An SUV to tow two Jeeps or buggies?

REDLYNER

REDLYNER

Mall Crawling Race Rig
Joined
Oct 31, 2008
Location
Mountain Island
I've been doing some research on all of the 1 ton pick ups, but can't get my wife to drive one to work downtown. So I need to find an SUV and was just wondering if there are ANY that are rated to tow 2 vehicles on a trailer.

I'm envisioning two ~4,200lb jeeps or buggies on a 24' trailer. Any SUVs out there that can haul this? NOT interested in an Excursion. Other than that, would be willing to look at anything (Tahoe, H2, H1, QX56, etc etc) Best I am finding right now is a 10,000lb tow rating (Infiniti QX56).
 
R Q said:
2500 Suburban
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2013 Suburban 4wd 2500 rated at 9,400lb towing capacity.


I figure I would need a minimum of 12,000lbs to tow two rigs an a 24'er. Right?
 
12k at a bare minimum. I doubt you are going to find anything that has a tow rating that high except for an Excursion, and I am not sure an Excursion has a tow rating of 12k. IMO, a diesel Excursion would be the way to go, if you can get a diesel Suburban that might be an OK option, but the suspension on the Excursion is easily modified to F-350 springs and is the same basic design as an F-350 chassis.

A lightweight 24' trailer is going to weigh 3k at least, probably closer to 4k+ if you get one with some strength to it.
 
Just some quick towing research shows:

Hummer H2: 7,000lbs
Jeep Commander: 7,200lbs
Jeep Grand Cherokee: 7,200lbs
Hummer H1: 7,500lbs
Land Rover Range Rover Sport: 7,700lbs
Porsche Cayenne: 7,700lbs
Volkswagen Toureg: 7,700lbs
Cadillac Escalade: 8,100lbs
Land Cruiser: 8,200lbs
GMC Yukon XL: 8,400lbs
Lexus LX570: 8,500lbs
Lincoln Navigator: 8,700lbs
Ford Expedition: 9,000lbs
Infiniti QX56: 9,000lbs
Chevrolet 2500 Suburban: 9,400lbs



Sooooo........ Am I missing something? Just not possible to tow two rigs with an SUV?
 
You don't want to mess around with a bumper pull that big. To light/short of a tow rig and it's easy for the trailer to push it around. I would not consider anything that is not 3/4 or 1 ton. That means 2500 sub or excursion. Personaly I'd skip the bumper pull and get a gooseneck and a dually.
 
I have a fairly lightweight 32' bumper pull, it tows fine behind the Excursion bit I can say I towed a CC F-350 on it and could definetly tell it was back there. The whole combo weighed just over 20,060 lbs with the bed of the truck loaded with scrap. This would be maybe 1k more than a 24 ft trailer and 2 jeeps. I would not suggest towing that much more with anything that is not on 3/4 ton chassis. Even with the Excursion I could tell it was back there for sure, but it was very late at night and I was driving at 55mph or under.
 
REDLYNER said:
I've been doing some research on all of the 1 ton pick ups, but can't get my wife to drive one to work downtown. So I need to find an SUV and was just wondering if there are ANY that are rated to tow 2 vehicles on a trailer.
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How about adding a nice color matched camper shell on top of a properly setup diesel 3/4 or 1 ton truck? That is the only safe way to tow what you want/need and not have a "truck". Sure it'll be a huge vehicle to drive in downtown, but ya gotta pay to play!

edit: You drive the truck and your wife drives the TJ? (or whatever DD you have?)
 
Maybe you should just stop hating on the Excursion. It will get you to the mall. And back. And tow a trailer doing it. With 2 Jeeps on it. :flipoff2:

ai97.photobucket.com_albums_l235_gyoung13_2011_10_01_14_41_09_6.jpg


Trailer is long enough for 2, and I guarantee you the ambo weighs more than 2 Jeeps and the pre-requsite pallet of hair gel you bring everywhere.

They do need some work before they work "well". Ramv takes 2 on a similar trailer behind a 2500 Avalanche with an 8.1, with a good weight distribution hitch. I would ASSume the 2500 suburban would work just as well. Avy is a little lighter than the Sub, helps on GCWR. There is a recently bumped thread about it in the p4x4 tow rig section.

Or just man up. You might need to park in the back of the mall, but with a liftgate and a 10' garage, think of how many shoes and white rimmed sun glasses you could take with you!

ai97.photobucket.com_albums_l235_gyoung13_2012_10_29_11_31_46_881.jpg
 
rockmafia said:
You don't want to mess around with a bumper pull that big. To light/short of a tow rig and it's easy for the trailer to push it around. I would not consider anything that is not 3/4 or 1 ton. That means 2500 sub or excursion. Personaly I'd skip the bumper pull and get a gooseneck and a dually.
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40k miles of 2up on a bumper pull and no nuns or orphans killed. Just as many miles on a goose. They both have their ups and downs. A well set up trailer and tow rig loaded correctly tows just as well on the bumper or in the bed. I will agree that a goose is a lot harder to "screw up" loading, you have much more of a margin in the pin weight, while you need to get a bumper pretty much right on. Besides that I will take the bed space, or interior room in the case of the Ex, over a goose any day.
 
gavan said:
Maybe you should just stop hating on the Excursion. It will get you to the mall. And back. And tow a trailer doing it. With 2 Jeeps on it.


Or just man up. You might need to park in the back of the mall, but with a liftgate and a 10' garage, think of how many shoes and white rimmed sun glasses you could take with you!
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Dude, I laughed out loud. Only reason for the Excursion hate is that it just doesn't look sleek enough for me to pass over as my "wife's car". I'm trying to avoid replacing the H3 Alpha with 2 vehicles (truck & wife car), instead of just a more hd SUV. I thought maybe there was a vehicle I didn't know about that you guys know of.
 
1. Buy Excursion
2. Wonder how you ever lived life without an Excursion

It is big, ponderous, and not sleek by any means. But it is so stinking useful. It is really not that much bigger than a Suburban. Back is big enough to sleep 2 comfortably. Mine is a 7.3 with a manual transmission, so I can usually sneak out 15-16 MPG, sometimes a little more. It is still noticeably smaller than a crew cab short bed truck.
 
gavan said:
40k miles of 2up on a bumper pull and no nuns or orphans killed. Just as many miles on a goose. They both have their ups and downs. A well set up trailer and tow rig loaded correctly tows just as well on the bumper or in the bed. I will agree that a goose is a lot harder to "screw up" loading, you have much more of a margin in the pin weight, while you need to get a bumper pretty much right on. Besides that I will take the bed space, or interior room in the case of the Ex, over a goose any day.
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I guess I should have worded that different. I'm not saying don't get a big bumper pull, just don't pull it with some overrated half ton bra mobile.
 
My 2002 suburban with 8.1 vortec is rated for 12k when equipped with 4.10 gears. I have the 3.73 gears so mine is rated at 10k but they do make a suburban that will do what you are asking. You can get an 02-04 suburban with 8.1 likely much cheaper than a comparable excursion. My understanding is excursions require rear sway bar to deal with the soccer mom coils especially at higher weights. The suburban is leafed.
 
AX(J)15_tudor said:
My understanding is excursions require rear sway bar to deal with the soccer mom coils especially at higher weights. The suburban is leafed.
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4x4 excursions have leaves at all 4 corners, but they are low soft springs for low step in and "good ride", which assumes all people like to ride on marshmallows. F250/350 springs and stiffer, handle better, and the sway bar does help a bunch too. 2wds are coil front/leaf rear
 
Thanks for clarifying I didn't mean to spread bad info I had just read from multiple sources that excursions often needed sway bars for help with towing.
gavan said:
4x4 excursions have leaves at all 4 corners, but they are low soft springs for low step in and "good ride", which assumes all people like to ride on marshmallows. F250/350 springs and stiffer, handle better, and the sway bar does help a bunch too. 2wds are coil front/leaf rear
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Why does your wife have to drive the tow vehcile every day? Could you get a dedicated tow rig for cheap and let the wife keep her DD? Even if you need room for 4, a crew cab truck will work.
 
Fwiw too my wife hated driving my dodge quad cab but loves driving the suburban when she's had to. The 2500 Suburbans are definately not as smooth riding as the 1500's though. Much stiffer and somewhat bouncy. I have the stupid autoride though which could be a contributing factor.
Here's mine:
ai1221.photobucket.com_albums_dd470_wolfpacker77_FFFA26E3_C39E014ed9c046dd53332b03f91ea2baa28f.jpg
 
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