Towing Capacity/Vehicle Help?

Chris,
The class III hitch is nominally rated at 5000lbs with a tongue weight max of 500. I don't know where the extra 500 comes from??

Talk about sucking gas, my land rover gets 10 to 12 mpg.But will go up over and through anything in it's way and tow pretty good to.

Thanks but my Signature line says it all, Photos well but not close up. It sure is fun though.

bkhallpass wrote: Durango will do the job. I'd think carefully first. My brothers 2 wheel drive Durango got poorer mileage than my 4WD Suburban. The Suburban is a far better tow vehicle, and obviously has a lot more room. BKH

Suburban, now thats a "Beast".. Good choice, I wish I could find one in the mid 80's or later.. Big 350 motor, animals..

Only one way to find out! I don't know about up north but here in florida no matter what happens there is always someone else at the boat ramp that will make you look good by making a total ass of themselves. It takes me about four minutes to load my boat and get out of the way but I always have to wait 20 minutes for some dumbass to load thier jet ski. I guess thats the price we pay to live here. I guess if the fwd won't pull it up the ramp you can get someone to pull you out and then you'll know.

jwchapman wrote: The Durango is built on the Dakota chasis and while great for towing and hauling stuff, it rides a lot rougher than some of the newer trucks and cross-overs.

Leaf springs in back probably don't help in this regard.

Def look into Tim's 4 runner, Tahoe, Suburban, Silverado.

Trucks I have had S10 v6 sucked gas like no tomorrow towing my snowmobile trailer, then I upgraded to a Silverado 5.3 liter same thing on the snowmobile trailer plus the transmission was shifting all over the place even in tow mode, I upgraded to my newest truck a year and half ago a 2500HD Duramax, 6th gear all the way back and forth from CT to Lake George and 17MPG doing 65MPH towing my 206. I wish I could hitch up both boats at the same time lol when I go up for July vacation to LG and the Reunion TBD(sept I am assuming)

I've seen many a boat towed with a Durango. You should be fine with that, especially with the V8 model. I believe it's basically a Dakota chassis. Personally I have a Suburban. I waited a long time to get it but I couldn't ask for a better tow vehicle.

David

Durango will do the job. I'd think carefully first. My brothers 2 wheel drive Durango got poorer mileage than my 4WD Suburban. The Suburban is a far better tow vehicle, and obviously has a lot more room. BKH

bnhbutts wrote: Pete - I found a Land Rover Discovery - 2003 for sale, but I've heard so many negative things about repairs and the costs of those repairs that it makes me shy away.

Bob,
The Land Rover series III was a 1970. That was way before Ford took over the company!!! Go at it Ford lovers!

People any thoughts on the Honda Ridgeline? I am guessing that any pickup type vehicle with a V6 or larger is gonna be good for towing. But I could be wrong.

^^ Probably. Can't stand looking at the Envoy GMT360 platform in any of its 500 million variants but it'll probably do the job just fine. The Explorer seems like it's come a long way in the later models, but I don't know much about it. Not a bad looking car.

bnhbutts wrote: Pete - I found a Land Rover Discovery - 2003 for sale, but I've heard so many negative things about repairs and the costs of those repairs that it makes me shy away. Tim: I suppose an 2005 Acura MDX 4x4 would foot the bill too. Thoughts?

Don't buy a Disco. I love them and hate them at the same time. 2003 was the best year for them because they inherited the Range Rover powerplant as well as many other good updates for that year but the car is still an absolute joke reliability and maintenance-wise, not to mention absolutely abysmal with gas mileage.

MDX is a unibody vehicle rather than body-on-frame. Plus, it's my personal opinion based on field research that most Acura drivers are total a-holes . I'd pass on that vehicle for sure.

I wouldn't discount the 3rd-gen 4Runners although they are starting to get old. The newest one of those is a 2002 MY, which is already 8 years ago.

Whatever car you end up with, even towing with the minivan, add a trans cooler. Slushbox trans temps go through the roof while towing loads and heat kills them.

Pete - I found a Land Rover Discovery - 2003 for sale, but I've heard so many negative things about repairs and the costs of those repairs that it makes me shy away.

Tim: I suppose an 2005 Acura MDX 4x4 would foot the bill too. Thoughts?

Joe - I'm in the Eastern Subs...I would go to West Branch - most likely, but we annually go to the Adirondacks to Lake Pleasant north of Utica.