I need some recommendations for an SUV that can tow a trailer, dry weight 3500. I don't need a turbo charged V8 or a V10 because most of the time the SUV will not be towing anything!
Thanks, Peter

By the time you load it with propane, water, food, clothes, holding tanks partially full, etc, the laden weight will easily be 4500 lbs, so take that into consideration. I would want an SUV with a towing capacity of at least 5000lbs. Check the specs on whatever manufacturer you like within their lineup.

Jeep Grand Cherokee with 5.7 liter and towing package handles up to 6,200 pounds.

If you need more than that the Dodge Durango with the 392 can handle 8,700 pounds.

If I were pulling a TT with an SUV I would opt for the Ford Expedition with the 3.5L Ecoboost engine. I know other V8 SUVs can tow as well but they don't give the fuel mileage when driving without the trailer that the Ecoboost delivers.

It’s not just about power. Do you want something with sufficient size and mass to be able to maintain stability and control in difficult conditions.
I’d recommend looking at a Sequoia or Suburban.

https://youtu.be/siVH_cr5ZnE

Make sure you get the right towing vehicle and correct towing equipment to handle all aspects. Speed and power, combined with improper or no towing equipment, can end up being your worst enemy, as you can see from the video above.

Looking at a used VW Toureg TDI.
Any thoughts?
Peter

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
I need some recommendations for an SUV that can tow a trailer, dry weight 3500. I don't need a turbo charged V8 or a V10 because most of the time the SUV will not be towing anything!
Thanks, Peter

Pay attention to the maximum weight. One of our neighbors loaded a 20-footer from his daughter's storage locker and took off for Durango.
He did not, as I'd suggested, stop at the county dump to weigh the load.
He made it to Durango and halfway back before the transmission gave out...

Then there was the guy we met at Cedar Breaks, days before the campground closed for the season.
He'd towed too heavy with a half-ton V6 pickup, which was down the mountain in Cedar City getting a new engine.

quote:

Pay attention to the maximum weight. One of our neighbors loaded a 20-footer from his daughter's storage locker and took off for Durango.
He did not, as I'd suggested, stop at the county dump to weigh the load.
He made it to Durango and halfway back before the transmission gave out...

Then there was the guy we met at Cedar Breaks, days before the campground closed for the season.
He'd towed too heavy with a half-ton V6 pickup, which was down the mountain in Cedar City getting a new engine.

I had a friend that tried to do the same going to Canada using a small Toyota Truck. Destroyed the truck's engine before he made it across the border from Central Utah into Idaho.

It is not just the weight, many lightweight trailers are bulky with high air drag. Trying to maintain a 70+ mph speed limit will consume lots of fuel and damage the driveline.
There is a good reason the people with the big fifth wheel RV's towed by one ton trucks are going 55.

M

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
Looking at a used VW Toureg TDI.
Any thoughts?
Peter

1. The "T" in TDI stands for Turbo. I thought you didn't want a turbo.

2. VW's are stupidly expensive to work on. If you do go this direction, hopefully you have some manufacturer warranty left, otherwise find a warranty to cover the real expensive stuff.

3. While the max towing capacity is 7,000 + pounds, the factory tongue weight is peanuts. So you will have to have a proper hitch welded to the frame.

They are very good vehicles. So you should be happy with it. But wouldn't be my first choice as a tow vehicle.

Thanks Opus1. The turbo comment was somewhat facetious as it was tied to a V8. I am buying a 5 year extended warranty for some of the major parts, and VW is warrantying the emission work that they had to do.
Peter.

Peter - If you have the option, I would not do the "emissions work" as this will only hurt the engine performance. The "fix" is to add more regenerative exhaust gas back into the combustion side of the engine. This only kills power. This is yet another EPA BS compliance issue for engine builders and a soundly stupid idea. That's the reason why VW did the illegal software manipulation so that owners would be happy with the vehicle performance.

It is not illegal to not get the "fix" - sorry for the double negative. Many owners have said no to the "fix". I have read that some who did the "fix" have reprogrammed the ECU to unwind the "fix".

Otherwise, sounds like you have the bases covered.

Picked up the vehicle today. So far, I like it, but the proof of the pudding is how well it tows the trailer. That will be next week.
Peter

I try to engineer or keep safety margins above 50% on anything I am involved with.

So if a GVW for a towed trailer is 3500 pounds I would want 5250 GVW tow capability out of my tow rig.

I drove my F150 to Alaaska pulling 8000 pound. The GVW for towing was 12,000 pounds uhaul trailer loaded. I think I was slightly heavier than 8000 pounds headed up.

Coming down a few years later I was at 6500 in the same trailer. That 1500 pounds was a godsend.

It is better to have more truck than you need than to need more truck than you have. If you tow very much or often enough you will know what I am talking about. Not trying to be a horse's butt!

Well, I towed the trailer about 10 miles or so, to the storage facility. Going camping in a couple of weeks. Campground is about 25 miles or so, so it should be a good little training run.
Peter.

Late to the party I know, but when I bought my 24" Airstream I first towed it with my Ford Expedition with air suspension and a 5.4L gas engine. My mileage went from 16-17 MPG to about 8-9MPG. It never felt comfortable pulling the AS, even with a quality equalizer hitch. I decided to switch to a Ford F350 (one ton) with a 7.3L diesel. Now I can tow the AS with little concern and the engine does not strain or get hot at all. Getting about 12 MPG towing. It's hard to have TOO MUCH towing capability, easy to go too light.