Uhaul rents brand new standard cab long bed F150's for cheap. They tow great. They lease them for a year and replace them annually.

 

For getting started in towing, I had a Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD first. It pulled our ~5500lb load great with the weight dist hitch and a good load setup. Had great room and just made driving to events so much more enjoyable.

Then we got the Touareg TDI and pulled with that for a couple years and it was pretty much the same experience but nicer vehicle and 20mpg towing vs the 18 I got with the Jeep.

We had the RV for 17k miles but needed something bigger so sold it earlier this year but will absolutely replace it soon. It got 8mpg... And worth every gallon!

Now I have the F150 3.5EB, first trip pulling with it was just fine. The small diesels we're pretty much just as good except the rear has a little worse control in the truck with the same setup as the SUVs. Just a function of leaf spring sway and not sway bars probably. But overall it was still pretty easy. With the open trailer on the first trip we did 14.5mpg. But the truck definitely has more overhead, especially with a few mods specific to towing big loads where the SUVs were pretty much you get what you get.

So I would definitely pick for an Open trailer, RV > Touareg > F150 > Jeep. I only put jeep last cause its old and the F150 is nicer. But make that an enclosed trailer and F150 jumps to the top unless we're upgrading the RV in that model.

 

thanks for the input Dallas

minor update - I'm now looking at '11+ Toyota Sequoias (second gen). They are not too bad $-wise with very high mileage, and are massive. They have the Tundra's tow hitch, and the platinums came with air-ride leveling rear suspension. should be a pretty solid tow rig, a lot of improvements over the 1st gen in that regard. Hopefully this beast can control sway a bit better, and I will still look into the weight-balancing anti-sway receivers as well

 

That gen sequoia has a 122" wheel base. With air leveling suspension you'll be good to go.

 

Do those gen Sequoias have the same frame rusting problem as the Tundras? I'd look into it if you live in an area that gets snow, or at least inspect the frame very carefully on any truck you consider. I walked away from more than 1 Tundra for that reason and ultimately got a Suburban instead.

 

Which year range was that? Tacoma's too?

 

I'm not sure, but I was looking at the 5.7L Tundra at the time, so the generation that looks like the 2011 Sequoia. I don't know if Toyota solved the issue in later years or whether the newer cars just haven't been around long enough to rust through. I think the older Tacos were affected too. I don't think it's an issue on the newer ones, but not sure.

 

approval from sean, I'm blown away

hadn't read about the rust issues, I'll take a look

 

ha!

 

My new trailer should be ready soon and I'm shopping for a winch. Would a 2500 lb. winch be sufficient to load the Evo onto the trailer?

 

Probably want more in the event you have to drag something up. I have 4500lbs and haven't been let down.

 

No. The Evo weighs 3200lbs..

 

Gross Vehicle Weight x 1.5 = Minimum Rated Line Pull

3200 * 1.5 = 4800

Its not a dead hanging weight the winch can pick up that its rated for. Its taking into account the rolling load in that number. If you are planning to pull up an incline, that number goes up as well. You'll likely need 7500-10000lb winch.

 

Our 4800 Warn pulls her up just fine. It's when you're expecting the unexpected, such as it's not rolling on it's own and you have rigged some jack or wheel cart to get your wrecked ride on the trailer, that you'll wish for the 10k. However I'd also opt for syn rope over stranded wire.

 

My Ecoboost still holding its own. Just need a set of bags.