Best type of vehicle to tow behind a motorhome

Rhearv wrote:
I was a little vague on the question, we are needing to tow a small truck; i.e. Nissan Frontier or small Toyota. Does anyone have experience with any of the small trucks and whether or not an automatic transmission can be safely towed?

In small trucks:

Four-wheel drive Colorado, because it has neutral on the transfer case, and it is the right transfer case. The previous S-10/S-15 had a transfer case that could not deal with flat towing.

Manual transmission Frontier, 2WD or 4WD. The transmission makes it towable.

Manual transmission Ford Ranger and Mazda B, from 1993 to end of production, 2WD or 4WD. The transmission makes it towable.

Toyota says the manual transmission Tacoma is not towable, I know people who do so anyway.

Some model years of Dodge Dakota, if the 4x4 transfer case had a neutral position, Dodge said it was towable. Dakota also used a transfer case that did not have a neutral, it was an option in some trim lines.

For one or two years, Ford offered a neutral tow kit for some models of the Ranger with 4x4 and automatic. Not all drive train combinations, and not the same kit offered for the Explorer. Ford no longer offers this kit, which might have manipulated the locking hubs as well as the transfer case.

Other compact pickups the last 10-15 years, the transfer case, even if had a selectable neutral position, did not necessarily make an automatic transmission truck towable. For any given 4x4, you should to talk to an expert on transfer cases and hubs. Lately, with Chrysler brand engineering across Jeep and Dodge SUVs, you need to be sure of just how the 4x4 system works on a particular Jeep.

The best vehicle to tow is the one that best fits your needs when you are not towing it. That will be a type of vehicle, not a brand or particular model. If you must drive a Lexus, Cadillac, Porsche or BMW, you might be in trouble on towing.

It is convenient if you can find a vehicle of the type you need that is towable with little or no modification, and is not too heavy for your motorhome. That is more of a struggle for vehicle types, for example if you must be able to seat 7, 8 or more people. Twelve passenger vans e.g. weigh about 6000 pounds empty and need modification for towing.

I towed a Ford Ranger. It was a second car, my wife's car was an Accord and it took car of all our general transportation needs, while the small truck saw service getting me around town carrying the stuff I needed for maintenance of rental properties.

When my wife died, I gave her Accord to one of my daughters, got rid of the truck, and bought a Honda Fit to be my daily driver and towable vehicle. With one less person to seat, it still could carry the either of my daughters with spouse and children, and the usual collection of people and luggage on airport runs. An alternative for me would have been a manual transmission Versa or Fiesta.

Subcompacts like the Fit or Versa are too small for many people, though a subcompact MPV will carry as many people as compact cars and small SUVs, seating is tighter for five people and there is not luggage space for that many.

Next up are compacts, sedans like Cobalt, Corolla, Civic, Sentra and MPVs like CRV, Element, Matrix/Vibe. CRV is a real popular tow because through 2014 it needed only a baseplate and lights, and was for many people the smallest thing they wanted to drive, while being the heaviest thing their motorhome could tow (many are stuck at about 3500 pounds_.

Some mid-size cars work, particularly GM sedans in the Malibu class with 4-speed automatic. These weigh about the same as the lighter of compact SUVs. SUVs built on Malibu-size cars, like Equinox, Vue, Terrain and Escape are roomier than the sedans but also heavier, so you need to be thinking whether your motorhome is OK to tow 5000 pounds, or are you limited to 3500.

If your motorhome can tow 10,000 pounds, and you need eight seats, you can tow a Yukon XL or Suburban, with proper equipment. If you need to haul a couple of motorcycles, your tow could be a long-bed 3/4 ton or one-ton truck.

If what you want to do with your towed vehicle is explore 4x4 trails, then the most likely candidate is a Wrangler, though some of Jeeps SUVs can be equipped for varying levels of off-roading.

The most difficult situation is when you are limited to about 3500 pounds on the tow and you regularly carry more than four or five people. Possible solutions include the manual transmission version of the Mazda 5/MPV, the first generation Honda Odyssey (the little MPV Honda still sells in Europe and Asia), and Suzuki's Grand Vitara XL7, which is getting hard to find. One iteration of the Saturn Vue was based on the Grand Vitara, but I don't think it had a seven seat option. The last Vue was an Equinox, and had at most five seats.

IMHO your everyday driver is the best toad. No sense in having 2 different cars when one will do. Mine is a Subaru Impreza Sedan, manual shift.

Rhearv wrote:
Looking for suggestions on the best type of vehicles to tow behind a motorhome. All experience shared is appreciated.

jeeps provided the model has a manually selectable neutral position in the transfer case. no time/distance/speed restrictions. what else could you ask for?

We towed our Jeep Liberty for 10 years and had lots of enjoyment from it driving the back roads. It's still in service with 175,000 miles on it.

Depends on YOUR needs. I particularly wanted an AWD. You may not. Some need an automatic transmission, my manual transmission Subaru suits me just fine.

Identify how the vehicle will be used when not being towed and we can give better help.

I love my 2012 canyon 4x4. 4 door seats 4 adults. weighs only 4100 lbs. Takes about 5 min to hook up tow bar and shift transfer case to neutral. Towed it to Anchorage and back this summer 11000 miles. Offroaded in Moab Utah.

Had a 2 wheel drive small truck with shaft disconnect for three years and it was a pain to hook up

4WD models with an N postion on the Transfer Case are by far the easiest to tow when it comes to trucks with Automatic transmissions.

If you're thinking about new trucks, I'd take a look at the 2015 Chevy and GMC. With 4x4 models, the transfer case neutral setting is what matters. Typically, the RWD trucks are not towable, nor are those without neutral for the transfer case.

new or used? The ford rangers (used) with the manual trans can be towed as can I think the small chebbys but not sure on them. Most will require a manual trans for towing 4 down I think.

I have a 94 ranger and it weights in around 3800lbs. It is supercab and has the 4.0 v6 manual trans. SO it now comes down to what do you want 2wd, 4wd new or used.