Minivan Towing a 2720...

I have been to one private RV park where it was necessary to use 4wd to pull out of my pad. The roads were gravel and it was an uphill pull.

A lot depends on where you go.

There are more minivans that would work in Florida than there are that would work in Colorado or California.

Just out of curiosity, if I was in Miami how far would I have to drive to reach an elevation of 10,000 feet on a public paved road?

For me it is 231 miles from home.

[Barb&Tim]

Just out of curiosity, if I was in Miami how far would I have to drive to reach an elevation of 10,000 feet on a public paved road?

Gonna take a guess on this, ~2,159Miles Miami to area of Leadville, Colorado.

[Dave99gst]

Originally Posted by Scott O

Dave, I hate to wade in on this one since everyone seems to have a strong opinion, but I really think it does a dis-service to folks new to TM looking for information. We had an early Toyota van, so "any make/model" certainly wouldn't work here. There probably are minivan models which will work, but I don't think a blanket statement is warranted. I go to Baja frequently. People ask if I'm not concerned about the potential for violence. My reply is that I have never had a problem. That is everyone's reply until the first time there is a problem...

While that may be YOUR strong opinion... The Chrysler Pacifica isn't even enough of a vehicle to be called a SUV or even a Mini SUV ( like that of a ford escape ) Its only a cross over. With that being said..Since I have no problem towing with that, I would be comfortable with ANY vehicle in the History of vehicles that are large enough to be called a Mini Van. Even if it was only a 4 cylinder ( granted it may not do over 55 )
I think people underestimate the capabilities of what vehicles can or cannot do. I could go on and on arguing my position, but since it all comes down to opinion I wont bother.

[rvcycleguy]

This topic seems to always incite rather harsh opinions. I will add one myself. Its not just towing the weight with whatever comes along in your driveway.... its always about stopping the load safely and being able to control the weight on the road, highway, or wherever you may be going that has traffic. Being overweight and trying to stop in a panic situation is always a lose, lose situation. So everyone that is considering a TV on whether it can move a travel trailer of any kind down the road, better think more about the ramifications of stopping it once you get it moving....

[Mr. Adventure]

Safety is an important factor in tow ratings, but it's unclear how much of the tow rating it is. My friend who had a marketing career in the car business said it often came down to the tradeoff between the number of transmissions they'd have to fix under the warranty versus the number of additional vehicles they could sell if they rated it a little higher.

Every vehicle has durability issues, and every tow vehicle is working harder when it's towing. Just as I am sure I don't need a pickup truck to tow a TrailManor, it doesn't mean that somebody else doesn't. If you drive a lot solo and tow just a little, durability might be less important to you than it is for someone who tows 10,000 miles per year.

Similarly, it could be safer towing with a minivan in Florida at 55mph than with a good pickup truck at 75 on a steep downhill grade in the Rockies, on the theory that stopping is the better part of safety.

Everyone has towing issues to manage. It would be dangerous to substitute numbers from the manual or doorpost for care and attention while towing. If you have reliable stops and your vehicle is steady on the road that's a good sign. If you have to wrestle with your vehicle to keep it in the lane, that's a signal telling you you're driving too fast for conditions. I cringe at the words "We don't even know the trailer is there."

If you've haven't been on the truck scale lately, my spreadsheet can estimate your towing front and rear axle loads by leaving my other numbers in place and just entering 1) your own empty axle weights (you can get into the ballpark on these for many vehicles from the manufacturer's sites, and then estimate your own added front and rear axle loads, not counting the tongue weight), and 2) the hitch ball to rear axle distance for your TV, leaving the rest of the numbers as they are: http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ad.php?t=12552
Scale numbers are always better, of course.

If you have not yet read:

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ad.php?t=12371

I suggest that you do so.

I tried to cover all of the different criteria that someone might consider when choosing a tow vehicle.

Originally Posted by rvcycleguy

This topic seems to always incite rather harsh opinions. I will add one myself. Its not just towing the weight with whatever comes along in your driveway.... its always about stopping the load safely and being able to control the weight on the road, highway, or wherever you may be going that has traffic. Being overweight and trying to stop in a panic situation is always a lose, lose situation. So everyone that is considering a TV on whether it can move a travel trailer of any kind down the road, better think more about the ramifications of stopping it once you get it moving....

Don't overlook the tail wagging the dog, where the trailer wants to push the rear of the TV around while turning.

The shorter the distance between the rear axle and the tow ball the better off you are.

I made a panic stop once in a straight line. It seemed to stop just as fast as it would have without the TM behind me.

Worst case scenario, that I have said before:

1. towing downhill
2. around a blind corner
3. off camber
4. dirt, gravel, debris on the road surface, or a dirt road
5 . large animal in the middle of the road becomes visible as you begin to clear the blind spot. A cow comes to mind.

Drive at a speed so that your TV will allow you to lock the ABS brakes and not go off the cliff. I have never tested the simulated ABS brakes from my brake controller, and hope I never do.

When there is one cow, you might be able to swerve around it. When there are 5 cows that is a different story. Been there, done that.

I would rather hit a cow with my truck than with my wife's SUV. But that is a personal opinion.

[T and C]

Drive at a speed so that your TV will allow you to lock the ABS brakes and not go off the cliff. I have never tested the simulated ABS brakes from my brake controller, and hope I never do.

When there is one cow, you might be able to swerve around it. When there are 5 cows that is a different story. Been there, done that.

In the early 1980's I was crossing the Navaho reservation at night. I was between Mexican Water and Kayenta. I was doing 55 on a two lane highway. I saw something white a few feet off the ground out some distance in front of me. When it resolved into an image it was a side view of a a dark brown cow with a white face crossing the road in front of me with some others. I hit the brakes, skidded about 100 feet and plowed into the cow. The sheet metal on my 79 Impala folded up and stopped the motor, but the steering was still working so I was able to steer off the road with my last momentum.

The cow was dead meat, literally. I have always been glad of that because I would have had to put it out of its misery otherwise. All four legs were broken. I had the means to do so, but that could have caused complications with law enforcement. Glad I didn't have to find out.

What I learned from this was that: 1. It is very easy to overdrive your headlights. I had been on low beams due to the high volumn of oncoming traffic. 2. Stopping distances are pretty long even at 55. In addition, my belief in seat belt use was reinforced. I had three kids with me and all it did to them and to me was to scare us and knock our glasses off.

I am sooo glad I was in a full sized vehicle. To hit that cow in a Honda Accord or a Camry would have been a whole different thing. This strongly influences my desire to tow with a pickup truck. You do not need the extra safety margin of a large vehicle....untill you really need it. You never know ahead of time when that will be. I once had a head on collision because someone else miscalculated his speed on a curve. There again, a full sized body on frame car, along with my seat belt, saved me from serious injury.

To those who tow with minivans and other lighter vehicles I say, all the best and I hope you can keep on saying "I've never had a problem" from now on. But for me...I'll take a pick up every time.

Tom

[rvcycleguy]

I have had the amazing experience to drive thousands of miles into the Mexico interior. One of the things that is suggested is to not drive at night. I had always thought that night time driving was cautioned due to bad drivers, limited lighting, bad roads, etc. The most dangerous aspect of driving in that country at night is the loose livestock. The lack of fencing and cattle guards allows the livestock to wander all night. The asphalt is warm and they tend to stand there or sit... for hours. Very scary to suddenly see animals in your path at night. The SUV issue for me is the front drive aspect. The trailing axle ,for me, IMO, is a weak factor in towing travel trailers.

For some/many it is the issue of fuel economy.

My wife's Lexus SUV gets 22 mpg. I have no doubt that it is unsuitable for towing far any number of reasons.

My trucks get, at best on the freeway, 16 mpg. Realistically, as a daily commuter they get about 3 mpg.

A typical camping trip for us is 320 miles round trip. Assume I could get 22 mpg towing with an SUV instead of the 12 mpg I get with the truck.

320 miles /10 mpg difference = 32 gallons.

32 gallons of regular at $3.86 is $123.

My truck uses regular. I don't know about minivans and SUVs, but my wife's Lexus requires supreme, at 20 cents extra per gallon.

My round trip commute to work is 20 miles, so I do not burn a lot of gas. Someone with a very long commute either must burn a lot of gas or have a different vehicle. That implies either separate vehicles for towing versus commuting, or a single vehicle that is a compromise.

I used to commute in our old Nissan Sentra. But when it died I switched to the trucks. I just can not cost justify buying a fuel efficient car for commuting when I have two full sized trucks in the drive way that need to have some miles driven once in awhile anyway.

I can afford the extra $123 per camping trip.

Maintaining one SUV and two trucks is enough. I don't want a fourth vehicle for just the two of us.