New section, post your tow rig?!

In reply to Brake_L8 (Forum Supporter) :

The Cayenne is really in a different world to the Range Rover? I'm surprised, not that I know anything about it. Just figured they'd be more similar in intent and capability.

Jesse Ransom said:

In reply to Brake_L8 (Forum Supporter) :

The Cayenne is really in a different world to the Range Rover? I'm surprised, not that I know anything about it. Just figured they'd be more similar in intent and capability.

It's got about 2" more wheelbase vs the RR and it's way stiffer, to the point of being over damped in city driving. 

I can't believe I only discovered this section today!

Had a lot of trucks over the years, didn't tow much more than a 6x12 enclosed for my race bikes until we got serious about tracking our Miata.  I knew from racing bikes that I wanted enough truck from the start, and the ability to stay at the track for a weekend event.  Didn't want an additional vehicle, so we ended up with a truck/camper/trailer combo.

Current rig is a '17 Ram 3500, Cummins diesel.  Like others have posted, it made more financial sense to buy new over a 1-2 year old used truck, and we wanted new reliability, because long trips were in the plans.

Of it's ~50,000 miles, about 75% are hauling the camper, towing the trailer, or both.  It also flat tows the Jeep if we're not taking the trailer.  It's been cross-country 4 times, as far east as PA from AZ, and done a few trips to the Rocky Mountain states.  It's a super comfortable place to travel, and we've done over 1,000 miles in a day more than once.

Trailer is a '16 Look 8.5x24, also bought new because people wanted stupid money for trashed trailers.  It got blasted by a hailstorm in 2021, and has a salvage title now (and looks like a golf ball), but as a result of that it was almost free.  I added a winch and workbench to the inside over the years, and if I ever get around to it, it will get a solar system.

In furtherance of our retirement goal of traveling the country to visit racetracks we've never been to, we just added a new tow rig.  It will allow us a little more living space than the camper, and has a much bigger Cummins than the Ram...

2004 Holiday Rambler Navigator

It should be able tow a small stacker trailer, if I can find one that cost less than the motorhome.... 

This is the truck I sold early in '21, before the used car thing got really profitable.  

It's a 1997 2500 with the 12-valve Cummins/auto.  It was the last full year of the 12-valve.  I had it for many years, and it did the job pretty well, without rips in the seats or dents or rust.  It pulled 19 mpg running across Texas (doing 70) with a car (e28) in tow.  I sold it to a happily retired ex-Chrysler guy in Pittsburgh who proceeded to restore it (even sent me pictures after the fact).

This one has been replaced with a '21 that is basically the same, but not deezel, fortunately.  I'll find a pic at some point . . .

rustomatic said:

This is the truck I sold early in '21, before the used car thing got really profitable.  

It's a 1997 2500 with the 12-valve Cummins/auto.  It was the last full year of the 12-valve.  I had it for many years, and it did the job pretty well, without rips in the seats or dents or rust.  It pulled 19 mpg running across Texas (doing 70) with a car (e28) in tow.  I sold it to a happily retired ex-Chrysler guy in Pittsburgh who proceeded to restore it (even sent me pictures after the fact).

This one has been replaced with a '21 that is basically the same, but not deezel, fortunately.  I'll find a pic at some point . . .

Ford's version of that won't even get 19 mpg empty.  Ask me how I know.  I can do 17 at 70 with my F350 but it has dual rear wheels which is a disadvantage but it's also only 4x2 which is a clear advantage.  My numbers don't seem too far removed from most folks with the same setup as me.  12V Cummins is clearly the undisputed mileage king.

In reply to A 401 CJ :

Yeah, I had a 2006 F250 in the same cab/chassis configuration as the Dodge (6.0 deezel, oh no), and it did decently with mileage, as far as I can remember, and it pulled great, but then it would break.  Once, just to rub salt in regularly occurring wounds, the shifter (manual 6-speed) literally fell off as I was leaving my work parking lot . . .

The Cummins 12-valve might very well have been peak diesel (however agricultural), even if it didn't make 1,000,000 horsepower.

2008 Tiffin Open Road front engine diesel (Cummins). Bought it new and it's been all over the country normally towing a 2014 Honda CRV four down.  For the race car, just do Uhaul. I don't have room to park a trailer and don't want to mess with keeping it up. 

Pictures are on I65 south coming home from Barber track day few weeks ago. Rain on and off and wet road. Three car accident blocking both lanes. I was able to stop a 26k pound motor home pulling a car hauler with Miata with no problems. The bozo's around me were playing bumper cars. Looks like it going to be around $15,000 damage to motor home. I have no idea how he missed the trailer... 

In reply to Panhandler :

Man, that sucks.  

More proof that the average driver on the road isn't paying much attention to the world around them.  Until it's too late...

In reply to Rodan :

Yeah, I started to slow and put the flashers on when I saw the brake lights coming on about a mile ahead.  The brain dead drivers around me couldn't figure out why I was slowing and tried to pass me. These days I feel much safer on the track than I do on the interstate.

current rig is a 2008 sequoia with the 5.7 and a 6 speed auto I believe. It tows very very well.  Even has a trailer brake controller harness behind the kick panel. I only plug mine in when towing a travel trailer or enclosed. 
I've had 2 obs f250 7.3's now and as little as I tow this is absolutely fine. 

Panhandler said:

I was able to stop a 26k pound motor home pulling a car hauler with Miata with no problems.

It's all the extra downforce from the wing on the Miata. :)

As for U-haul trailers, the biggest problem with them is that having a reservation and actually getting a trailer when you show up at the office are not the same thing.  I know a couple people who have bought trailers with 4 hours notice after U-haul screwed them the day before an event.

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

Panhandler said:

I was able to stop a 26k pound motor home pulling a car hauler with Miata with no problems.

It's all the extra downforce from the wing on the Miata. :)

As for U-haul trailers, the biggest problem with them is that having a reservation and actually getting a trailer when you show up at the office are not the same thing.  I know a couple people who have bought trailers with 4 hours notice after U-haul screwed them the day before an event.

 

That ebay wing does it all. :(

I've had the reservation issue with U-haul but they managed to find me a trailer around town. 

I wonder if Penske would be better? Anyone use Penske for car hauler rental? 

In reply to Panhandler :

It was my understanding that you had to rent a truck from Penske and then you can rent a trailer. You can't just rent a trailer alone.

Here's a quandary that may seem excessively obvious:  U-haul versus typical flatbed open trailer.  Personally, I much prefer the U-haul or Penske trailers, as they are shorter and have a better tie-down situation than any flatbed I've used or owned, plus they have decent surge brakes (which matters if your brake controller situation is questionable).  I've towed cars across the country on multiple occasions with the rentals, and they are just better (easier) most of the time--I've never had a real issue with one.  Unfortunately, they tend to be heavier (2000 pounds for U-haul), so that may work against some tow vehicles . . .

As a side note, even when I had multiple acres of property, I couldn't stand owning a car hauler, as most of the time, it just sat there not being used.

In reply to Shifted :

Love it! 

And that's, that. Shifted for the win!

Well, it's not as cool as that, but my buddy Cliford is what I've been using to run my track cars around with. I haven't actually done it yet, but I can technically tow a trailer AND have a car on the back (or use the wheel lift) for ultimate win....

In reply to accordionfolder :

A rollback for the win, in my opinion!  That's an ideal tow rig.  And with the receiver on the wheel pickup, you can even tow a regular trailer!

Any more details on the exo-frame car?

In reply to Shifted :

ha having a rollback is nice most of the time, but he does go down the highway a bit ... loudly :) Another problem is the fuel capacity - I really need to deal with that part - only having a 20 gallon tank really is annoying. They remove the second tank for the wheel lift for this specific truck unfortunatly. 

The tube frame car is an Exomotive Exocet, mine was/is just a 1.6 miata w/ a super charger on it.
https://exomotive.com/

They're a lot of fun!

20 gallons does seem extremely small for a tow rig.  Hearing protection is cheap and easy, fuel tanks...not so much. Ours has two 75 gallon tanks and I thought that was pretty small.

We're going to be ordering an Exocet "Race" in February.  The plan is to start with a basic build with no power modifications, race it a bit, and then decide what we want to change.

Any advice is welcome!

In reply to Shifted :

Well, not to derail this thread, but my titled frame is for sale -  feel free to PM me any questions you have though! They're easy to work on, I'll miss that part - you can drop an engine and have it back in in a slow afternoon - a removable trans tunnel is a wonderful thing. 

Shifted said:

Hearing protection is cheap and easy

At least in CA, it isn't legal to drive with headphones on.

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

Most good headphones are noise-reducing at this point while still allowing ambient noise (like sirens) in and aren't visible unless you're right on top of someone. They're pretty much invisible when I'm wearing a beanie, but this is just my strategy and not legal advice. I've passed many, many cops doing exactly that. 

I hope/suspect I'll switch to a more traditional truck and trailer in the next year or two, but I'll enjoy Cliford in the meantime. He's served me well, but I hope to get into w2w racing for 2023 and would like something that is a bit easier to drive down the road for long distances. 

In reply to accordionfolder :

Oh, that's really tempting.  I spoke to my wife about it and she reminded me that the reason we are buying the Exocet is to have a family build project.  So, I'll have to pass on yours, sorry :(  Someone will surely snap it up, though.

In reply to Shifted :

Oh, I figured - just posted it up, you can still PM me if you need any random, potentially bad, advice though!