Tow Vehicle Question

[John Lowe]

I am needing to get another vehicle & want to make sure it would be able to pull my 1997 Nitro 700LX dual console ok. I have found a SUV with a 6 cylinder but it is 2 wheel front drive. What about pulling with 2 wheel front drive vehicles, have never done it.

 

[Texas Transplant]

Do a search on 'tow vehicle' and you will likely find several threads with discussions.



I've pulled with front wheel drive vehicles with no real problems. One advantage, is that with the front wheel drive, your front tires are generally not in the water and are pulling on drier ground.



If you will provide more definitive informaiton on your tow vehicls (make, model, hp, torque rating, trailer package, etc), then folks here will be able to give you a better answer.



I had a Ranger Pickup that was a std transmission and was a V6. It was not the 'bigger' V6, and struggled.



Tex

 

[Marty Klein]

It would be helpful if you would provide details on the vehicle you've found. That said, T-T makes an excellent point. Motor and transmission are critical to the discussion. Newer 6's, like that in the new FISO, and some other big 6's won't be problematic. Smaller ones could be. For me, another piece of the discussion is the weight and stance of the tow vehicle. I have a 750 that I used to pull with a 96 Explorer. I could pull it with no problem; on the road, out of the lake. What always concerned me was that I knew the boat was back there without even looking. It was a matter of whether or not the tow vehicle was controlling the boat or could the balance of power quickly shift to the boat controlling the tow vehicle -- like in a crisis maneuver.

 

[Randy Walls]

Brojohn I have a Dodge Nitro with the 4.0 liter 4WD. It handles my buddies 929!!!!!

I have a tv-18 and it works great. It was not a lot of money either, under 20k for a three year old vehicle and loaded. I have seen guys pull your size boat with mini vans etc... and all struggled. The newer 6's have horse and torq unlike just a few years ago.



One thing I noticed is that with my old Ram the mileage didn't really drop pulling my boat but the overall mileage isn't gonna win any awards either. My Nitro gets just over 20 average but drops to under 15 when towing.



Just some more to think about.



Randy!

 

[Berry Lindley]

Please provide more about your situation, ie how far do you plan to tow, typical terrain, and the particular vehicle you are looking at. It is all part of the puzzle.

 

[Randy Janousek]

Remember that many FWD only suv's are not really suv's, but a compact car drivetrain with a larger body attached. Many of these do not have much "meat" at all holding the rear end together. The power of the engine is just one thing to consider.

 

[Dan Nevill]

OK, I have a 640LX with 90HP. I first pulled it with my wifes Mazda Tribute. It is a FWD SUV. It pulled great for over a year, plenty of HP, 200 V6 and it was rated for the load. The issue I had is when the ramp got wet it some times had issue with traction in the front. Most of our ramps are 10 to 20 degree angles. I actually could not get up the ramp and had to have a few buddies jump on the front to get traction. So I now pull with a 02 Ford Explorer and haver had no issues. If I was to pull with a small SUV I would make sure it is an AWD option.



Dan

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Ok, I guess I am going to have to say it since nobody has (Marty hinted).....It's not what you can pull, it's what you can safely stop!! Randy, that 929 would totally control your SUV in an emergency stop on dry pavement let alone wet or slick. I got to watch first hand the 901 of a friend manhandle his 1/2 ton truck in an emergency stop and it was from my rearview mirror coming right at me!! He had functional trailer brakes also. Any smaller tow vehicle and I would have had a NITRO in my backseat. I know we all want to save gas and use our tow vehicles as daily drivers and grocery getters but just remember this, you are responsible for controlling that trailer when you tow and it should not be taken lightly. I towed my 929 with a V8 Ford Explorer for a while and was not comfortable with it. That's why I now have a 3/4 ton HD truck "for towing". My rationale was that I towed all over the country and "needed" it. I am so very glad I did. If I want to drive the truck as a car I get 12mpg. If I tow I get 12mpg. Finally just be prepared to trash a "lighter" tow vehicle because it will happen. Brakes, drivetrain, transmission (yes even with the proper cooler) will suffer. It did on my Explorer and I don't consider it "small". My caveat...short runs to the lake and small tin boats might be "OK" but for any distance I want a full size tow vehicle with the wheelbase and weight to control whatever I am towing.



TOXIC

 

[BIGCBAG]

+1 @ TOXIC



Working in the construction field, I have towed my share of heavy load's(my boat being the lightest of the lot.)Your ability to stop safely is one of the most important decisions you will have to make when choosing a towing vehicle. If your tow vehicle is too lite and you have to make a short stop,your tow load will be what's controling where you go. You just as well let go of the wheel and start praying for the best because any control at that point will be out of your hands. When I purchased my Ford 250 a few years back, Deisel fuel went up to $5.00 plus per gallon. So after doing the math over and over I came to the conclusion that by spending money....I would actually be saving money (Hard to wrap my head around that.)So I did some searching and bought a chevy cobalt for $12,000.00 zero percent interest. Using the car for all my running around and leaving the truck in the driveway, the cobalt payed for itself within the first year.



In my opinion I would not choose mpg. over saftey

 

[Randy Walls]

Toxic is right! The 929 has brakes and the Nitro has oversize brakes also even though it is lighter than a full size truck. With the boat brakes it stops quicker than without!!!!! No joke. You can actually feel it.



Good point though if you don't have trailer brakes!



Randy!

 

[Marty Klein]

You are absolutely right Tox; I totally glossed over stopping the beast on a routine basis and in an emergency.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Just remember that the brakes on the trailer are surge brakes. You lock them up and they are pretty much useless. Normal driving they "assist" your regular brakes. That's why I always use the emergency or panic stop scenario. Once locked up, your tow vehicle is what will stop your load and let me tell you, inertia can be a cruel law of physics!! I towed a lot in the mountains and sometimes had to curse my surge brakes. Going down a mountain the trailer would actually push against the back of the truck and engage the brakes when I didn't want them to. If I wasn't paying attention I would smoke my brakes and actually turned my tires white from heat one time. Hated to have to stay on the gas going down hill but it wasn't all the time. Grade had to be just right.



TOXIC

 

[Jim B]

Tox,

Right on man....



When it comes to towing anything, stopping and trailer control should be #1 and 1A on the list. How strong the engine is comes in a distant third to those two concerns.



I have towed lots of miles with smaller lighter tow vehicles and i wont ever go down that road again. At one point in my life i towed with an s10 blazer which i dont concider "small" compared to todays small suv's. That blazer was downright scary towing a bassboat at freeway speeds, it didnt have the wheelbase to keep the trailer 100% under my control when a big truck went by or a big gust of wind blew and i was towing a 16' Champion at the time which was light. Panic stops were also an adventure in cheating death. Sure the Blazer had the power to move the load it just didnt have the size, weight and brakes to make it safe. I had too many "close calls" towing with that setup.



I have done small suv's, ive done mid sized trucks and for the last 6 years i have towed with a full sized truck and i will never go back to something smaller. I now have the size and weight to keep the trailer under control, i can stop it and power isnt an issue, gas milage no different then the mied sized trucks i have owned both loaded and unloaded.

 

[Rich Stern]

I towed a 700 dual console many times with a Dodge FWD mini-van and 3.8 V6. It was fine for that relatively light package. Well within the manufacturer's tow rating. There was one local ramp on the Chattahoochie River where the FWD was a big plus. The rear wheels were always in muck, while the fronts were on dry concrete. Worked great. Saw lots of RWD vehicles struggle with that ramp.

 

[JR F]

want a scary story..In 1988 I towed my 19 foot bass boat from Okeechobee fl to anderson In with a ext cab S-10 6 cly they didn't have the 4.3 then and the trailer didn't have Any brakes and It rained 90% of the way here.Couldn't go over 15 mph up the hills and sure couldn't slow down going down the hills..Was worse than Space mtn ride at disney world..

Always get the right vehicle..

JR

 

[Mike Zechman]

Main thing for me with towing is the distance. Most SUV's with small v6's are fine for 20mile trips, its the long 400+ mile trips that I do that creates issues. My wifes 05 Equinox has been trashed from towing my 19ft Nitro sport(Fish n Ski), even though its rated for 5K, its really not, it screwed up the AWD, and has had many issues with the powertrain, just about to unlaod the thing and get her a better vehicle(she tows the Nitro, i tow the 30FT Travel Trailer). The last 2 V8 trucks I owned both had bad reaer ends before the 100K miles mark, and GM told me its from the amount of LONG DISTANCE towing I do a year....just something to think about

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Odd Mike, my 3/4 ton Silverado, 6.0 Crew has over 108,000 and 99.9% of it has been towing...some very long distances. Just another reason why when I bought new in 04 I went "big" but not diesel.



TOXIC

 

[Mike Zechman]

Yeah Tox, not sure whats up with that, I had brake issues among others as well, so far this truck has been good only have 58K on it now