lbs and with our usual load of stuff for the adults and kids we are about 4000 lbs or so. The FLEX is limited to 450 lbs tongue weight and 4500 lbs towing on paper but I feel that is a bit under rated. I have also upgraded my FLEX too with rear suspension kit from Timbren, and more goodies under the hood, making about 350 whp now.
If you tend to go boondocking, off the beaten path than that Suburban or Explorer would probably be better as tow vehicle for ground clearance. But if your towing only on roads and decently maintained camp grounds, something lower that drives more like a car than a truck might be in order.
Did you up grade the brakes?Transaxle?
mike.t is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-16-2015, 09:45 PM   #22
Member
 
Vallgrlx2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 59
Whatever you do
Never Listen to Salespeople
Vallgrlx2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-16-2015, 10:50 PM   #23
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Western AZ
Posts: 2,404
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vallgrlx2 View Post
Whatever you do
Never Listen to Salespeople
+2
mike.t is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-18-2015, 09:07 AM   #24
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 212
Before we bought the motor home I was towing a 20 foot TrailManor TT that weight about 4,100 pounds loaded and wet. I started out towing it with a 2002 Chevy 1500HD. This is a crew cab truck with a 6.5 foot bed. I had no problems towing.

Then I got a 2008 GMC 2500HD long bed. It was so much nicer to use as a tow vehicle. I did not tow with a WD hitch for either truck. Under some road conditions I was getting a little bit of bouncing bronco effect. This went away when I switched to the longer wheelbase. The built in brake controller worked so much better than a Prodigy.

If I was going to tow again this is how I would select a tow vehicle.

1. make sure the load carrying capacities are at least adequate.

2. I would require a built in brake controller.

3. I would get the longest wheelbase I could find.

I was towing 180 miles each way, sometimes in heavy commute traffic. Then maximum speed limit while towing is 55 mph. We camped about once a month during Spring, Summer, and Fall. If I was only towing shorter distances then I might relax some of my requirements.

If your wheelbase is too short relative to the length of the TT then you will encounter the "tail wagging the dog" effect. I did not notice this with the shorter wheelbase 1500HD. In my experience the wheelbase of the 1500HD is more than adequate. I have no experience towing with anything that has a shorter wheelbase than that. I doubt that I would want to.

I prefer gas over diesel unless at least one of the following criteria are met:

1. frequently towing above 8,000 feet.

2. towing at least 15,000 miles per year, year after year.

3. towing heavy, but I have no definition of heavy, other than 4,100 pounds is not heavy.

Somewhere I have read about a rule of thumb for wheelbase. I THINK it is that the TV wheelbase should be at least 1/3 of the wheelbase of the trailer you are towing. Perhaps someone else has access to that rule of thumb.
__________________
Wayne in Coarsegold near Yosemite
2013 Forest River Solera 24R
2014 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
ATV trailer for the following toys
2008 Yamaha WR250R,2009 Honda CRF150F
2008 Polaris Scrambler 500
PopBeavers is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-19-2015, 07:51 PM   #25
Senior Member
 
jlgail4309's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Tulsa
Posts: 438
I tow with the Jeep Diesel and it pulls great. Up hills in Branson Mo no problem. 20 mpg in town and 24 highway. 11 to 14 towing 65 on the highway. It needs a six speed or a overdrive. So if you do a lot of highway driving unloaded. Might not be the right SUV. Trucks and wind to a point no problem. I don't like to pull in winds over 35.
__________________
-----------------------------------------------------------
2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee Diesel
2013 Salem Cruise light 19bh
Hensley Cub hitch ,
jlgail4309 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-19-2015, 08:08 PM   #26
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Western AZ
Posts: 2,404
Quote:
Originally Posted by DDC View Post
I have no problem towing our 30ft surveyor with our VW Touareg TDI, and we probably get one of the best MPG towing too, we also use a Hensley hitch.
Doubt the MPG towing. Guess it depends on terrain though. But together it's a nice setup
mike.t is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-19-2015, 08:19 PM   #27
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Western AZ
Posts: 2,404
Also.There are so many comparison's about vehicles TOWING. Ya gotta stop/slow down that bad boy as well without having to replace rotors/pads/bearings ect every year. Not to mention drive train wear.
mike.t is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-19-2015, 08:30 PM   #28
Senior Member
 
jlgail4309's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Tulsa
Posts: 438
A lot of posts on hitch up grade to a Hensley or a Provide. I think it'a a must with the short wheel base SUV's. I'm sure a lot people don't but i think it needs the hitch. .
__________________
-----------------------------------------------------------
2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee Diesel
2013 Salem Cruise light 19bh
Hensley Cub hitch ,
jlgail4309 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-28-2015, 05:48 PM   #29
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 496
We had a 2010 X5 35d and it had plenty of power and brakes. It is $1000 to put on the factory hitch and wiring and we had to use the RF wireless brake controller. It worked great and was easy to set up. We pulled a 14ft 2 horse trailer with a max weight of 6000 if we had 2 horses in it. We also got about 14-15 mpg towing.

This is the controller we used:

Brake Controller by Tekonsha for 2013 X5 - 90250
__________________
Doc
____________________________________
2014 V-Cross Platinum 365VTSB (Bought Labor Day 2014)
TV: 2016 GMC 3500 Denali - Motor Ops Tuned
Days Camped 2016: 28
Days Camped 2017: 25 so far
DocGTO is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-28-2015, 06:44 PM   #30
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Western AZ
Posts: 2,404
Quote:
Originally Posted by DocGTO View Post
We had a 2010 X5 35d and it had plenty of power and brakes. It is $1000 to put on the factory hitch and wiring and we had to use the RF wireless brake controller. It worked great and was easy to set up. We pulled a 14ft 2 horse trailer with a max weight of 6000 if we had 2 horses in it. We also got about 14-15 mpg towing.

This is the controller we used:

Brake Controller by Tekonsha for 2013 X5 - 90250
Glad to see Came Your Senses and bought a truck. And it wasn't an Eco-Bomb
mike.t is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-29-2015, 07:22 AM   #31
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 496
Quote:
Originally Posted by mike.t View Post
Glad to see Came Your Senses and bought a truck. And it wasn't an Eco-Bomb
LOL. This was wife's vehicle a few years ago. I always have a diesel truck of some sort. I DD a 2014 D-max 2500. She now has a GMC 2500 with the 6.0 gasser.
__________________
Doc
____________________________________
2014 V-Cross Platinum 365VTSB (Bought Labor Day 2014)
TV: 2016 GMC 3500 Denali - Motor Ops Tuned
Days Camped 2016: 28
Days Camped 2017: 25 so far
DocGTO is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-29-2015, 10:22 AM   #32
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Western AZ
Posts: 2,404
http://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=JN.Zhb...0&pid=3.1&rm=2
mike.t is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
tow vehicle

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:23 PM.