Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

[BRICH1260]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

Keep either the Exp or truck to tow the boat. Buy a smaller commuter car for you and something for wife.

 

[Mike Zee]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

You know you guys are the best. I really don't have many choices. I forgot to mention I have 3 growing boys. My house is always a work in progress. I don't like the Expedition because of the room, as a work vehicle. As I make my hour ride to work and home again the space just seems huge. 3 boys in back with the boat hooked on it seems perfect. I have had no problems with the Expedition. Here's my short list, newer super crew F150, 4.6 with a lower gear ratio than the 3.55 I have now. I thought of the van, maybe one of them 4x4 conversion. But man that would be like driving a cave down the road! I'm also liking the Avalanche, may have to go search one out and look it over.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

Mike, I know exactly where you're coming from. Until a couple years ago I'd had nothing but pickups my entire driving life. My first vehicle in high school was a 68 Chevy. After a succession of Z71s I finally got fed up with constant quality issues with my last one and jumped ship. I figured I might as well go all in and got an Expedition so we could carry a second family with us when we towed the boat. I've been very happy with the truck, but my drive in to work is an easy eight miles or so, so the fifteen MPG average doesn't hurt me too badly. It has been a bit of an adjustment at times to not have a pickup bed, but there are also advantages, such as secure and dry cargo. On the other hand, as you've said there's so much room back there that sometimes said secure and dry cargo can stay there for weeks at a time.

 

[jkust]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

You are in a tough spot here given your commute. I can tell you that a close relative has a new Eco Boost Ford f150 and the mileage is still awful. They are really big trucks. Since you need a v8, you just aren't going to get any respectable mileage and maintain the ability to tow that much weight. I agree with the idea of a cheap 4 cylinder commuter and keeping the Expy. Both of my small suv's have the 5.3 liter with displacement on demand and tow only 6700lbs but even as small as they are only get about 17.5mpg's with about 85% highway driving.

 

[Mike Zee]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

Mike, I know exactly where you're coming from. Until a couple years ago I'd had nothing but pickups my entire driving life. My first vehicle in high school was a 68 Chevy. After a succession of Z71s I finally got fed up with constant quality issues with my last one and jumped ship. I figured I might as well go all in and got an Expedition so we could carry a second family with us when we towed the boat. I've been very happy with the truck, but my drive in to work is an easy eight miles or so, so the fifteen MPG average doesn't hurt me too badly. It has been a bit of an adjustment at times to not have a pickup bed, but there are also advantages, such as secure and dry cargo. On the other hand, as you've said there's so much room back there that sometimes said secure and dry cargo can stay there for weeks at a time.

My wife's commute is only 1 mile, so I never cared about mpg's on it. It is a great vehicle, she's a little tired of the size thing. I need to talk her into keeping it, and go get myself a smallish car!

 

[hungupthespikes]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

My wife's commute is only 1 mile, so I never cared about mpg's on it. It is a great vehicle, she's a little tired of the size thing. I need to talk her into keeping it, and go get myself a smallish car!

Smallish car that SHE LIKES and you can tolerate. The gas saving alone could make the payment and she will have a fun car for the weekends.

 

[Silver Eagle]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

Before I retired I always had a small good on gas car. Like the chevy Chevette. or an Opel station wagon. I had to drive 12 miles each way to work. My wife drove the bigger car to work always big. Like a Crown Victoria,or a Buick. I retired the first time in 1998,I had a 21 ft.Bow rider and a 95 Ford Bronco with a 5.0 4x4 . Today I have a couple of PT Cruisers and a v6 Buick and a Dodge ram Quad cab 4x4 ThunderRoad with a Hemi. I use the Truck to pull the boat or if the snow is to deep . My wife is retired now so if she wants to drive we go in her Buick. It get 28 local and 33 on the highway. Most of the time I drive the 06 PT Convertible. The other PT is our show car and it only is on the road for car shows or parades. So I guess you need a commuter style Like a Honda, And she needs a family style car and you need a big truck that you only use to tow the boat with. It doesn't have to be new. With the price of gas going up this spring Traveling with the boat may get a little expensive.The Pittsburgh are is a little hilly so get something with guts.

 

[jkust]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

My wife's commute is only 1 mile, so I never cared about mpg's on it. It is a great vehicle, she's a little tired of the size thing. I need to talk her into keeping it, and go get myself a smallish car!

I'm with you here, as we both have 5.3 liter v8's in our cars. My wife's office is built onto the house and so she has no commute but mine is around 50 mi total of mostly highway. She can go over a month without getting gas in hers but I need a weekly fill up unfortunatly. Last year we only had the one truck, and it was literally in the shop having warranty work performed the entire summer and so the boat sat 99% of the summer and when I needed a new car, I decided that a summer without boating is never going to happen again. I am therefor living with an suv as a daily driver. If my wife had to commute and we had to pay for her gas also, I wouldn't have likely sprung for a second suv.

 

[Mike Zee]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

I like Sylvan's idea. You know the Expedition does the job well and it isn't another pickup. BTW, Is it 4WD?

Yes it's a 4wd. It's just so big when I'm tooling around by myself. It's kind of weird because my truck seems ok? The mpg's do suck but I boat so what's mpg's! I think I may be getting old (46) I just don't care about having a big old truck anymore. But I do like my boats so........

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

You know what kind of mileage a 496 8.1L avalanche gets? 9-12MPG tops! Not my choice for an 80mi round trip commute....

actually 12-14 is what I got in an 8.1 powered crew cab shortbed with 35" tires.... BUT the avalanches are available with other engines too.... the point is that it IS an option for any boat up to nearly dually territory.

the boat he has would be fine with a 1/2 ton and a 5.3

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

actually 12-14 is what I got in an 8.1 powered crew cab shortbed with 35" tires.... BUT the avalanches are available with other engines too.... the point is that it IS an option for any boat up to nearly dually territory.

the boat he has would be fine with a 1/2 ton and a 5.3

That's my setup. 03' Avalanche 5.3 w/3:73 gears, my boat/trailer 6200 lbs. 15 in town, 19-21 highway. Mine's a North Face 4x4, very comfy. And I PREFER the cladding on Avalanches. So there!

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

lol, honestly I don't mind the cladding, it's the 03-07 "cats eye headlights" that bug me. The unclad versions have round rear wheelwells that match the 99-02 front sheet metal.

how does that 5.3 do with that boat?

 

[Fishing Dude too]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

Trade the PU and see about getting 2 fuel efficiant cars, depending on make might be suprised what the cost of the second car might cost. Then use the Expedition for pulling boat, and when the family needs to all go, tell your insurance agent about the change in use and the cost of insurance will be reasonable.

 

[buildmark]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

I know it's a truck but the new ford f-150 eco boost V6 twin turbo mileage is rated 16 city 22 hwy and has towing capacity of 11,300 lbs.

 

[Mike Zee]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

I know it's a truck but the new ford f-150 eco boost V6 twin turbo mileage is rated 16 city 22 hwy and has towing capacity of 11,300 lbs.

You know what I don't get, the fact that my 10 year old truck gets the same or better mpg's. I mean I'd be in at 22 city and 29 hwy. With twin turbo, v6, much testing, a lot more technology, same mpg as a high mileage 10 year old F150? I want better for my $$$. Not a more round about way to get more of the same. My 86 F150 4x4 with 33's(back in the day) got 20 mpg all day long, with the 300 6 cyl. I just think I am so done with--new trucks.

 

[Jim311]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

I would rather have a 390 horse Ram 1500 that gets similar mileage and has less turbo related crap to fail myself.




Here is my two cents on owning a second vehicle. I have had a truck for years and a daily drive car. I'm considering selling both and just daily driving a truck. You have to factor in the insurance, maintenance costs, extra registration, etc of a new car. It simply isn't worth it to have two vehicles from an exclusively financial standpoint. For me, insurance on my beater second truck is 50 bucks extra a month. Registration runs me 150-200 a year. Then any extra maintenance such as oil changes, repairs, inspections, etc. For the extra time and money, you really need to be burning a good bit of gas to justify the existence of a secondary vehicle. Otherwise I'm pretty convinced it's best to just have one car. If my second vehicle weren't exclusively for the utility and fun of it, I'd have sold it years ago. It's not worth anything to anybody but me, so I keep it. Can't bear to part with the ole Jeep

 

[lncoop]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

You know what I don't get, the fact that my 10 year old truck gets the same or better mpg's. I mean I'd be in at 22 city and 29 hwy. With twin turbo, v6, much testing, a lot more technology, same mpg as a high mileage 10 year old F150? I want better for my $$$. Not a more round about way to get more of the same. My 86 F150 4x4 with 33's(back in the day) got 20 mpg all day long, with the 300 6 cyl. I just think I am so done with--new trucks.

I had an '87 F150 with the 300 6. Those were great engines. I didn't get anywhere near 20 MPG, but that might have had something to do with the driver.

 

[Jim311]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

You know what I don't get, the fact that my 10 year old truck gets the same or better mpg's. I mean I'd be in at 22 city and 29 hwy. With twin turbo, v6, much testing, a lot more technology, same mpg as a high mileage 10 year old F150? I want better for my $$$. Not a more round about way to get more of the same. My 86 F150 4x4 with 33's(back in the day) got 20 mpg all day long, with the 300 6 cyl. I just think I am so done with--new trucks.

What as the towing capacity on an 86 six cylinder V6 pickup? How much horsepower was it making? I'm betting neither of those numbers are anywhere close to what they are in the 2012 F150.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

keep in mind also that in the 80's and 90's we has 100% gas and now we have 90% gas plus 10% alchohol..... my old 88 chevy suburban got 17-18 hwy mpg then but the same truck would get 14 now.

 

[Mike Zee]

Re: Alternative Tow Vehicles, any thought's?

I had an '87 F150 with the 300 6. Those were great engines. I didn't get anywhere near 20 MPG, but that might have had something to do with the driver.

It had 3.08 gears in it! With the 33's you had to start out in granny gear. Big tires must have acted like it had a double overdrive. I even pulled my little 15'er around with it. That was about max towing with that set up!