Towing recomendations for the "family"

[JLawton]

I've used my tow vehicle as my daily driver, off and on for a long time. Current one is a Dodge 1500 with Hemi and four doors and the previous was a Ford F150 Super Crew. Loved them both, no complaints. The Ford I traded in with 160K miles. Never had probalems with brake lines but maybe it's different with a truck that sits a lot. It's going to be tough to find something really good in that price range.............

The SUVs are nice but you're going to pay more than you would on an equivilent truck.............

[Matt93SE]

Is fuel mileage an issue? the larger V8 SUVs (and trucks) like the Tahoe, Titan, and Armada get abysmal gas mileage around town and even worse while towing. think 10-12mpg around town!!

Not that diesel is a ton better, but my bigass F250 with 7.3 powerstroke gets 17mpg on the highway and about 14mpg around town (about 10mpg while towing my 24' enclosed that's usually loaded to capacity).

Then again, diesel costs 30% more than gasohol so take that into account too.

And yeah, my budget was basically the same as yours- I bought my F250 just before the first kid came along, but a $10k purchase was still a hit to the racing budget. BUT its a must-have if you're going to pull an enclosed more than 100 miles IMO.
For an open trailer, any 1/2ton-capable will do for just about any terrain, and most of the V6 SUVs (like Pathfinders and Land Cruisers) can pull them without too much difficulty.


Interior comfort? I'm a pretty spartan guy- give me a radio w/ CD slot, a cigarette lighter to charge my phone, and a bench to put my butt on. The kids are young enough not to care how comfy the seats are, and the wife is usually asleep on the long hauls so obviously her side is comfortable enough.

[Ed Funk]

Tow them on an open trailer....enclosed would be too claustrophobic.

[tderonne]

Check out a van too.

More space inside, and it's dry and lockable. More seatbelts. And cheaper than a pickup or SUV with the same powertrain.

A bit overkill as a daily driver though.