Affordable tow vehicle......

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by phatdaddy

D, I heard rumors dodge is bringing back the Ramcharger. I would love to see that vehicle again. The Durango is a little small for our travel needs.

I had a 1985 Ramcharger with the 318 engine in it. Agreed.....Great vehicle/

Durango too small? I have 3 rows of seats...seats 8 total. (Although truthfully with the third row in use the storage behind it is a little sparce, but with the third row laid flat I can fit all my coolers, kicker engine, gear and a host of other things in there. Hell, I can probably even fit Giorgio's Bacon bagel in there...

[phatdaddy]

We had 2 or 3 of the Chrysler mini vans when the kids were younger and got used to all the room in them. When we would travel my daughter would suit in the passenger seat reclined back with a book. My wife would be in the stretched out in the middle seat handing out drinks and boiled peanuts and reading. My son would be in the back seat stretched out with a book or game boy. And we still had room for luggage, coolers, etc.

I wanted a newer tow vehicle and thats when we got the tahoe. Everyone still had their seats and I had a V8 that would tow 7000 lbs

But like D said, no room in the back for luggage when all seats are up. I wanted to go the suburban Yukon XL route like sangster has, but wife didn t like size, too long to park.

I can t believe you can t get a full size SUV with the room and footprint of a mini van

[oteps]

Im not a chevy guy but an older Tahoe or burb are cheap and reliable. I don't like 98 and up ford gas engines. too many spark plug and coil issues.
My tow rigs are 99 f350 4 door 8 ft bed 7.3 diesel with some work done to it, will tow anything u want.
And my plow truck, 95 f250, 460 auto. A little beat, fell over on its side once but gets the job done. Afraid to check gas mileage.

[Pipe_Dream]

I might as well chime in, as I have two. All my towing for the past 14 years has been with my company truck, a 2000 Suburban 1500 4WD. It has 4LO which is great on steep, slick ramps. All my towing is local, less than 20 miles, and the 5.3 L V-8 is plenty capable even today after it's gone 360,000 miles. It's been and continues to be a great truck.

However, the miles are a concern when traveling with the wife, 2 dogs and loaded with luggage, etc. when we travel north to see family, particularly in the winter. So we bought a used 2012 Sequoia 4WD which is our go-to road trip vehicle. Very stable feel, plenty of power. But you're never going to get better than 16-17 mpg, I don't care what you do. It should tow fine, but I've never towed the boat or anything else with it because the Suburban has always been there. The ride is stiffer than the Suburban, and it sits higher, which can be both good and bad.

I'm all in on the Suburbans.

[bgreene]

Pipe Dream - do you know if the 360,000 Suburban miles on original transmission ?

[oteps]

got a 2010 gmc Yukon xl a couple months ago. 5.3 auto, loaded. Wanted something that will tow the boat if we take it camping while my f350 tows the camper. So far my wife loves it.

[Pipe_Dream]

Originally Posted by bgreene

Pipe Dream - do you know if the 360,000 Suburban miles on original transmission ?

Yep. 367K now.

[spareparts]

got an 02 Burban, 268K, wife just got a 2014 Yukon(tahoe) with 80k. Our previous Suburban that Charlie should have bought had 240k, even had barn door, just wasn't green. I had 2 Ford diesels, 99 E350, had 430k on it when I sold it, and 97 F350, 200k. I don't miss either one of them. Driving a 97 C2500 daily with 200K.

[steplift20]

Destroyer, I also had a 1985 dodge ram charger with a 318 and a 4 speed Manuel trans 1 gear was a creeper gear , it would pull a house and that's not even in 4 wheel low, unfortunately it was totaled in a accident and only had 60 thousand miles on it that was a great truck, now I have a tundra 2018 But any Toyota Tundra would fit the bill
Get a Tundra,

[bradford]

I've had a few of those mentioned.

94 GMC Sierra C1500 2wd 5.7 4l60e did good.
95 Chevy K1500 4wd 6.5 diesel 4l80e did awesome.
92 Chevy C2500 2wd 5.7 4l80e did good
05 Toyota Tundra 2wd 4.7 auto, did great and was the most comfortable

And for the Dodge guys I took my driving test in an 87 Ramcharger with a 4 inch lift and 33 inch BFG Mud Terrains, had the 318 and an automatic and 4wd.

Currently in a 2000 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner extra cab with a 2.7 inline 4 and an auto and it actually does surprisingly good pulling the skiff and the lawn trailer.