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Topic ClosedNew Podders deciding btwn tow vehicles

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ToolmanJohn View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: New Podders deciding btwn tow vehicles
    Posted: 24 Dec 2016 at 12:12pm
It's been said/noted before on fuel economy:

Towing MPG will be about 1/2 of normal non-towing MPG. It's almost always the wind resistance at speeds over 50 mph that cause the plummet in fuel economy. Nothing that can be done about it. Just live with it.

 If towing infrequently or shorter distances, gas is probably the way to go.  If planning cross country trekking long distances, then maybe diesel will provide lower towing fuel costs and better all-around towing experiences.
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mcarter View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2016 at 5:24pm
Check out the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon for those of you like me who want a mid size and US made. Towing capacity is more than adequate for RPods and larger TTs. Many options.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Dec 2016 at 4:17pm
I to am in search of a tv. It will be my daily driver 1st so empty weight gas mileage and reliability are paramount to me. Luckily the field is flooded with combinations of these. These are the top contenders in my book. If I where strictly thinking towing I'd probably look a a full size 1/2 ton. Again there're many great options. 

I use this YouTube channel "TFL truck" and consumer reports as my favorite research sites. They don't test many midsize SUVs, at least not for towing. They test many off-road.

Ford eco boost F-150 http://youtu.be/-mT_2iWib-c

The eco boost has many videos on TFL-truck. The diesel Colorado, at this point, is out of my budget. I've tried to list them I order of price. Of course the options packages can wildly swing this. 
I hope this helps
Patrick

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jato View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Dec 2016 at 5:19pm
Since purchasing our 177 back in March of 2011 we used our 2008 Ford Explorer with a 4.0L V-6 with 230 HP and worked quite well for us although it was working when we would travel through the Rockies, nevertheless we would get 12 mpg with it.  This spring we upgraded to a 2013 Explorer with 3.5L V-6 and 290 HP.  This definitely has more power and the towing mpg has increased to 13, it works for us.  This is our run about vehicle so we use it mainly for town runs and then for towing when vacationing.  Our only other vehicle is a 94 F-150 with 309,000 miles, stick shift 5.0 V-8 with 31 deer kills, body is rough but is a good wood hauler/work vehicle.
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Leo B View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Dec 2016 at 5:53pm
31 deer, that's impressive!!
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mjlrpod View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Dec 2016 at 8:52pm
Not sure what vehicle you all ended up with "ourjourneys" but for me, i'm going down to sign papers on a 2015 nissan frontier tomorrow as long as they dont screw with me on my trade in. Really hard to find all the info on towing package on nissan frontier. All they know is it can tow 6100 pounds (some say 6500) they have no idea of tranny coolers, or 130 amp alternators. It took me days to find the info, and the dealer cant even find it. I'm fairly certain it has all the same tow package as the tacoma. if anyone knows different, please do tell
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john in idaho View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Dec 2016 at 10:17am
Go ask the service manager about the contents of the tow package.  He also will have access to service bulletins.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Dec 2016 at 10:40am
Ditto. If they can't provide the information, then I wouldn't buy from them. They should know their product.
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StephenH View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Dec 2016 at 10:44am
Now that I have had the chance to do a major tow of our EscaPOD, (South Jordan, Utah to Gilbert, Arizona) with the 2010 Nissan Frontier LE with 4wd, I can comment on how it tows. Overall, I am quite pleased. I don't think I had the hitch adjusted quite right, so I readjusted it in preparation for the next leg of our trip.

As I suspected, even though it has a larger engine than the one in our Escape (4L V6 vs. 2L turbocharged I4), it struggled more in the mountains. The Ecoboost is a marvelous feature as it maintained power in the mountains. I could tell that the naturally aspirated V6 lost power as we gained in altitude. At 6,000+ feet, there was a definite drop-off in power. Trying to maintain 60-65 mph on some of the climbs was not going to happen, even though the transmission downshifted into 2nd gear several times. In spite of this, I am still pleased with the Frontier. It is much less expensive to use 87 Octane regular instead of having to use premium. We are getting about 11 mpg. The Frontier we have is only rated 19 mpg highway, so the half is about right. We got as low as about 9 mph with the Escape under similar conditions.

I still would like to get a Diesel engine tow vehicle some day. I could have purchased an older F250 for about the same price from a private individual, but it had some problems, so we went with the Frontier from Carmax. So far, it has worked out okay. I think you will be okay with the 2015 Frontier.

One excellent thing is that you can get the wiring harness to plug in a brake controller. The Bargman connector is there and all it takes is a short wiring harness to plug the connector into the pre-wired connector above the gas pedal under the dash. It only took a few minutes to get the Hopkins InSIGHT controller installed instead of the hours it took with the Escape. My wife likes the seating in the Frontier. She says it is better than that of the Escape. She likes sitting up a bit higher.
StephenH
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mjlrpod View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Dec 2016 at 2:32pm
Stephen
can you tell me what your vehicle has for towing? Does it have a tranny cooler? 130 amp alt? Do you know how to tell?

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2020 R-pod 195
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