I need a bit of assistance so let me give you some specifics to get started:
Current Tow Vehicle: 2005 Nissan Pathfinder 6000lbs (WDH, Sway Bars and Brake Controller)
Current Travel Trailer: 2012 Jayco JayFlight Swift 264BH (4700lbs dry)
Additional People/Cargo in both TV and Trailer: Approx 1200 lbs. (700 lbs people/pets and 500 in Trailer)
We have realized that the TV is fine for flat or semi-hilly terrain. (I can accelerate and stop without issue, even in urgent situations).
With that said we are considering purchasing a used truck or SUV that would solely be for towing the trailer. I am having some difficulty identifying which vehicles will meet the needs of the trailer plus significantly more hilly/mountainous terrain (e.g. Colorado Rockies) where we would eventually like to go.
Here are details and questions I feel are important so feel free to add your feedback for what I need to be looking for as I am a first time truck buyer and what it takes to be cost effective and give me the OOMPH to handle the job. Please keep in mind we will be looking in the sub-$5000 range as if money was no issue I could go get something quite easily to meet the needs which I cannot.
Requirements (IMO are important to look for):
Vehicles Considered:
Ford F150, F250, Expedition, Excursion
Chevy Silverado 1500, 2500, Suburban, Tahoe
GMC Sierra 1500, 2500, Yukon
Any others?
I think I can pick up some of these in the 1997-2004 range for this price.
For any of these would anything above 150K miles cause concern? I routinely see trucks in the 200K range going strong. Is there something I should be looking for while we shop/test drive?
Must be extended or crew cab for a truck (need room for the son and dog in the back).
Longbed, Shortbed...does it matter? I don't plan on getting a 5th wheel.
V8 (4.6 vs. 5.0 vs. 5.4 others). From what I have gleened from the boards that I would want the 5.XL models to give the gear ratio and tow capacity....but maybe I am wrong?
I have never owned a diesel and the number of trips we plan in steep terrain would be minimal (1-2 short trips a year)
Could I have my WDH removed and put on the new vehicle or am I better off getting new?
Is there a good source to look up Tow Ratings for older model trucks and SUVs? I haven't found one yet.
Is there an easy way to tell what Gear Ratio or Engine a vehicle has in it? Is there some general rule to follow? Since we are looking primarily at private sellers these details may not be important or known to the current owner so I prefer to do my own research ahead of time.
I appreciate all of your time to assist with this but the research is mind-boggling and I am raising the "I need help" banner.
Please no critique of current TV, it is what it is and meets our "local" camping requirements.
2012 Jayco Jay Flight Swift 264BH
1999 Ford F150 Lariat 5.4 V8 3.73 4x4
2005 Nissan Pathfinder SE 4.0 V6 4x4
2001 Honda Accord EX VTEC 4cyl
Shane, Jennifer and Riley Johnson
sjncrulz wrote: ...purchasing a used truck or SUV that would solely be for towing the trailer....
With this in mind, buy any 3/4 (250/2500) or 1 ton (350/3500) vehicle you like that you find in good shape for the money you want to spend, pickup or SUV. That will remove any questions about engine size, axle ratio, etc. Almost all will work well and provide at least adequate towing performance. There are a lot more specifics that need to pay attention to with half tons with widely variable ratings and performance relative to towing an RV.
I would stick to anything HD Ram with the Hemi or Cummins (skip the older 5.2/5.9L). GM 8.1L strongly preferred over the 6.0L, but both are good. Ford V10 or 7.3L diesel, not 6.0L.
If you like camping in your SUV, hard to pass up an 8.1L Suburban 2500. I think I even know of one for sale that I would buy almost sight unseen. Find user name dadoffourgirls on here and send a PM. Under 100k miles, 2001 8.1L, 4.10 towing beast for 12k pounds.
Edit: Opps, missed the price range. I think dadoffourgirls is looking for more than that.
A & A parents of DD 2005, DS1 2007, DS2 2009 2011 Suburban 2500 6.0L 3.73 pulling 2011 Heartland North Trail 28BRS 2012 VW Passat TDI
I agree with APT on the 2500 Suburban (those are nice!)
my question is why get it only for towing? are you keeping the Nissan for fuel economy as a daily driver - if so look at some of the newer ones and mpg's. figure the extra insurance and cost to keep an extra vehicle and in the end it might be better to have one that is newer and get rid of the Nissan. JMHO
Trailerlife magazine has the old towing guides on their web site.
http://www.trailerlife.com/trailer-towing-guides
Sjncrulz summed it up very nicely on the 3/4 ton trucks. If you can find one in your price range, there will be no worries in terms of capability.
Otherwise, refer to the towing guide above for the 1/2 tons. You may find in the GM trucks in that vintage, the extended cabs are more limited in terms of payload. So, crew cab may be the way to go. I know much less about Ford and Dodge.
As always, go with the largest engine and lowest gears you can find for towing anything in the 5000LB plus range. You will never regret that decision. Once again for GM models, 5.3L or higher, preferrably 6.0L. I have towed with everything from 4.8L to 5.3L to 6.0L, and 6.0L makes a significant difference (5.4L in Ford).
With a GVWR of 6500# (ignore dry weight, it's pretty meaningless when selecting a tow vehicle) -- I'd suggest any properly equipped 1500 series truck (half ton) would do the job nicely. I would avoid any engine sizes of less than 5.0L (except the EcoBoost 3.5L Twin turbo V6 Ford offers, but that is new vehicle only).
Gm, Ram, and Ford all have half ton chassis trucks and SUVs with 4.6L, 4.7L, and 4.8L engines. Too small for RV tow duty IMO.
2010 Cougar 322QBS 5er
2007 Dodge 3500 SRW Megacab, 4x4, 5.9L Cummins, 3.73, 48RE auto HYPERTECH MAX ENERGY or DIABLO PREDATOR tuning MBRP 4" Turbo back Scangauge2 for Boost, Coolant temp, Rail press & Trans Temp
Torklift Stable Loads
sjncrulz wrote: Is there an easy way to tell what Gear Ratio or Engine a vehicle has in it? Is there some general rule to follow? Since we are looking primarily at private sellers these details may not be important or known to the current owner so I prefer to do my own research ahead of time.
For gear ratio in GM products, there will be a 2"x3" white sticker in the glove box with several sets of number/letter combo codes on it. They are listed alphabetically, starting in the top left corner. Look at the "G" section.
GU4 = 3.08
GU5 = 3.23
GU6 = 3.42
GT4 = 3.73
GT5 = 4.10
G80 = locking differential (good for traction @ slow speeds, nothing to do with towing power)
For the Dodge/Ram products, again, look in the glove box for the sticker, except these are not in code. The axle ratio should be printed there in numerical format. Dodge used 3.55 and 3.92. For your load either would be fine, but 3.92 would put more tq to the ground.
For engine size, you can either "decode" the vin (many online tools for each manufacturer for this), or if you can see the vehicle in person, you can look for the emissions sticker under the hood which will have the engine size on it somewhere.
Ford, I'm not sure.
For 1997 - 2004, gasoline engines in full size vehicles (truck based), there will be the following engines:
- GM:
4.3L V6
4.8L V8
5.3L V8
6.0L V8 (in some 1500 series and standard in the 2500 series)
- Ford:
4.0L V6
4.6L V8
5.4L V8
6.8L V10 (Excursion only which is based on a 3/4 ton (F250) chassis)
We tow our 31 ft Kodiak, 5000# empty, a bit under 6000# loaded just fine with our Chevy 1500 with the 5.3 liter and 3.73 axle. Cannot tow in overdrive but still get from 9.3 mpg (lowest ever recorded towing up tp to a little over 13 mpg with most being in the 10 mpg range. For the trailer you're talking about, you don't need a diesel. If you want one, that's a different story. Check out as many as you can. In that price range, I'd think condition would be way more important than brand. I've had Fords, Dodges, and now a Chevy and all did the job I want done.
RRUGG
2009 Chevrolet Silverado LTZ 1500 4x4 5.3L
2011 Kodiak 281RLGS travel trailer
2011 Egg Camper
2010 Chrysler Town & Country
Good Sam life members
Bob & Grace professional retirees
rav wrote: I agree with APT on the 2500 Suburban (those are nice!)
my question is why get it only for towing? are you keeping the Nissan for fuel economy as a daily driver - if so look at some of the newer ones and mpg's. figure the extra insurance and cost to keep an extra vehicle and in the end it might be better to have one that is newer and get rid of the Nissan. JMHO
The Nissan is certainly not a high fuel economy vehicle...I get combined city/hwy in the 14-15 MPG range....HWY only is 15-18MPG....Towing is somewhere in the 9-10MPG range so to put it bluntly...the Nissan is not a fuel sipper.
I however am just trying to evaluate all options....if I was going to just purchase an additional vehicle the models are something I can pay cash for and keep both vehicles (SUV's are nice for the around town family mobile or plain road trips (pretty well loaded (incl Entertainment pkg, 4X4, Convenience group...etc)). I'm not totally against selling it. I think if I did that then I would want to keep in the $12-15K range so that we do not inherit any payments.
I am just not wanting to pick up a vehicle that is going to have a bunch of issues especially not knowing. Even in this higher price range there is a high probability that they are out of warranty.
I appreciate everyone's responses, has given me some good info to go off of....it does look like there may be some 3/4 ton in this price range or just a little higher that would fit the bill.
There are a number of 1500s that look good on paper, I just worried about the tow ratings that were published that don't look much better than what I have now in the Pathfinder (6000lbs). For example to beat this I need to move up to a 2500 to get 1000-1500lbs of additional tow capacity but at the same time the guide indicates several requirements to be able to do this. Glad to hear that others on here are using 1500s without problems.
Having just been through the hunt for a new to us TV to replace our old Nissan (armada).... here is what I learned. If going for higher mileage/older you may be better off going w/ a diesel as they tend to live to higher mileages (ie 300-500k is not all that unusual). In your price range even w/ trading in the nissan you will be out of warranty on anything you buy. Many people look to upgrade their TT before long and end up with heavbier trailers so you might as well go with the 3/4 to 1 ton truck now and be done with it. We ended up w/ a low mileage 2009 F250 diesel that was more than we originally wanted to pay but decided the reliability of the truck was worth skipping those extra dinners out. The one thing that I have found using my F250 for daily driving is the long bed and crew cab make for difficult maneuvering in tight places (escpeially crowded parking lots!) Another warning, diesels are appearing to me to be a lot more expensive to maintain than gas.... oil changes are more expensive but less frequent, fuel is more expensive but it gets better fuel mileage than my Armada did. You should add a fuel additive with each fill up and that costs $$. Older gassers if maintained may do ok with the higher mileage and they may not. The trick is finding a diesel or gas truck that was truly well maintained.
If you are considering a diesel here is a link to a thread on what diesels to avoid... it gives some good info on good and bad diesel engine years for the big 3. Happy hunting and I hope you find the right truck for you.
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