Better Tow vehicle - big SUV or 1/2 Ton Pickup
 

I want to pose this question and hear from the gang. Which is a better tow vehicle, a large SUV (Chevy Suburban or Tahoe, Ford Expedition, etc or a Half ton pickup like an F-150, GMC/Chevy 1500 or the like?

Pretty much the same tow results until you want to pick up a load of lumber, dirt, rocks, etc. in your Yukon!! I'm a pick-up truck guy.

I understand DonV's point about hauling with a pickup. I like being able to lock my equipment in my 2008 Yukon. It tows very nicely. However (and don't know if they have changed) but it has the tightest turning radius I have ever driven which makes it much too sensitive in backing the trailer. I did better in my Astro, 4-Runner and all my past cars. I need to try my daughter's 2017 Tahoe when she visits this summer. It still turns sharply but seems less sensitive.

I have a 2015 Ford Expedition EL with twin turbo v6. Best tow vehicle I have owned or used. use it on a 25' Rampone and 19' Seacraft. Can't even feel the seacraft when towing. Mileage wasnt great, 11mpg towing to keys last summer. Only change I might make is 4wd for lousy ramps, but havent had an issue yet. Nice to be able to lock everything up.

Unless you're going to be hauling a bunch of kids for extended trips, I'd throw a shell on that truck and have the best of both worlds. You can secure (somewhat) waterskis, surfboards, spearguns, etc. and also not have a ton of water and sand inside your vehicle.

11 mpg?????? I would be very happy with that!!! With the O/D off at about 2500 rpm I get about 9 mpg on my 5.4 Triton with the 3.73 rear end. Oh yeah....that's with the wind down hill! :)

You got me beat Don..
I got a whopping 8 mpg towing the Tsunami 400 miles with my 5.4 Triton F150 with 3.55 gears.Its horrible on fuel.I was giving some thought about changing to a big suv like a suburban or Expedition but as others mentioned I'd miss the pickup bed .
My truck bed is always is always full of stuff that would ruin the interior of a nice suv.My preference for dual use both as a tow vehicle and a trip to the lumber yard would be best with a pickup truck.
Bought the F150 in 05 and would love a new truck but with pricing from 40 to 60 grand (and even more) it aint gonna happen ,especially on a fixed income.

My 2002 F250 2WD 7.3 diesel Crew-cab with 3.73 gearing got me a bit more than 13 mpg average pulling my old 23' Tsunami, and still got 9.5 mpg tandem towing a 7000lb camper AND a 20' Seafari. (With the A/C on, of course).

At 55mph on the interstate, I recently achieved an average of 15.6 mpg pulling a friend's brand-new 19' Sportsman Island Reef from JAX to Destin. My truck has just under 300K miles. Unloaded I can get 24-25 mpg on the highway at 55 mph.

Hey Don
My 6.2 liter Yukon Denali shows off @ 11 mpg in town carrying groceries without towing.
It used to kiss my 23 SeaCraft on the back. It now makes love to my 19' Viper Skiff ....

With my extended Expedition EL, I can load a 4x8 sheet of plywood in the back and close the doors, or 2x4s or whatever up to about 12' diagonally until I have to open the back window. Mine is always full of crap back there but can still haul a bunch of people when need be.

Oh, I only see 55mph on the way up or down. I can't imagine driving hundreds of miles at that speed. Couldnt do it even in the 70s and 80s when that was the limit. I usually dont go over 65 though with the trailer.

Over the last 30 years of tugging my 20 all over the state, every vehicle got
around 11-12 mpg towing ......

Thinking back :cool:

1988 Jeep Grand Wagoner 360 CI 8-MPG
(terrible handling 'cause of short wheel base)

1990 Dodge Ram Charger 318 CI 8-MPG (same as jeep short wheel base)

1993 3/4 Suburban 350 CI 12 MPG towing or not....:eek:

1994 3/4 4WD 350 CI Chevy 2500 P/U 11 MPG

1999 1/2 Dodge Ram 360 CI 11-12 MPG

2003 Dodge Durango 4.7L 11 MPG (actually tows well with short wheel base)

2016 3/4 4WD Dodge Ram Cummings Turbo (full delete) 23 MPG :D:cool:

Out of all of these my favorite was the 99 Dodge Ram !!

So long story short, good friend & I heading to Miami Dolphins game
in his new 1977 Olds Toronado with the 455, asked him what his MPG was?
Response was, if I found out it was 1/2 of what it should be what do you think I'am
going to do... Turn around and go BACK !

That has stuck with me ever since.

96 F250 with 7.3 diesel gets about 15-16 MPG at 70MPH with the 20 footer behind it and a full bed. Long wheelbase tows great. Not so great in tight spots. Stays in O/D. I don't tow much past 70MPH (state speed limit north of here).

2WD. It will haul up the ramp starting in 2nd gear! There is no low range. Only did that once. The torque converter wasn't loving it.

Doesn't stay in O/D with the 25 footer.

Will get 22MPG unloaded.

It has ABS, and that's about it.

I used to have an old white (oj) Bronco with a manual tranny and straight 6 and in low 4 wheel drive (granny gear) it would pull my boat up the ramp without having to put foot on gas. It felt like I could pull anything out of the water, but, it pulled lousy down the Interstate. Almost put it in the ditch one time when a semi passing me almost pulled me around.
I saw on the news that Ford was discontinuing several car lines and concentrating on p/u and suv's, since thats what was selling with the low gas prices. If gas prices keep going up, I suspect there to be more trucks on the market if that trend continues.

I am currently pulling with a manual transmission 4x4. It’s a long wheelbase Ranger and a Seafari 20 is about as much as I would pull with it. It has F150-sized brakes and 8.8 rear end so it’s stout enough just kind of short and narrow. With 4.10 gears and a super low, low range I also idle up the ramp in 1st and just bump the gas in 2nd.

To answer the original question, I wish I looked for an SUV rather then the pickup. I love my Ranger but as a family man, we often take 2 vehicles to the ramp when everyone is going. For the few times I need a pickup, I found that the Uhaul $20 per day around town for pick up or trailer to be a honest deal. I have done it twice. Speaking of Uhaul, the 15’ box truck got, you guessed it, 11 mpg from Homosassa to Buffalo last year.

They are supposed to be bringing back the Bronco line, based loosely on the new Ranger pickup chassis.

"Speaking of Uhaul, the 15’ box truck got, you guessed it, 11 mpg from Homosassa to Buffalo last year"

I'm seeing a pattern here on mileage, 11 mpg seems to be a popular number. Well maybe not when you have to buy gas! :)

I have had pickups and Suburbans and IMO you can't beat a 2500 (3/4 ton) Suburban for towing a boat and retrieving a boat on a steep ramp. A 2500 Suburban comes with a 39 gallon fuel tank for extended range.

I'm in the suburban camp. We've had two, a 1993 that lasted until 2007, and a 2002 bought 5 years old to replace it in 2007 - at a price of $15,000 with only 70,000 on the clock. Now a comparable 5 year old suburban is $35,000 ! Crikey!

But, I have 3 boys, 2 of around 6 foot tall, and the associated duffel, toys and such that goes with that. Suburban all the way. And yes, the 4WD is sooo useful when the river mud coats the ramp at low tide!

My tow vehicles:

1996 Ford Bronco XLT with the 5.8L. Awesome truck to drive. Loved to have the rear window down while driving. Towing was so-so. Once the dreaded rust bubbles showed up on the rear wheel wells, I sold it with 155,000 on the odometer.

1995 Chevy Tahoe with the 5.7L. I bought it with 15,000 miles on it. I blew a transmission at 50K and another at 105k. Unknown to me at the time, these were prone to transmission problems due to a design flaw. I held on to it longer than I wanted because I wanted to recoup my investments in the transmissions. Awesome vehicle in the snow with Goodyear Wrangler TD's. Other than that, I thought it was a piece of crap.

2001 Ford F250 Lariat Crew Cab with 5.4L. I bought it with 39,000 miles on it sight unseen and had it shipped out from California. No problems with spark plugs spitting out or breaking off in the motor. Tows great locally - if I was doing a lot of long distance, interstate towing I would want the diesel. Wheel base is long for close quarters maneuvering but you get used to it. Incredibly strong, well built truck. Still driving it today with 150k on it.