Tow vehicle suitability

[nz825d]

Hi all,

Just purchased a 2000 Palomino Colt pop-up and trying to decide on whether I want to try towing this with my 2005 Pontiac Vibe (1500 lbs towing capacity) or use my Ford F-150 pickup.  Obviously the Ford gets much worse gas mileage and it's also missing a lot of creature comforts that the car has (A/C, stereo etc).

I know that the trailer unloaded comes pretty close to the towing limit on the Vibe (prob 1300 lbs, although I've yet to verify the exact amount) and it does not have electric brakes.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Rob.

[mountainrev]

Rob,

I would not even think about towing a popup with your Vibe, unless you were just going 30 miles down the road.  The Vibe comes with a 4 cylinder engine, correct?  You may be under the rated towing capacity with your Palomino, but not by much.  You will be struggling to keep up with traffic.  Forget going up any grades.  Braking will be a challenge.  And you will have to keep a close eye on your temperature gauge, since your little 4 banger will be working really hard.  It would be very easy to overheat.

Your truck is much, much more suited to towing.  You'll just have to get used to paying more for gas (although your Vibe's gas mileage would definitely suffer trying to pull a trailer) and living without A/C on a trip.  Thinking back to growing up, we always went camping with 7 people packed in the station wagon, with no A/C.  Of course, we didn't know any different back in the '60s and early '70s.  

That's my .02/worth.  Maybe someone has a different take on it.

-Brent

[nz825d]

Thanks for the reply, Brent.

Yes the Vibe only has a 4-cyl engine and only 1.8 litres at that.

[NadMat]

Yes the Vibe only has a 4-cyl engine and only 1.8 litres at that.

Yeah, I pull the Brandywine with a 2.4 L on my Toyota, and it weighs around 1350 empty and pulls fine even loaded, but wouldn't want a whole lot less power if traveling on interstates. For closer to home stuff, the vibe might do ok. But as others have noted, probably won't be getting 30mpg pulling trailer.

[esclark]

I would go with the Ford F-150 pickup personally.  I would hate to see you put that kind of stress on your other vehicle.  

Best of luck!

[tlhdoc]

You would really be pushing the Vibe.  I would go with the F-150.

[mike4947]

God I hate the words "tow rating" the most damn misleading words in RV'ing.

That "tow rating" also includes anything other than the driver in the Vibe. Add the DW, a cooler, and even the optional equipment on the Vibe and you've dropped that 1500 pounds down significantly. Not to mention no one ever towed a trailer empty. The 1300 pounds dry will most likely end up on the scales as around 1600-1700 pounds.

[brainpause]

Also vote for the pickemup to be used.

What you lose in gas money will be gained in ease of towing, plus capacity of the bed of the truck.

Besides that, I can guarantee your gas mileage will suck by pulling with the Vibe.

Larry