Towing Vechicle for 3500 lbs

[aczlan]

Back in the late 90 's I towed a 21 foot tandem axle hybrid travel trailer weighing 3300 lbs with a dodge grand caravan. Put many interstate miles towing 70 mph and never felt a bit unstable or underpowered from the 3.8 liter V6. I can out myself into the group of saying minivans are quite capable at towing up to 3500 lbs. Made for some very comfortable family trips back in the day. I understand wanting a dual purpose vehicle and you will find something that is suitable for your requirements. After all, that is why many utility and crossover vehicles are built for.

I agree. We have a '02 Caravan with the V6 and it does very well towing. You can tell when the tailgate is left up on the landscape trailer, but it handles things fairly well. The heaviest we have towed was pulling a '97 Volvo V90 from CT to near Rochester, NY. Probably a little overweight, but it handled it great.

Aaron Z

 

[Kubotafan]

I'm not sure how quick you need a smaller tow vehicle, but if you can wait till fall I would recommend one of our new GM mid-size trucks. RWD primary w optional 4WD. Two bed length options on crew and extended cabs. Tow capacity is 6700lbs and offers trailer sway control w decent control also. 2015 Colorado: Small Truck View attachment 358769 https://www.gmc.com/canyon-midsize-pickup-truck.html View attachment 358770

I have had five GM products and had great service with them. Then I had a 2002 Montana and by the time I had 150,000 km on it I had gone through two head gaskets. I talked with the dealer and put complaints in to GM and they acted as if this was normal maintenance and were unwilling to do anything to help. If that is normal maintenance I don't think I will be needing another one for awhile. Last vehicle I bought was a Toyota Camry and have put over 200,000 km on it and been pleased with it so far.

 

[3930dave]

The problem he would have with the Grand Caravan was not stability but overheating and a couple of downshifts to get over the hills. This wasn't in the Rockies but driving from the coast in SC over the NC mountains to I-81 northbound.

When the V6 FWD's are rated for towing do they have sufficient engine/transmission cooling for this kind of trip or do you have to take it easy? I think 3930Dave was alluding to this when he suggested using a Scangauge II to monitor Transmission temperatures. Every time I've seen someone trying to tow a popup camper with a minivan it seems to be dragging its tail down the road. I guess a WD hitch would help as long as it wasn't overheating and crawling at 25 mph in the hills.

downslope - like travelover mentioned, it would come down to whether or not the factory tow package was present, and/or if your friend had installed an upgraded trans cooler. Assuming basic scheduled Transmission maintenance (filter/fluid) was done on time.

I wasn't picking on the Caravan specifically re. Trans Temp. IMO, mini-vans in general tend to get beaten on pretty hard - think of long weekend trips...... load up the family, and all their stuff - given the interior volume of a minivan, that can be quite a load by itself. Many people then throw on a car-topper container - adds more weight, but probably just as significantly it adds wind resistance. Already, the transmission has its work cut out for it.

THEN, you hook up a trailer behind this loaded up mini-van ? I'm not saying that this is what your friend did, and there has been lively discussions amongst TBN'ers about carefully tracking content weight in a vehicle (re. towing), but in reality few amongst the general public pay much attention.

After installing a Scangauge II on my 1 ton, frankly I wouldn't be without one in any automatic equipped vehicle. Even not towing, extended stopNgo traffic with AC maxed can get Trans Temp elevated pretty quickly.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

And that whole traction thing of a FWD having a significant rear load.

A properly adjusted WD hitch on a RWD truck will give you some steering control back.

A properly adjusted WD hitch on a FWD vehicle will do the same, and give you back some front end traction. Money well spent, esp. with FWD.

(FWD = Front wheel drive, WD = Weight Distributing, to be clear )

Rgds, D.

 

[terryknight]

Another thing the OP is suggesting, and I've seen others try to rationalize it from time to time, is the idea to replace 2 vehicles with 1 "compromise" vehicle. If his old truck and cars are still reliable what do you have to gain? The current truck will pull the trailer better than any crossover SUV and depending on what daily driver he has the SUV/truck replacement will use more gas than a 4-cyl car. You might save on plates and insurance, but maybe not if the new SUV requires more coverage. Anyone who does a good amount of daily driving/commuting and is concerned about expenses should probably do it in a 4-cyl not a vehicle suitable for towing.

i was thinking the same thing unless, he needs to haul 5 people and tow. I still vote for two vehicle an excab/crew cab pickup or fullsize SUV and a small commuter car. no compromising needed.

 

[Kubotafan]

I presently have three vehicles, two cars and a 1988 Ford F150 4x4. My wife doesn't drive the truck, so we need two cars as the truck is too thirsty to use for much driving. My thought are to sell a car and the truck (it only has 191,000 km and is in very good shape and be a good truck for someone interested in antique vehicles) and buy a truck/suv that wouldn't be as thirsty and be able to use more as a commuting vehicle as well. I presently only drive the truck about 5000 km a year, but if I was to do as I am thinking I would likely be putting closer to 10,000 to 15,000 km a year on it.

A short box would do all I would require, as I have trailers if anything bigger is needed. I don't mind towing a trailer, and almost all the time I am driving the truck it is with a trailer on behind. If the trailer isn't attached, I have a hard job backing up the truck, as I am always cutting the wrong way!!!! I never have a problem backing up the car!

As stated here I will be keeping one car for commuting and want a 5 passenger truck / suv for towing and a back up commuting vehicle.

 

[timswi]

A properly adjusted WD hitch on a RWD truck will give you some steering control back.

A properly adjusted WD hitch on a FWD vehicle will do the same, and give you back some front end traction. Money well spent, esp. with FWD.

(FWD = Front wheel drive, WD = Weight Distributing, to be clear )
Rgds, D.

Don't disagree...Just never been a fan of FWD tow vehicles...Seen too many stuck on boat ramps pulling virtually nothing out of the water or spinning pulling out of wet uphill intersections due to lack of traction caused by weight transfer and additional pulled weight behind the vehicle.....Maybe just my pickup/suv 4x4 biases showing through. Not knocking FWD, to each his own.

 

[3930dave]

Don't disagree...Just never been a fan of FWD tow vehicles...Seen too many stuck on boat ramps pulling virtually nothing out of the water or spinning pulling out of wet uphill intersections due to lack of traction caused by weight transfer and additional pulled weight behind the vehicle.....Maybe just my pickup/suv 4x4 biases showing through. Not knocking FWD, to each his own.

I hear you Tim, I prefer RWD myself for heavy hauling. I don't consider 3500# heavy.

Years ago, I worked with a guy who was into Trials bikes (off-road motorcycles). He had some pretty funny stories about guys heading up back country dirt roads with a Tercel pulling 2 trials bikes on a trailer.... friends sitting on the hood, trying to crawl over the peak of a dirt road hill......

Just some of the fun fiscally challenged Canuck gear heads get up to in the back country..... :thumbsup: :laughing:

I don't do boat ramps myself, but I live near one, and recognize them as a special case re. hauling issues.

Rgds, D.

 

[timswi]

I hear you Tim, I prefer RWD myself for heavy hauling. I don't consider 3500# heavy.

Years ago, I worked with a guy who was into Trials bikes (off-road motorcycles). He had some pretty funny stories about guys heading up back country dirt roads with a Tercel pulling 2 trials bikes on a trailer.... friends sitting on the hood, trying to crawl over the peak of a dirt road hill......

Just some of the fun fiscally challenged Canuck gear heads get up to in the back country..... :thumbsup: :laughing:

I don't do boat ramps myself, but I live near one, and recognize them as a special case re. hauling issues.

Rgds, D.

Ya do what ya gotta do...Seen some pretty interesting things like that myself...

You're right 3500# isn't heavy, but on a smaller vehicle you'd know it's back there. Never tried it, but I'd guess my 1100# net utility trailer would be noticeable behind my wife's H3. Don't even know it's there with my pickup except for high speed wind drag from the gate...Kinda like a parachute, but utility outweighs MPG in my case. Have a gate on my car trailer too...Now that sucker causes some serious wind resistance. I think it nets around 2500#.

My TT is only noticeable due to the net/gross +/-9200# weight, wind drag is not even noticeable. The GM 6.2 pulls better than any gas engine I've ever owned. 360ft lb of torque if memory serves. Not bad for gas.

 

[s219]

I didn't really notice towing my 7x16 landscape trailer with Kubota B2920 behind my MDX if the mesh gate was off (figure that was about 3200# total). With the mesh gate on, even the empty trailer is a drag. I definitely feel the load when trailering my L3200 however, which puts me very close to the 5000# towing limit.