Which van has largest tow capacity

[el_jefe1]

I was doing a little research online today to try to start looking at what our next van should be. Mind you, I'm only starting to look, which means I'm a couple years away from actually doing anything:). But I want to know what my options are. When I bought our van in didn't really consider towing, but it seems like I'm driving the most capable towing van out there. Unless somebody knows of something better?

I'm in a 2007 Chevy Express 3500, it's rated for 10,000 lbs towing, I believe 16000 gvwr. Which we hit the scales at just over 15,000, so all good there. But I don't know of any vans with a higher payload than that. Anyone know of any?

I'm not opposed to just getting a newer version of what we already have, but just wondering if anyone knows of other options to check out.

Oh I should mention we have 10 kids. So it needs to be a pretty big van:)

[carringb]

hvac wrote:
This is great feedback. It's intriguing as its basically a 1 ton truck, so payload will not be an issue. Some other comments on the net is the hitch itself from Nissan is the limiting factor for a higher tow rating.

I think it's more likely Nissan spec'd a hitch to meet the GCWR. With OE tow package GCWR = 16,000 lbs without OE tow package GCWR = 13,500 lbs.

16,000 GCWR is the same as the Chevy/GMC with the 6.0L.

Ford E350's with the V10 were rated for 18,500 combined with 4.10 gears. I swapped in E450 axles under mine with 4.56 gears, rated at 22,000 combined. 2014 was the last year of the E350 wagons and vans.

Note: The Transit is the only van certified under ASE J2807, so comparing the Express/NV/E-series to the Transit tow rating isn't exactly apples to apples. Maybe more like apples to pears. Also some variants of the new 2020 version are getting an increased GCWR.

[hvac]

This is great feedback. It's intriguing as its basically a 1 ton truck, so payload will not be an issue. Some other comments on the net is the hitch itself from Nissan is the limiting factor for a higher tow rating.

[Fryer5]

hvac wrote:

Fryer5 wrote:
We have the Nissan. Our trailer is only 7,000lbs loaded (estimated). We only have three kids and they LOVE the room in the Nissan. We had suburbans before.
Towing is night and day different with the Nissan. Our last suburban was an 08 2500 4x4 with the 6.0 gas engine. This van could run circles around it. More power, less shifting, and better brakes. I could only be happier if the van was 4x4 which was an expensive aftermarket option.

The Fryers

I would not overlook the Nissan, we are very happy

The current NV 3500 is a 7 speed. I think 8900 lbs max tow rating. Is your van a 7 speed?

Yes, our van is the 7 speed. I will try to look in the ow era manual today for towing rating. My trailer is light compared to some, so I wasn’t overly worried about the max, anything over 7500lbs was more than the first suburbans we used to pull this trailer. I thought the towing rating went up with the 7speed. They also increased hp with the 7speed

[LarryJM]

el.jefe wrote:

LarryJM wrote:
AFAIK the highest tow related Vans were the 1T Ford 7.3/6.0L diesels with the 4.10 that were rated for 10K towing and 20K GCWR. My 2001 7.3 is one of those beasts.:B

Larry

What kind of gas mileage do you get with that? Towing and not towing.

Towing with a GCW of 17.5K I get 10 to 11.5, non towing all freeway around 17 and mixed around 14 to 15. The Van only weighs close to 8100 lbs since it's heavily converted and I carry a LOT OF STUFF even not towing. The Van spends 65% of it's miles towing and is not a daily driver.

Larry

[el_jefe1]

LarryJM wrote:
AFAIK the highest tow related Vans were the 1T Ford 7.3/6.0L diesels with the 4.10 that were rated for 10K towing and 20K GCWR. My 2001 7.3 is one of those beasts.:B

Larry

What kind of gas mileage do you get with that? Towing and not towing.

[hvac]

Fryer5 wrote:
We have the Nissan. Our trailer is only 7,000lbs loaded (estimated). We only have three kids and they LOVE the room in the Nissan. We had suburbans before.
Towing is night and day different with the Nissan. Our last suburban was an 08 2500 4x4 with the 6.0 gas engine. This van could run circles around it. More power, less shifting, and better brakes. I could only be happier if the van was 4x4 which was an expensive aftermarket option.

The Fryers

I would not overlook the Nissan, we are very happy

The current NV 3500 is a 7 speed. I think 8900 lbs max tow rating. Is your van a 7 speed?

[8_1_Van]

My 8.1 big block 3500 Chevy Express has 3.73's but with the 4.11 option it should tow much more.

[hvac]

Fryer5 wrote:
We have the Nissan. Our trailer is only 7,000lbs loaded (estimated). We only have three kids and they LOVE the room in the Nissan. We had suburbans before.
Towing is night and day different with the Nissan. Our last suburban was an 08 2500 4x4 with the 6.0 gas engine. This van could run circles around it. More power, less shifting, and better brakes. I could only be happier if the van was 4x4 which was an expensive aftermarket option.

The Fryers

I would not overlook the Nissan, we are very happy

The current NV 3500 is a 7 speed. I think 8900 lbs max tow rating. Is your van a 7 speed?

[LarryJM]

AFAIK the highest tow related Vans were the 1T Ford 7.3/6.0L diesels with the 4.10 that were rated for 10K towing and 20K GCWR. My 2001 7.3 is one of those beasts.:B

Larry

[Fryer5]

We have the Nissan. Our trailer is only 7,000lbs loaded (estimated). We only have three kids and they LOVE the room in the Nissan. We had suburbans before.
Towing is night and day different with the Nissan. Our last suburban was an 08 2500 4x4 with the 6.0 gas engine. This van could run circles around it. More power, less shifting, and better brakes. I could only be happier if the van was 4x4 which was an expensive aftermarket option.

The Fryers

I would not overlook the Nissan, we are very happy

[mogman]

The Transit is unibody construction, no beefy chassis like the E series.

I am very happy with my Transit, but my trailer is also quite light.

[rjstractor]

el.jefe wrote:
I looked at the Transit first because that seems to be the new popular van for families our size, but it doesn't look like they can tow worth anything. Our trailer is about 8500 lbs fully loaded, so I need something with some muscle.

The Transit has plenty of muscle and in a tow test like the Ike Gauntlet would probably perform comparably with the Express. The issue is the 13,000 lb GCWR which seems low. I imagine it has something to do with cooling and the Transit is considered a commercial vehicle which requires a tougher duty cycle.

[el_jefe1]

I looked at the Transit first because that seems to be the new popular van for families our size, but it doesn't look like they can tow worth anything. Our trailer is about 8500 lbs fully loaded, so I need something with some muscle.

[Lessmore]

fitznj wrote:
I was in the same boat earlier this year;
I had a 2008 Chevy Express 3500 towing a 27ft - 5,500 lb trailer; It was
great - tons of torque and comfortable to drive.

I was thinking of buying another with the 6-speed transmission and really could not fault the Chevy. But I thought let me take a look at "new" technology even
though 1-2 year old Chevy was about $2000 cheaper than a Transit/Nissan.

I test drove a couple of Transit and was impressed, so I started looking
around for a 350XLT EcoBoost (passenger) - which I eventually bought.

So how do the 2 compare?

The Transit is 18 longer wheelbase and tows MUCH better than the Chevy; The
Ecoboost has tons of torque and comes on at lower revs and just seems to
pull. It's coupled to a great 6-speed transmission which is totally seamless
and has an easy to use rocker switch to hold/change gears;

The Transit is much quieter - very little engine noise intrusion and better
wind noise management. Ergonomics are better and feel more modern. The brakes
are also superior.

Fuel economy is MUCH better;
Unloaded - 14mpg -> 20mpg
Towing - 11mpg -> 14mpg

The downside:
- Max towing is limited to 7,000? lbs (but I don't think the Chevy can
"comfortably" tow much more );
- The driving position is "bus like" which takes getting used to.

Hope this helps.

Very interesting report on the new Transit. I note that it is the 350 version. I don't know very much about these new Ford vans...do you have the dual rear wheels or single rear wheel set up ?

That MPG is quite good...is that the EcoBoost 3.5 liter turbo V6 engine ?