Towing Two Cars!

[RedFive]

Hey guys,

 

I just did some searching about towing two cars on a flatbed and I found an old post of mine asking about towing a Z with a Cherokee. Hah, funny what you run into when you search sometimes!

 

Okay, here's the question. In the next 6 months to a year I plan on buying two new vehicles. A Lotus Elise and a pickup. I'm going to keep my Z and I'd like to be able to tow both the Elise and the Z on a flatbed. I'm probably going to be moving once a year on average and I'd like to be able to move everything in one shot. That said, I'd like to have a pickup that is somewhat reasonable to drive to work now and then -- something that gets more than single digit fuel economy. I'd love to get a 4 door Tacoma, but something tells me that isn't going to cut it.

 

Can you guys suggest some trucks to look into?

 

Thanks!

[Challenger]

Late 90's-early00 Dodge Ram 5.9 Cummins. You can get ok milage tow quite a bit with minor mods and they sound sweet. I know a couple people with them, good trucks.

[DavyZ]

Late 90's-early00 Dodge Ram 5.9 Cummins. You can get ok mileage tow quite a bit with minor mods and they sound sweet. I know a couple people with them, good trucks.

 

My father owns one and beats on it constantly. I swear the toughest part of the truck is the drive train. I will EASILY tow something as "light" as the two cars you mentioned. Very stout trucks...with cheap plastic interior parts & sagging headliners, grrrr.

 

Davy

[Challenger]

Yeah you wear out the truck before the engine.

[sickboy]

My Dodge Cummins (4x4, quad cab) gets 17-18 mpg towing a 24' trailer with the Z on it. If I weren't such a lead foot it may even do a little better.

[alexdeprat]

No kidding…. just like the previous posts, 5.9 Dodge Cummins seems to run circles around the competition when towing is the main topic, and not to mention MPG, a winner for sure.

 

Alex

[mark.deady]

i pulled my z from greenville sc to fayetteville nc around 270 miles at 70 to 75 mph and got 24 to 27 mpg i love my 4x4 cummins only mods are nozzles, edge juice with add monitor, custom intake and full 5" turbo back stacks. with my edge set to 45psi... sorry to get off topic but thought i would chime in about the cummins comments... hope every one has a merry christmas.

 

mark

[Mayolives]

I agree with the comments above about the cummins diesel engines. They have proven to be one of the best every produced for light trucks and are certainly capable of towing your loaded trailer. However, if you guys are getting 17-18 mpg or as posted above by mark.deady, 24+ mpg when loaded, I wish you would share your secret to great fuel mileage. My 03 Dodge 3500 duley can deliver 18-20 mpg when driven very "gingerly" and not pulling a trailer. My best mileage when pulling a 24' inclosed, v-nose trailer and z car is 12 mpg on flat interstate highway at 70 mph. So......what's the secret?

[ZWOLF]

Apparently you don't need one of those fancy trucks for towing the large loads. Study these photo's carefully, there is some engineering involved.

 

 

[mark]

I've got a CHevy duramax crew cab. It tows great but if I was buying a truck today to tow my rig, it would be a Dodge with a cummings.

[sickboy]

I agree with the comments above about the cummins diesel engines. They have proven to be one of the best every produced for light trucks and are certainly capable of towing your loaded trailer. However, if you guys are getting 17-18 mpg or as posted above by mark.deady, 24+ mpg when loaded, I wish you would share your secret to great fuel mileage. My 03 Dodge 3500 duley can deliver 18-20 mpg when driven very "gingerly" and not pulling a trailer. My best mileage when pulling a 24' inclosed, v-nose trailer and z car is 12 mpg on flat interstate highway at 70 mph. So......what's the secret?

 

Mayolives,

 

My truck is an '05 2500 4x4 crew cab. I built the intake and exhaust myself (because I'm cheap). The transmission has been built with a billet low stall converter and a trans-go kit. I also use a Smarty programmer. It has 3:73 gears and 285/70/17s. With no load the best I can get is 23 mpg. Loaded with trailer, Z car, junk, is 17-18 mpg all day long. I've duplicated these numbers over and over again. I've heard claims of higher numbers, especially with the older 12 valve engines. Mine is the last of the HO 5.9L engines. Economy of the new 6.7L is poor from what I've heard. PM me if you want specifics (happy to share).

[ARZ_]

I've got a CHevy duramax crew cab. It tows great but if I was buying a truck today to tow my rig, it would be a Dodge with a cummings.

SERIOUSLY!?!? Install a power adder chip and see if you don't change your mind.

 

All comments below reference Diesel powered versions, of each manufacturer.

 

I have a few friends that switched from the Dodge Cummins (Automatic's 90's and 2000's) to the Chevy Duramax and they were way happier with Chevy, towing or not. All the Ford guys I know are diehard and have not switched. I have had the opportunity to drive all 3 models in towing and not towing, on many long (6hrs +) trips and I would say the Ford (2006) was the most planted. It went exactly where you pointed it, the steering was very positive (make sure you dont get the leaf spring front models) . The Dodge (90's model) worked great but went thru brake pads in less than 18K miles every time Also every one I knew had lost a tranmission or 2 and a Flexplate in every one of their Dodge Diesels. The Chevy Duramax drove the best unloaded and still very well loaded, had crazy power when loaded, and had the best brakes, of them all. One friend put over 100K HARD miles, on the same STOCK brake pads, they are expensive pads but well worth it. I love the tow haul mode for helping with the brakes while towing, (I think they all "big 3" do that now) as early as 2002 GM came out with the Tow haul mode for the Diesels, others are a few years behind. When it came to off road exploring the Chevy was the least competent, due to the IFS. But 99% of your use is on the street and for towing I would go Duramax every day. All of the vehicles I drove with and without a power adder chip, in my opinion none but the early Dodges suffered drivability issues with the chip added, and all got better gas mileage with chip, none seemed to compromise the engine longevity, the Dodge gave up transmissions faster, with more power.

 

YES the new Dodge gets WAY worse gas mileage than earlier Dodge Diesel versions, its VERY SAD.

 

The Duramax got the best, and there is no disputing that the Allison transmission is better than any other. Stop into a transmission shop and ask them your question about what Truck you should tow with.

[RedFive]

Wow, never before have I posted anywhere asking a question and received such a distinctly uniform response! Amazing!

 

I guess I'm going to look into the Dodge Cummings!

 

A couple of you commented on the different engines/years having better/worse aspects to them. What would you say is the ideal year range? Are the new ones with the 6.7 that bad? 6.7? Jeez, that's big!

[ARZ_]

Wow, never before have I posted anywhere asking a question and received such a distinctly uniform response! Amazing!

 

I guess I'm going to look into the Dodge Cummings!

 

A couple of you commented on the different engines/years having better/worse aspects to them. What would you say is the ideal year range? Are the new ones with the 6.7 that bad? 6.7? Jeez, that's big!

 

Yes the latest one gets HORRIBLE gas mileage. Dollar for dollar the equivalent Gas vehicle cost less to drive. The EPA's requirement to decrease emissions, forces them to install a catalytic converter of sorts and this cat doesn't get hot enough, so every few minutes the ECU dumps extra fuel in the exhaust to make the cat hot enough to continue its operation of DECREASING emissions. Sounds ridiculously but it is very true.

 

I have 1 friend recently sold his 2006 Dodge, and sold it to buy a Duramax.

 

Several friends that desert race and obviously tow to Mexico, Western AZ and So cal and all agree the Duramax is the best ON road. There were over 10 Ford (chase vehicles) on the side of the road, all had lost the same Trans sensor/TCM component. Realizing these guys were driving/Towing THE HELL OUT of the truck.

 

Again all Dodge trucks (I had experience with) over 100K had needed a Flexplate, and more than 50% needed their auto transmission replaced.

[panachedk]

i have a 2004 5.9 cummins and i love it. i tow my enclosed 28' haulmark and it doesnt even flinch.

[MatMan]

My inlaws sell at farmer's markets all over the central coast (from as far south as Hollywood, to as far north as Cambria (San Luis Obispo) and as far east as Fresno) and drive the HELL out of their Dodges. They have had numerous occaisions when the speed sensor gave out and left them stranded on open highway. Also, my F-i-L had the pass side axel fall out (AKA JEEP style)!!

 

I just have an aversion to Chrysler products, I guess.

 

One of my brother in laws (another farmer's market hauler) has an '04 (I think) duramax/allison combo. He LOVES it, EXCEPT for the fact that if you drive it hard and put it away wet, so to speak, it is subject to vapor lock. Chevy knew this and sold it that way anyway, with a manual fuel primer pump just upstream from the fuel rail!!!

 

An ex-coworker has an '02 (I think) Ford F350 dually that he used to haul his 24 foot boat was about to either drive it off a cliff, or give it away before he decided to put a chip in it. In a matter of 10 seconds from turning the thing on to putting it in gear, the performance was such that he was faster off the line, had more powerband, and (he claims) 40% better economy. Thinking about it, might be right...if he was getting 10MPG before, now getting 14...I can see that.

 

I guess it's a matter of personal preference. If I had $42K to throw out the window, I would probably get a new Duramax/Allison Chevy.

 

BUT, I hear that Nissan is in cahoots with Dodge to build the platform for the new Titan...I wonder if they will offer diesel?

[Hyuri]

A friend of mine has a 2006 F-250 (FX4, crew cab, short bed, SRW) with the 6.0 Power Stroke, and says he gets about 20 MPG, down to about 18 1/2 when he moved across the country. SoCal to SC by way of Mobile hauling a (I think) 28 foot travel trailer with about 1/2 of his worldly possessions in it.

 

And this is after an early mistake where, having recently upgraded from an F-150 and being short on sleep, he filled it up - with about 27 gallons of regular unleaded. I siphoned it out, he limped back up to the gas station and filled it with diesel, and it's run like a top ever since.

[johnc]

If you want a cheap and strong tow vehicle, right now any V10 Ford F250/350 or 8.1L Chevy 2500/3500 is plenty strong enough and people can't give the things away. You'll save thousands over any comparable used diesel truck and that will buy your fuel for a few years - even longer if its a tow vehicle only.