Tow vehicle, I wanna know whazz up...

i have an 03 e350sd 15 passenger van i don't have much in it and it will do everything i need it to do

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I would rather drive a slow car fast as a fast car slow!
first rule of cars: get what makes you happy, your the one paying for it!

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NoCoast
The new Mercedes Metric van looks nice and could tow a rally car with ease.

Cummins Frontier will be a cool small truck.

I bought a 91 D250 Cummins single cab long bed with topper. Can fit 4x8 sheet with ease, tows anything I could want and is cheap to insure. Probably gets like 10 MPG towing but again, cheap to own.

10 MPG towing? Sheeeeeeeit. I borrowed a 94 Dodge Cummins 4x4, and after 200 miles of towing (half w/empty trailer), I put 11 gallons in to fill it up. I was driving casual since the trailer lights and brakes didn't work...but still.

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Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY

Mines 2WD.

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Grant Hughes

I wish the towing capacity wasn't complete garbage for those Dodge Sprinters. They'd make a good rally/moto rig. Anything I can sleep in comfortably gets brownie points in my book.

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NoCoast
The new Mercedes Metric van looks nice and could tow a rally car with ease.
.

Will report back on the Metris when it shows up. Been looking for a way to combine the wifes wagon with the E350 psd for a while and it should be up to the kiddo carrier task 98% of the time and be able to drag the impreza around when required. Can get a floor to ceiling luggage net to make it a crew van. Only has 5000lbs towing but we are well under that with the current car/trailer.

Had a '98 E350 PSD which was solid for years, standard rear end it always got 13.5-15mpg towing.

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-KTurner
Stomp down on the exhilarator and hold on to the wheel.

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deaner
I wish the towing capacity wasn't complete garbage for those Dodge Sprinters. They'd make a good rally/moto rig. Anything I can sleep in comfortably gets brownie points in my book.

Tons of people have had success towing with Sprinters. Most say they'll never go back.

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Grant Hughes

it's stupid, but now that my wife is driving a school bus every day I keep thinking about a school bus car hauler with a ramp door in the back and a simple camper section in the middle.
I can get one that's about 10 years old in good shape for a couple grand. I even have an old tow behind camper that the frame is rusted out on to donate the camp stuff..

Normally, I use a 99 diesel suburban to tow the newer camper or a car hauler when required. it's the family ride (4 kids), so it gets driven all the time which makes me more confident when I take it to far away places on a whim.. mileage is in the teens. it's a 3/4 ton, full float axle and all that so it weighs about 7K empty..

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Perry

FE570s course bike
KTM 950 ADV
74 Beetle turbo-efi etc..
72 Beetle stage rally project WRX powered
Attended about 15 rallies, usually a volunteer in a course car.

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NoCoast

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deaner
I wish the towing capacity wasn't complete garbage for those Dodge Sprinters. They'd make a good rally/moto rig. Anything I can sleep in comfortably gets brownie points in my book.

Tons of people have had success towing with Sprinters. Most say they'll never go back.

Yeah, I haven't seen many complaints either.

Will it tow a 2-car hauler? --- No

Will it tow an enclosed hauler? --- No

Do we sleep in it, haul bikes, kayaks, motos, dogs, and all the rally stuff and still have plenty of room even without the extended wheelbase version? --- Yes. You can even camp 3-4 people in one if necessary. And at 6'3" I can stand upright in it rather than crawl into the back of a camper bed-topper to find things.

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____________________________________________________________-

One. Class -- 2WD

www.quantumrallysport.com

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Quantum-Rally-Sport/281129179600?ref=nf

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Josh Wimpey

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NoCoast

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deaner
I wish the towing capacity wasn't complete garbage for those Dodge Sprinters. They'd make a good rally/moto rig. Anything I can sleep in comfortably gets brownie points in my book.

Tons of people have had success towing with Sprinters. Most say they'll never go back.

Yeah, I haven't seen many complaints either.

Will it tow a 2-car hauler? --- No

Will it tow an enclosed hauler? --- No

Do we sleep in it, haul bikes, kayaks, motos, dogs, and all the rally stuff and still have plenty of room even without the extended wheelbase version? --- Yes. You can even camp 3-4 people in one if necessary. And at 6'3" I can stand upright in it rather than crawl into the back of a camper bed-topper to find things.

Hmmm.... Stuff to think about. I'd read mixed reviews on some other road racing forums about them. Maybe the lesser reviews were due to them not being able to pull an enclosed trailer.

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deaner

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Josh Wimpey

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NoCoast

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deaner
I wish the towing capacity wasn't complete garbage for those Dodge Sprinters. They'd make a good rally/moto rig. Anything I can sleep in comfortably gets brownie points in my book.

Tons of people have had success towing with Sprinters. Most say they'll never go back.

Yeah, I haven't seen many complaints either.

Will it tow a 2-car hauler? --- No

Will it tow an enclosed hauler? --- No

Do we sleep in it, haul bikes, kayaks, motos, dogs, and all the rally stuff and still have plenty of room even without the extended wheelbase version? --- Yes. You can even camp 3-4 people in one if necessary. And at 6'3" I can stand upright in it rather than crawl into the back of a camper bed-topper to find things.

Hmmm.... Stuff to think about. I'd read mixed reviews on some other road racing forums about them. Maybe the lesser reviews were due to them not being able to pull an enclosed trailer.

Considering the source......not much I would bet on from road racers .



Jus sayin'

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Peterbilt 389 with a c16 Cat, 18 speed, 4 speed auxilary, 3.70 rears, 300" wheelbase, 63" flat top sleeper, low air leaf in the back, car hauler axle up front, 20" bumper with a flip kit, 14" visor, 11"" cab extensions, 359 dual rounds, 8" stacks, done. You'll derive 500x the enjoyment from your Pete than your rally car could ever dream of giving you and it actually requires some talent and skill to drive.

Haha sounds about right John!

From my experience towing camping travel trailers, at this point have covered over 100K mi in north america & europe, most people I run into that tow anything of significant size feel you need a full size 3/4T or 1T truck to be "safe". From many conversations these people are basing the 'safety' part on the fact the tow vehicle has to maintain the speed limit 65, 70, 75mph or more up a grade regardless of how steep it is. If the tow vehicle slows down then it must be POS and it is not "safe". I can see how road racers towing might feel the Sprinter is POS for towing as if you are towing a enclosed trailer it will slow down on significant grades, due to fact you are towing a wall behind you. Also another impression is if you get low mpg's than it is not a capable tow vehicle. If speed was the factor of safety then we better remove all transport trucks off the roads as they slow down on grades. Most people also don't realize that if you have ST tires on your trailer they are limited to 65mph, and that is why a lot of people experience blow outs especially if the trailer is loaded close to max weight.

Some RV people when they see my combo will tell me that I am not safe towing my current set up, yet I have been all over North America with it and covered close to 30K mi over the last 3 years of owning this particular trailer, without any problems while towing or my vehicle (it's not falling apart as some have told me it will). The trailer is 26ft long from rear bumper to tip of tongue, about 9ft 8in tall and 90" wide and when loaded for a trip we are at about 4500lbs. We tow this combo with a 2010 Toyota Sienna FWD minivan with a 3.5 V6 and 5spd auto. If I can figure out how I will post a picture of it here so people can see what I mean.

I think that there is a lot of vehicles here in NA that would be great for towing without going to a 1T p-up truck. I would give a Sprinter or Transit vans a look if I was in the market for towing a race team and hauler around as a clubman racer, after all very few if any would be considered pro racers so no real need for all the haulers that I am seeing in the last number of years. Actually I would probably go with an open car hauler trailer as all the gear would go in the van, saving some money on fuels as it is a lot easier towing a open car hauler than a closed car hauler. Simple aerodynamics.

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...If you don't go off at least once a season you are not trying hard enough...

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GB
From my experience towing camping travel trailers, at this point have covered over 100K mi in north america & europe, most people I run into that tow anything of significant size feel you need a full size 3/4T or 1T truck to be "safe". From many conversations these people are basing the 'safety' part on the fact the tow vehicle has to maintain the speed limit 65, 70, 75mph or more up a grade regardless of how steep it is. If the tow vehicle slows down then it must be POS and it is not "safe". I can see how road racers towing might feel the Sprinter is POS for towing as if you are towing a enclosed trailer it will slow down on significant grades, due to fact you are towing a wall behind you. Also another impression is if you get low mpg's than it is not a capable tow vehicle. If speed was the factor of safety then we better remove all transport trucks off the roads as they slow down on grades. Most people also don't realize that if you have ST tires on your trailer they are limited to 65mph, and that is why a lot of people experience blow outs especially if the trailer is loaded close to max weight.

Some RV people when they see my combo will tell me that I am not safe towing my current set up, yet I have been all over North America with it and covered close to 30K mi over the last 3 years of owning this particular trailer, without any problems while towing or my vehicle (it's not falling apart as some have told me it will). The trailer is 26ft long from rear bumper to tip of tongue, about 9ft 8in tall and 90" wide and when loaded for a trip we are at about 4500lbs. We tow this combo with a 2010 Toyota Sienna FWD minivan with a 3.5 V6 and 5spd auto. If I can figure out how I will post a picture of it here so people can see what I mean.

I think that there is a lot of vehicles here in NA that would be great for towing without going to a 1T p-up truck. I would give a Sprinter or Transit vans a look if I was in the market for towing a race team and hauler around as a clubman racer, after all very few if any would be considered pro racers so no real need for all the haulers that I am seeing in the last number of years. Actually I would probably go with an open car hauler trailer as all the gear would go in the van, saving some money on fuels as it is a lot easier towing a open car hauler than a closed car hauler. Simple aerodynamics.

There's danger in making sense. Everything you pin-pointed is "the party line"..Must go up any pass and never dip below ____fill in blank any random speed... Keep thinking like that and dire things could happen. You could ruin the economy..
Your attitude has been noted.

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Quote
GB
From my experience towing camping travel trailers, at this point have covered over 100K mi in north america & europe, most people I run into that tow anything of significant size feel you need a full size 3/4T or 1T truck to be "safe". From many conversations these people are basing the 'safety' part on the fact the tow vehicle has to maintain the speed limit 65, 70, 75mph or more up a grade regardless of how steep it is. If the tow vehicle slows down then it must be POS and it is not "safe". I can see how road racers towing might feel the Sprinter is POS for towing as if you are towing a enclosed trailer it will slow down on significant grades, due to fact you are towing a wall behind you. Also another impression is if you get low mpg's than it is not a capable tow vehicle. If speed was the factor of safety then we better remove all transport trucks off the roads as they slow down on grades. Most people also don't realize that if you have ST tires on your trailer they are limited to 65mph, and that is why a lot of people experience blow outs especially if the trailer is loaded close to max weight.

Some RV people when they see my combo will tell me that I am not safe towing my current set up, yet I have been all over North America with it and covered close to 30K mi over the last 3 years of owning this particular trailer, without any problems while towing or my vehicle (it's not falling apart as some have told me it will). The trailer is 26ft long from rear bumper to tip of tongue, about 9ft 8in tall and 90" wide and when loaded for a trip we are at about 4500lbs. We tow this combo with a 2010 Toyota Sienna FWD minivan with a 3.5 V6 and 5spd auto. If I can figure out how I will post a picture of it here so people can see what I mean.

I think that there is a lot of vehicles here in NA that would be great for towing without going to a 1T p-up truck. I would give a Sprinter or Transit vans a look if I was in the market for towing a race team and hauler around as a clubman racer, after all very few if any would be considered pro racers so no real need for all the haulers that I am seeing in the last number of years. Actually I would probably go with an open car hauler trailer as all the gear would go in the van, saving some money on fuels as it is a lot easier towing a open car hauler than a closed car hauler. Simple aerodynamics.

I've towed plenty with both my half ton pickup and my old mans 1 ton Cummins and I'll take pulling with a bigger rig anyway over a smaller one. Brakes, suspension, power etc are all suited for pulling. I can safely pull my car with my half ton but I'm constantly strategizing absolutely every move. The "safety" issue arises when I need to stop quickly or swerve around something at highway speeds. Thats where my mindset is with smaller, lower tow rated rigs come in. I don't really care about cruising at 80mph or keeping speed up grades but more so how the thing actually performs when you stand on the brakes and in times of "emergency." Pulling our 24ft enclosed trailer with my old mans 1 ton feels no different than when not pulling a trailer at all.

I had a friend get denied an insurance claim on a Trailblazerwhen he met the ditch pulling his drift car, because he was over towing capacity. Many cases as well, you're liable should others be involved in the wreck.

*edit- friend had a trailblazer, not a tahoe



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2015 11:46AM by deaner.