suggestions

[BLTOH]

I currently have a rockwood 2103...I am looking at getting a different towing vehicle. We have 5 people in family plus dog. I know we will eventually get bigger camper but need a different vehicle first. I pull with a minivan right now. I am trying to decide if its wise to get an SUV or a truck. Either way I need something able to hold min. Of 5 people and dog. Any suggestions of vehicles welcomed

[TURBS]

Would help to know what camper you are pulling as well by model number.


TURBS

[ependydad]

Without seeming too stalker-ish, I looked at your past posts and it looks like your camper is a Rockwood Mini Lite 2104S

The biggest challenge that you're going to have with a family of that size AND a dog is finding a vehicle with enough payload capacity to carry you all, your stuff and then the tongue weight of your camper (at full load would be 475-700 pounds (i.e. 10%-15% of the gross camper weight)).

You are going to need to make a conservative estimate of what you all + dog weigh, what your stuff weights that you carry with you in the vehicle and anything else that you can think of.

Basically, the vehicle that you buy needs to have enough "cargo carrying capacity" to support you all, your stuff and that tongue weight estimate above.

If you're willing to go to a scale, it can tell you all sorts of things to help you make an educated decision.

[dkb74]

I would do some research on what kind of camper you're looking to upgrade to, so you know what weights you are looking at.

We have five in our family, plus dog. We currently pull our 2306 with our Chevy Traverse. We know that in the future we'll upgrade our camper, but our vehicle will be upgraded long before that. We'll do research first on weights so we know what to look for.

[BLTOH]

Correct on the rockwood minilite 2104s .. dog is a small one .. been researching vehicles that have towing capacity of min 10k so far. I have yet to see a SUV with that kind of towing ...not sure what I would upgrade to as far as campers go as we have tossed around the idea of an rv as well. Had camper and all contents weighed out last fall and was at roughly 3900. Only thing I carried in van was a child and myself then..

[dkb74]

Have you checked towing guides? A Suburban or Expedition?

[bikendan]

what minivan do you have?
why don't you keep using it until you decide on getting a bigger trailer?
you should always decide on what trailer you want, THEN get the right tow vehicle to pull it.
not the other way around.

[Lynkage]

Does the TV need to be a daily driver?

[BLTOH]

Yes to the daily driving... I currently drive a dodge grand caravan ..we was discussing that tonite ...which direction to go in..the camper I currently have only sleeps 4 and there are 5 of us now. And 2 anything bigger then what I have will need a vehicle with bigger towing capacity. We are not able to do both at the same time.. such a hard choice lol

[jeeplj8]

Originally Posted by BLTOH

Correct on the rockwood minilite 2104s .. dog is a small one .. been researching vehicles that have towing capacity of min 10k so far. I have yet to see a SUV with that kind of towing ...not sure what I would upgrade to as far as campers go as we have tossed around the idea of an rv as well. Had camper and all contents weighed out last fall and was at roughly 3900. Only thing I carried in van was a child and myself then..

10k tow capacity? I thought your trailer was around 5k...Are you planning on a larger (much) trailer in the future?

There are no 1/2 ton SUVs with capacity like that. A 3/4 ton Suburban is your only bet. There is a nice one in the for sale section. They are rare as hens teeth.

On trucks, you need a crew cab and even then most seat 5 but the dog is riding lap or floor. Ford offers a max tow package that gets you over 10k tow rating, but with that many people going to be hard to stay in the cargo capacity.

[asquared]

I'm surprised you are able to pull your current trailer with that minivan. I would be looking at a 3/4 ton SUV. if willing o go used ford excursions are great but they are getting older and hard to find. A 3/4 ton burb is a good idea. Or even better would be a 1 ton van. The can would give you payload and space for everyone plus dog. be wary of half ton SUVs that tout large towing capacity as their payload is not good and will be eaten up. (good example is my old armada that ad a 9100 towing capacity but with 2 adults and a toddler could only handle 800 lbs tongue weight). I know $ is a concern and believe me, I get it. what about going used on both TV and TT to get what your family needs? I would prioritize TV over trailer for now as you will need the bigger TV to tow the next trailer anyways. Best of luck to you.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by anaro

I'm surprised you are able to pull your current trailer with that minivan.

OMG!
i just looked up the specs to your trailer and you're lucky you haven't had an accident already.
you're WAY over the specs of your minivan with that trailer.'

i have to ask, who told that your minivan was adequate to tow that trailer?

with a fictional "dry" weight of 3749lbs., you were already maxed out before you even added the weight of the standard "options", water, propane, battery and cargo.
the max a dodge GC can tow is either 3500lbs. or 3800lbs.
and that's with only a 150lb. driver in it.
and you're carrying 4 more plus a dog.

i'm sorry to be so harsh but i'm shocked at how over your specs you were.

[BLTOH]

i have older model. yes i am close to the top but i am not over as far as my van goes. i just recently went to 5 people so my towing has only been me and my child. i do not do long distance pulling only max of 2 hr radius from my home. most of my campng is only 20 mins from home. i was looking at the 10,000 towing more so as we are undecided about which direction to go in right now but we want to make sure we dont limit ourselves to the type of camper if we only look at vehicles just slightly bigger then what i currently have. my choice in the mini lite to begin with was due to the fact i had the van to pull with and tht was the cheapest with in my towing capacity that met my needs at that time.

[Sgt. Schultz]

perhaps something like these would meet your needs:
2013 Ford E-Series Van Recreational E-250 | The 2013 Ford E-Series Van Recreational E-250 | Ford.com
&
2013 GMC Savana Passenger Van | Capabilities | GMC

cheers

[caper]

The E250 has a max. towing capacity of 7400lbs in order to get 10,000# you would need a E350.

[bakken]

Originally Posted by caper

The E250 has a max. towing capacity of 7400lbs in order to get 10,000# you would need a E350.

And who would want to drive that every day?
Ford F150 EcoBoost crew cab with max payload seems like a good choice.
Plenty of room for 5 people, and lots of towing capacity for a future larger camper. Plus good gas mileage as an everyday driver.

[asquared]

Originally Posted by bakken

And who would want to drive that every day?
Ford F150 EcoBoost crew cab with max payload seems like a good choice.
Plenty of room for 5 people, and lots of towing capacity for a future larger camper. Plus good gas mileage as an everyday driver.

room for 5 but who wants to do a lot of driving with kids squished together and the dog in the bed? (can't fit a decent sized dog in truck w/ 5 people unless it is a small lap dog like a chihuahua that will have to sit in someone's lap the whole time.

[bakken]

Originally Posted by anaro

room for 5 but who wants to do a lot of driving with kids squished together and the dog in the bed? (can't fit a decent sized dog in truck w/ 5 people unless it is a small lap dog like a chihuahua that will have to sit in someone's lap the whole time.

Before flying off the handle, maybe read the OP's posts. He said that most of his camping was within a 2-hour radius from home. So rather than buy some gas-guzzling tank, just so the kids and dog can be in luxury for 2 hours, an EcoBoost crew cab would be a great compromise.
JMO

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by bakken

Before flying off the handle, maybe read the OP's posts. He said that most of his camping was within a 2-hour radius from home. So rather than buy some gas-guzzling tank, just so the kids and dog can be in luxury for 2 hours, an EcoBoost crew cab would be a great compromise.
JMO

Agree Bakken and put a portable pen in the camper and the dog in the pen.

[Sgt. Schultz]

I am not sure were gas guzzling tank comes from---the full size family vans get similar fuel economy to the pick ups & SUVs have a comparable wheel base - they lend themselves well to family trips to the beach/park or the mall and allow for the occasional friend to travel along for families of 5 or more - they can be configured to meet the 10k lbs towing requirement with a huge selection of seating layouts
The GM version has with Duramax/Allison combo available while it appears the Ford version can be selected with the V-10 with 5 Spd Auto - if a used purchase are in the books certain areas of the country have these at dime a dozen in various configurations.
.
OP of course only you know the requirements your situation has to meet. Cheers

A second link for the ford:
http://www.ford.com/trucks/eseries/s...ations/towing/