Tow vehicles
My wife and I want to get out of the old motorhome and get a travel trailer. I don't have the cash flow to but all new. What's a good used tow vehicle? Tahoe, Expedition? We're looking at a 26 - 2...
Forum Discussion
krobbe wrote:
I would look for an 03-06 3/4ton 8.1L Burb. Max tow is 12k for the 4.10 rearend and 10.5k for a 3.73.
All well and good, but good luck finding one....Same with the Excursion. Last Excursion was made in 2005 and the last year for the 8.1 in a 2500 Suburban was 2006, so the newest one you will find is 8 years old now.
The biggest mistake I see folks make is to buy a certain vehicle because they are "planning" to get a certain size trailer. They they start shopping for TTs and fall in love with one that's bigger than they planned and winds up being a real handful for the vehicle they purchased. I count myself in that crowd about 15 years ago.
Since you are buying used, I would suggest that you go trailer shopping first. There will always be the killer deal and it may not be exactly what you started out shopping for. Once you have the TT you will know the dry weight, you can estimate the loaded weight (add 1200 lbs to the dry weight), and then you can go looking for the right sized tow vehicle.
Tahoes, Expeditions, 1500 (6 lug) Suburbans, 150/1500 pick ups, Tundra, etc., all make good tow vehicles if your dry weight is under 4500 lbs or so. Most vehicles will max out on carrying capacity from the tongue weight way before they get to their max tow rating, so shopping by tow rating is all but meaningless.
Of course if you want to buy the truck first, get a 3500 diesel and you'll be ready for just about anything, but depending on the TT you may wind up with way more vehicle than you need.
