what is a good tow vehicle with decent gas mileage?

Regarding residual value of a tow vehicle:

According to Kelly Blue Book private party price, my 2008 GMC 2500HD crew cab 8 foot bed is worth $5,000 more than I paid for it new from a dealer in 2008.

I was lucky with my timing and got the "Employee pricing for all".

Remember that an undersized engine and transmission can result in premature failure of the engine and/or transmission.

Undersized brakes can result in an increased stopping distance, perhaps significant.

Undersized wheel base can contribute to the tail wagging the dog.

[Mr. Adventure]

Originally Posted by T and C

... I once experienced the violence of a head on collision. I believe that my '57 Ford's heavy ladder frame plus the seat belts I had installed myself saved me from serious injury. If I had been driving some economy car I would probably not be posting this...

Another time, in '88, I hit a cow near Kayenta on the Navaho reservation. That time our '77 Impala saved our backsides...

I don't recommend attempting actual tests, but I'd expect that just about anything built in the last 10 years is substantially safer than anything built before 1980.

Your story about the Class C motorhome weaving on the road reminds me of several RV adventures we've seen over the years (mostly third party adventures, thank heaven). The one thing in common among all of them was going so fast that they either couldn't stop in time or they had difficulty maintaining control in an event that caught them by surprise. I discovered that my Class A motorhome had plenty of power to go 70+mph, but given how wide it was in the lane, I found that I could drive it further in a day at 60 than I could at 70. This wasn't because the vehicle was unsteady, but rather because of the concentration it took just to keep an 8.5 foot wide vehicle inside a 10 foot lane.

The TM is easier, but I still tend to stay under 65 when towing, typically just going with the flow in the right lane.

I've towed my 2720 for years with my 2000 Honda Odyssey with no problems at all. Longest trip from PA to Maine fully loaded-4 adults, generator, etc. I do make sure to keep TV fluids fresh and full and added a trany cooler. (By the way, I talked to the dealer-stock it does not have one except for any normal airflow around trany.)

I just take it easy going up big grades.

So unless you are planning some monster trip, I would not be in any hurry to get a new TV.

[T and C]

Here is some info I got in the mail from Ford

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I just got an advertising magazine from Ford. It gives the tow rating several of their products. The Edge has a 3500 pound rating.

The one that has possibilities for TM owners is the Flex. You can get it with the EcoBoost V-6 with a tow rating of 4500 lbs. I test drove a Taurus with the EcoBoost motor. It has dual superchargers and puts out something like 340 hp! They say it still gets good gas mileage. It turned that Taurus into a rocket. (Also, you can now buy an F-150 with that motor.)

So the Flex has over 300 hp, 6-7 passengers, and 4500 lbs tow rating....looks like it will do the job.

The Ranger pickup can get a 4.0 V6, has a 4 door model, and a tow rating of 5800 lbs.

The Explorer tows up to 5000. the Expedition has a 5.4 v-8, tows up to 9200 lbs.

Tom


Tom

[Philip]

Amy,

I have a 2008 2720 TM which I tow with a 2005 Toyota 4Runner with a factory tow package and V8. Last year I went on a 13,000 mile, three month trip out west through the rockies to California and back to home(PA).

We averaged 15.5 MPG while towing. I do not use the cruise control on anything but totally flat roads as this kills MPG while towing.

The 4Runner is plenty capable for towing a 2720 and is overkill I am sure. It has a truck frame, not a unibody, so the hitch has something strong to tie into. I felt this to be important so I wanted something with a truck frame but not a truck.

Hope this helps!

Take care,

Phil

Picked up my brand new TM today. 3124KB. TV 2010 GMC Sierra 1500 SLT extended cab, 5.3L, 6 speed auto with Z85 tow package. Sticker 15-21 mpg. Tow rating 6,800. GCVWR 12,200. Cat Scale on the way back said actual GCVW was 9,600# (no water- full propane, 2 batteries, lots of extras). On the way up, 70 mph on cruise = 21 mpg. On the way back with the TM, 55 mph on cruise control, 16.5 mpg. Mostly Interstate. Towed like a dream! Forums suggest you get better mpg if you don't use cruise but for a first trip, 220 miles, I did.

Around town I get 16.9 with no TM. Hope this helps.

TheBeeger

Thanks all! We just got back from our first trip of any length (I'm about to post about our adventures as we had some but we are in the midst of one more and I'm searching the forums for anyone else who has had this). We only got 13 mpg on the way there (300 miles) but got 16.5 on the way home. The only thing we can figure that is different is that it was really windy on the way there (40-50mph winds, we do live in the midwest!). I can handle the 16.5 Our Honda seems to be fine in the 65mph range. If I went over that, the RPMs would go up drastically, even on the tiny midwest hills.

-Amy

[Mr. Adventure]

Originally Posted by TMMiniVan

Thanks all! We just got back from our first trip of any length (I'm about to post about our adventures as we had some but we are in the midst of one more and I'm searching the forums for anyone else who has had this). We only got 13 mpg on the way there (300 miles) but got 16.5 on the way home. The only thing we can figure that is different is that it was really windy on the way there (40-50mph winds, we do live in the midwest!). I can handle the 16.5 Our Honda seems to be fine in the 65mph range. If I went over that, the RPMs would go up drastically, even on the tiny midwest hills.

-Amy

On the highway, most gas goes to wind resistance. Wind resistance increases with the square of the speed. So having a headwind has a huge impact on gas mileage (a tailwind helps a lot in the other direction, too).

Most of the time, the wind is off to one side a bit, and not straight at you, so the full effect of the windspeed isn't straight on, and it moves around all the time, of course. A 20mph headwind at 60mph would be providing similar wind resistance as though driving 80mph (the wind resistance at 80 vs 60 could be calculated as (80/60)^2 = 1.78 times as much at 80 as it is at 60).

A headwind is also a load on the transmission. The RPMs are from downshifting to deal with it (and the hills, too). I'm with your Honda in thinking that 65mph might be fast enough.

[Bill]

On a 300 mile trip, the difference between 13 mpg and 16.5 mpg is only 5 gallons of gas. Even at today's prices, that's not enough to worry about (in my opinion). You'll spend more than that on almost everything else you do - eat, for example.

Relax and enjoy. MPG should not be a major concern.

Bill

One real dis-advantage of the upright Trailmanors like my Elkmont is the wind resistance. *Especially* in the Prairies.

We spent a whole day last summer fighting a head-wind while crossing Manitoba. Ended up getting only 9mpg. Wish I had been coming back instead.

Occasionally we've had tail winds that will push us up to 16mpg, but nothing so far like that Manitoba experience in reverse.

Sometimes it's sort of like sailing. (Our average is 12mpg with the Elkmont).