Good choices for a budget tow vehicle

[JH27N0B]

I've sure I've lamented here the fact one of my Challengers is a trailer queen, and I don't have a trailer.  Nor would my '14 Fiat Dart or '09 Challenger be up to the task of pulling an enclosed even if I had one!
I've owned 2 trucks in my life which both eventually got destroyed by the salt they dump on the streets here every time they so much as forecast some flurries in winter.
I've had in mind getting another truck, but not using it as a regular driver especially in winter when it would mostly sit safe from the salty roads.
Since I'd only be putting 1500-2000 miles a year on it, I don't want to tie up a lot of money in it.
I've got in the middle of the diesel vs gas argument many times.  A good buddy of mine is a 3 decade plus very smart diesel truck mechanic who has told me in no uncertain terms I will have nothing but trouble if I buy a diesel and don't drive it almost daily and would be a complete idiot to even consider buying one.  Of course all my car buds tell me a gas truck can't pull a trailer up even the smallest of hills, would get 2 mpg on a good day, hauling and I'd be a complete idiot to buy gas.  And they are all very smart too, at least that's what they tell me. So I am still very confused!
I've got a lead on a V10 Ferd, but wondering if a 5.7 Ram 2500 would be up to the task of towing a probably 24' trailer with an E body in it, no tools or racing gear.  Local shows but once or twice a year a long distance haul to Mopars in the Park, the Nats, and I have to get to Carlisle in 2020 for the 50th T/A AAR reunion!

[anlauto]

Your friends have obviously never driven a new Hemi Ram....Mine pulls a car effortlessly...I use cruise control .... at 120 kms/hour the ECO light is on half the time....you wouldn't even know there's a car back there...

[RUNCHARGER]

A gas truck is better for what you want. For your intended usage though, I would just rent a pickup and a trailer when I needed it. That way there is no need to worry about maintaining, insuring and having a spot to park them when not in use.

[1 Wild R/T]

Real world towing example.... Buddy of mine with a liquid cooled wallet so he can do as he pleases....  First truck (not really but) back around 2004 doesn't want a diesel, they smell & they are noisy...  Buys a V10 Ford... Pulls a 24' enclosed trailer with lots of sand toys (10,500 lbs).... Theres a long grade between here & the dunes... Cuesta Grade, 8 miles at 4-5% The V10 struggles to pull at 40mph, his buddies in the diesels with similar trailers pass him doing 60.....  He's pissed...  Has me add a Whipple S/C & intercooler.... Now he climbs the grade doing 65 with power to spare... But one day it pops a spark plug as the Tritons are known to do.. Ford fixes it but less than a month later it blows up, found out they didn't torque the timing chain sprocket to the cam & when it came loose it bent valves.... Coulda been fixed, Shoulda been fixed under warranty but the dealer said the Supercharger caused it.... Not the case but prove it.. Warranty denied.... I put an engine in it for him & he drove it for a few more years as a work truck but went out & bought a new truck with the 6.7 Power Stroke.... It pulls Cuesta grade loaded at 65 without any drama......

4-5% for 8 miles is a pretty good pull, and honestly @ 40 mph you'll get past it.... Now if you plan to cross the Rockies.....

[anlauto]

A gas truck is better for what you want. For your intended usage though, I would just rent a pickup and a trailer when I needed it. That way there is no need to worry about maintaining, insuring and having a spot to park them when not in use.

That's what I was thinking too

[GrandpaKevin]

Your friends have obviously never driven a new Hemi Ram....Mine pulls a car effortlessly...I use cruise control .... at 120 kms/hour the ECO light is on half the time....you wouldn't even know there's a car back there...

You must have the most powerful Hemi Ram in captivity

I always get a chuckle when people claim their truck tows a trailer and they don't even know it's back there....I just towed my 14' trailer empty this morning with my 2004 Diesel Ram 2500 and while the truck certainly didn't struggle I sure knew the trailer was back there.

When I pull my enclosed trailer with car inside it never lets me forget it's back there.


To the OP, For a good, affordable tow vehicle I would look for a used 2003-2006 Ram with a 5.9 diesel, try to find a rust free one from down south.
Mine is my daily driver and has been bulletproof for 186k miles. If you can keep it out of the salt even better as that (RUST) is what is killing my truck.

[anlauto]

My Ram is a 2017 with air ride and trailer tow....a lot of times you forget there is a car behind you....like I mentioned, I use my cruise control all the time when trailering as well

[RUNCHARGER]

30 mile, 8% grade, Viper in the back with another ton in tools etc. The Hemi will do it without drama (it's not a gasser Ford). Sure my 05 Cummins did it better but it didn't like the 95% around town, empty driving as much as the gasser, also diesels take a while to warm up in the winter.
I still say rent one when you need it.

[JH27N0B]

I'm glad to hear gas has worked out for many.  Living here in the flatlands of the Midwest, grades are seldom a big issue. Heading west by the mississippi river you briefly get some hills, but otherwise, the only time I'd probably ever see much other than flat, is when I go to Carlisle.
The rental thing has been suggested to me, but I have number of odd and end chores that come up where I could use a truck.  For instance, I haven't been able to sell at a swap meet since I sold my Ram 1500. I'm getting desperate to move out of state soon, and I need to peddle a lot of clutter that used to be good to sell on eBay until they managed to screw that up. Plus adding the task of searching for the rental, picking up and returning.  Can you even rent an enclosed trailer?
The idea of a big SUV appeals to me.  They can be licensed as cars here.  Plus this state recently changed rules regarding licensing 3/4 tons, some or new ones can't get B plates which aren't much more restrictive than car plates, so now need D which require inspections and other BS.  I'm not up to speed on that, just been hearing a lot of griping from some local truck owners. An SUV rules out Dodges though as the Durango doesn't cut it for towing car trailers.
I appreciate the input!

[YellowThumper]

Rent as necessary and you will be money ahead.
Other end of renting is try and find and rent a similar truck you would be considering. Put it thru the paces and learn if capable.  No? Move on to the next.

[GrandpaKevin]

My Ram is a 2017 with air ride and trailer tow....a lot of times you forget there is a car behind you....like I mentioned, I use my cruise control all the time when trailering as well

3.92 or 3.21 diff ratio?

[blown motor]

I trailered my car to Florida last winter with a rented trailer and my 2003 GMC Sierra 1500 with automatic transmission. I was pulling in D with the trailer button engaged. Somewhere in Ky or TN the tranny got hot so I did the rest of the trip with it in 3. I got 9 miles per Canadian gallon. Cost a bundle for gas but the tranny was fine. The trailer was flat front. If I had a V nose I expect the mileage would have been a little better. It was a learning experience. I had a minimal truck for the job but it did do the job. My next truck will likely be a 2500 and if I buy a trailer it will a V nose. If all that happens I could show up at any forum member's place in North America just to go for a run with them.   

[JH27N0B]

Choice of trailer will be my next dilemma.  I love the one's I've seen where the part of the left side pivots up and you can remove the inner fender to make getting in and out of the drivers seat a cinch!
I've gotten in and out of fat ebodies in enclosed trailers and it's no pleasure.  I'm not obese but I'm not skinny as a rail either. I've talked to a few guys who just winch their cars in and out of trailers and maybe that's the way to go. 
Those babies with the opening sides and removable fenders aren't cheap though.
A V nose would certainly be nice to have also.
Although I live on a small suburban lot, my garage is behind the house and I have parking space available, in front of the garage.  One more vehicle to move when I want to get one of the toys out to go to a summer cruise but not a real big deal.
The trailer parking is another matter, I don't think I can even get an enclosed in the driveway to park overnight.  House with stoop on one side, hedge on the other side of my driveway.
Trailer would be stored outside most likely next to the building my 71 is stored in, for cheap.  But in summer I'd have to bring it to one of the storage places by my house which is not cheap, but I'd only do that for maybe 4 months a year.  There are a couple dental offices across from me and I think I could get away with leaving the trailer in one of the lots overnight on a Saturday so it would be ready to go to a show on a Sunday morning. I'd have to take the trailer back to storage late Sunday though, Monday morning the staff starts showing up around 7 am and would be not happy to see a trailer there!

[DodgeGuy]

I have some experience here as we have always had to tow a travel trailer for our family camping trips, and back in 2010 we sold our diesel Excursion because we wanted a truck to be able to haul different things we well. 


Back in 2011 we were in the same predicament.  Neither my wife and I wanted a truck as a daily driver.  So we purchased a 2000 Ford F350 4x4 with the 7.3L Powerstroke Diesel.  We still have that truck, which is now 18 years old, and still running like new.  Of course, the 7.3L is kind of "legendary" in diesel circles for it's reliability.

We average about 5000 miles a year, if that, on the truck.  It sits for fairly large stretches of time, and that has never been an issue with how it has ran for us.  We've never had to do anything to the engine, except wear items like a new alternator, and replacing both batteries.

Overall, we've only had to do routine stuff for a vehicle that old, that originally came from Wisconsin.  We replaced all the brake lines, all 4 rotors, calipers and pads, etc.

We had to have a cab corner replaced, and a rocker panel, as well as having a skin put over the bed side.  All of this was on the driver's side, again, a Wisconsin truck.  Overall it is in nice condition.

I've towed with gas engines (4.6 L Triton, 6.8 L V10 Triton), and I've towed with diesels (two 7.3 L Powerstroke Diesels), and in MY experience, the diesel is noticeably better.

Having said that, today's gas trucks can be towing machines as well. 

As far as SUV's go.  Even though they haven't manufactured them since 2006, the Ford Excursion was a fantastic towing machine/people mover.  I owned two of them (going from V10 gas to the 7.3L diesel) as my wife and I have 4 kids, and we needed that combo back when my kids were younger and camped.

The Excursion is basically a "soft" F250.  You can still find solid/nice ones if you dig around.

Also, IIRC Chevrolet manufactured 3/4 ton Suburbans too.

[JH27N0B]

The V10 I mentioned I have a lead on is an Excursion.  It's at an upcoming classic car auction on Thursday "island of unwanted toys" day, no reserve.  So I am thinking after checking it out I may bid, if it looks solid and isn't high mile, and I would bid low on the hopes it doesn't go high, as there never seems to be much money in the room on Thursday's at this auction.
I am going to check the rear axle ratio when I see it, I am not to enthused if it's a 3.73.  I'm not sure I should bid unless it's a 4.10.  It also has standard mirrors, though I'm sure I can swap over to a set of the very nice Ford telescoping mirrors easily.  The standard mirrors makes me suspect it's a 3.73 though, I'm guessing the 4.10 RAR was part of a towing package that included the telescoping mirrors,  will find out!
Do those towing mirrors on Sheldon's trucks fold? With my narrow driveway I was always hitting the mirror on my 1500 on the hedge when I backed into my driveway. It would fold up against the body and I'd have to fold it back out after I parked!    Fixed towing mirrors would never make it up the driveway here!