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Hwilli1647545487

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Get a `05 or newer tacoma 4x4 double cab. I had the same basic problem when I was looking for a vehicle. I wanted 4 wheel drive, 4 person seating when necessary, towing capacity, and not terrible gas mileage.

I went all out and got the TRD offroad model with extra truck stuff like a locking rear differential. It gets 19-21mpg city or highway. Tows 7,000lbs easily. I've had it towing 8,500lbs and it was just getting sluggish and slower to stop. Then engine has over 50K on it now and still needs to go twice that far before any maint is necessary.

We use it as a nice vehicle to go places in and the 4 wheel drive has let us take it to some fun places.

 

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f185/EWhytsell/P1010071.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f185/EWhytsell/P1030115.jpg

 

Evan

 

I think I am in love...

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Load smart.

 

As for cars towing cars, I pulled a 3000lb car 8 miles with a rental sunfire and garage door cable, this wont be breaking any records. ;)

 

 

Not to get into a fight about it, but there ain't no way to "load smart" when your pulling a car with a car these days. There could even be ORC rules on that one. The tongue weight of a 3,000 lb car + a 2,000 lb trailer would be 500 lbs if you go by the 10% rule. Myself I like to go with more tongue weight to reduce the possibility of jackknifing the rig. I suppose some of the `60-70's cars that had a live axle in the rear and heavy frames could haul quite a lot, but you'd still probably need to add leafs or air bags to keep it from doing a lot of damage to the rear frame.

 

Evan

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Fail ^

 

 

no fail dodges suck, the only reason many purchace the trucks to begin with is for the cummins. i dont have any personal experence with the duramax trucks so i dont have an opinion on them. the stroks in the fords are ok but i prefer the ford trucks over any of the others offered.

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I think I am in love...

 

 

That truck being a V6 is going to STRUGGLE pulling a Supra I know what it says it can tow but going through the mountains pulling you will see that realistically it can reasonably tow maybe 4K pounds and be ok, if you load it up to 7500 or so it's going to SUCK.

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That truck being a V6 is going to STRUGGLE pulling a Supra I know what it says it can tow but going through the mountains pulling you will see that realistically it can reasonably tow maybe 4K pounds and be ok, if you load it up to 7500 or so it's going to SUCK.

 

 

I've ridden along many times with Evan while towing with the truck he posted the pictures of. It's never struggled. The 4.0 in those put out the same power as the 4.7 V8 in the Tundra I used to have (which never struggled in any of the numerous times I used it to tow). That engine is more than capable of pulling a Supra.

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That truck being a V6 is going to STRUGGLE pulling a Supra I know what it says it can tow but going through the mountains pulling you will see that realistically it can reasonably tow maybe 4K pounds and be ok, if you load it up to 7500 or so it's going to SUCK.

 

Agreed. Pulling with a light truck is ignorant. I don't mean any offense, but I've done a LOT of yanking cars and it's just not a good idea. Will it do it? Sure. But there is so much more to towing than what something can pull. The most important part is not getting it going but getting it stopped. I don't care what anyone says, light trucks and even many 1/2 ton's are not properly equipped to stop large loads. Like Tommy says, put it on a grade and see what happens too. Outside of Columbus the world isn't flat.

 

And Eric, I love you and you know it, but advising someone to pull with another car? You need your head examined.

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Can you give me more specific #s. Tow ratings, MPG stock, problems with each type. My friend is pushing me hard towards Dodge.

The 24V cummins trucks are great trucks, and you'd be looking at getting I'd say 14 or so in the city, and maybe 18+ on the freeway depending. As far as diesels are concerned, a good 2500 Cummins Dodge (depending on hitch) can tow anywhere from 10K+. With a 5th wheel or a gooseneck, hell you're looking at well over the 16K pound mark. The cummins motors are very responsive to the aftermarket parts like the power programmers, turbo back exhaust, and a cold-air intake. You deffinately wouldn't be making a bad choice in going with a diesel truck. Granted they are louder, and ride a little harsher, but never the less, you'll keep that truck for a long time.

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My opinion. 40 mile commute to and from work in a Cummins would irritate me.I just dont like how noisy they are compared to the duramax. The duramax is extremely quiet and much more civil then the Cummins. Mileage wise if your not in it and take it easy you are looking at a realistic 20-25 mpg on either Duramax or Cummins. You would no doubt carry about the same mileage with or without a load.

 

A 06 toyota tundra shows 7100lb towing capacity. Would be a lot more comfort and you would probally get in the 20mpg range without a load and around 10-12 mpg with your car on a trailer.

 

Howard get off your ass and go drive everything WITH NO INTENT TO BUY. Until you have drove enough of each to decide what you like.

 

And give me a call i can check auction prices for you on whatever u decide.

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Realistically i am going to have to compromise. I will be towing the car 3-4 times a year at most. Norwalk etc.

 

Most often I will be just driving it around. I like the idea of that Tacoma a lot.

I am going to see if I can get some more real world input on how it tows.

 

I know Vuk towed his Viper to Norwalk with his Xterra. They are only rated at 5000lbs.

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Honestly, if that's all you really need a tow vehicle for, there's no way I'd even consider a diesel rig, its wayyy overkill, and that's true for quite a lot of people that have them. You'd be much better off with the toyota and be just fine, if it wasn't for needing a bed you'd have a lot more options. It doesn't sound like you're going cross-country or anything so you don't really need much.

 

I tow with a 2001 Silverado 2500hd, 4wd, reg cab,long bed, I use it tow move shit/haul crap more than I do to tow, but its never missed a beat and tow's 5-6k lbs easy. We even take it 7hrs south into kentucky towing a LOADED boat and bed, every summer, sometimes multiple and its been fine. It also sees a fair share of snow plowing in the winter.

 

good luck, but think about your commute factor and how little you'd actually be using the towing benefit of the bigger trucks.

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^^ I've got customers with 1 ton diesel duallys pushing better miles than a Taco all around. I wouldn't call a diesel over kill. If you plan on using it as a work truck, drive on the freeways, and plan on towing something, go diesel. If you plan on keeping it for a while aswell, my choice would be a diesel all the way.
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The 24V cummins trucks are great trucks, and you'd be looking at getting I'd say 14 or so in the city, and maybe 18+ on the freeway depending. As far as diesels are concerned, a good 2500 Cummins Dodge (depending on hitch) can tow anywhere from 10K+. With a 5th wheel or a gooseneck, hell you're looking at well over the 16K pound mark. The cummins motors are very responsive to the aftermarket parts like the power programmers, turbo back exhaust, and a cold-air intake. You deffinately wouldn't be making a bad choice in going with a diesel truck. Granted they are louder, and ride a little harsher, but never the less, you'll keep that truck for a long time.

 

 

You forgot to mention that the cummins doesn''t have glow plugs either.

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Agreed. Pulling with a light truck is ignorant. I don't mean any offense, but I've done a LOT of yanking cars and it's just not a good idea. Will it do it? Sure. But there is so much more to towing than what something can pull. The most important part is not getting it going but getting it stopped. I don't care what anyone says, light trucks and even many 1/2 ton's are not properly equipped to stop large loads. Like Tommy says, put it on a grade and see what happens too. Outside of Columbus the world isn't flat.

 

And Eric, I love you and you know it, but advising someone to pull with another car? You need your head examined.

 

Weren't you just advocating towing with a Trailblazer?

 

Howard, I'll see if I can't get Evan to load up his off road truck onto his trailer and swing by your place to give you a demonstration of how capable it is.

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I am not a fan of the suspension nor the trannies in dodges. However, I wanted the cummins over the power stroke which meant I had to go Dodge.I did go with the 6 speed manual which should last longer then dodge auto. My truck of choice would be a Ford Super Duty with a Cummins.

Its amazing how much of that I heard (people wanting a Ford with a Cummins), speaks very well for the engine. There are plenty of people that put Cummins into other trucks but I'm not sure if you are looking for a project like that.

 

 

Wow how did I miss this conversation? I would go with the Cummins (sure call me biased but whatever :) ). They don't call them the million mile engines for nothing. The newer dodges have less tranny problems. I think most of the people having tranny issues were having them with automatics and were modding their trucks. Just the way the diesel is with the massive amounts of torque they love to find transmissions weak links. If you do get a Cummins I would highly highly suggest the manual transmission.

 

Howard, if you have any questions gimme a call.

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Agreed. Pulling with a light truck is ignorant. I don't mean any offense, but I've done a LOT of yanking cars and it's just not a good idea. Will it do it? Sure. But there is so much more to towing than what something can pull. The most important part is not getting it going but getting it stopped. I don't care what anyone says, light trucks and even many 1/2 ton's are not properly equipped to stop large loads. Like Tommy says, put it on a grade and see what happens too. Outside of Columbus the world isn't flat.

 

And Eric, I love you and you know it, but advising someone to pull with another car? You need your head examined.

 

 

That is ALWAYS the thing people look over and I agree any 1/2 ton or under isn't really setup to pull a car on a loaded trailer. Will it do it? Sure safely though that's a whole other ballgame. Regardless if its three or four times a year then I'd still want to do it the correct and safe way. If you are only going to tow a few times a year why not rent a truck or borrow a friends? I wouldn't want the everyday driver and gas mileage of a truck it I only realistically needed it a few times a year.

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That is ALWAYS the thing people look over and I agree any 1/2 ton or under isn't really setup to pull a car on a loaded trailer. Will it do it? Sure safely though that's a whole other ballgame. Regardless if its three or four times a year then I'd still want to do it the correct and safe way. If you are only going to tow a few times a year why not rent a truck or borrow a friends? I wouldn't want the everyday driver and gas mileage of a truck it I only realistically needed it a few times a year.

 

I also need the bed. Hauling gutters in the Maxima was not ideal.

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