Best popup tow vehicle

[okie44]

What doe you consider the best popup tow vehicle? Excluding large SUV`s, pickups & other gas guzzlers. Keeping in mind gas milege and
reliability. I tow with a Dodge Grand Caravan and lost a transmission
at 51000 mi.
I would like to hear other campers experiences, good or bad with tow vehicles.
Mike

[HersheyGirl]

Welcome to PopUp Times!!  I had a 98 Dodge Grand Caravan and lost the transmission at 31,000 miles, it was still covered under warrenty. So I guess I am saying that towing may not cause you to lose the transmission in your caravan. We never towed with ours and still lost the tranny. It is not a real strong transmission. I finally did tow with the caravan and it towed my camper real well. Most people will recommend a SUV or truck or the chevy astro, which they do not make any longer. But, lots of folks do tow with their minivans and do very well. I tow with a 94 chevy G 20 conversion van and it does very well, but the gas milage is not so good. About 16 mpg when towing. I just lost the transmission in this van a couple of days ago and we have a trip planned on Tuesday. I hope to have it done by Monday. Soooo, good luck with your search, but don't rule out your minivan just yet.

[The Tree Top Inn II]

What doe you consider the best popup tow vehicle? Excluding large SUV`s, pickups & other gas guzzlers. Keeping in mind gas milege and
reliability. I tow with a Dodge Grand Caravan and lost a transmission
at 51000 mi.
I would like to hear other campers experiences, good or bad with tow vehicles.
Mike

Mike, you might look at a smaller pickup truck like a Toyota Tacoma, Nissan Frontier, or a Dodge Dakota with 4 doors.  They get relatively good gas mileage (almost 20 mpg towing).  They can be very carlike inside, seat 5, and yet with a large V6 or small V8 and a tranny cooler, they can safely tow (and stop!) a 5,000 lb. trailer (assuming the trailer's got brakes, too).  You can get the Toyota or the Nissan with a supercharger--great for high altitude horsepower and torque.  My wife and I are Tacoma crazy.  We practically fight over who gets to drive it.  Of course you'd want to tow something less--like maybe 3,500 lbs. in case you've got a truck full of people and campin' things--to give yourself the added grunt for long steep grades.  Scott

[veryolddog]

Dodge 2500 3/4 ton with Cummins Turbo Diesel. Best towing vehicle on the market except for the Dodge 3500 with the same engine. You won't have any problems towing your pop up any where, any place, any time. Might have to put more weight in your pop up to keep the wheels on the road. And, you will probaby get 18 mpg towing in the city and 21 on the highway.  Later.

[Harhir]

I think this is a question that totally depends on the personal judgement and personal use.
I don't look into towing only. I myself like to explore the back country roads or paths when on vaction. Could be some rough 4WD roads in Big Bend NP or to some ghost towns in Colorado.
Therefore for me an offroad capable 4WD is a must since a Minivan won't do it for me. Although I like the interior space they just do not have enough ground clearance.
O.k. a full size 4x4 truck would be great as well. Especially a Diesel. There is nothing better than using a Diesel for towing. But since I use my TV for daily commuting in Dallas I prever a smaller SUV than using a Fullsize truck.

The perfect vehicle for me would be a Minivan with 4WD and offroad cabibilities powered by a Diesel engine.
Somethink like the Mitsubishi L400/Space gear:
http://www.camperboard.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=3720
They also sold or selling it as Hyundai Starex
http://www.starex-4wd.nl/
http://gelaendewagen.at/artikel/hystar.php

Or the 4x4 version of the Dodge Sprinter. They offer it Europe and Australia. But not in the US:
http://home.comcast.net/~anthoni6/sprinter_iglhaut.jpg

But I guess I have to stick with my SUV for a while.

[dee106]

chevy astro van / gmc safari or ford windstar , they both tow 5000lbs, and get better gas milage then suv or trucks. and seat more people!

[rccs]

I towed with my 1991 Plymouth Gran Voyeger for 7 years and the transmission finally went out with 141,000 miles on the vehicle. I traded it in this winter with 172,000 miles on it for a 1999 Chrysler Town & Country with 54,000 miles on it and it has the tow package from the factory. I will have to see how long this one goes before it has transmission trouble.

[flyfisherman]

My tow vehicle is a full sized GMC regular cab, short bed, pick'em up - has the small 4.8 V-8 with just 2-whl drive. The window sticker said it would get 20 mpg highway and that's what it will do. Put on one of those low profile fiberglass bed  covers and that bumped the gas mileage up another mile. The best mileage I've ever gotten on the highway (not towing) was on a 150 mile express way trip where I set the speed control at 62 mph ... and I got an honest 21.7 mpg!

I tow a small Starcraft with a GVWR of 2200 lbs and that's about where the weight is when I get it all loaded, including the canoe on the roof of the popup. Obviously, the truck can tow much more than the little camper, but the point is that it's an easy pull and the good thing about a full sized truck with a V-8 is there's little difference in mileage when you loaded it down. The very best mileage I've gotten so far towing (on fairly level terrain) has been 19.9 MPG, expressway driving at 65 mph.

My previous tow vehicle was a GMC Sonoma with the 4.3 V-6. Now, I really liked that V-6 - a quiet and responsive engine and I got better gas mileage overall  than with the present full sized truck. However, and this is the interesting part, the full sized truck with the V-8 gets better mileage loaded down and towing. I think the very best I ever got with the Sonoma towing (the same camper with the same load), was something like 18.5 mpg.


Fly

[tlhdoc]

chevy astro van / gmc safari or ford windstar , they both tow 5000lbs, and get better gas milage then suv or trucks. and seat more people!

The Ford Windstar tow rating was 3500 with the towing package in 1999 and newer vans.  I can seat 7 in my Explorer.  The Windstar did get better milage though.

[JAL&JKL]

We tow with a Chevy S-10 pickup, V6, 4.3 Vortech rated for 6,000 lbs. We tow a '99 Coleman/Fleetwood Nevada (electric brakes) with GVWR of 2,900 lbs. and the truck is LOADED; also bike rack with 2 bikes. No problems at all.

[hoppy]

Why would you not include pick-ups as a good TV?

 They are great for hauling firewood, large coolers, bicycles, and other large items that don't fit easily in a mini-van.

 My Silverado with the extended cab carries a family of five comfortably, and with the 4.3 V-6 engine, (205 hp) gets close to 22 miles per gallon on the open highway, 17-18 around town, and 13-15 while towing the loaded 3,100 # Mesa.

  I just keep my speed between 55-65 mph while towing.

  My Silverado is rated to tow 6,000 #, and with the length of the wheel base, I haven't had to add a WDH, or a anti-sway bar.

  So considering the economy, the versatility, and the extra cargo room, this is definetly my choice as a good all around TV.

[Steve-o-bud]

Check out the Honda Ridgeline. I believe it has a 5000lb towing capacity.
 
Also the Honda Pilot - Tow rating is 4,500 lbs for a boat, 3,500 lbs elsewise.
 
Decent mileage, smooth Honda V-6 power (about 240 Hp).

[tleary]

My TV is a great one,  1999 F-250 7.3 Powerstroke, 2WD, (Great Engine)without a sway bar,  I do have a brake controller, and a front hitch.   I can't even tell it's back there.  Often while we are driving I have to check to see if the camper it still back there.  I get the same fuel mileage with it towing or not.  about 16-17 mpg  I'm thinking of getting a chip for it,  to increase the MPG to 10% or better.

[Tufster]

We tow with a 1995 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT Ext Cab.
Have the 5.2 V8
All I added was  Class III hitch, 7 pin connector.
Brake controller and a trans cooler.
Awesome truck.
Tows great.
Has 155000 miles on it and still runs great.
We are towing a Prowler 721C Hybrid with a gross weight of 4000 lbs.
Have a great one.
Mike :canada:

[Elly]

We towed our PU with a 1990 Plymouth Grand Voyager for 4 years. The transmission went on it but like someone else said the transmission was iffy at best on them. For some reason we got the great idea to get a conversion van. It looks pretty but packing is awful. My kids didn't mind sitting with their feet up on coolers and such 4 years ago but now that they are older and my 14yo is almost 6' they are a little beyond that. We blew the transmission twice in one trip last summer in the conversion............ but that's a story in itself.