goodoldjam Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 Why would you buy a Jeep if it's 2WD? I guess the Comanche makes some sense as purely a tow rig, but I would never buy a 2WD Cherokee. Personally I would get a 4WD but you can get a 2WD for half the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted October 12, 2010 Author Share Posted October 12, 2010 The ad says 4 wheel drive... Jeeps sound cool but everyone lifts them. I don't wanted a lifted truck and I don't want knobby tires. Sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 In the US there is a sum total closely approximating 0 of what you describe. Pity, the twin cam 2.5 liter Nissan turbo diesel puts out as much torque and at lower revs than their four liter twin cam V6 gasoline engine does. Friend of mine has towed his 240Z on a tandem trailer at say 65mph for nearly 24 hours straight with his dual cab. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi303 Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 I had the D21 Navara LWB ute with the longer bed, single cab. with the SD23 diesel engine and column shift it would haul plenty and had good towing once I got rid of the stock 14" rims with skinny hard 175LT tyres and fitted some Isuzu Bighorn (Trooper II stateside) 15" rims with 205/65R15 semi-performance passenger car tyres. Isuzu and Nissan use the same 6 lug pattern and nut threading if you have a 6 lug nissan pickup and want some different rims. the older late 80's Isuzu trooper rims here look nicer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue72 Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 (edited) There are plenty of people here that clamor for small diesel powered pickups, but the auto company bean counters seem to think that it wouln't be profitable. The only two on the horizon that promise to sell small diesel pickups within the next few years are Mahindra (if the stars align correctly) and Jeep who recently announced a diesel pickup of their own. A brief summary of the other diesel equipped light trucks and smallish SUVs in the U.S.: '02-'06 Jeep Liberty – 2.8L common rail turbodiesel w/ 160 hp Unimog – yeah, good luck finding one '83-'85 Mitsubishi Mighty Max / Dodge D50 – 2.3L turbodiesel w/ 80-86 hp '82-'85 Mazda B2200 / Ford Ranger – 2.2L non-turbo w/ 59 hp '81-'87 Isuzu P'up / Chevrolet LUV - Isuzu 2.2L non-turbo w/ 58 hp and turbo International Scout w/ Nissan SD33 non-turbo and turbo (IH stopped producing passenger vehicles in 1980) '84-'86 Isuzu Trooper – 2.2L turbodiesel '82-'85 2WD Datsun/Nissan 720 - SD22 w/ 61 hp and SD25 w/ 76 hp both non-turbo '81-'86 Toyota Pickups - 2.2-2.4L w/ 62 hp and 83 hp respectively '84-'87 Jeep Cherokee - Renault 2.1L turbodiesel w/ 85 hp This is basically the latest in diesel small pickup technology here: yep... Edited October 13, 2010 by blue72 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 Vehicles are a lot cheaper in the US so I guess the bottom line can get a bit tricky for the bean counters. I'd still go turbo diesel for a tow car though, buy a NA and put a turbo kit on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted October 13, 2010 Author Share Posted October 13, 2010 I'm a bean counter for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 Bean count this: My Frontier gets 16mpg at 80mph with nothing in it. The EXACT SAME Navara with the 2.7 or 3.0DI Diesel does it for 35+mpg. Towing? The Diesels kill hands down. Our distributor in Manila has a fleet of D21 Navaras (which was getting to me, since they are 2007 models, which are identical to my 2000 none of the fancy funky upgrades!) and love them. Nice clear lens H4 Lights (in Italy, our guys have D21's with the LOAD ADJUSTABLE HID Headlights!), plenty of torque for towing portable compressors to the jobsite, and great fuel economy. Don't get me started on what vehicles are available outside the USA. Total political B.S. The FORD RANGER (the mini) is available with a Diesel worldwide, EXCEPT in the USA. (maybe not in Canada either, don't know...) It boggles my mind but I have a good idea it has something to do with B.S trade tariffs and more B.S. emissions laws. The world got Crew Cab 720's and Hardbodies, it took until Y2K to get them in a small pickup here in the USA. DUUUUH! Now they are everywhere. Imagine that, people want a back seat to carry the grown or medium sized adult occasionally, and don't want to make them sit sideways on a jump seat for 5 hours drive across the desert. What a concept, convienience and multiple purposes for a truck. 6 foot bed? Not like I carry lumber every day. But it's plenty big for four L28's... If I could containerize one and VINSWAP I'd be on it in a minute. Then again, I already have one, but the engine swap is a total PITA. I'm tempted to go on my 2003 Air Cooled Beetle for $6500 rant again, but Ill save it this time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 I'm with Tony and the others regarding a small/mid-sized pickup. Here's what I want for the new shop truck: Extended cab pickup with an 8' bed. 2WD auto trans. 5,000 lb. towing capacity. 4 cylinder turbo diesel engine. That kind of vehicle doesn't exist here but can be found everywhere else including the north pole and Antarctica. WTF? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted October 25, 2010 Author Share Posted October 25, 2010 Alright guys seriously. I've been looking and I can find Chevy S10's all day long CHEAP. Trying to avoid the V6 but the 4 cylinder looks good with "28MPG". Not too worried if its sluggish, no mountains over here. I just need to be able to stop. Looking at trailers and I see electric brake drums are $50 each and the controller is around $100. I can put brakes on a trailer for $300? Sounds like a breeze. I'm still reading up on how it works though. With this electric setup it looks like you just wire the controller up to the brake pedal light switch or something and then it relays it out to the drums. Drums have a magnet in it, still can't figure that out, and somehow it applies enough pressure to stop. Whatever the case may be, should I have brakes on both axles or is that overkill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 Alright guys seriously. I've been looking and I can find Chevy S10's all day long CHEAP. Trying to avoid the V6 but the 4 cylinder looks good with "28MPG". Not too worried if its sluggish, no mountains over here. I just need to be able to stop. Looking at trailers and I see electric brake drums are $50 each and the controller is around $100. I can put brakes on a trailer for $300? Sounds like a breeze. I'm still reading up on how it works though. With this electric setup it looks like you just wire the controller up to the brake pedal light switch or something and then it relays it out to the drums. Drums have a magnet in it, still can't figure that out, and somehow it applies enough pressure to stop. Whatever the case may be, should I have brakes on both axles or is that overkill? I think the controller you mention is wired into the cab of the truck and allows you to adjust the brake force and ramp up rate. This is the one I use on the truck: https://www.southwestwheel.com/store/showproduct.aspx?ProductID=4752&SEName=tekonsha-voyager Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted October 25, 2010 Author Share Posted October 25, 2010 (edited) Yah that looks like what I was seeing. You mount it inside the cab. On the website it was saying they had two different kind. The type that ramps up at whatever rate you want and the type that has a momentum sensor which applies the brakes more evenly relative to your stopping. From all the install videos I see you basically just wire it up (4 wires) and a 10 gauge wire goes to the trailer to the drums. I assume that's all you need, the drums and the controlled but it sounds too easy. The type I'm use to is the pressure sensor in the trailer hitch/neck. Only problem with that is when you reverse you'd need a lockout. The website I was using is etrailer.com http://www.etrailer.com/tv-demo_trailer_brakes_and_wiring.aspx Edited October 25, 2010 by josh817 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLOZ UP Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 Just let me know when you plan on towing something, and your route. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted October 25, 2010 Author Share Posted October 25, 2010 I don't think its that bad. Could be very wrong. I know nothing about trucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLOZ UP Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 It was a joke. Is this going to be a tow only vehicle? Or are you going to DD it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy 77zt Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 i think that what you will find is that anything with a small motor will get 13-17 mpg towing on level ground.a late model chevy with 4.8 or 5.3 will get the same and have power to pull around trucks.if you get a small truck with an auto trans dont exxpect it to last long.it just gets down to how often and what kind of terrain you are towing on.if you only have a track event 4 or 5 times a year and its all flat freeway there a small truck will work .anything else will cause excess wear on the little truck.i used to do side work repairing boats and towed the with a 1988 ford ranger with a 2.9v6.it got 14 mpg while towing at 65mph.the is no way anything will break 20 or even 18 mpg loaded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted October 27, 2010 Author Share Posted October 27, 2010 I don't care about fuel economy when towing. I only care when I'm daily driving, so yes it will be my daily car too. Events aren't that frequent and when they are I can't afford to spend $300 every other weekend. I was also thinking about the wear and tear on a little truck. I could see transmissions dying and rear ends. If I got a small truck I'd probably have to invest in a bigger tranny oil cooler and stuff unless if it came with some sort of tow package. I'm just having a really hard time down grading from 35-40MPG on my little beater Honda to... 25MPG max on a truck? I don't have a light switch throttle foot. I'm usually really good about coasting and gently getting up to speed. I know that's important when you have a big honkin' motor/truck combo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Vehicles usually have a certified maximum towing capacity, that should be a guide at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 Hear off plenty of stories about "reliably" like... doubling that weight. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ont240 Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 Ive used 2 different vehicles for long haul trips with my Z and trailer. Biggest factor: Is your trailer open or enclosed. How much wind drag? Mine is open flatbed,tandem axle with electric brakes on one axle. Tekonsha voyager works great and easy to wire in. I also use an equalizer hitch. 140kph steady as a rock. My 92 s10 Blazer 2WD with 4.3 auto works fine and gets about 20mpg average while hauling on a long run. The 94 Buick Roadmaster loaded with the family makes the ride like a living room couch and keeps everybody happy! Fuel economy is about the same while towing. It will go like a rocket if you want to be leader of the pack! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.