Most economical tow rig?

I'm back to the computer so, here are the reasons I went with a F350 7.5L gas truck.

Buy in on a gas truck is cheap. It will mostly sit in the yard and get driven 8-10 times a year to races and autocross events. Call it 1200-2400 miles a year. Gas mileage is largely irrelevant. My 5.4 E150 only got 7-8mpg towing my enclosed. My fathers 06 Dodge diesel only got 12.5. If I get 7-8 I'll be happy. I don't want $10K to $20K sitting in the yard collecting pine needles.

Van prices around here aren't too bad for vans, but most of them are 1/2 ton chassis cargo vans. That is border line small for my 20' enclosed trailer, BTDT. Cargo vans are out because I need seating for 5. The F350 I bought is a crew cab so that gets me the seating.

I wanted a truck so I could borrow my fathers 5th wheel camper when his truck isn't available. Most of the year they are gone. Diesel crew cab trucks around here are either stupid expensive or ragged out, beat to death work trucks that need $$$$ in repairs. The one I am picking up is a 94 California truck, in pretty fair condition, with 160K on it.

Things it will need soon are tires and exhaust work. Some numb skull cut out the cat and left the air lines hanging. Some things I will probably do in the next year or so, paint and add a camper shell. Both the fiberglass fenders are cracked. Not bad, but I'll fix them. As is usual for a mid 90s Ford, the paint is going away. Mostly on the roof and hood, but over all, it's lost most of the shine.

Buy in was a little over $3K. As much as I will use it, it should last me 10+ years.

I'll start a thread with pictures as soon as I get it home.

In reply to Cotton:

I must say though that the hills I had to climb to get home were not fun and no I didn't slow down going up them either. Now, I did pass some idjits from GA going up Slade hill, just "east" of exit 33 on the Mountain Parkway for those that know of it, with that 8k combo. Started at about 60 at the bottom and topped at about 67, including negotiating the curve halfway up the hill.

As for my PSD, I am supposed to be 535 at the crank..... Still a slugbitch. When employment is gained, I already have a new DP and 4" muff-less exhaust with turndown ready to be ordered. Then I'll probably do the 6637 filter, on top of the the other crap I need to fix, and just drive the piss out of it until it quits.

In reply to Ranger50:

I've seriously contemplated selling the Dodge and going with a newer 2500 4x4 Suburban or Avalanche with the 8.1 liter, but I've had a hard time pulling the trigger on one for some reason. I hear the 8.1 is a great towing gasser.

Enyar wrote: Nevermind, just saw that Oldtin already mentioned it. Get a hitch for the TDI, for sure.

I'm all for towing with a TDi, but the OP was asking about pulling a toy box that would likely weigh 3x the VW. I don't know if I'd be comfortable trying to tow a 4 seat side by side on a small trailer either. It would be at the very top end of the weight rating at best and those things are tall too.

Dimensions on the one I was looking at IE Kawasaki Teryx 4

77 inches tall, 125 inches long, 62inches wide and a curb weight of 1600lbs (plus it can tow 1300 itself lol)

So not really flat bed trailer on the jetta worthy. Obviously not if towing anything to sleep in.

One of my friends uses a Suburban with the big gasser I think its a 2500 as his tow rig but I am not sure if he has another car for his wife

I didn't realize these got so reasonable.

http://nashville.craigslist.org/cto/3624318309.html

Seems like a hell of a lot of truck for the 8k range.

In reply to Cotton:

Seems expensive to me, especially if the owner can't provide any maintenance history. The Allison is expensive to repair and heaven forbid if you have an injector fail. Plus the weak front ends, inoperative clusters, transfer cases that like to aerate themselves, and all the broken plastic fiddly bits that will drive a person batty.

Ranger50 wrote: In reply to Cotton: Seems expensive to me, especially if the owner can't provide any maintenance history. The Allison is expensive to repair and heaven forbid if you have an injector fail. Plus the weak front ends, inoperative clusters, transfer cases that like to aerate themselves, and all the broken plastic fiddly bits that will drive a person batty.

Well obviously I don't know the history of the truck, so yes worst case 8900 would be expensive. If the truck checks out I'd think it's a bargain. Dually, 4x4, allison trans, and 8 ft bed is my dream tow rig. Broken plastic fidally bits don't bother me, then again I have a 95 RAM with the magic brittle dash, so maybe i'm used to it.

In reply to Cotton:

If you have a BR body Ram, it's the same kind of truck. Decent motor wrapped in a E36 M3 sandwich body.

The GM's I have worked on loved hubs, idler arms, and inner and outer tierods, just like the BR Rams I've also had the "pleasure" of working on. Same design as the weaker 1/2 tons.

In reply to Ranger50:

yeah I can deal with that. I just need it to pull good and now I want 4wd.

iceracer wrote: My 2002 Liberty with tow package and towing an open trailer with car on it. 3900 lbs app. Did get as high as 15mpg A lot depended on terrain.

I really need to put a hitch on my wife's '04 Liberty.

I went with an E350 powerstroke van. I get 22 on the highway, so I don't really care how much the fuel costs compared to gas since I'm spending significantly less. The national average for gas is $3.71. The national average for diesel is $4.10. That is roughly a 10% increase. That means if you're going from a 13mpg gas vehicle you only need to get 14.3 mpg out of a diesel to make it a wash. Since many diesels get 20+ mpg, its saving you money. Add in a slower depreciation and you'll make more of your money back if you sell it.

You can get vans like mine with sub-100k on the ticker for $4000. They're not plentiful, but they're out there. I grabbed mine in TX with 93k on it.

Any travel trailer over about 22' really needs a full size truck or SUV. Some little unibody V6 SUV probably won't cut the mustard.

The number 1 suv on the list is a FJZ100 Land Cruiser 8500 tow rating in 08, the seqouia which I don't like as much has 9600