DD / Tow Pig Recommendations

cranbiz said:
And that is why I asked this group. I don't know squat about newer trucks.

@shawn says a turbo F150. So what is the preferred engine to do what I would like to do? Is this the 3.5L Ecoboost?
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@CasterTroy is right in my case. I had a 2018 base-ish XLT Screw 4x4. It had the 3.31? rear gear. Wasn’t even set up for towing really other than the hitch and 5pin. I added the 6 (or 7?)pin and trailer brake controller. It did not have upgraded suspension, anti sway bars, or external or aux trans cooler. My only complaint was having to watch the trans temp. This truck really surprised me and led to me going with another one but this time I found a max tow package. The 10 speed in this one isn’t as smooth as my first one but it does really well (plenty online about the 10-speed issues). Temps aren’t a problem at all. Max tow seems more stable. 35 gallon tank is great. Locking rear differential is cool sometimes.

My mileage on the dash is actually pretty close to the calculated and I can easily get 20-22 up to 75 on hwy trips. Faster than that and mileage will start to suffer. I drive 80-85 a lot and it’ll drop to 20. Running 60….on flat ground, about 23. That’s all in eco mode. But I typically drive in sport mode. Overall mileage is usually about 18-19. It’s easy to get 15-16 too if you’re feeling froggy. The trucks are actually fun to drive and feel a lot lighter than they are. The torque is always there in tow and sport mode. Regular mode isn’t terrible but if the truck was manual, sport mode would be more like how I’d drive it as far as shift points and holding gears go.

The 10 speed is a cheat code. I’d consider a v8 next time just to see. If you want to make any exhaust mods you better go with the v8. The EB 3.5 sounds like shit.

Make sure you get a late enough model to get the 10 speed.

I’d recommend one to anybody for pulling a rig on a tag trailer or up to a 30 hp tractor on equipment trailer. I’d also like to drive a Chevy with the new trans. Haven’t towed with one of those yet.
 
I am a little late to the party but I agree with @CasterTroy and @shawn. If you need a DD that will tow @Cribb F150s have thoroughly impressed me towing. As for the mileage debate, I dont have a dog in that fight as I don’t even worry about that anymore, I get crappy mileage on all my vehicles but none are new and none have a payment so I guess it is a wash.

Now if you must have a SUV, I know a guy with a Black 2013 2500 Suburban that he may sell for not cheap :D
 
BigClay said:
I am a little late to the party but I agree with @CasterTroy and @shawn. If you need a DD that will tow @Cribb F150s have thoroughly impressed me towing. As for the mileage debate, I dont have a dog in that fight as I don’t even worry about that anymore, I get crappy mileage on all my vehicles but none are new and none have a payment so I guess it is a wash.

Now if you must have a SUV, I know a guy with a Black 2013 2500 Suburban that he may sell for not cheap :D
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Ditto.
My wife had a 2014 F150 with the 5.0 for a few years. Plenty of power towing a 7500# camper around and adequate brakes too. Got around 15-16 commuting 25 miles to work at 60 MPH.
Currently she drives a 21 Expedition with the 3.5 Ecoboost. Same commute she gets 18ish consistently. Would never tow much with it, rear suspension too soft.
 
Another one for the F150 Crowd. Either the 3.5 or the 5.0. Got a buddy with a 5.0 model with a leveling kit and larger tire which pulls an XJ on a relatively heavy equipment trailer just fine. But I don't see it happening for 8K.
 
I could go to $12K if I had to. I really want to pay cash for this.

I can wait a bit, this is a I really want to do this but not an absolute need to do this at this point. That may change as I get into the daily grind of commuting to Greensboro. I have some funds coming to me once my Dad's house sells and that would change my budget considerably.

Another option is to buy the wife a lightly used newer Grand Cherokee and take over the Gladiator Rubicon as the DD as it will get 20 MPG doing the daily commute. It will tow the JK but it knows it's there. I still think that the suggestion of the F150 is probably the better option.
 
A 70 mile round trip commute every day is going to rack up close to 20k miles per year. Add in some more driving, and it could be 20-25k miles per year. Unless you NEED a tow rig, I would consider a gas sipping commuter car that gets 40+mpg since you already have a pickup with the Gladiator.
 
For the sake of getting weird, you could get a VW Touareg TDI (or its fancy stepbrother Porsche Cayenne) and get 25-30mpg and they are rated to tow 7700 pounds. The Touareg is probably close to your budget too.
 
jeepinmatt said:
or its fancy stepbrother Porsche Cayenne
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Hard pass.

I consulted @Rich about this very situation. This was before diving into the 911 season of my life 🤦🏾‍♂️ (thinking I knew a little something having owned numerous German cars and bikes....I was wrong BTW)

The three levels of robbery are VW, Audi, and then Porsche. Same exact part, but $200, $700, $3200 🙄

Run away from this crazy idea Bob... You're too logical and practical to enter this dumb phase 🤣 leave this to arrogant engineer types that think they can fix their own stuff cheaper 😇
 
CasterTroy said:
Hard pass.

I consulted @Rich about this very situation. This was before diving into the 911 season of my life 🤦🏾‍♂️ (thinking I knew a little something having owned numerous German cars and bikes....I was wrong BTW)

The three levels of robbery are VW, Audi, and then Porsche. Same exact part, but $200, $700, $3200 🙄

Run away from this crazy idea Bob... You're too logical and practical to enter this dumb phase 🤣 leave this to arrogant engineer types that think they can fix their own stuff cheaper 😇
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I don't think you need to worry about me Troy. I have not owned a car since a Sebring convertible when I lived in FL. While this is probably a very practical suggestion, I can't see me in one. I'm a truck/SUV/Jeep guy. The closest thing I have had since those early FL days is the WJ/WK2 Grand Cherokee's and they are not cars.
 
cranbiz said:
I don't think you need to worry about me Troy. I have not owned a car since a Sebring convertible when I lived in FL. While this is probably a very practical suggestion, I can't see me in one. I'm a truck/SUV/Jeep guy. The closest thing I have had since those early FL days is the WJ/WK2 Grand Cherokee's and they are not cars.
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I'm a truck guy too, but I'm also a "man, this shitbox civic takes 20 bucks to fill up once a week" guy.....

Duane
 
CLRracer said:
I'm a truck guy too, but I'm also a "man, this shitbox civic takes 20 bucks to fill up once a week" guy.....

Duane
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X2 on this. I haven't owned a car since the early 2000's till last year when I picked up a pre-emission TDI Jetta. Never thought I'd like it much but there's something about filling up with $40 and driving over 500 miles that makes me smile. Now its pretty much my go to if I don't need to haul around a basketball team or anything else.
 
cranbiz said:
For the first time since 2016, I'm now commuting to work. It's approximately 70miles round trip. While the really smart people would say buy a beater DD and drive the wheels off of it, I'm thinking this is the time to get something more dual duty. I really don't want to put the miles on my JK/wheeling toy and don't want to leave momma without wheels.

I have a Gladiator but that's the family vehicle and that's what I want to leave momma in case she needs to go somewhere while I'm at work. So, I have been thinking of either a pickup capable of towing my JK and trailer or something like a Tahoe/Suburban/Explorer/Expedition. I'm also on a budget of about $8K and really don't want more than 150K miles on it. I would like 4WD/AWD. I would probably tow with it maybe 4-6 times a year and the Jeep and trailer combination is probably close to 7k lbs.

What makes more sense? I can find pickups in my budget/mileage range fairly easy, a Tahoe type vehicle is more of a challenge. I know I would have to put weighted tags on the truck and I would go for 13K tags. I also know I could get away without weighted tags on a Tahoe/burb/etc. I don't really need the truck bed as I do have the Gladiator for truck type stuff.

What are the better years/powertrains to buy in a truck (Ram/Ford/Chevy)? Same question on the Chevy/Ford SUV? Cummins, Powerstroke or Duramax if I find a diesel?
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I looked for the same thing for 15 last year and I don't think that's happening in your budget.
I ended up with a 5k decent car and will spend a little bit of money on my gmt800 to keep it going for another while.
 
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