Recommend a daily driver that can tow...

[Jimzz]

Yea towing is not just about ability to pull it but also do so while not over heating the trans and having brakes that will work no matter the incline.

A Mid size SUV or Mid size truck will work fine. You can also change the brakes to a good semi-met and add an external trans cooler if you plan to drive in hilly areas.

 

[schmuckley]

B2000
S10
F150
C10
E10
ah..any 1/2 ton vehicle.

 

[skyking]

As someone who has worked on the highway system for 25 years, let me tell you what I see wrecked a lot, in hilly country.
Small vehicles/cars towing trailers. Mostly trailers that are at the limits of the tow capacity of the vehicle. I would always oversize my vehicle. IE, if the load was 1500#, I'd want a vehicle that could tow 3000#. I am not saying to double the rating though. Plus I don't think car brakes or transmissions are really up to towing much. If I am looking for a used car and it has a hitch on it, I automatically pass on it.

Worst wreck I saw was a a CJ type Jeep towing about a 22' trailer. Going down hill, the trailer passed the jeep. It drug the jeep with it.

It does not help that most small trailers are not equipped with brakes, and people don't know what they are doing with trailers. No training required and off they go with a 3300 lb tow vehicle and a 1500 lb trailer with no brakes.
The first big grade they get on may be the last.

EDIT:
Jeff, I don't care what you get to tow with. Make sure you have trailer brakes if at all possible. At a bare minimum, they can straighten out those pesky oscillations that you can get into. Just a quick grab of the manual lever will do the trick.
I have done this with trailers from 2500 lbs to 60,000 lbs. The reaction is always the same.

 

[nerp]

Durango.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Is max towing determined by TQ or HP? (generally speaking)

Neither.

Braking system capacity and engine/transmission cooling capacity are the biggest players, with braking capacity being the more important of the two (which is why many cars have higher tow ratings for trailers equipped with trailer brakes).

Adding a supplemental transmission fluid cooler is not a difficult task, and it can help a lot.

The average mid-size sedan with a transmission cooler should be more than sufficient to handle the sort of towing that you've described as long as the car's brakes are in good kit and you brakes on the trailer as well.

ZV

 

[monkeydelmagico]

3-4 times per year? UHaul.

 

[heymrdj]

I'd do some research on the Outbacks, as rugged as they look apparently they are having a bad time with the AWD system overheating when pulling trailers, especially in summer time on grades.

That being said, I have a 1.6L fiesta and many people pull 1K pounds with them, as that is what they are rated for in Europe with the 1.6 gas and DCT. The problem definitely becomes brakes, and most of the trailering guys over at fiesta faction build their trailers with off the shelf parts so they can add surge brakes to it. I drove my fiesta overloaded about 600 miles this last week and while the engine and tranny did really well, the brakes were definitely feel it. There were times when I'd push down and there was no extra stopping power. Of course the fiesta only have discs on the front, with the tiniest thinnest drums i've ever seen on the rear.

 

[Jeff7181]

3-4 times per year? UHaul.

That's kinda what I'm leaning toward at this point. I'm not real comfortable towing within a couple hundred pounds of a vehicles rating, so I'd probably end up taking the advice some people gave of looking for something in the 2500-3000 pound range to pull a <1500 pound trailer... or just rent when I have the need to tow.

It would just be nice to have the option with my own vehicle.

 

[heymrdj]

That's kinda what I'm leaning toward at this point. I'm not real comfortable towing within a couple hundred pounds of a vehicles rating, so I'd probably end up taking the advice some people gave of looking for something in the 2500-3000 pound range to pull a <1500 pound trailer.

It would just be nice to have the option with my own vehicle.

I'd just get a decent used pickup. They are a dime a dozen, though their values are going up a bit with the recent gas price fall. But I imagine a one way trip with a uhaul is going to easily cost you a grand just for the rental. Won't take long.

 

[Jeff7181]

I'd just get a decent used pickup. They are a dime a dozen, though their values are going up a bit with the recent gas price fall. But I imagine a one way trip with a uhaul is going to easily cost you a grand just for the rental. Won't take long.

Wouldn't be one way, would be round trip... not that that makes it a whole lot cheaper since I'd end up paying more for mileage and fuel.

These trips would be to hit various track days around the country or ride certain roads around the country without having to ride 1500 miles first to get there carrying only what's on my back.

Plus, track days would require certain bike prep, some of which would be undesirable for a long road trip. Not to mention they can be hard on tires and I may not want to ride 1500 miles back on tires that were abused on the track or with tire compounds that would be used on the track.

 

[heymrdj]

Wouldn't be one way, would be round trip... not that that makes it a whole lot cheaper since I'd end up paying more for mileage and fuel.

These trips would be to hit various track days around the country or ride certain roads around the country without having to ride 1500 miles first to get there carrying only what's on my back.

Plus, track days would require certain bike prep, some of which would be undesirable for a long road trip. Not to mention they can be hard on tires and I may not want to ride 1500 miles back on tires that were abused on the track or with tire compounds that would be used on the track.

That's actually what I meant to say, at first I typed two-way but it sounded weird, then i got distrcated by the phone. The mileage will kill you for a round trip. And their one ways they pretty much charge you 3/4 of a round trip. Either way, it gets insanely expensive. You're looking at 1200$ before fuel just for their mileage/daily fees/mandatory insurance.

 

[rommelrommel]

And, you have to drive a uhaul.

I wouldn't fret about pulling 2/3 of rated. There are a lot of midsize-ish vehicles that can tow 3000-4000 lbs rated. If you're a prudent driver that's totally reasonable and safe.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

These trips would be to hit various track days around the country or ride certain roads around the country without having to ride 1500 miles first to get there carrying only what's on my back.

Well a quick bit of goolge and some math shows:

$29.- per day plus $.99 per mile on a 17 foot uhaul. A ten day trip of 1500 miles would be around $1,800.- not including fuel. Do that a few times a year and the cheap pickup with trailer option starts to look pretty good.

 

[thomsbrain]

Some cars don't allow for external ATF coolers due to a closed design. My Accord is one of them.

That said, I wouldn't think twice about pulling 2500 pounds with my Accord as long as I had a hitch rated for it (probably need to be custom, as all available premade hitches are Class I). It towed 900 pounds at 80 MPH, A/C, grade and high altitude without disengaging the torque converter. I'm guessing 65 MPH with a couple bikes wouldn't be too tough.

 

[BurnItDwn]

My 08 forester is rated for around 2400 pounds. Most ive towed is a pair of 90s era snowmobiles on a cheap 2up tilt trailer, total would be around 1500 or so pounds. It did not make any real major difference to the car.

If your fusion is rated for 2000 pounds, its perfectly fine for towing 2000 pounds. In fact, it probably could tow 4000 to 5000 pounds ok. They are VERY cautious/conservative with the tow weight ratings.

 

[Herr Kutz]

A jeep cherokee with the V6 and tow package is rated for 4500lbs.

 

[Jeff7181]

A jeep cherokee with the V6 and tow package is rated for 4500lbs.

Hey, there we go... an excuse to get a Trailhawk.

 

[Triumph]

So anyone know how much/how easy it is to rent a small trailer for a motorcycle? I have a GTI and some m/c's, they sell a trailer hitch for my car and I'd like to have the option of going to the track with the bike once in a while, or buying a bike far away and bringing it home. But I have no room for a trailer AT ALL.

And yes, I know how to tow properly.

 

[nedfunnell]

I have weighed in with 1000lbs of trailer and load on my local scales before while towing behind my Toyota Echo, and I KNOW that wasn't my heaviest load. About to take a motorcycle rolling frame off to the shop with it later this afternoon, in fact.

 

[nedfunnell]

So anyone know how much/how easy it is to rent a small trailer for a motorcycle? I have a GTI and some m/c's, they sell a trailer hitch for my car and I'd like to have the option of going to the track with the bike once in a while, or buying a bike far away and bringing it home. But I have no room for a trailer AT ALL.

And yes, I know how to tow properly.

You could buy a $300 HF trailer, assemble it, use it, and probably sell it for what you paid for it. That's only convenient if you live in a state that doesn't require registration for utility trailers, though, like Kentucky.

 

[Triumph]

You could buy a $300 HF trailer, assemble it, use it, and probably sell it for what you paid for it. That's only convenient if you live in a state that doesn't require registration for utility trailers, though, like Kentucky.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSudkID3zJM

 

[nedfunnell]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usudkid3zjm

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[thomsbrain]

I'd be curious to see what folks think about the current Honda Accord hybrid as a tow car. Maximum torque available off the line, aggressive regenerative braking before you even touch the physical brakes, rear suspension is already beefed up a bit due to battery pack.

It's a 3-mode design with no torque converter to overheat. On the highway, the ICE runs direct-drive and the electric motor is disengaged, so you probably wouldn't have electric motor heat issues.

It's basically a little modern diesel-electric locomotive.

You'd need a custom hitch for Class II or higher, but I'm guessing it would make an awesome tow vehicle for an open race car trailer.

 

[ViviTheMage]

VW golf can pull a fair bit ...

https://cdn.rideapart.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Volkswagen-Golf-TDI-Towing-770x433.jpg

I like my golf TDI

 

[_Rick_]

Why not do what the pros do, and get a van instead of a trailer?
Something the size of a Ford Transit should fit what you describe, no towing required, and these days they have reasonable cabs. Also, in many ways more flexible than a truck, since the loading area is much lower and covered.

The naked ones (i.e. no passenger seating) should also be pretty affordable. (30k new) You could even tow your luggage in a smaller trailer, should the need arise (i.e. picking SWB/short model so you have a more reasonable daily driver)


Either that, or a decent trailer with a reaction brake. With that almost any car will do, but something with a low-range manual gear box will be best. Diesel certainly makes things the easiest, and a Diesel turbo V6/I4 may well run cheaper than an Otto-engined car with similar torque.

Those SAV/sub-SUVs are probably the most interesting class of cars to look at (since VW was mentioned in the previous post: Tiguan could be an option) since they're somewhat marketed towards that kind of niche. In the end though, low end torque is what makes driving the trailer easy (both on you and on the clutch/transmission) and that's something that the sporty aspirations of that class often ruin.

My protip: Rent a Transit first, if you like it, buy one and mod it into a driving workshop. Camping equipment optional