Tow Vehicle Recommendations Needed

[oestek]

I know this isn't called Pro Towing and we are supposed to be driving our cars, but we just got a quote for 6400.00 to take two cars to SEMA so I wondered what you guys use to tow your trailers.
We have a 4000 lbs enclosed trailer, plus the muscle car average weight of between 3000 and 4000 lbs.



Diesel costs so much but we heard fuel mileage while towing is better, I'm not going out to buy and brand new truck so do any of you have a 2000-2006 truck or big SUV you recommend and get decent mileage and engine performance? Thanks in advance for the recommendations.

[Bill Howell]

My 04 duramax gets about 10 pulling my 28foot to vegas, twice now. oh, we were running about 76-80

[Nine Ball]

I'll sell you my 2008 Duramax Silverado ;)

Honestly, the best bang for the buck towing-wise is to find the following:

2004.5-2007 Dodge Ram 3500, 2wd dually, 6-speed manual. Make sure it is the 5.9L Cummins, not the newer 6.7L thirsty Cummins.

Dually trucks tow so nice, I miss my '04 Ram dually. If you are just about saving fuel, then get a 2wd single rear wheel of the same year. You can find nice ones in the high teens with less than 60K miles.

[slownova]

where from? we sent 3 cars from nebraska to houston and it was only like 1200 one way.

[oestek]

This was actually Kelle that posted, I've got to get her a screen name on PT. Anyway, she's been charged with the truck hunt. Thanks for the input. The shipping quote was to SEMA for 2 cars, round trip from the midwest. I'll tell her to check on the Dodges.

Thanks!

- KO

[hotrdblder]

got an 05 ford crew cab dually, 6.0l i get 11.5 hauling 44 ft enclosed with 2 cars
mines 4x4 too

[David Sloan]

04 Dodge dually here. very happy with it.
open trailer from Ga. to Dallas fort worth 18.7mpg at 80-90mph
On the way back with Torino body minus motor 17.5 mpg at 80-90mph.
The only upgrades is the Bully Dog programmer.
Pulling the 8.5'x24' enclosed with car gets about 13-14 depending on my foot, an thats a 4x4 trk.

[TA219]

A buddy of mine has a 4x4 mega cab dodge (06 or 07, i cant remember) and he loves it... this is what he pulls



He got 12.3 mpg pulling these to alabama (from Arkasas) and back. Trailer and rigs were 12k lbs , stock tires, auto trans and 4:10 gears

I am a GM guy but i have to admit i love that truck, tons of room in the mega cab for people, pretty quiet for a diesel, navigation and all of that fun stuff for trips... very cool!! :D hope that helps

[DJW32]

Build a 1967-1972 chevy extended cab c-10.

[oestek]

Build a 1967-1972 chevy extended cab c-10.

That's killer! However, if I'm building, I'm building a Travelall!

[vintageracer]

Call Connie Kalitta at Kalitta Flying Service in Michigan. 1st class Boeing 747 cargo service to Vegas. Probably more than $4K though!

Connie's done pretty well for an old drag racer!

[rocketman]

I have an 03 Chev Durmax dually

[ProdigyCustoms]

We use a Short Box 06 Duramax 2500 to pull a 44" (2) car hauler with no problem. Plety of power, and rides better loaded then not. Truck is good for 22,000 total. Lodaed with a Camaro and a Chevelle we were 22.500 LB with. The front axle can carry 400LBs, the rear axle 6000, and the trailer axles can carry 18,000.

We weighed it with 4200 LBs on the front, 6500LBs on the rear and 11,700 on the trailer axles.

My truck gets 11 MPH with our 24' trailer at 70 MPH, and with 2 cars it gets 9.5 at 70MPH. So it hardley cost more to haul to then one. A 1000 mile tirp is only 14 more gallons of fuel.

I love my truck, no way I would drag around dually fenders.

[JustinB]

A customer of mine is selling a Chevy 2500HD 4x4 LT with the Duramax for right around 20k. Truck is pewterw/ black leather interior and in perfect condition. Truck also has a custom lift and wheels with 38" tires. Probably has another 8k in extras in the truck. If you are interested let me know and I can put you in touch with him. If he still has it when my current lease is up im all over it.

[NOT A TA]

I'm going to sell my 00 Ford F350 dually, crew cab,Leather , lariate, 7.3 Turbo Diesel. Truck is Florida truck (titled there) and is in CT right now. Have car fax from when I purchased it (when my other truck was stolen) and I've kept up on all maintenance since I was using it to tow back and forth to Fl while moving. Truck is very clean and nice condition. Sold the 24' enclosed I was using the truck to tow. $18,000.00

[Bobby Schulz]

I have a 2002 Avalance 2500 with the 8.1L gas motor 4x4 with 3:73 gears and lockers front/rear. sucks down some gas when towing 10-12 mpg. But it pulls very well and one would be hard pressed to get a nicer all around truck.

[oestek]

Well, we bit the bullet and bought one. After doing the math on gas prices vs. mileage, we estimate about a $500 savings on running a gas truck to SEMA over diesel. Wound up with an '01 Chevy 1500 HD crew cab 4x4 with the 6.0. Rated to pull 10,300, and we run a 24' box trailer weighing in at around 4100 and then we load it with musclecars - 4500 - 5k lbs. Got a nice deal... it's a nice clean rig with all the comforts of home. More, actually. We tow like 6 times a year, so it kinda sucks we had to buy one, but I dig it.

[ProVette]

[COLOR=black]If you

[LMDGUY]

Well, we bit the bullet and bought one. After doing the math on gas prices vs. mileage, we estimate about a $500 savings on running a gas truck to SEMA over diesel. Wound up with an '01 Chevy 1500 HD crew cab 4x4 with the 6.0. Rated to pull 10,300, and we run a 24' box trailer weighing in at around 4100 and then we load it with musclecars - 4500 - 5k lbs. Got a nice deal... it's a nice clean rig with all the comforts of home. More, actually. We tow like 6 times a year, so it kinda sucks we had to buy one, but I dig it.

sweet.. the only thing we have done with those is add a rear bags system to help out with a load.

[oestek]

sweet.. the only thing we have done with those is add a rear bags system to help out with a load.

I was thinking that we would add some bags. You have personal experience?