Info on Tow Vehicle
 

I plan on buying a 24ft enclosed car trailer. I do not have a truck yet would like to get an idea of what would be a good choice on truck. Looking to spend at most 13,000-14,000 preferably gas. Any ideas and or suggestions are appreciated.

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

look at anything 3/4 ton first--- Suburbans are nice tow vehicles too---- will this truck be your daily driver??? Lots of choices out there---

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Diesel is best. Chevy duramax or dodge cummins. At least 3/4 ton is best. the resale value of a diesel and the durability is far better than the gas trucks. If you can find an older F250/350 with a 7.3 with under 150K miles that would be a good choice too. Stay away from the 6.0 fords. I would not even think about trying to tow a big trailer with a gas truck.

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

My '99 455" 3/4 ton Suburban pulls my 24' ATC trailer just fine. Personally, I would not buy another steel trailer. Later model 8.1L 3/4 ton GM trucks tow just fine also. Pete Peery tows his steel trailer with one of those. I guess you can get that 8.1L gas engine in a Suburban? My preference would be a Duramax Suburban, but GM doesn't offer them.

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

they dont offer 8.1 engines from gm anymore

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I have a '02 Silverado 2500HD with an 8.1 and Allison trans. Tows a 24' enclosed just fine.

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

I would highly recommend the 8.1 gas motor in a Chevy or GMC. I've got a 2001 dually and it does a fine job with a 26-28ft. Enclosed trailer. You also get the Allison trans. If you ever pull with a dually you will realize why so many people use them to pull a trailer.

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What kind of fuel mileage are you getting with the 8.1. Towing and empty. Just curious. The big gas motored trucks I have had were brutal on fuel.

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Towed with a 2500 suburban for years,two years ago bought a f-350 daully with a 7.3 diesel,unbelievable. Wouldn't tow with anything less.

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

X2

Mike A114 P/SA

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

Had to get one built fairly early in the model year, when they were available. Same with the later 454". You couldn't order one late in the model year. GM could only afford to sell so many each year. Both were hard on GM's CAFE (Coporate Average Fuel Economy) averages. That average gets too low the gov fines them. Both can be helped a good bit with some tuning. Both engines had the timing so backed down to help Hydrocarbon emission, you could almost tow a building on kerosene with no detonation. LOL
The 8100 can perform much better (faster) while getting better gas mileage with the normal 4L80E transmission. It is hard to overcome the excessive torque management in the Allison transmission computer.

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

I have been very happy with the 5.7 HEMI in a 2500 for the
past 10 Years. The difference in Mileage is made up by price
of gas being so much lower out here. I have towed 36 Enclosed
and 40 open all over the Division

Ram rates them to pull 14,450 lbs.

I have a 8 month old Ram 2500 single cab with 9,000 Miles
that I would sell for $21,500.00 with all the HD towing Stuff
factory installed.

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I have a 2001 Chevy 1500HD 6.0 with 201,000 miles. Still pulling my '24 enclosed trailer with my super stocker,scooter,tools, etc

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

Mine gets around 9 towing, around 11-12 empty. It has a 4.10 gear, which I think is too much. It's an 03 loaded crew cab, highest available GVWR. It hasn't had anything done to it. Yet.

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

Mine is a 2000 F250 extended cab---7.3 Powerstroke 2 WD auto-- Get about 15 around town just about 18 on the hiway empty --- towing a dragster and all my stuff in a 24 ft Haulmark gets about 11 1/2- 12 as long as its not hilly or windy-- 3:73 gear -- hafta keep it under 2000 RPM/62-65 MPH or the mileage goes to hell real fast--FED 387

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

Yeah, well in my case that's 70+, and well over 2000 RPM. A 3.73:1 gear would probably help mine considerably. I hope the change to 19.5" medium truck wheels and tires takes some RPM out of it. I looked the other day, where the previous owners let the truck sit, the muffler is rusting out, so odds are it will get a complete exhaust system. That may help. I'm sure getting the ECM reprogrammed will help.

My one real complaint about the 8.1 is that it is way under cammed, so it runs out of power too early, the shift strategy holds it in gears too long under moderate throttle.

Still, the truck would have cost 1/3 more than I paid for it if it were a diesel, diesel costs 50% more per gallon than gasoline, and any repairs would be twice as high for the diesel. I love it, and I would not trade it for a diesel.

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

I would not use a 1/2 ton truck to pull more a 24 ft, for just a sat fternoon race. I have an 06 Chevy 2500HD with the 6.0 gas burner,and it does. It does tow my 28 ft trailer fairly well, but I'm usually @ 10 mpg towing, and 12/13 empty. It got better mpg with the shell on back, and that partially kept the effects of " the windwall" of the front of the trailer, right behind the truck,to somewhat of a minimum. My truck now has 245,000 miles on it, and I still would make a 500 mile trip with it, without worry.
I have to agree, with most,from their experience and my own, to get at least a 3/4 ton truck, even it you use it as your daily driver, unless you already have something else.

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

I get about 9-10 towing my 40 ft goose with my 1996 F350 dually w/7.3 diesel it gets about 17 empty. My toter gets about 8.5 towing. I use the dually for local races and a weekend driver. Cost to run the toter is about the same as the dually because the diesel gen in the toter uses way less fuel than the gas gen in the trailer.

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

Do you have a preference on brand ?


I agree with the above...a 24 foot trailer needs a 3/4 ton or larger truck.

A couple of years ago I bought this 2004 F-350 Dually for $8,700. ( duallies are not for everyone but I needed dual rear wheels for stability)

It had 138K miles on it with the 6.8L V-10 gasser.

I Put $ 1,300 worth of new tires, brakes and (air bags on the rear) and am very pleased with it. ( so I have a tad over $ 10K in it)
Fully loaded with my 24 footer and slide-in camper it get 8.5 mpg consistently.

If you are patient, there are deals on gassers out there.

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...psfd5336b6.jpg

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

The one bad thing about the 8.1 is the fuel mileage. I get between 6.5 and 8 mpg towing. It only gets about 12 empty.

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

To me, the main reason for the 3/4 ton minimum, is the stopping power and control, the 3/4 has over the 1/2, in the event of a panic type stopping situation. With a 24 ft, the 1/2 ton is 1/2 the truck.

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

I personally wouldn't tow with anything less than a one ton. We've a '99 F350 crew cab 2wd dually with the 7.3 Powerstroke and an '02 F350 crew cab 7.3 4wd single wheel that we've towed a 36' goose neck with and a 32' tow behind with without any problems. If you can find a nice 7.3 buy it. If you know someone around you that is knowledgeable about the 6.0 and you can get a good buy on one buy it. The 6.0's need about $3,500 worth of upgrades (EGR Delete, Head Studs, improved fuel filtering system, exhaust) to make them right. Once that's done they are a nice truck. When I was looking for my '02 they were basically giving the 6.0's away and at the time all I heard was bad things about them so I stayed away from them. But you can make them right it just takes a little bit of money to do it. Our 7.3's get about 18 mpg on the 4wd and the 2wd gets about 22 mpg on the open road 10-12 towing. I use the 4wd as my dd and my Dad uses the 2wd dually as his dd. They both have about 180,000 on them and are still like new.

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

Many of the new generation 1/2 ton trucks have a higher towing capacity than their predecessors. Their tow package versions also adds other safety features that have allowed many racers tow enclosed trailers with no problems. One example was my 2011 Dodge Ram 1500 Longhorn version which had a towing capacity of 11,000 lbs. I believe Ford has a heavy duty version of their 1/2 ton truck also.

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

Only reservation I have about 1/2 ton trucks is their payload ratings, more so than tow ratings since the motors, frame and transmission are plenty stout if you don't need to spin up major grades at 70 MPH. By the time you add hitch weight and topper so you can cram in spares and tools you can pretty easily exceed the payload ratings (as shown on driver door jam). Some manufacturers also ship with tires that may cut you close on sidewall load ratings. You can get by with a 1/2 ton if you select your options carefully, get a good weight distribution hitch (determining optimum axle(s) weight at your nearest CAT scale yields dividends in driveabiltiy ). Make sure you have a good brake controller and insure you have good trailer brakes (some severe braking tests followed by checking brake temps recommended). An aluminum trailer (i.e. ATC) pays dividends as well.

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

Great points Jim.
one of the first things I did to my Ram 1500 was to switch to "E" rated tires, quite costly due to the 20" factory alloy wheels, tire selection was slim when compared to 17" and 18" wheels. The truck had the towing package which included a great brake controller, class IV hitch and all the necessary hook-up plugs.

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

Thanks for all the help people!!! I have a good idea now of what im going for. Either a dually gasser or older diesel depending, not in a huge rush the car isn't done yet, I just don't want to pick something up and it not be able to handle towing it, that would be a waste. Ive never heard much about the v10 fords. good? bad? will a half ton dodge really handle it all without a cough?

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

I think it depends upon where you tow as well. Towing in hills and mountains or on a lot of 2 lane roads is completely different than towing on a rolling or flat interstate.
If you tow in the south and the Midwest, it is one thing. But if you tow across I-68 from WV into MD or up I-77 from North Carolina in Virginia at Fancy Gap, or say west of Denver on I-70, you may quickly find out you don't have enough truck or will get the brakes hot very quickly when you load close to the max.

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

I'm in Pennsylvania towing a super stock cutlass, just bringing a small tool box, air compressor, generator, no full spares or anything.

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The longer or more often you race, the more stuff you will start to bring with you.

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

^^ so true.

Seems every weekend get-away racing trip I take now I add another item to the trailer for, you know, "just in case".

These enclosed trailers have spoiled us...lol

Re: Info on Tow Vehicle
 

The V-10's have proven to be a decent engine.
Ford started putting those in vans and motorhomes around 1997 or so and in the 3/4-/1 tons in '99.

Here is a link to a Forum devoted to Ford trucks, and there is a section for the V-10 guys. ( good site-lots of info)

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum49/