Tow capacity help...

Timmy, where did all the love go ya little biatch! Now your going to pick on the B2k? Still unsure why they put Mazda tailgates on Ford pickups?? Do you even know what a Courier is?

Shouldn't all you little toyota gurls be over on the Epic Boat forums?
Where's randy, don't think the gas hose is the only thing he sticks in that hole in his pretend pickup truck.

And a word about tires. I have some really gummy 225 50 16 series "sticky buns" on my Ion. They are really summer only performance tires. The car handles great and stops very quickly, > 110' from 60. The price I pay for that is about 30,000 miles per set, and they are pricey too. High mileage tires are preferred by some, but their adhesion usually leaves something to be desired.
It's all about finding a good fit for your driving style and choice of vehicles. You can put Potenza Pole Positions on a Tundra or Xterra, but it won't be a good combo, you will still be driving a top heavy Phat barge. A good set of all seasons with a relatively hard silica compound is good enough for that kind of vehicle.(yawn yawn)
Saturn Ion towing edition, 141,000, 5 sets of tires, I set of replacement brakes and shoes, and still going strong!
Best mileage 41.2, verage 35 highway, 28 city. Try that with your Accord or Camry!
I sold my last one at 224.000 because the A/C failed.

they couldnt take a bailout even if they needed it right?

i drive a full size pickup but i have always liked the toyotas as well. currently i have a 93 and a 94. after highschool i took a trip over to Congo and really liked the toyota hiluxs with the 2.4 turbo diesels. when i got back i decided to turn the '93 into a diesel. i got a sweet deal on a kubota v2003t 2.0 liter turbo diesel and went to work adapting it to the toyota w56 5speed tranny. to date, my best fuel economy is 36mpg. i am always impressed with the build quality of that generation of toyotas. with that said, if i am going to tow anything at all, i fire up the cummins.

We've got an 06 jetta tdi. It is a great car till it is not. They have a dual mass flywheel that started failing at about 45000 miles I didn't figure out what it was till about 55000 so not covered under warranty. Now we have 125000 and guess what is rattling again? I'm going to do it myself now that my father in law has a two post lift. Still 500 just for the flywheel itself.

To the OP, both my vehicles (Explorer and Yukon XL) are capable of towing my CC. I drive the Explorer and my wife has the Yukon. I drive about 300-500 miles per week for my sales job and average b/w 18-20mpg with the Explorer (V8 2WD). Prior to the Yukon XL, the Explorer was my sole tow capable vehicle. We tow the boat less than 1000 miles per year. When we trailer the boat as a family, the Yukon is a no brainer b/c of the DVD player, space, etc. but I must say the Explorer has always been a pretty decent do it all vehicle for me, my job and my family. It tows pretty well for what it is and considering the low trailering miles I do, it makes sense from an economic standpoint. The Yukon is comfortable, but is a pig to drive and probably averages about 14mpg w/o the boat. Fuel economy with the Yukon isn't much of an issue since my wife works just 3 miles from home, but still, I think it's overkill in pretty much every respect (wife had to have it).

If I were you, I'd be looking for a midsized SUV based on what you've said your needs are. I wouldn't hesitate pulling the trigger on an Explorer or a 4Runner. I had a Toyota pickup in high school that was an awesome vehicle. The Toyota would surely cost more than a similar era Explorer, but both would be suitable IMO.

My $.02

Jllogan wrote: Check your source on that fuel mileage, here is the mileage from an actual reputable source called consumer reports, not blogs.cars.com. Knew that subscription would pay off. I could show you the reliability reports but I dont want to ruin anyones holiday.

Was surprising to me that CR found the Ford to get a bit better mileage on the Freeway.

No great surprise with any of the other numbers.

BKH

Jllogan wrote: shouldnt you only american guys be at the shop waiting to get your truck?

Do the guys in the car club still call you Cruiser?

Not to one up Quinner's post, which is right, but I haven't seen anyone looking for a a Toyota or Honda motor for their boat lately.   There really isn't anything that offers everything a full size American truck/SUV does. Everything else is just a compromise.

quinner wrote: Think about many of the members with older boats on this forum, when they were new how the heck did anybody even manage to get to the water with drum brakes, sloppy suspensions and no Jap cars??

You are right Chris BUT back then cars were not made to get the most out of a gallon of gas.My parents towed their 27foot Airstream to all corners of this country with their '71 Caddy,all my Dad did was put on a hitch and a trans cooler.Never a failure and when he sold it to another Airstreamer it went to Alaska and back.

The only cars I owned were VW's from '73 til '91.I ordered the Rabbit diesel in March of 79 expecting a German made one. By the time I got it 6 months later it had been made here with thin paint under the doors and rain gutters,a year later it was rusting.Even the tires on that car car only lasted 30K.At the time I thought it was because they were Goodyears,now I realize it was because VW specked the cheapest tire they could. Then in 82 we bought a Quantum,when that got to be 2 the problems started.Never again,even if they were the last car on earth, will I ever give that company my money no matter how good they may be now.Every Ford and Jeep we've had since have been a pleasure, American cars sure have come a long way.

63 get rid of that diesel liberty!!!!! I am in service at a chrysler dealer now and we have 2 at the shop one that we can't fix. We have had the guys at corprate telling us what to do with it so far we've had pcm lift pump injection pump now they want us to replace a $3000 set of injectors.It starts just fine when its cold but it has a very long crank time after it is at operating temperature. The other has an extended warranty via an outside company and they are refusing to pay for it so the girl that owns it is in a bad way. Her's has 117,000 miles on it and the bearings in the turbo are scored and it will not spin fast enough to produce any type of whistle let alone boost. The girls also needs new glow plugs.

On the other hand, The diesel grand cherokee is an excellent piece. Those are a mercedes diesel and transmission.

I agree with everyone that its all in how much experience you've had towing. I always towed my 86 with my 99 r/t dakota regular cab. These trucks were bought back from customers in 98 and 99 because chrysler over rated the tow rating at 6000 pounds like a regular datkota but re issued them as only having a 2000 pound rating. The only area this truck lacked in was braking. When loaded it took a bit to much weight off the front wheels in very fast low speed braking it would lock up easily. As far as pulling out at ramps with wide tires, no weight in the rear, and lots of torque I never had a proplem one. It's all in how you drive it. The truck was on all types of steep or shallow ramps wet and dry rarely ever spun a tire with me driving. Our private ski course lake has a pea gravel ramp and the truck would run right up that with no problem as long as you used the loud pedal accordingly

I've pulled out with all types of vehicles(durango,5 speed 2wd cummins dodge, 5 speed 4x4 dakota 4.7, dodge nitro, jeeps, etc.) and have never been stuck on any type of ramp. I rarely ever used 4x4 unless its needed. Like someone else previously stated I used 4low in the dakota with the stick because first gear in that truck was very tall for doing that type of thing so it was much easier on the clutch and drive train.

For the original post I wouldn't be scared at all towing with a 3.0 ranger as especially if it was 4x4. You don't need to put on a big production and pull out of a ramp as fast as you can like most people that get a big case of the spins going on. Sometimes a day at the lake watching the boat ramp is almost as entertaining as being on the water.

phatsat67 wrote: 63 get rid of that diesel liberty!!!!! I am in service at a chrysler dealer now and we have 2 at the shop one that we can't fix. We have had the guys at corprate telling us what to do with it so far we've had pcm lift pump injection pump now they want us to replace a $3000 set of injectors.It starts just fine when its cold but it has a very long crank time after it is at operating temperature. The other has an extended warranty via an outside company and they are refusing to pay for it so the girl that owns it is in a bad way. Her's has 117,000 miles on it and the bearings in the turbo are scored and it will not spin fast enough to produce any type of whistle let alone boost. The girls also needs new glow plugs. On the other hand, The diesel grand cherokee is an excellent piece. Those are a mercedes diesel and transmission.

Uh oh. Ok, I'll stop recommending it until I get more miles on it! There are a few factory glitches, the primary one is the EGR which coats the intake sensors with oil and they read incorrectly, killing mileage and power. The aftermarket tune disables the EGR, plus adjusts turbo operation, or you can just unplug the EGR to disable it. We'll see, but thanks for the heads up.

My brother and his wife had a week long rental of one of the new GCs while their car was in the shop. They loved it. It was a hard fight for them not to just go out and buy one, but they wanted to plan for it a little better. It's nice and roomy inside, quiet and smooth. I went for a ride in it but didn't drive it.

They're bringing the Pentastar engine to the Wranglers for 2012, which really improves their on road performance and smoothness, I'm sure it doesn't hurt offroad either. Motorweek has a channel on Youtube. They gave it a good review recently:

I have driven my nephew's 2011 Jeep GC Overland a bit. It has more stuff than I could ever need including air suspension, ride height control, and a Hemi engine (trade name, they aren't really hemis). It is VERY nice inside and out, and VERY fast. It has little in common with the mid 2000's GC my wife had before the Escape. If you are looking for a capable SUV with every possible feature I would look at one. I don't remember what the mileage was when I was driving it, but I am sure that, like most larger 4wds, it sucks. He has pulled his Supra once with it and as expected, it is extreme overkill for that duty. It doesn't have many miles (under 10,000) to assess its reliability yet because it is his winter, bad weather, and towing car, and lives in the garage when the weather is good, he's not towing, or his girlfriend isn't using it.

I test drove a 2011 Durango with 5.7 hemi and another one with the new V6, I assume it's the same one they put in the Grand Cherokee. I'd buy the V6 if I was going to choose, it was smooth and had more than enough power for me, I think the tow rating is 6,000 lbs. but not sure. Nice vehicle.