After reading all these posts on tow vehicles, I finally have to chime in.
We've been firm believers in vans. Went from a 318 Dodge to a 460 Ford mainly
because the Rockies sort of brought the Dodge to a halt. The only time the
460 runs out of steam is above 10,000 feet. Admittedly we only two a 1000 lb.
car, and a lightweight one-axle trailer, but the van is loaded to the gills
with Lotus parts (we always need a lot of spares), and all the weather gear,
etc. needed for Kansas.
We were strongly considering getting a new van, along the same lines as
the old, but have instead decided to install an overdrive on the van, and an
extra gas tank. It's sort of like piloting a boat, no matter how fast or slow
you go, you stop every two hours to fill up again. We hope with the new
additions, we will only have to stop every four hours, or so.
The Ford van now has 130,000 miles on it, and has rarely let us down;
sturdy beast. I wouldn't go to any other manufacturer, IMHO.
--Pat Kelly
Kevin Brown wrote:
> We've had great luck with our '96 Chevy Tahoe. When towing a 2500 lb car
> on a tandem axle trailer, you can hardly tell that you are towing it, plus
> it has plenty of room for my wife and three kids and all of our gear.
> Plus it is very comfortable on the highway, I've driven close to 900 miles
> in one day (with the wife and kids, gear and trailer) and wasn't even
> stiff when I got out - it has a lot more front seat and leg room than the
> Cherokee that we traded in. Plus it works great for off road driving when
> we are camping in the mountains.
>
> Kevin Brown '74 TR6 AP '64 MGB DSP '89 MR2 '98 GTP '96 Tahoe
> Odessa, MO
>
> Andy McKee wrote:
>
> > I'll try and keep this short and not list all the criteria that led to
> > the following selections, but these are the vehicles I'm considering.
> >
> > 1. Jeep Grand Cherokee (5.2l V8) - fun to drive when not towing,
> > strong tow motor (for a smaller SUV), too light to tow comfortably (?)
> > at ~4K lbs
> > 2. GM Tahoe/Yukon (5.7l V8) - best for strictly towing (of my picks),
> > but not as nice of an everyday vehicle, would kill our lawn as it is
> > large enough to eclipse the sun (don't even say Suburban)
> > 3. Toyota Land Cruiser (4.5l V6) - don't know how much torque the big
> > six has (~210hp) so questionable tow strength, Toyota reliability, at
> > ~4900lbs should be better than the Jeep for towing stability,
> > luxo-price tag
> >
> > Help?
> >
> > -Andy
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