I am looking to get rid of my Ford pickup and get something a little smaller and more along the lines of a SUV. I was curious what you think is the minimum tow capacity is I should look for in a vehicle? I believe the GVWR for my trailer (see signature) is 5000lbs. So should I just aim for that, or can i shy on the lesser side of that?
MODS, feel free to move to another section if you think it's a better fit. Was hoping someone with the like trailer could comment in this section.
Thanks
2005 Ford F-150 SuperCrew Lariat 2003 Starcraft TravelStar 19CK
It's probably lighter, but I still want at least 1000 pounds more tow than trailer.
If it's a 4500 pound trailer I want at least 5500 pounds max towing capacity. And I'm happier with a ton extra capacity. I'd really want 6500 pounds max capacity with a 4500 pound trailer.
You can tow right up to your maximum towing capacity, but keep in mind that's computed with the truck empty. Reduce that capacity for passengers and cargo. the "1000 pound rule" accounts for those weights without a calculator.
V8 Explorer with the HD tow package is rated at 7130 pounds; the V6 at 5225 with HD tow.
-- Chuck
'06 Roo 23SS behind '07 Expedition out of Cleveland Our Photo pages
If you move smaller, make sure you get the tow package and a V8. 5000 lbs seems low. Try to find a SUV with more than that. Also, the shorter wheel bases of the SUVs may make for more of a white knuckle ride. Your F-150 is a great tow vehicle. You may be under-impressed when you tow with a smaller SUV. We towed with a Explorer and moved up. Most people seem to move up from the smaller SUV's to a 1500/150 or similar capability vehicle.
See if you can take a SUV for a test drive and tow your trailer.
You want a vehicle that's smaller but still want an SUV? Hmm... only thing that I can think about that would have good capacity would be a Toyota 4Runner. Of course I'm a little biased toward Toyota Can't think of why you would want to do that though. Gas mileage on a "smaller" vehicle that still has the ability to tow your trailer would be about the same. My friend has a Ford Exploder and he gets about 16mpg as a daily driver. My "smaller" Tacoma gets about 20mpg. To me 4mpg isn't much of an improvement to make me want to purchase a different vehicle. Although you didn't mention that as a reason it probably is a factor???
I had a similar HTT (Fleetwood Orbit 190ck)That I towed with a Trailblazer for a year and it did fine. If your in a rush towing with it, you will only average 9-10 mpg though.I am still using the Trailblazer towing a TT with avg weight of 4500lbs (scale).. and with a family of 4 and 2 dogs can average 11 mpg towing around 55 mph. I get 18-21 mpg when not towing.My TV now has 101000 miles and still going strong. It will not like the hills though, so if you plan on trips to the mountains, it will have a tough time. Our Trailblazer has a 5700 tow capacity.
* This post was
edited 04/23/08 09:17am by weathershak *
Don't like the view?? Then change it and Go Camping
I have a 2003 Ford Explorer V6 that I got thinking the smaller engine would get better gas mileage. It has tiny towing capacity (3500lbs), and no power. I can get 18-19 mpg on the highway (if I am lucky), 15mgp city. I also have a 2008 Toyota Tundra 5.7 V8 (10,000 lbs tow capacity). I get 14 mpg city and 18 mpg highway.
With those minor differences in the gas mileage, the cost difference for gas is not much.
Don't assume a smaller vehicle is going to get any better gas mileage. I feel a lot safer towing with the Tundra because you have extra towing capacity.
My advice is to find the vehicle you want, and then make sure you get an engine with several thousand pounds of towing capacity over what you need. Looking at your current set-up, I would stick with the Ford. You never said why you want something smaller. If it is gas mileage, then you probably will not see much of an improvement (especially since you will need a V8 to tow your trailer).
I wouldn't want to go any smaller than a Dakota or Durango. I just upgraded from my V8 Dakota to a full size van to pull our trailer with.
1968 Dad (me)
1969 Wife
1995 Son
1996 Daughter
2005 Ford E-350 - 5.4L 4-spd auto, 3.73 (new to us 2/08)
2000 Dodge Dakota QC - 4.7L 5-spd Man, 3.55lsd, Century Cap, air springs
2003 Starcraft Travel Star 21RB (Loaded,)Prodigy, Draw-tite WD & SC
I'm with those who say get a V8. The difference in daily-driving MPG will be negligible, but the towing ability will be better. DEFINITELY get a vehicle with the factory-installed tow pkg. Do NOT skimp on this.
Your trailer is smaller than ours, and may have a slightly lower GVWR, but figuring on 5000# won't hurt you to do. Having towed a 5000# trailer with an Explorer with 5000# tow capacity, I will not do that again. We didn't even try hilly country, and had some real struggles just with rolling prairie and stiff headwinds. Our sig shows the result. MUCH better.
Incidentally, our big honkin' (by comparison) truck gets as good highway MPG when not towing that our V6 Explorer did. Daily driving mpg is worse, but not that much so. Towing mpg is actually about the same too, with the same trailer.
2007 Toyota Tundra CrewMax 5.7L V8 w/ tow pkg, Equal-i-zer
2008 Flagstaff 831RLSS
previous HTT: 2005 Starcraft Travelstar 21SSO
Our 5.4L V-8 Expedition gets better gas mileage on the highway, both towing and solo, than our '03 6cyl Envoy did. Around town, they were similar. As for the ability to haul people comfortably and the overall feel while towing, the Ford wins hands down. In other words, think hard before choosing a vehicle that may be too small for your purpose. You might not be happy in the long run. Incidentally, our GVWR is also 5000 lbs.
Me~Jim, 44
DW~Patty, no comment
DS~Dave,18
DD~Megan,17
DD~Emily,11
200lb. English Mastiff~Gulliver,7
2005 Expedition Eddie Bauer
2002 Palomino Stampede 235 SL
Our ML320 with 3.2L V6 and 5000# tow rating works just great with our 4800# fully loaded HTTTH. ML has 150,000 miles on it now, half that towing all over North America.
Chuck
Wonderful Wife
Lovely German Shepherd.
1999 Mercedes ML320 TV
2003 Wanderer 187TB Toybox (3620# UVW, 4800# loaded) Not yet camped in Hawaii, 4 Canada Provinces, & 2 Territories. I can't be lost because I don't care where this lovely road is going
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Can't think of why you would want to do that though. Gas mileage on a "smaller" vehicle that still has the ability to tow your trailer would be about the same. My friend has a Ford Exploder and he gets about 16mpg as a daily driver. My "smaller" Tacoma gets about 20mpg. To me 4mpg isn't much of an improvement to make me want to purchase a different vehicle. Although you didn't mention that as a reason it probably is a factor???
