omfg, a tow vehicle?

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Jon Burke
"hey, check out my new truck, its got those cool steps that retract!"
"Cool story, bro.....my truck has an entire flight of stairs."

Oh yeah, well my truck is a stair car!

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Grant Hughes

I loved Arrested development, shame it got cancelled...

I Told them I was towing a 88 Ford F250 with a 2002 Chevy 2500HD crew cab. The trailers are rated at 7500lb and 133in wheel base. The truck is a little less than that in weight and right at 133in on WB.
The trailer was fine behind the truck, and the entire trip was surprisingly uneventful. Well except for the trailer brake that was always on...
But yeah, 70mph (w/a brake on) up I-5 no problems. Gotta love newer diesels!

Next up on my 'when I win the lottery (or well just don't f'up buying a startup I'm working at's options... dumba$$)..' and a F550 isn't big enough...

http://www.earthroamer.com/xv-hd/

Appears to be also available with a shorter camper box and a fifth wheel on the back to tow a proper race trailer ..

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This isn't floor mat anarchy

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alosix
Next up on my 'when I win the lottery (or well just don't f'up buying a startup I'm working at's options... dumba$$)..' and a F550 isn't big enough...

http://www.earthroamer.com/xv-hd/

Appears to be also available with a shorter camper box and a fifth wheel on the back to tow a proper race trailer ..

Yeah just what we all need..

We should all have 2.

Nothing exceeds like excess.

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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.

I can't believe that Ford Explorers and Chevy Astro vans are being suggested as worthy car haulers. Single axle trailers?

Some of us don't believe in the need for a $40,000 gigantic diesel truck for towing 3 times a year.....


Have you ever towed with an Astro? Can you give some constructive reason why not?

I towed my rally car to my first rally with a Volvo Station wagon. I lived to tell the tale.

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phlat65
Some of us don't believe in the need for a $40,000 gigantic diesel truck for towing 3 times a year.....

Eggsactly, Horses for courses. The 3 events I plan to do next year are 5 hours, 3.5 hours, and 2 hours away from where I will be living, about 1100 miles total, no mountains to speak of, maybe 500 ft of total elevation change from start to destination. An astro van is actually towards the top of my list for potential tow vehicles because it can tow, seats 4 comfortably, and has enclosed storage. The only issue I'm on the fence about for an astro van is its plowing capabilities. The house I'm buying has a 300 foot driveway, and snowblowing that would get old pretty fast.

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Carl S

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phlat65
Some of us don't believe in the need for a $40,000 gigantic diesel truck for towing 3 times a year.....

Eggsactly, Horses for courses. The 3 events I plan to do next year are 5 hours, 3.5 hours, and 2 hours away from where I will be living, about 1100 miles total, no mountains to speak of, maybe 500 ft of total elevation change from start to destination. An astro van is actually towards the top of my list for potential tow vehicles because it can tow, seats 4 comfortably, and has enclosed storage. The only issue I'm on the fence about for an astro van is its plowing capabilities. The house I'm buying has a 300 foot driveway, and snowblowing that would get old pretty fast.

I know a nice Suburban...lo miles, full towing package, ac works..93,000mi

and LSD for plowing

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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.

Sean,

I'm sure your setup works just fine for you and that you're making do with what you have and drive it in a manner appropriate for safe travel. However, it wouldn't take much for this setup to get out of control if not driven very carefully on steep passes and in inclement weather. A tire blowout on a single car trailer behind a meager tow vehicle at freeway speeds can cause an unrecoverable trailer wag crash. Placing your car forward enough on the trailer to weight the tongue in an attempt to prevent trailer wag will squat the rear suspension of the van and in doing so, make the steering light. Steep uphills will be slow with the 4.3 v6 and 4 speed auto (led trailer lights recommended for your hazards). Steep downhills will be very slow due to the meager engine braking and only 4 gears to choose from as well as small brakes on the van and only one braked axle on the trailer. If you're dead set on an Astro, I would recommend at least getting a double axle trailer. I live in the mountains of Colorado so my advice may be more relavent for someone that lives in similar terrain. However, I transport heavy equipment for a living and have seen a lot happen on the road that could have been prevented.

If You dont have too much stuff to carry, Astro works fine, we drove in 1990 from Finland to Günaydin rally in Istanbul with -86 Astro van, 5 well-fed finns, all service gear, double axle trailer and Opel Manta on it... Route took us from Finland with ship to Poland, czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and finally Turkey... we survived the trip, as did Astro (opel unfortunately didn´t)... Roads were bit different back on those days, and plenty of mountains to climb... Not a single problem with the truck... Or there was one... somehow it seemed to be really easy to get Really drunk on that truck... Might have been the trucks fault, or the fact that 1L vodka was priced less than 1usd...

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john vanlandingham
I know a nice Suburban...lo miles, full towing package, ac works..93,000mi

and LSD for plowing

Drive it on over after I get moved in to my new place and I'll take a look at it.

I'm not going to say "go for an Astro", but as a data point, the Gibeaults (and Chrissie) towed their Jetta for something like 20 years behind an Astro.

I'm just sayin'. Personally, I like a full-size and am perfectly happy with my 2001 5.4l gas E350.

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Self-righteous douche canoe

Well Maybe i shouldn't have, but i bought that 94 E350 Van. $1900 (+ some home brews)

and of course it didn't want to start so i could leave his house.. (block heater only plugged in 2 hours, maybe 40F) it drained the batteries trying to start, put a jump on there and it fired up.

Drove home just fine. parked it at my house for 15, went back out. fired right up. drove down to the gas station and put in 10 gallons of diesel, drove back home and parked it. now that its sat since Saturday I'll need to plug in the block heater I'm sure to be able to drive it again...

I'm going to try to check the glow plug relay... Jason sent me a link on a how to.

But I'm cautiously optimistic. I need to figure out the "cold no start" problem, and I need to get a tow hitch, brake controller, and trailer wiring harness plug thingy (trailer is a 7 round)

Hopefully This Van will work just fine for maybe 10 trips over 2 years.. After that I could be in a position to upgrade to something newer . or if the van seems to be happy maybe i'll keep it longer?

Good on ya, Alex! I have a friend down the hill that knows those IDI Ford diesels pretty well if you get stuck. They are pretty simple.

Not to hijack, but my neighbor has been trying to sell me his bumper pull toy hauler. It's a 30 footer with a sh***er and kitchenette. Generator. fuel transfer station. Ac. triple axle. Empty weight is about 8K. Full of car and gear would be about 12K. I am not sure if this is too big for our 3/4 ton yukon XL. I like the idea of having an enclosed trailer to secure all of our gear. I also like the idea of a self contained hotel room-charge avoidance system.

Does anybody use a toyhauler or enclosed trailer to drag their junk around?