For a while now I have been thinking about getting a tow vehicle/ Daily driver, but what???

I can not afford anything new, so it limits my choices big time... But that's ok.

What do you think about a Ford Econoline Cargo Van 7.3 Powerstroke Diesel?

They can tow up to 10,ooo lbs have plenty of room inside for sleeping, tools, spare anything and are not that big to be DD.

I speak from experience about being DD, I used to have the E150 (6cyl) van for over a year when I was working at the glass shop. I did not mind driving it, but it did need more power.

I looked into Hitches for the van and they are -200 for a class4.

Has anyone here towed with one? what did you think about towing with it? any idea on MPG with and w/o trailer? is there anything I should watch out for with a Van and towing? How is servicing a Diesel? Is a V8 or V10 gas motor better to tow with or to save gas?

And one main question... A van seems so right to make a tow vehicle (in my eyes) why doesn't everyone do it?


If you have another option as a tow vehicle that is cheap and easily found, post up your idea(s).
I have found a few vans for 5k and under.

remember CHEAP is the key word here.

thanks for reading.

 

I use to work for a profesional cycling team and we had a Ford V10 to pull out team trailer, good power and you could do highway speed with no problem. Now there was a couple of other teams that had the V6 and V8 with a similar trailer and they had a hard time pulling with it. The V6 just did not have enough grunt

The diesel should have better MPG and more low end TQ. Also the dielse engines run for a long time. At my work we just bought a F450 with 180,000+ that is diesel, the same company that sold it to us has had the F450 with over 300,000 before they had to replace engines.

 

Rob, knowing you it'll have 2 seats, a bed, a stove, a TV, a porch, a bug zapper, and at least 2 refrigerators by the time you get done with the "tow vehicle" preparations.

P.S. Let's not forget about exterior lighting...

 

rob, i am looking for one as well. i may spend a bit more or borrow some money for my dad. it sucks cause i never paid attention to older pick up trucks. i know everything about current models but that doesn't do me any good

 

I have been thinking about retiring my R as my daily driver and picking up a new ride for daily driving and the occasional towing my car when needed. I never really thought of a van but like just a good full size truck like a CK Chevy from like 88-98. I wonder if a V8 is tough enough to tow my R. The only thing that sucks is gas mileage.

 

gas was my concern as well cause i have a 30 miles commute one way to school. i may have to get a tow vehicle and some POS old civic to drive to school. cost keeps going up. anyone know of a money tree somewhere

 

My V8 Exploder (5.0L) gets about 14mpg towing. Definetly get at least a V8 no matter what you get. A 2500 Chevy tows great but only gets 9-10mpg doing it. I was thinking about an older Dodge Cummins.

 

If you want to tow locally to tracks (~30-45min) a high powered V6 or most V8's will do the trick. You can find Astro's with 350's in the ~$5,000 neighborhood all day. Older Jeep Cherokee's with the 4.0L V8's make great towing vehicles, and are fairly inexpensive for a "luxary" SUV.

If you want to tow long distance, you are going to bite the bullet with any gasoline tow vehicle, unless its a V10 truck or a big V8. Deisel is the way to go. The problem with good deisel trucks is that they retain their value well, so finding one affordably is hard.

Good luck.

 

you can almost tow 2 cars with that Ford

 

just in case your R gets stolen, you can steal it back with that truck. hehehe

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 92TypeR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You can find Astro's with 350's in the ~$5,000 neighborhood all day. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Ditto what marsh said. Astro Van =

 

An Astro van was my original choice before I bit the bullet and bought the Trailblazer for the wife.

I also looked at the Cherokee or Grand or whatever since it was important for me to have a functional 4x4. I shyed away from it because of limited cargo space, reported reliability and build quality issues and it's lack of sheer size.

I was very close to an AWD Astro that was loaded but the deal I got on the Blazer was just too good to pass up.

I feel TB is underpowered at this point IMO. But I'm lucky the wife got hooked on the new Silverado Crew Cab the last time she saw it at the auto show.

 

Rob,

You rode with me to Summit and back. We had no problems. IMHO, power is overrated. Don't get me wrong, it is great to have a nice V8, 10,000lb capacity etc. etc.. however, I very rarely get into a situation where I cannot get on a freeway fast enough, get up a hill etc. etc. with my V6 5sp Tacoma. Also, I love the fact that my Toyota will practically last forever. Also I get about 14-15mpg towing and probably almost 20mpg or more regularly.

However, I may sell it next year. Why? Hard to fit a baby seat in the Xtracab...(no kids yet, but have to plan for the future)... also I am simply madly in love with the Ridgeline.

 

Great responses so far, hoping that more people with 'truck towing' experience will step in and give some thoughts.

thanks.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by davidnyc &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> also I am simply madly in love with the Ridgeline.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

The ridgeline seems like a great platform (with the big frame and all). I think the V6 needs a bit more power, or Honda needs to make a V8.

My mom's Odyssey could tow my car and a trailer if I got a tranny cooler, and probably some better pads.

 

hmm i wonder if my mom's crv can tow my car. something tells me no just cause its so slow already and a 4 cylinder

 

Wow, funny this topic came up because I've been thinking about the exact same thing lately.

Sometimes it is just a pain not having something to haul around big items in (like when you are shipping an engine and tranny ), but I hate driving big SUV like vehicles around. Mine will probably share daily driving with the R and I plan on driving the R to most track events, but it would be nice to have a support vehicle at the track with a trailor just in case something did happen. I'd also like to get a waverunner sometime in the future.

This is what I've been looking at:


Older V-6 4runner. My stepfather use to tow our Ford Tractor and discs with his 4-cylinder 5 speed Toyota so I'm positive the V-6 could handle my car just fine. Toyota reliability and decent gas mileage are pluses as well. Not to mention you can get them for really cheap.

 

My gf is in the market for a new caR. I keep trying to convince her that Hemi powered Jeeps are just fine for a college girl who commutes to school everyday

 

Go here:

https://honda-tech.com/zerosearch

You will find information you are looking for. Try the Autox and RR forum.


This topic has been covered EXTENSIVELY. Diesel and gas towing.

 

OMFG! Basso just got told to search! ROFL!

 

As long as you don't live in it down by the river.....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Opie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">OMFG! Basso just got told to search! ROFL!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Bbasso = pwn3d

 

&lt;---Owned



Modified by Bbasso at 3:39 PM 6/11/2005

 

Paid 4k for it. Can tow 5,000 lbs. Mine even came with a towing package with a tranny cooler.

850 miles to the Expo and 850 miles back no issues.



96 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Inline 6 gets 20 mpg city and towing I got about 12 mpg.

No complaints at ALL with it. It has 130k on it. I bought it with just over 100k on it.

Just probably going to put some stiffer coils on the back so it doesnt drop so far when I tow.

It has Power everything even has a Distance to empty compass outside temp read out.

 

I had one, 97 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Inline 6. I bought it new and hated it... the Jeep was great off roading but for daily driving, Bleh I sold that and went back to cars. I also had a (new) 94 Explorer LTD 6cly and it was a pos that looked great (white) but towed light stuff ok, never got past the two jet ski weight

If I'm going to get a tow vehicle, I would want something big enough like Kendall said... to load it up with most things I would want and not hinder the towing ability. And a Van... is like having a camper/ storage shed. and then room in the back for a bunch of drunk people to get home safely in, or from the expo banquet