Any imports that can tow a tt?
Amanda Parr
I've seen folks say they have Dodge Astro vans or Chevy Suburbans to tow their
travel trailers.
What about imports? Anybody sucessfully towing with a Toyota, Honda, etc.?
Thanks,
Amanda
meldx
looking vehicule for your customers ;-)
Fact is, the longer the whell base, the better it will handle, and most imports
have small wheel base, plus they will lack power on montain roads.
Is the Hummer an import?, that might do the job LOL
Mel
Amanda Parr
Mel,
And it certainly WOULD impress my clients, now wouldn't it. Anybody got a few
thousand bucks I can borrow??
Amanda
Tom Ohmer
FLiP
I've seen folks say they have Dodge Astro vans or Chevy Suburbans to tow
their
travel trailers.
What about imports? Anybody successfully towing with a Toyota, Honda, etc.?
Well Amanda that depends the question is what size travel trailer are you
considering? Anything 24' and larger I would say you need a full sized 3/4
ton rated tow vehicle. I am excluding those 3/4 ton conversion vans that are
questionable on that 3/4 ton rating.
As to Toyota, Honda, or Nissan, the only one that I can think of would be
the Toyota Tundra?
FLiP
W F Sill
>What about imports? Anybody sucessfully towing with a Toyota, Honda, etc.?
Amanda, some folks certainly _are_ towing with little trucks & SUV's -
but the smart ones are ONLY towing really light stuff like small
pop-ups and snowmobile trailers.
Imported or not, it is foolhardy to use a light, short vehicle to tow
a TT.
Will KD3XR ---- the Curmudgeon of Sill Hill
Before flaming, pause. I post to help rv'ers
and annoy morons. Whichever shoe fits, wear it.
Allen Malone
news:LcRC5.24205$hD4.5...@news1.rdc1.mi.home.com...
> What about imports? Anybody successfully towing with a Toyota, Honda,
etc.?
>
> I just came from a Hensley Hitch weekend get together and there were
people
> there that tow with regular cars. A 97 Intrepid pulling a 27 ft. tt,a 98
> Cadillac sedan de ville pulling a 34 ft Airstream, and a 98 Grand Marquis
> pulling a 25 ft tt without problem. I too thought you needed a TRUCK of
> sometype to be able to tow units like these, I learned a lot.
>
> Strip-it
>
>
Anything's possible. Even saw a commercial during the CMA show tonight that
implied a Chevy Tracker was going to give a broken down semi a tow.
Al
Stacey/Strip-It Co.
meldx
you will be able to pull it OK, problem occur once you want to brake in a rush
or you get just unlucky and have a bit of a sway.... then.... you realise that
the TT is 4 times heavier than the car you have (or should I say you had!)
Each time I see one of those I say to myself, better hurry up passing them
before they take the ditch... and me with them
Believe me, I pull a 3360# dry TT with an Astro... and that's a minimum, would
trade for less, but if I had the bucks... would get a better one! (longer wheel
base)
Mel
Hugh Darling
trailer with a Mercury Marquis. They really didn't have any problem
towing it. They had a conventional load leveling hitch. Spent some time
with them, she even drove part of the time. As to the Caddy with the 34'
Airstream, it's a stunt. The Caddy and the Intrepid are modified to
allow them to tow a bigger load. Still don't make em safe. The car
manufacturer wouldn't warranty them if they knew about the overload.
Hugh
Allen Malone wrote:
>
> "Stacey/Strip-It Co." <str...@home.com> wrote in message
> news:LcRC5.24205$hD4.5...@news1.rdc1.mi.home.com...
Robert Carr
I sure would be interested in what you learned that was so convincing.
Those tow vehicles that you observed are rated as follows:
97 Intrepid Max towing weight = 2000#, Estimated 27 ft. trailer
weight 5000 to 7000#
98 Cadillac DeVille Max towing weight = 3000#, Estimated 34ft
airstream trailer weight 6000 to 8000#
98 Grand Marquis Max towing weight = 2000#, Estimated 24 ft. trailer
weight 4000 to 6000#
All max towing weights were obtained from Trailer Life magazine annual
tow rating issue for the appropriate year. Trailer weights were
estimated on basis of similar length units.
Bob
W F Sill
>I just came from a Hensley Hitch weekend get together and there were people
>there that tow with regular cars. A 97 Intrepid pulling a 27 ft. tt,a 98
>Cadillac sedan de ville pulling a 34 ft Airstream, and a 98 Grand Marquis
>pulling a 25 ft tt without problem. I too thought you needed a TRUCK of
>sometype to be able to tow units like these, I learned a lot.
Here we go again.
Forgive me, but I cannot think of a really courteous way of putting
this: YOU'VE BEEN HAD! What you "learned" is what some slick sales
geeks convinced you of!
I don't doubt for a second that you have SEEN these combinations. Nor
that you've been assured by the Hensley crowd that they are not only
"safe" but way better than trucks for towing.
Did they tell ya what the tow ratings are for those cars? No? Then
I will tell you the Intrepid has a max tow rating of 2,000 lbs. Many
pop-up trailers are heavier than that, and you can bet those big TT's
are 3-5 times heavier than the others are rated for.
The Hensley people are hoodwinking the public in order to peddle their
excellent but shamelessly overhyped and overpriced hitch. For years,
they have been telling people the hitch "eliminates" the sway problem
(untrue, though it certainly minimizes it) and that owners can safely
disregard tow ratings.
This is borderline fraud. It has been discussed here almost as much
as the Wal*Mart parking issue, and still the firm continues to
misrepresent their product. It's a shame, because the Hensley hitch
is one of only two really superior TT hitches presently available, and
is superior in some ways to their only real competition, the PullRite
hitch.
But NO HITCH ever made is good enough to make a puny tow car good
enough to safely handle serious overloads. If you believe their line
of patter, you deserve what happens to you.
Hugh Darling
equipped for 5000 lb tow weight. I think Ford dropped the rating to
2,000 lbs in the '97 and up models.
Hugh
Robert Carr
You are correct. The 1996 tow rating for the Lincoln Town Car and
Mercury Grand Marquis is 5000#, according to the 1996 Trailer Life
magazine. In 1997 the ratings were dropped to 2000#, according to the
1997 magazine. The Intrepid, however, was still rated at 2000# back in
1996, according to the 1996 magazine.
Bob.
On Thu, 05 Oct 2000 03:39:28 GMT, Hugh Darling <hug...@earthlink.net>
wrote:
Amanda Parr
>Those tow vehicles that you observed are rated as follows:
Bob, I wasn't talking about those cars. I was talking about the Ford
Excursion, Dodge Astro, Chevy Suburban, etc.
LOL, like I want to tow anything with a Cadillac!
Amanda
Robert Carr
I was only addressing the intriguing comments made by "Strip-it". I
had assumed, from prior posts, that you were looking for some type of
SUV vehicle.
More to your basic question. I believe that either the Suburban or
Excursion could be an adequate tow vehicle for your purposes. The
Excursion has a longer wheelbase(139in.), which is more to my liking.
The Suburban wheelbase is closer to 130in. Both vehicles have a
relatively long rear overhang (hitch ball to rear axle, about 60in.).
However, this rear overhang can be significantly reduced with a better
hitch system(Hensley or Pullrite). The fundamental problem in choosing
tow vehicles is how much vehicle is needed. People tow TT's with a
large variety of vehicles. Some of those vehicles, in my judgement are
barely adequate and quite risky. However, they seem to get along OK
until they don't. My bias in towing TT's is to do as much as I can to
expand my safety margin. Therefore, I choose a long wheelbase tow
vehicle and use a Pullrite hitch. I also believe in going to the
so-called 3/4 ton chassis configuration when trailer weights get above
5000#. I believe that the chassis configuration of the Excursion is
based on the F250 Superduty and a 2500 model is available in the
Suburban vehicle. My biases in tow vehicle/hitch choice may be
overkill, but that is what I prefer. Ultimately the choice is yours to
make.
Hope this may help
Bob
On 05 Oct 2000 03:54:33 GMT, dolp...@aol.comspam (Amanda Parr)
wrote:
Ralph Lindberg & Ellen Winnie
<ama...@attglobal.net> wrote:
>
> Anything's possible. Even saw a commercial during the CMA show tonight
> that
> implied a Chevy Tracker was going to give a broken down semi a tow.
The first time I saw the ad, it just showed the Tracker setting up to
tow the Semi. The second time (yesterday) they had a disclaimer at the
bottom that the Tracker really couldn't tow a Semi
--
Ralph Lindberg personal email n7...@amsat.org
RV and Camping FAQ http://kendaco.telebyte.com/rlindber/rv
If Windows is the answer I would really like to know what the question is
W F Sill
>Bob, I wasn't talking about those cars. I was talking about the Ford
>Excursion, Dodge Astro, Chevy Suburban, etc.
Ummm... Dodge doesn't do an Astro - that's a GM product.
But more helpfully, a LOT depends on what kind of towing you have in
mind. If the terrain is fairly level you can tow your 34' TT out to
the lake with a Geo Tracker -- hey, I just saw the GM ad this morning
implying that you could tow a disabled 18-wheeler! Egad!!
But the message people are trying to get across to you is that
lightweight, short-wheelbase vehicles are simply incapable of safely
CONTROLLING a heavy trailer. Though there are many factors
influencing how well a given vehicle will work, these two issues
CANNOT be overlooked with impunity. The Hensley people will have you
believe their hitch has magical properties that make tow ratings and
weight ratios unimportant. Bluntly, that's a lie.
In Europe there are laws limiting the weight of any trailer to less
than the weight of the tow vehicle. Much as I hate the idea of the
gummit sticking their noses into such matters on a blanket basis, the
weight ratio principle is a good one. To illustrate one aspect of the
problem, visualize towing a 7-10,000 lb travel trailer being towed
over undulating pavement with a yard tractor! Though the tractor can
easily "tow" such a big trailer, the much greater mass of the trailer
will literally yank the little tractor off the ground sometimes.
Please don't try this - you could get killed. And please don't try
the equivalent on the highway, where you could certainly get killed!
There are combinations that seem perfectly OK on the flatlands of
Kansas & Nebraska (as long as no emergency maneuvers are ever needed)
that are potentially deadly in WV & WA. Don't make the mistake of
believing braggarts who tell you tall tales about Intrepids &
Airstreams!!
Jim and Joy
it...That's for the Pathfinder, Frontier w/V6, ATM.
Jim
1995 Suburban
2000 Mallard 24'
"FLiP" <fpu...@mailops.com> wrote in message
news:hMPC5.334$t4.18...@news-read1.qis.net...
> Amanda Parr asked
> I've seen folks say they have Dodge Astro vans or Chevy Suburbans to tow
> their
> travel trailers.
>
> What about imports? Anybody successfully towing with a Toyota, Honda,
etc.?
>
Ken McNair
2000lb).
No problems so far...
Steph and Dud B.
roadside service vehicle financed by corporate sponsors (CVS still runs some
in Boston and elsewhere). The vehicle was a full-sized Ford van with the
large in-line 6 engine. I one occassion I actually did tow an 18-wheeler,
albeit not very far. He was broken down in the center lane of I-84 in East
Hartford, CT. His engine was dead but he still had air pressure in the
brakes so the Maxi-cans hadn't locked up yet. I put a tow chain from my
bumper ball to the frame of his cab, put the van in L and gave it a shot.
We were on level ground and I was able to pull him across the right lane
into the breakdown lane where I left him awaiting a heavy-duty hook.
Neither he nor the state cop could believe I did that, but what the hell, it
wasn't my van... (BTW - that was a very cool job.)
--
Dudley
http://members.aol.com/stephndudb/rv.html
Ralph Lindberg & Ellen Winnie <rlin...@kendaco.telebyte.com> wrote in
message news:rlindber-336F69...@news1.telebyte.com...
> In article <8rgnmt$v8u$1...@nntp9.atl.mindspring.net>, "Allen Malone"
> <ama...@attglobal.net> wrote:
>
>
> >
> > Anything's possible. Even saw a commercial during the CMA show tonight
> > that
> > implied a Chevy Tracker was going to give a broken down semi a tow.
>
> The first time I saw the ad, it just showed the Tracker setting up to
> tow the Semi. The second time (yesterday) they had a disclaimer at the
> bottom that the Tracker really couldn't tow a Semi.
GS
>
> Not long ago, "Stacey/Strip-It Co." <str...@home.com> wrote:
>
> >I just came from a Hensley Hitch weekend get together and there were people
> >there that tow with regular cars. A 97 Intrepid pulling a 27 ft. tt,a 98
> >Cadillac sedan de ville pulling a 34 ft Airstream, and a 98 Grand Marquis
> >pulling a 25 ft tt without problem. I too thought you needed a TRUCK of
> >sometype to be able to tow units like these, I learned a lot.
>
> Here we go again.
>
> Forgive me, but I cannot think of a really courteous way of putting
> this: YOU'VE BEEN HAD! What you "learned" is what some slick sales
> geeks convinced you of!
I OWN an Intrepid, and it's doing good to tow ITSELF down the road
without something major breaking and/or falling off every few hundred
miles.
Durable it ain't.
--
Gary Sanders
Bait for spammers:
root@localhost
postmaster@localhost
admin@localhost
abuse@localhost
postm...@127.0.0.1
Chuck Callaghan
truck with the biggest motor to pull anything. Just not true. If you follow
the manufacturer's weight ratings on vehicles other than trucks and make
sure you account for all the added weight, you can safely tow a trailer. We
have a Chevy Astro with the towing package and the 3:73 rear end. It is
rated to tow 5,500#. We tow a 23' lightweight trailer and have no sway
problems at all and I have had to make some emergency stops. You must have
the correct equipment and balance the loads within the trailer as well as
the tow vehicle to do it safely. Now, you will slow down on major hills, but
so do many of the big ones. You should never figure on traveling at 70+ mph
anyway the way some do as it just isn't safe.
--
---
Charles J. Callaghan, Jr., AIA
Senior Review Architect
University of Virginia
Facilities Management
(804) 982-4602 Fax: (804) 982-4628
E-Mail: cj...@virginia.edu
Web: http://fmweb.virginia.edu
W F Sill <wi...@epix.net> wrote in message
news:26tmts8ifedlnjbpu...@4ax.com...
> Not long ago, dolp...@aol.comspam (Amanda Parr) wrote:
>
> >What about imports? Anybody sucessfully towing with a Toyota, Honda,
etc.?
>
> Amanda, some folks certainly _are_ towing with little trucks & SUV's -
> but the smart ones are ONLY towing really light stuff like small
> pop-ups and snowmobile trailers.
>
> Imported or not, it is foolhardy to use a light, short vehicle to tow
> a TT.
>
Old Biker
>
> Amanda, there are those on this newsgroup that believe you need the biggest
> truck with the biggest motor to pull anything. Just not true.
You're right. I'd think that a "Grosser" Mercedes or Rolls limo could
pull a light TT safely enough - if you avoided hills.
Philip Tipler
Robert Carr wrote in message ...
meldx
now rated 5000# to 6000# (that's all with v6 vortex)...
Mel
Philip Tipler wrote:
> Funny thing is... it's EXACTLY the same car.
>
> Robert Carr wrote in message ...
Robert Carr
1997. Maybe there is a chassis or running gear change that is not
particularly noticeable. Must be some reason for the lower tow rating
in 1997.
Bob
On Fri, 6 Oct 2000 21:06:15 -0400, "Philip Tipler"
<pti...@golden.net> wrote:
>Funny thing is... it's EXACTLY the same car.
>
>
>Robert Carr wrote in message ...
Robert Carr
It is kind of interesting to look at the Chevy website for the current
year Astro. They specifically state that the tow rating is calculated
assuming a base vehicle and driver. Additional passengers and any
required trailering equipment will reduce the maximum tow rating. In
past years(specifically 1996 and 1997), the trailering guides say that
the tow rating is based on a driver and passenger in the tow vehicle
and it has all required trailering equipment. They may have just
gained 500 lbs of tow rating based on different weight assumptions. It
might be called marketing.
Bob
meldx
Mel
meldx
most change where for the "looks"
Mel
Hugh Darling
it had something to do with the trailer towing package. The final drive
gear ratio was lower than standard, there was some gimmick with the rear
suspension and there was additional cooling for engine and transmission.
Hugh
Lon VanOstran
>
> Same thing for the 1997 Astro, rated 4500# to 5500# depending on gear ratio, and
> now rated 5000# to 6000# (that's all with v6 vortex)...
For 2000, GM has added a feature. There is a button on the end of the
gear shift which, when pushed, changes the shift points for towing.
(according to the owner's manual)
Lon, who never ceases to be amazed by modern technology.
Pete Dumbleton
pull any TT on the lot! Why just the other day I was reading on the
internet a post from a guy with a Ford van who pulls an 18-wheeler type
trailer on the interstate back East, and he's only got a six!"...
Pete Dumbleton
marked something like Normal and Power, that changed the shift points.
Used it for towing, plus didn't use "D" (which allowed OD), when towing
our 600 lb Coleman Colorado tent trailer. Towed the trailer, plus another
couple or four hundred pounds of stuf on a three-month, 8K mile trip and
got about 27 mpg grand total average...
On Sat, 7 Oct 2000, Lon VanOstran wrote:
> meldx wrote:
> >
> > Same thing for the 1997 Astro, rated 4500# to 5500# depending on gear ratio, and
> > now rated 5000# to 6000# (that's all with v6 vortex)...
>