Newbie towing question posting again

MitchF150 wrote:
Brox, you can listen to the masses here, which is very conservative, or your actual towing and performance expectations with your combo.. I got ripped a new one on several occasions when I mentioned my weights on my old 97 F150 towing a #5000 TT.. I was over the trucks GVWR, but not over the axle or tire ratings.. BFD.. ;)

I'll get ripped another one on just posting this, but I don't really care what they say... They don't know me or my truck or anything about the situation..

If you want a new (to you) tow vehicle.. Get one (I did)... Don't do it just because everyone says you need one when they don't know anything about the situation..

Just my opinion on the deal and do as you want.. I've told plenty of folks on here that they are going to be overweight or not like their towing experience... Not many come back and say they didn't have any issues, so there you go..

Good luck and enjoy your rig as you want to.. Not how someone else wants YOU to enjoy it.. ;)

Mitch

Thanks Mitch

We are going to go look at an 04 F150 4.6l with a 3.53 rearend ext cab 4x2 6300lb towing capacity and an 04 Nissan Titan 4x4 will either of these be ok?

Brox wrote:

MitchF150 wrote:
Brox, you can listen to the masses here, which is very conservative, or your actual towing and performance expectations with your combo.. I got ripped a new one on several occasions when I mentioned my weights on my old 97 F150 towing a #5000 TT.. I was over the trucks GVWR, but not over the axle or tire ratings.. BFD.. ;)

I'll get ripped another one on just posting this, but I don't really care what they say... They don't know me or my truck or anything about the situation..

If you want a new (to you) tow vehicle.. Get one (I did)... Don't do it just because everyone says you need one when they don't know anything about the situation..

Just my opinion on the deal and do as you want.. I've told plenty of folks on here that they are going to be overweight or not like their towing experience... Not many come back and say they didn't have any issues, so there you go..

Good luck and enjoy your rig as you want to.. Not how someone else wants YOU to enjoy it.. ;)

Mitch

Thanks Mitch

We are going to go look at an 04 F150 4.6l with a 3.53 rearend ext cab 4x2 6300lb towing capacity and an 04 Nissan Titan 4x4 will either of these be ok?

Look for an F150 with the 5.4 and a taller rear end. Your MPG will be about the same when towing with the smaller engine and you'll have a better towing experience.

F150, 5.4L, 3.73 rear. Perfect setup. 2004 or newer.

Glad you are looking for a TV different than the Cherokee. I had a Cherokee, 6 cyl engine. It would not tow your TT better than the Liberty. BUT, it would be more stable than the Liberty.

The Liberty is pretty short to be towing a TT of that size. While it may pull and stop okay under normal conditions, how would it handle emergency maneuvers? That is where I get skeptical of the shorter tow vehicles.

That said, I tow with a Grand Cherokee, but my TT is 3500 lbs fully loaded. So, I don't have the same forces on my Jeep as what you have. My TT tows at 18', and half-height, which is completely different physics dynamics than your setup.

Good luck on the search for a TV! While getting back into payments is painful, it will be a better, and safer, towing experience.

An 04 F150 with the 4.6 is still the old 2v version, but has the PI heads (better power than the 4.6's earlier on). It's probably got a 3.55 rear gear and that's not too bad if the tires are still the stock size. The 5.4's of that generation had a 3v engine and had some issues of their own, but they all do, right! :)

Don't know much about the Titans, except that on the earlier models the rear ends tended to overheat when towing heavy. Later models had an finned aluminum cover to help with the heat.. Just make sure the Titan has the finned aluminum cover.. ;)

I'd say if you can get either for a decent price (something like 10k or under) and they are in decent shape it will handle your current trailer just fine.. Be careful however.. It may tow it TOO GOOD and that will get you thinking about a bigger trailer!! :)

Good luck!

Mitch

Here's my Liberty with our 3500Lb dry weight Fleetwood Pioneer 18T6. On the freeway this is the most terrifying vehicle arrangement I've ever driven. If we're passed by anything larger than a full size van we get pushed all over the road (yes wdh and sway bar). 4000 rpm @ 50 MPH sounds about right for any decent grade (thats' where mine was), I had power left but 500 Lbs lighter than your setup.

After receiving some Very good advice here on rv.net, we're in the market for a 2007 and newer Expedition as it has the 6 speed trans (older versions have 4 speed). Having lived the Liberty towing experience yourself, you know all too well how important having an extra couple of ratios in the box can be.

Also note being that the lib is physically darn near the same size and a grand Cherokee (there really is only a few inches difference in each dimension), you won't be reducing the 'frontal area' by using a GC. This is what hurts the Liberty trailering experience the most. It's like standing on the deck of a tall ship in a monsoon, you're going to get tossed around, period.

Ok switched gears to also looking at an 03 Chevy Avalanche 4x4 z71 and an 05 Avalanche 2wd z66 both 5.3l

Nvr2loud wrote:

Brox wrote:
I mean as equipt with full propane tv and acc.Just no water or are supplys

My dry weight trailer of 4370 lbs actually weighs 6006 lbs when loaded without water.

I suspect you are way-over weight on your Liberty

I started with a 2012 Acadia similar tow rating to your Liberty
Trailer Max Weight 5200 lbs
Tongue Weight max 600 lbs
GCWR 10,450 lbs
GVWR 6,459 lbs
Payload 1397 lbs

Therefore with my 6006 lb trailer with 750 lbs of tongue weight I would be way over already with a trailer similar to your trailers weight when dry.

If I fully load my Acadia with my family, cargo, fuel, and tongue weight (which is already over my hitch rating) then I would be at or exceed my GVWR of 6459 lbs. Assuming that I'm AT the GVWR of 6459 lbs then my allowable trailer weight would be limited to 3991 lbs. Since Gross combined Weight Rating GCWR is 10,450 lbs minus the loaded weight of the Acadia GVWR at 6,459 lbs equals 3991 lbs remaining for the trailer. So for me to tow my similar trailer (slightly heavier) with my Acadia (slightly higher rating then your Liberty) I am WAY over on payload, max trailer, max combined, max tongue.....

Just my .02 cents but the Liberty is unable to handle the weight and the Cherokee is too old to trust the original ratings.

I learned an expensive lesson when I purchased my TT, thought that 4370 lbs behind an SUV rated for 5200 lbs was a no brainer. I learned that I needed a pickup truck. My 1/2 ton Sierra is at the Limit for my current trailer and it is actually rated to handle 9500 lbs.

I completely second that. I originally purchased my TT with a "dry weight" of 4172lbs and hitch of 455lb and thought I was OK to pull it with a 2008 Nissan Xterra if I packed light. That Xterra had the same ratings as your liberty but actually seems like a larger vehicle to me. I was wrong about using a mid sized SUV. That trailer loaded up and ready to camp is 5500lbs with a TW of 780lbs and is near the limits of my 1/2 ton truck. Remember the trailer weight is in addition to all the people and gear you but into the TV. What is the GVWR of your trailer?

I know that doesn't answer your original question. If the Cherokee has been well maintained and is in good condition it might be a slightly better choice for a couple seasons. I would hook it up and see how it tows on the way to a scale.

EDIT: I see you are now looking at 1/2 ton options and I think they will serve you much better. The Avalanche might be a good choice if you prefer an SUV ish truck. Personally, I would always get the 4x4. I know they will have slightly lower tow ratings but I have no use for 2wd trucks. I've been stuck one too many times in them. Also, I have had experience boon docking with my TT on dirt roads where I was darn thankful I had 4x4. Such as camping in the spring heading up a 1 lane dirt road and coming around a corner and seeing a long shady stretch that is still covered in snow and ice. There was no where to turn around and backing up would have been quite a challenge. To make matters worse there was about a 15-20ft drop off down to a creek on the side of the road (during spring run off was more like a small river). We had literally just passed a scene where emergency crews were working an overturned truck in the creek (we learned later that it was a fatal accident). It is times like that where the 4x4 knob is your best friend. Trust me, I would not have intentionally put my family in that situation if I had known.

Another time was the final trip in the fall of last year. We were hoping we would luck out with weather but on day 2 it started raining, and raining, and raining. We were probably 15-20 miles back in on a dirt road. If I had a 2wd I would have hastily packed up and left. As it turned out the road wasn't bad at all on the way out but without 4x4 I wouldn't have waited to find out and would have cut the trip short.

If you never plan to boondock or dispersed camp it might not matter to you but it certainly does to me.