Towing smaller trailers - your vehicle choice?

[ExtraSlow]

So me and @nzwasp have been having this discussion. Half ton pickups are awesome, but sometimes your lifestyle means you want a smaller vehicle for the 50 weeks a year you aren't pulling a trailer.
Mid-sized trucks like the Colorado, Ranger, Gladiator all have excellent capacity. The Tacoma is a really old platform, but capable. The Ridgeline is basically a minivan, which is good and bad. Expedition is very capable, but expensive, and nearly too large. The Explorer is good.

Anyway, what do y'all think? Must be comfortable pulling a 5000 lb travel trailer and be smaller than an F150. Bonus points if it's a reasonably modern vehicle.

[killramos]

Tahoe?

Tahoe RST would be a fun truck imo. And almost 30 inches shorter than my Sierra if the internet is correct (doesn’t sound right to me, but even 12 inches shorter would be great, 204 inches Tahoe 232 inches Sierra crew cab short box).

8,000lb towing capacity all day long.

[ExtraSlow]

It's been a long time since I drove a Tahoe/suburban/yukon, but I liked them back when I did. The short wheelbase versions are probably very good for this type of duty.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

5.7L Grand Cherokee is rated to 7,200lbs and is reasonably-sized. Whether it will do that comfortably I don't know, but it might be worth testing.

[killramos]

I have been making quite good use of my bed on my Sierra. But if I didn’t I would replace with a Tahoe in a heartbeat.

[ExtraSlow]

Hemi grand Cherokee is a pretty nice choice.

I mean the "short" Expedition with tow pack is rated to 9200lbs, and would be amazing too. I have fond memories of back when I owned my '99 Expedition.

[AndyL]

Q7 is rated to 7700lbs, Q5 is 4400lbs...

I don't think I'd want to be near max with either of those in Alberta... Wheelbase plays a big part in stability, think I posted pics of that Q towing a 24-26' foot RV I had to flip back onto wheels once upon a time - that didn't even make it from dealer to Calgary before he learned his lesson.

Friend used to run a 2dr diesel Tahoe, scared the begeezus out of me watching his trailer wag him down the highway at times...

[killramos]

I feel like Tahoe’s have come a long way since then. It’s within spitting distance of the tow rating of my Sierra.

Plenty for 5000lb, a small trailer or a boat.

Overall I feel like you can’t beat a domestic for tow duties.

[spikerS]

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Overall I feel like you can’t beat a domestic for tow duties.

QFT

The domestic brand trucks have the whole "truck" package mastered. They just do it all really well, especially versus the import brands. The import trucks are nice, but are just out of their league when comparing them to a domestic. I mean, I don't even think any import brands have a 3/4 or 1 ton offering for the consumer market either...

[killramos]

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QFT

The domestic brand trucks have the whole "truck" package mastered. They just do it all really well, especially versus the import brands. The import trucks are nice, but are just out of their league when comparing them to a domestic. I mean, I don't even think any import brands have a 3/4 or 1 ton offering for the consumer market either...

The competition is also so fierce between the big three, the amount of $'s that goes into incremental improvements here and there between the three of them i have no idea how its profitable to compete.

Now that domestic trucks are also ridiculously nice inside ( at least imho ), i don't see how its even a conversation. We might bicker amongst ourselves on which flavor is better, but they are all ridiculously solid if you want to do real work.

[Clever]

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5.7L Grand Cherokee is rated to 7,200lbs and is reasonably-sized. Whether it will do that comfortably I don't know, but it might be worth testing.

Late last year I was looking into this myself. I ended up test driving an Overland which they say can pull up to 7,200 while the 3.6 V6 Was rated at just over 6,000. Not sure if anything changed with the 2020 models, but I’ll probably go this route down the road.

[SkiBum5.0]

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Late last year I was looking into this myself. I ended up test driving an Overland which they say can pull up to 7,200 while the 3.6 V6 Was rated at just over 6,000. Not sure if anything changed with the 2020 models, but I’ll probably go this route down the road.

My brother tows a 22ft Mini Off-road trailer with a 5.7 G Cherokee, and he said the hemi is a big step up in ease of towing vs the V6 (which they used before).

[danno]

I went from ram 1500 to navigator, I don’t tow anything but needed the 7 seats. But as mentioned it can tow 9000lbs, get a 2015 and up to get the eco boost.

[Kloubek]

I tow my 3600lb trailer with ease in my 5.7 WK GC. I believe the towing capacity is a pretty solid 7500. Not that I would attempt anything remotely near that due to the relative light weight of the vehicle.

Worst part is the truly atrocious mileage - especially against the wind. I saw close to 40l/100k at times... though average is about 30l/100k. (Still bad)

[nzwasp]

Trying to convince my wife that our next vehicle should be a truck. I guess she doesn’t want to replace for another 2 years so we will see what’s avaliable then. If it has to be a suv I would want something much bigger like sequoia size. I was interested that the Honda Pilot which I think it bigger than our suv (the boxy one) can only tow 3300 lbs. I guess that’s the 2wd size. The awd can 5000 lbs

[ShermanEF9]

Highlander is a decent option.

[dirtsniffer]

tow 5000 lbs and not a half ton does not compute. Would likely be over gvwr in any sort of family situation. Shit even some half tons couldn't make this work, my friends limited RAM has like 1300 lbs of payload.

Maybe Tahoe / yukon or expedition, but those are half ton based and no smaller so I think kinda miss the point? But if they are in the running they are a good choice.
Mid size trucks could work depending on how you package them.
Grand Cherokee may work but a lot of them have 1100 lbs max payload. Going to be tough taking the family and a 5000 lb trailer anywhere.

[2020]

Toyota Highlander is a great tow suv. Very stout transmission

[Brent.ff]

Got 21 l/100 k on my taco pulling a 19’ hybrid this weekend so was happy with it. Only issue is the stupid 75L tank size being a limiting factor...

[nzwasp]

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Toyota Highlander is a great tow suv. Very stout transmission

This is what I currently tow with and to be fair my trailer is only 2900lbs dry and we are only loading with approximately 400lbs if we take our bikes. My dislikes currently is that the WD hitch has a low point because it accompanies different hitch heights and when the WD bars are off it is only 1” off the ground. That only happens however when we are in the campground backing in or trying to get off our driveway. When the WD bars are on we have about 6”-7” of clearance With the road (I might have to measure this)


Photo of the hitch

Towing from Calgary to Bow Valley we averaged 17.5L