Choices of TV for a family of 6
The kids are 5-9 now, but growing fast ! TT is max (loaded) weight of 8500 lbs. SWMBO does not like vans. Is there a 6 passenger pickup any more or are we limited to Expedition/Suburban ?
Forum Discussion
There are 6-passenger full sized pickups in 2 rows of seats. You will need to evaluate how comfortable your family will be when traveling with that seating arrangement. We started out towing our TT with a crew cab pickup when all three of ours were in 5-pt child seats. We also had a minivan with 2+2+3 seating for daily driving which offered a more comfortable traveling experience with some more space per person plus kid separation. My wife said if our family was going to spend 3-6 hours at a time towing the TT, it should also have 3 rows of seats. 6 years ago we purchased the Suburban and have enjoyed it ever since. You will need to evaluate for your family as we are all different.
Please understand the complication of larger families traveling while towing travel trailers. Large families tend to exceed at least one other rating well below tow ratings, such as rear axle and GVWR. Typical half ton Expedition (Max) and Suburban/Yukon XL have about 1500 pounds of payload and 8000-9000 pounds of tow rating. If the family weighs 800 pounds, you have 700 left for trailer tongue weight. TTs are generally more stable with 13-15% tongue weight vs. some other types of trailers, such as boats which can tow well with 8-10%. So, 700 pounds of TW means 4600-5400 pounds loaded trailer weight, well below the advertised max trailer weight. Half ton pickups are in the same situation. Crew cab Rams tend to have less than 1500 pounds of payload while the Ford and GM twins have a little more. These are still quite limiting compared to the 10-12k advertised tow ratings.
There are plenty of 3/4 and 1-ton pickups that will meet your towing needs while providing a lot more comfort and stability when towing. There are no HD SUVs since 2013 model year. Well, GM offers a 1-ton Suburban starting at $80k, but I believe that is for fleets only (think government armored uses). Ford, GM, and Nissan offer HD passenger vans with good towing and payload for RVing.
Please understand the complication of larger families traveling while towing travel trailers. Large families tend to exceed at least one other rating well below tow ratings, such as rear axle and GVWR. Typical half ton Expedition (Max) and Suburban/Yukon XL have about 1500 pounds of payload and 8000-9000 pounds of tow rating. If the family weighs 800 pounds, you have 700 left for trailer tongue weight. TTs are generally more stable with 13-15% tongue weight vs. some other types of trailers, such as boats which can tow well with 8-10%. So, 700 pounds of TW means 4600-5400 pounds loaded trailer weight, well below the advertised max trailer weight. Half ton pickups are in the same situation. Crew cab Rams tend to have less than 1500 pounds of payload while the Ford and GM twins have a little more. These are still quite limiting compared to the 10-12k advertised tow ratings.
There are plenty of 3/4 and 1-ton pickups that will meet your towing needs while providing a lot more comfort and stability when towing. There are no HD SUVs since 2013 model year. Well, GM offers a 1-ton Suburban starting at $80k, but I believe that is for fleets only (think government armored uses). Ford, GM, and Nissan offer HD passenger vans with good towing and payload for RVing.
