Gutting an SUV

Has anyone gutted an SUV for normal driving purposes? We all know that they're heavy, and this hurts fuel economy. But what if you just want one for a tow vehicle? You gutted your racecar. Now gut your truck / SUV / Crossover (actually, tow the last one to the dump). I'll bet you could easily strip hundreds of pounds out of a big Suburban. Who needs back seats? Carpet: what's that? 12 speaker audio system: that's just a bunch of noise!

Strip that mother trucker down to her skibbies! I'll bet with some other measures (low-rolling resistance tires, tweeked ECU software, light-weight wheels), you could get towing fuel economy near the original vehicle's full-weight non-towing economy.

What do you guys think? Could this be done? Could it save the very sport we love (auto-racing) from the obvious doom to which it is headed? . . . . . OK, it's not doomed, but it could help cut costs!

I think it's not going to make as much difference on a SUV as it would on a car. 'Real' SUVs have full frames and the aerodynamics of a public school building. Couple that with big engines and gearing set up more for towing than economy and you've got quite a few hurdles to clear.

we stripped my dad's 90 suburban. no more sound deadeners, carpet, rear seats, rear a/c, etc...

didnt make a hell of alot of difference. it still is a 2+ ton behemoth that gets 17mpg on the most perfect of downhill/tailwind highway conditions.

I see. There's just a lot of weight that won't ever go away. I did think the aerodynamics would play a huge role too, I just wondered if you could find a lot of weight to remove.

It's funny: I saw in a WSJ article today that Ford is about to see another really berkeleyed up year because, as part of their turn-around, they were relying on their brand new F-150 to be a huge success. Retards! I could have told them two years ago that reliance on SUVs and trucks was a bad game plan. Which automotive companies are making money? THE ONES THAT DON'T MAKE TRUCKS!

Nobody wants to spend $1,000 a month on gas. I just thought we could all benefit hugely on the big price drop of heavy vechicles and then turn around and make them cheap to drive too! Are there economical, yet decent SUVs out there that can tow? Maybe good V-6 power, a small body, high-enough towing capacity to make a Mustang GT on a trailer no biggie, and a slippery aero profile that could still lose some weight?

for my $ i'd go astro van over SUV. wider track for towing stability than the small SUV's.

nothing beats a suburban or 3/4+ ton truck towing but the astro is damn nice and cargo vans are relatively cheap. i've seen a price jump though since gas went up and lots of guys are dumping their big vans for astros.

You make a good point too. I forgot about the vans. An E-150 or something would give you copious amounts of covered storage for tools while towing and make a great place to sleep once you get where you're going (since you won't have any money for a hotel). But a little Astro Van might do the job well (hey, I have a 2,400 pound Miata, not a 3,500 Mustang!).

Probably not much to gut from the big van, but you might be able to make more room in the Astro / lighten the thing a bit if you wanted. I'd be happy with a 1 mpg improvement. That's an extra 15 miles on a tank for me taking out (and selling) crap I don't want in there anyway.

I've been shopping Diesel Excursions as tow vehicles. My old co-driver has one with the 7L and we got around 20mpg with it towing my open trailer, and 17mpg towing his closed trailer. My 2003 3/4 ton chevy truck with the 6L gas engine gets 12-open and 9-closed. I'd consider a 7L van too. Because I tow with an open trailer I really need more enclosed storage in the tow vehicle.

Either way, the prices are dropping like a stone and I'm in a buying mood.

I just looked at E-bay for SUVs. I cannot believe that you can get a good Ford Exploder from 2003 or so for under $5,000! I knew they were cheap, but I didn't think they were cheaper than their weight in DIRT (heh, almost anyway).

You want to see more cheap.
Get on to www.autotrader.com and set the advanced sort to Dodge Vans with less than 100k miles for less than $4k.

Quite the supply of conversion vans to choose from.

if you get a stripper crago van in the first place you wont need to take stuff out.

Yeah, but you don't get carpeted walls and mood lighting in a cargo van. If you're going to sleep in it at the track, you might want to leave that.

Jeez you guys are killing me!
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/2008-classifieds/97-gmc-safari-900/1165/page1/

Its a great price, books out at way more. Got 22mpg at highway speeds and 16 towing 5k with 800lbs inside.
Each row of seats must weigh 100lbs and theres 2 rows that unlatch for easily removal. Great for your gutting plans!

just but some bulk shag carpet from JC whitney, they also have all you groovy van costumizing needs

If the vans arockin....

A conversion van with AC outlets and an AC unit would be a pretty good Track support vehicle I would think. Park it, unload the car, sleep in the thing at night with the AC blowing...

Yeah, fullsize vans get my vote for tow duty.

Drove a '96 GMC 1-ton with a 350, 4L80E and 3:73 gears, got 15 in mixed driving with a "not very light" foot. I could put an honest 4,000 lbs in this thing and it would not seem to notice! (truck was new at the time)

My father had a 96 1/2 ton conversion 350 4L60E 3:42 that he claimed would get 19mpg on road trips.

So the gas mileage is no worse that any other full size truck, plus tons of enclosed tool/ cargo/ sleeping room. Add a 110v camper style hook up and you've got A/C, fridge and power tools. A full shop at your disposal! Often they are cheaper to buy than pick-ups and cheaper to insure. 1996 and newer Chevrolet/GMC are the best in my opinion.

Another route for HUGE cargo room is a used box van (u-haul type truck). Old ones they damn near give away. Thirsty beasts, but soooo useful. If you don't drive 300 miles every weekend, could be the ultimate! Heck, a small car could fit right inside, No more trailering!

^^ good point on the Uhaul type van.

we bought an AWD astro today... we've been driving my sisters trailblazer around a good bit of late and IMHO the astro blows it out of the water in about every way... except driver comfort... just like all vans the driver has a big hump taking up a big section of his foot space... but in turn you get TONS of room, we've moved in the past using primarly an astro as the moving van... (did have a trailer for the few large furnishings we had)

vans also don't have the macho look of a pick up truck... on craigs list anything in similar age and condition is 3-4x what i paid...

oh and insurance is stupid cheap :)