Tow vehicle selection

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Mike_L

All mileages are hand calculated for Imperial gallons.
Cheers!

Why?
Fuel is sold in litres in Canada and in U.S. gallons in the U.S., so why make everybody do the conversion?
Why?

[thrifty bill]

Originally Posted by Kentucky

Is the 80% rule valid?

No, there is a lot more to it. First, you have the tow vehicle's payload rating. Many vehicles run out of payload capacity WAY before running out of tow rating.

My 2010 F150 has a tow rating of 9,800 pounds. Yet, I run out of payload capacity at about a 6,000 pound trailer. And I am not talking dry weight either. Its the actual weight of the trailer that I am towing. Guess what, dry weight doesn't include any factory options on your trailer. And of course, doesn't include my stuff.

Then you also have hitch ratings. On my truck, the receiver hitch is rated for up to 500 pounds. Going over that limit requires a WDH.

Whatever rating you hit first is the limit. Only you can decide whether to tow over your vehicles rating. I am amazed the number of people that ignore ratings and instead go with the recommendations of some anonymous poster on the WWW.

Payload capacity is usually posted on the driver's door jamb. Realize any dealer option, or user option added comes out of your payload. For example, I added a spray in bedliner, a truck bed topper, and bed side steps to my truck. All come out of the payload.

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by Mike_L

Both my 2.3 cid 5 gear 2wd Rangers easily get 40 mpg on the highway. Cheers!

Wow, I've had a few 4 cyl manual Rangers and don't remember any of them hitting even 30.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Borrego Dave

Wow, I've had a few 4 cyl manual Rangers and don't remember any of them hitting even 30.

Note that he is using Imperial gallons. Might as well be posting in medieval English.

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Note that he is using Imperial gallons. Might as well be posting in medieval English.

Thanks Glenn, I totally missed that. I would say it's Greek to me but I was stationed in Greece and can speak it...some what.

[Rzrbrn]

I drive a 2011 Toyo Tundra, 4x4, pulling a 17' Casita. I used the 4x4 last camping season 2 times, over about 9,000 miles. We take dirt roads a lot, just exploring. We are an elderly couple. When we needed 4x4 we REALLY needed it.
One time we had to park in the overflow lot of an RV Park. It was grassy and had a slight grade. It rained that night. Next morning I put it in 4x4 and had no problems leaving. Those without 4x4 simply could not make it out, they had to wait for the field to dry out.

Another time I had to use 4x4 going DOWN hill, it was that steep. It really worked well, keeping the rig to a slow manageable speed.

4x4 is like car insurance. When you need it it is there.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by rbryan

Strictly speaking, no. A capacity is a capacity. If a manufacturer wanted you to use the "80% rule", they'd have said so.

Having said that, a little margin is a good thing. And just speaking for myself only, a little more margin is even better.

Actually, in most cases a "capacity" is really a "rating", which would validate your comment.

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by floyd

in most cases a "capacity" is really a "rating",

True, since a capacity as a measure of volume or weight can't really be exceeded, but a rating can.

[Bruce H]

Consider waiting until 2019 and get the new Jeep pickup:

https://www.motor1.com/news/222439/j...able-soft-top/

[Mike_L]

I agree Henry. I like a 4X4 for a number of reasons. You have more ground clearance. The suspension is stiffer and you can go more places. And if you really want to get stuck you can do a much better job with a 4X4. The down side is the maintenance and especially the fuel. I would drive a 4X4 all the time if I could get anywhere the same fuel mileage as a 2X4 but I've never been able to do this.

[emers382]

Originally Posted by rbryan

I have to agree. There may be several reasons for going 2WD instead of 4WD - weight, intended use, location, cost, etc. But fuel economy is not a big factor. My F150 for example is a 2WD 2.7L Ecoboost. The 4WD version with the same body and engine comes in at 2 MPG lower - not enough in my opinion to influence anything.

Now I know Robert why you say you get 25mpg hwy and the best I can do is 23mpg I had forgotten yours is a 2wd. Guess you won't even need 4wd at your new home, never having to worry about snow.

Our first tow for our Escape 5.0 was a 2010 F150 2wd. We never had any issue with towing, getting into camping spots etc. but since having the 4wd certainly glad we have it now. One uphill site needing to go into soft dirt, mud actually I had to use 4wd low. Also feel much better generally driving in snowy icy conditions with good Micheline X-Ice snows and the 4wd.

I am at the max payload on my truck though without anyone in the back seat since I have about 700lb on the kingpin, bed liner, tonneau cover, heavy fifth wheel hitch, and heavy electrical options on the truck such as the basically useless 400 watt inverter that came with the truck - I do use it to grind coffee when boondocking

Adrian

[Mike_L]

Dave, this is my third new Ranger as my daily driver. I prefer a truck over a car because of the higher ground clearance and stronger suspension. I chose the Ranger over the other small trucks because of the fuel mileage. As a work truck they don't measure up to the GMs or Dodges but for a sheet of plywood or a few boards they do fine.
When I bought these trucks, Ford rated them at 40mpg highway and 30 combined. After a 5000km break-in period I tested them myself, not loaded and not towing anything. The numbers were as posted.
I bought my last new Ranger before they went out of production in 2011. It's a 2.3 liter 5 speed manual extended cab. I wanted one as a "retirement" vehicle. I didn't retire as soon as I expected to so it was parked for quite a while. I started driving it this summer. As soon as I got 4000km on it my wife and I drove from Alberta to BC and back, through the mountains at the posted speed limits. My calculated fuel mileage was 41 miles per imperial gallon.

[Mike_L]

Some folks speak liters/100km, some liters/100 miles but everyone speaks mpg. And our gallons are the big ones!

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by Bruce H

Consider waiting until 2019 and get the new Jeep pickup:

https://www.motor1.com/news/222439/j...able-soft-top/

I am sitting in the waiting room of my Ram dealer while my truck has some recall work done. The dealer has about a dozen 2017 Ram 1500 Eco Diesels . As I walked around the lot I checked a few of the trucks for payload rating . The average rating was in the low 1100's.. The diesel adds torque and fuel economy but then steals from the payload and tow rating. I wouldn't count on the Jeep truck to have better payload / tow numbers
Nothing comes without a cost especially Jeeps !!

[DeBreez]

Originally Posted by Mike_L

I agree Henry. I like a 4X4 for a number of reasons. You have more ground clearance. The suspension is stiffer and you can go more places. And if you really want to get stuck you can do a much better job with a 4X4. The down side is the maintenance and especially the fuel. I would drive a 4X4 all the time if I could get anywhere the same fuel mileage as a 2X4 but I've never been able to do this.

Actually, most suspensions designed for off-road use are softer than standard. Ask any Tacoma owner with the TRD package. And the ground clearance is not directly related to the the number of drive wheels, although many 4x4s come with some amount of lift over the standard suspension.

[macro95]

Wow! What a heated discussion about 4x4 vs. 4x2 than I expected! Well...The more I read your inputs, the more I become indecisive... But I now know there are such things I have to factor in (e.g., safety, primary purposes, resale value, gas mileage, maintenance cost, etc.).

Sometimes, more information is worse than no information although I am likely to make much more informed decisions with such information. Thank you all!

I hit the road tomorrow and am likely to buy a 2018 Frontier (2wd vs. 4wd). I will report you soon.

BTW, I am currently towing a teardrop trailer and hope to tow Casita soon.

Again, thank you!

[Mike_L]

safe trip!

[Mike Magee]

Buy what suits you, and don't look back! Well, except to check for traffic, of course......

[Jack Walter]

I've been a Land Rover fanatic since I was a kid and have owned a bunch of them. Every Land Rover imported to the USA since 1987 has been AWD, most of them with a low range in the gearbox (the exceptions are the Freelander, LR2, Discovery Sport vehicles). I've used my Range Rovers, Defender, and Discovery (1,3,& 5) to tow a variety of trailers over the years. My LR3 was used to tow a 22' enclosed car trailer with a vintage sports car in it to several car shows in the southeast - it was rated to tow 8,000 lbs.

My new Discovery 5 is a diesel with a tow rating of almost 7900 lbs. It gets 21 mpg around town, 27 mpg on the highway and over 20 mpg towing my 2000 lb travel trailer. Its comfortable, quiet and a great tow vehicle.

[macro95]

Based on your excellent information and encouragement, I went for 4wd with long bed (6”). So far so good! Thank you all so much!