WOW SUV tow rating surprise

[anne myette]

There is only Drive and low as choices. I have called Chrysler Corp. and I've been to the dealer twice to get some advice. The manual does not address it. The service dept at the dealership talked with their technicians and came up with nothing. They told me there is a 5 year warranty on the transmission and it will be covered if we stay within the weight limit. Is there anyone else out there who tows with a Pacifica Factory tow package?

[redbarron55]

I can't speak for the Pacifica, but the T&C says to tow in drive unless the shifting is irritating and then use the manual select option to pick the gear especially going down grade for engine breaking.
The T&C was more than adequate through the mountains around Yellowstone and Glacier National Park etc, but there is no comparison with the Touareg.
Where the T&C would downshift and rev to 5000 rpm the Touareg rarely had to downshift more than 1 gear and never to more than 3000 rpm.
The most irritating thing was that you could limit the highest gear, but not the lower gear.
But the T&C towed safely and competently all over some terrain that has "Big Rigs" crawling and never showed a sigh of running hot or any other distress.
That was with our "Heavy" 16' Scamp (28-900 lbs + gear)

[thrifty bill]

Originally Posted by Casita Ed

Speaking of SUV's as a TV, we are now towing our Casita 17SD with a 2018 Honda Ridgeline RTLE. I would call it an SUT or Suburban Utility Truck. The reviews I have read state that it rides like a luxury SUV and I believe that to be true. It is super comfortable, quiet and zippy. We used to tow with our 2010 Toyota Tacoma Prerunner but I needed to change because of my back. This was a major improvement over the Tacoma. The Ridgeline tows like our Casita isn't even back there, partially owing to our use of a WDH. With the Tacoma, we always were reminded of the presence of the Casita even with the WDH.

I had envisioned just buying a full size truck back when I was searching but was put off by how high off the ground they all are. I didn't even test drive them because of that. The nice thing about a truck compared to an SUV for towing a camping trailer is all the clinks, rattles and squeaks of camping gear is in the back of the truck and not in the passenger compartment with you.

So if you are passing up on a pickup truck because its like, well a truck, take a look at and test drive a Ridgeline. I think you will be impressed.

IMHO, my 2010 F150 Lariat rides like a luxury car. On long trips, its very comfortable! I would expect the 2019/2020 models to be even better in that regard. Ford has gone all in on trucks and SUVs (the only car they make is the Mustang). So they have a huge incentive to make them comfortable.

I really like being higher off the ground.

[steve dunham]

[QUOTE=Casita Ed

I had envisioned just buying a full size truck back when I was searching but was put off by how high off the ground they all are. I didn't even test drive them because of that. The nice thing about a truck compared to an SUV for towing a camping trailer is all the clinks, rattles and squeaks of camping gear is in the back of the truck and not in the passenger compartment with you.

To each there own . One of the reasons I bought my truck is the easier entrance and egress because it is higher off the ground . My wife’s car is low to the ground which makes it painful to get in and out of
Many times I have literally opened the car door and fallen on the ground after a long ride so I could exit the vehicle without turning into a pretzel
My BIL owned a new Ridgeline for about 6 months . Neither he nor I was impressed with the vehicle