Help choosing tow vehicle

[COmountains]

Well tow vehicle type really. I'll apologize in advanced for the newbie questions. Wife and I have always tent camped but with the arrival of two little guys the past two years we started thinking about popups. Long story short we impulse bought one from our neighbor.

Stats:
2400 lbs dry
3400 lbs GVWR

Guessing about 400 lbs for water, batteries, propane. Maybe somewhere in the 3000 to 3200 range loaded.

Now I've never towed **** in my life so I started going down the Honda Pilot route. Naturally you focus only on towing capacity (5000 lbs). Problem is that we live in and will be driving this thing all over CO so in the 5k ft to 10k ft range. All the fine print I read has the GVWR and GCWR derate to the point where I'm pretty darn close to the limit.

So then bump up a level to small trucks. The Tacoma/Ranger line of trucks. Everything looks good there. Still a bit light in the GVWR department but turns out it doesn't matter cause the child seats are a bit of a no go in those cabs.

That bumps me up to the Tundra/F150/etc line. More power than we need but with the large cabs, the family can practically play a basketball game in the backseat.

So I feel stuck between not quite enough of a tow vehicle and under powered in the Pilot, but almost too much truck in a Tundra/F150. (too much being a waste of money, mpg, etc when it's not towing).

Just curious what some more experienced towers think about the situation. Can I get away with the Pilot in the CO mountains without while knuckling? Or if I really want stress free, do I need to put on my big boy pants and get a half ton for a little PuP?

Thanks for reading and thanks for any insight.

[rexlion]

To start out, if you have the Pilot already, use it. It'll do okay with a popup. Just slow down and shift down for long, steep grades in either direction.

Get a brake controller, assuming the popup has brakes. If not, it's possible to add them (look for a square backer plate with mounting holes behind the wheel) or to replace the axle with one that has brakes. Definitely important in the mountains.

I towed a 16' TT through the Rockies a couple of times with a 270 HP V6 Toyota Highlander. It worked well enough, but then I didn't push it hard.

Go have some fun! After you've used the popup a couple of times, you might have a better idea whether you want to stick with what you have, or upgrade the tug or the trailer or both.

[Sjm9911]

Forgot to mention, depending on the year model, you have to add the weight of the ac, heater, fridge, awning, etc to the pups weight. They really mean empty weight all other stuff is usally added on. And , as stated, the small sway contoll bars are worth every penny of the 50 bucks they cost to add on.

[Grit_dog]

And you’ll probably start chewin Copenhagen and voting republican, if you already don’t. And Colorado could use more if that! Yeehaw!

[Grit_dog]

And you won’t look like a soccer mom driving it to work!

[Grit_dog]

And for what Honda’s and Yotas go for you can buy a nice crew cab pickup for similar $

[Grit_dog]

The real consensus is 95% of the people here think you need twice as much tow rig than you actually do!
But to your question, half ton, any flavor, will get the job done as comfortably and powerfully as you’d imagine. Pilot/midsize will get the job done and it will be safe, but like Ida said, not ideal.
Short term , whatever gets you out in the mountains. Thinking long term think about the benfefits of a full-size vehicle. I don’t think the mileage penalty is that great when not towing unless you run a lot of commuter miles.
Biggest thing imo is how do you like to drive? I’m intimately familiar with most roads in the CO Rockies and when you lose 1/3 of your power and have to use your brakes 50% harder, having a little more than you actually need under the hood is nice.
If your handle was “Nebraska corn” not CO mountains, I’d say you could tow it with a Corolla! Lol

[badercubed]

I put two kids in the backseat of my Canyon with no issues. Specs on the truck are above a Tacoma/Ranger but below a 1/2t ton truck.

We tow a 4,000lb dry / 5,100lb loaded camper with zero issues on trips over 500miles, but haven't ventured into real big elevation changes.

You won't regret a F-150 with an Ecoboost though. I had one and frequently hauled a larger camper or construction equipment at it was a dream.

[IdaD]

We pulled that size popup with a 2010 Pilot and it worked pretty well. That's not what I'd go out and buy for towing, though, we just happened to have one.

I would recommend a half ton truck at least. Yes it's more than you need for that trailer, but the general progression is that you will more than likely upgrade to a larger trailer in the future and getting a more capable tow vehicle now will help make that an easier process. Plus you have two little kids. Little kids like to have stuff with them, and they don't stay little for very long. Having extra capacity and cargo space is a lot better than being tight on either. I think you would appreciate having a truck bed for kid toys, bikes, dog kennel, extra water, chainsaw, BBQ, etc., etc. Popups are pretty limited in the cargo carrying department.

[Durb]

We owned a Coleman tent trailer with about your same specifications. Originally towed it with a Toyota T100 which wasn't ideal. The drive train was fine but the short wheelbase and long rear overhang made for a choppy ride. Later moved on to a Nissan Titan which pulled the trailer well unless the water tank was full then it swayed viciously. Reese makes the steadi-flex lightweight weight distribution hitch with anti sway which will improve your tow regardless of vehicle.

I also believe you will be happier with a full sized crew cab truck as your family grows. Many great times and memories with that tent trailer.

[COmountains]

Wow, something I didn't expect... nearly a consensus! It's one of those things where I realize that 95% of the time the pickup won't be necessary, but the 5% where it will likely make my life much more relaxing.

I had heard mixed reviews about the ecoboost in the mountains. Running hot when going uphill at full load, but I'll be nowhere near that. Even if true, I think I would be good.

When looking in the future, naturally I would love to say that we'll be happy with the Pup and won't need to upgrade but I know how that goes.

I appreciate everyone's time in responding, can't thank you all enough.

[fx2tom]

IMO the F150 with the 2.7 EcoBoost and 10 speed transmission would be perfect for what you need. We had one as a rental on vacation a couple years ago. 19 MPG in mixed driving (not towing obviously). If I were in your shoes that is exactly what I would buy.

[Sjm9911]

Decisions, Decisions. Eaither will work with the pup. But as stated, the full size truck will give you lots more room for people and stuff. You really will not need a truck cap. Stuff to put in the truck bed will be, leveling stuff, table , chairs, cooler , etc. The pop ups dont have the space of TT. So the truck bed will help a ton. Also, the pups are low so they tow a bit easier then a TT. You are not pulling a wall behind you. Whatever you get make sure you get a seven pin conection and a break controller. If you dont go with the full size truck the tow package will be needed.

[wowens79]

I towed our pop up with a pilot, but never above 4000’ feet. It did well with it, but the brakes on the pilot are not the greatest. I normally pulled the pop up with my truck, and it was a much more comfortable drive.

The kids will grow, and when you start wanting to take the kids bikes scooters etc, having the truck will make it much easier.

We bought our pop up when the kids were 4 and 6, and used it for 9 years, and went to a travel trailer. We had great vacations it it. Enjoy it!!

[Tvov]

If you get a pickup truck, get cap for the bed - then you will have plenty of protected room for all your "stuff". Food, clothes, firewood, bicycles, etc.

[valhalla360]

I didn't see food, clothing or anything else in the trailer...so plan on being at the GVWR from the start plus some stuff in the truck bed.

Those little munchkins...they get bigger, they get bikes, they take friends, you take firewood, etc... A basic 1/2 ton 4 door truck is a nice option for a family of 4.

When buying, probably the biggest number to watch is the Payload sticker by the door. 1/2 ton trucks have a wide variety of payloads depending on how they are equipped. Avoid the weak ones with 1400-1600 payload (a family of 4 with teenage kids can easily eat up 700lb of the payload just with bodies) and try to get something up in the 1800-2000lb range. That will give you a lot more flexibility in the future if you get a bigger trailer.

The turbo powered engines they are putting in 1/2 ton trucks really come into their own in mountain driving. A Naturally Aspirated engine loses around 3-4% of power for every 1000ft of elevation...so if you are up at 6-7,000ft you are down by around 20-30% on power. Now a truck that was just a bit of a dog at sea level is really struggling. With a Turbo, it force feeds air into the engine largely negating the altitude based power losses.