Best $3-5k tow rig?

Hey guys – as in the title, this is my current quandary. Looking to upsize old reliable, our little ’98 Ford Ranger, towards towing (90%) and backup/spare family truckster (10%) duties.

I have been thinking old-ish Suburban since they seem to sell pretty cheap on the used market, and with the rear bench out or folded out of the way, there’s a lot of space back there for camping stuff/dog/building materials/etc. I assume nobody wants to feed them gas every day, which I don’t mind (again, spare car). Since I so rarely need a pickup truck bed and already have a stout little utility trailer, the price premium that pickups seem to get down here in the south just seems dumb to pay. For a while I wanted to upgrade the Ranger to a 4-door F150/Silverado, but dang do those things ever hold value. Other options? I guess this is a “pick your ideal cheapo tow rig/ workhorse” thread.

Requirements: Towing capacity

5 seats+ for the helpers

My tow rig is a F350 Crew Cab Dually with a 460. If you don't care about day to day fuel economy, it doesn't get any cheaper than buying a gas hog for occasional tow/spare duties. My truck was $2900, seats 6 and will tow anything I will ever hook to it.

The main reason I wanted the dually

It's sitting behind the shop where it was parked 3 weeks ago. The trailer is still hooked up to it.

With a little looking you can find Urbans with the 454 for less.

What are you towing (weight)? Once you start requiring the need to haul more than 4 people, I always make the suggestion of looking at astro-vans. Comfier than a truck, roomier, and can haul 6 people and their crap easily.

Having said that, I'd still probably pick a Suburban. Once again, depending on your towing capacity requirements, you can go allllll the way back to when the GMT400 first came out (1988) and you'll still get a 6000+lb tow rating, seating for 6 if it has the 3rd row, and a comfy ride.

I just got rid of a $3000 Chevy 3500 turbodiesel dually and got a cheap '02 Suburban 2500 HD with the 8.1 liter. Similar towing capacity (about 11,500 lbs), but MUCH comfier, quieter, cheaper to own, and easier to drive/park. ;)

went from this:

to this:

Nice. A 3/4-ton suburban would be OK with me. If I were to go the bigger pickup (meaning bigger than our current Ranger) route, I’d probably be more inclined towards ¾- and 1-ton trucks, for the exact reasons you posted.

As for what I'll be pulling - building materials, a utility trailer full of mulch, a flatbed with a Farmall Cub on it that is up at the farm, whatever old junk I find and decide I can't live without. Wife wants a camper, and there's 5 of us so it'd have to be pretty big. You know, just general GRM type stuff.

We have just sort of outgrown the Ranger, even as a spare car- the kids want to ride with me to Lowe's, etc., and it's not the best for that. I've looked at Astros and Savanas, Econolines, etc - just don't know that much about them. Plus wife's got a Sienna already for peoplemoving - unless they are better at towing and even cheaper than an old-school giant truck?

The F350 replaced a E150 conversion van that we had for 4 kids and 10 years. Decent tow rig and people hauler. With a 5.4, it got about the same fuel economy as the F350 when loaded and only a little better empty, so that's a wash. Also pretty bullet proof. Since my DD is a E150 cargo van, I got tired of driving vans all the time and two of the kids are out of the house so I didn't need quite as much space.

Jake wrote: I've looked at Astros and Savanas, Econolines, etc - just don't know that much about them. Plus wife's got a Sienna already for peoplemoving - unless they are better at towing and even cheaper than an old-school giant truck?

astros are nice little (big) vans... but driving you still get that horrid van footwell space and if/when you have to work on it you are working on a van which means removing the doghouse... also they are limited to 5500lbs towing as I recall... it's more or less a v6 s10 without the bed... I averaged about 18mpg with mine as I recall, parts are dirt cheap as it was based on the stuff GM make a million other bits off, you can even slip a v8 in them without much of a prob lol.

I've looked into buying another, sadly it seems around here they are super beat to hell or high $$$... for that price I could find a very nice 2k's suburban.

just do note that on the suburban you take a good hit on MPG, the 1500's seem to get about 15mpg averages while the 2500's move down to the 11-20mpg range (at least from what i'm seeing on fuelly.com)

as others have said, you really need to figure out how much you'll be towing on the top end and then figure it out

Chris_V wrote: I just got rid of a $3000 Chevy 3500 turbodiesel dually and got a cheap '02 Suburban 2500 HD with the 8.1 liter. Similar towing capacity (about 11,500 lbs), but MUCH comfier, quieter, cheaper to own, and easier to drive/park. ;)

Whoa.... i had no idea such a beast existed.

How cheap are we talking?

In reply to Swank Force One:

LAWL.....well, probably depends on where it is and how their fuel prices are. Those things like to stop at every one.

Swank Force One wrote:

Chris_V wrote: I just got rid of a $3000 Chevy 3500 turbodiesel dually and got a cheap '02 Suburban 2500 HD with the 8.1 liter. Similar towing capacity (about 11,500 lbs), but MUCH comfier, quieter, cheaper to own, and easier to drive/park. ;)

Whoa.... i had no idea such a beast existed. How cheap are we talking?

I've seen them out here for $3k-$5k, lower every time gas prices rise. Not that easy to find, though, I think very few were sold.

donalson wrote: while the 2500's move down to the 11-20mpg range (at least from what i'm seeing on fuelly.com) as others have said, you really need to figure out how much you'll be towing on the top end and then figure it out

The figure moves down a lot due to weight, but also because it uses the 6.0L. I personally (having experienced many 6.0L's) find them to be a horrid motor. They feel very overrated, and get horrid mpg. The 8.1L has a lot of jam, but who the hell can afford 8usmpg??! For reference:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/32513.shtml

That's the new 6.0L with the 6 speed. That's horrible :o

Most modern 1/2 ton pickups seem to be able to average about 14usmpg towing low-wind resistance but heavyish (~7000lbs) loads at sane (<70mph) speeds. A 3/4 ton anything with a larger than normal motor is probably going to be doing below 10usmpg towing. I don't know about you, but that becomes make or break money for me. It's a good couple hundred bucks per 2000km trip difference.

In reply to Chris_V:

What all did you look at before deciding on the 8.1 burb? I'm kind of in the same dilemma....just sold my turbo diesel dually and am looking at newer (than my 89 1/2 ton burb) SUVs.

The 8.1 burb is at the top of the list, but I'm also looking at 6.0 burbs, Yukon XLs, Excursions, and even Escalades with that sweet 6.2.

BoxheadTim wrote:

Swank Force One wrote:

Chris_V wrote: I just got rid of a $3000 Chevy 3500 turbodiesel dually and got a cheap '02 Suburban 2500 HD with the 8.1 liter. Similar towing capacity (about 11,500 lbs), but MUCH comfier, quieter, cheaper to own, and easier to drive/park. ;)

Whoa.... i had no idea such a beast existed. How cheap are we talking?

I've seen them out here for $3k-$5k, lower every time gas prices rise. Not that easy to find, though, I think very few were sold.

8.1 burbs for 3-5k? Or were they 454? I would be willing to travel to get a decent 8.1 4x4 for that kind of money. Around here they are more like 7k-10k. As an example this is one I saw on ebay and liked:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevrolet-Suburban-LS-4X4-8-1L-Chevrolet-2004-Suburban-2500-LS-4x4-8-1L-Barn-Doors-Low-Miles-/191046198835?forcerrptr=true&hash=item2c7b3da633&item=191046198835&pt=US_Cars_Trucks

I haven't looked for a while, but the last time I saw one at the upper end of the price range. The cheaper ones are usually 2WD which is basically unsellable out here.

Keep in mind that the cheap ones here have starship mileage - all of the ones I've seen out here in that price range had way over 200k.

The "up to 99" with a 454 and less mileage seems to be advertised around here for 2k-4k if you can find one in decent shape. Usually the "decent shape" is the problem with either.

Another vote for a 3/4 ton Suburban. There was an 8.1 powered one for sale near me with around 140,000 on the clock and they were asking $5,900, IIRC.

This one is local to me, NMNA:

http://peoria.craigslist.org/cto/4288678683.html

I <3 my 3/4 ton Suburban. Paid $3500 for it, too.

I probably have 5k into my suburban with the price of the truck and a crate engine. I love it!