Hey yall I am looking into getting a small teardrop camper, but I currently drive a 2002 Chevy tracker, which only has a 1500 tow capacity. I also own a 2013 town & country, but am looking to replace it with something cinema hd smaller. Any good, preferably smaller vehicles with towing capacity around 3000lbs? Or is there any way to increase the towing ability of a vehicle? (Sorry if rhats a dumb question.. i dont know much about cars past standard maintenance) I have had my eye on the Nissan Xterra, but wanted to see if there was anything else I should look at.
Boats & Motors
Smaller vehicle with good towing capabilities
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jbird68,
We have a 2016 AWD Chevy Traverse (same 3.6L V6 and similar frame as an Acadia) that has the FACTORY trailering package. It is rated to tow like 5200#. The FACTORY trailering package is a big deal because of the auxiliary transmission/oil cooler that they add. Those that run into issues with those vehicles are generally those that take one that doesn't have the factory trailering package to UHaul or Farm & Fleet and have them slap a $400 trailer hitch on it and then tow their boat, camper, etc. with it and overheat/roach the tranny. I don't know if I would tow 5000# with ours due to the fact that the vehicle itself doesn't weigh that and we don't have trailer breaks, but I have towed my 16.5' Princecraft Pro 169 with a 90HP Johnson with it and it tows just fine, even in the hills of SW Wisconsin. I have even towed my brother-in-law's 18.5' Crestliner / 175HP Evinrude about 15 miles with it...again, it handled it fine, but pulling it out of the water may be a different story with a boat that big. I was towing it from my house to my parents' house to store it for him. Again, your experiences may be different, but coming from someone that used to work at a GM dealership and still has friends that do, some of which are technicians...if you maintain your vehicle and use it as it was designed (ie only towing with one set up at the factory for it), then you shouldn't have much issue with towing a moderate load. We bought ours for hauling the kids, but in the event we wanted to take the boat camping, we can tow the camper with my truck and the boat with the Traverse...Again, YMMV...
Following up on my post about mileage pulling my boat with the highlander. It was as expected...I average about 18.5 MPG on an 1100 mile trip. this was doing the speed limit about 95% of the time which was 65-70 . When I did go slower, I could see that the mileage would get over 20MPG, but the big thing was that I had no issue doing uphill grades. the larger V6 engine just kept on going.
I have had my 2006 Dodge Durango with 4.7L V8 since 2007. It pulls my Alumacraft Navigator 165Cs with 90 HP just fine. A couple years ago we bought a 2012 GMC Acadia with a V6 and I have thought about towing with it that. But twice a year I pull the boat from Illinois to Northern Wisconsin. There are some hills along the way where the Durango will shift down to get us up the hill. Based on this I don't think I would pull my boat with anything less than my V8. Plus I am sure the transmission, brakes and suspension is adequate enough to stop us, trailer and all. Now, I've been looking for a newer SUV since my Durango now has 177,000 and is looking a quite rusty. I call her "Trusty-Rusty". But she is solid and been paid off for quite a few years. I'd rather pay for the maintenance upkeep once in a while rather than have a monthly payment.
Now with the GMC Acadia, my mechanic has told me stories about them where I don't feel it was the best vehicle for us to buy for the long run. Mainly transmission issues and how that is a very expensive repair. So, I choose not to put any extra stress on the tranny by towing my boat. Plus, I just had to put $3,000 into it to get the AC fixed. (Wife has to have cold AC for the summer months)
Back in Jan. 2020, I ordered my Lund 1650 Angler fishing boat. At that time I had a 2015 Subaru Forestor with the 4 cylinder engine, rated for 1500# towing capacity. That truck would definitely pull the boat, but if you were going on any uphill grades, you could tell that you had the boat on the back end. Pulling the boat, my mileage would be about 15 to 16 MPG, not real great, when you consider that I would average about 27 without the boat.
Fast forward to March of 2022, bought a 2022 Toyota Highlander with the 6 cylinder, 295 HP engine. Now, I don't even know I have a boat behind me, mileage so far, no long trips yet with the boat on is about 20MPG.
I will report back in mid July with mileage for a 500 mile one way trip to northern Minnesota and back, should be interesting.
Gather, I was asking because my wife had a 2012. They had engine problems that year and the previous couple with rings going and timing chain issues. I believe they've fixed the issue.
I will always be leary of towing with a smaller engine, also pulling is different than stopping which has been mentioned on this thread before. Hope all works out well and good fishin.
I've owned a Jeep Cherokee (not Grand Cherokee, the larger one) for 5 years now. 3.6 Liter V6 in it, it tows my boat no problem. 25 MPG average in the summer (highway), about 20 in the winter and I get around 20 towing my boat. Combined City/Highway it's about 22 MPG. Before the Cherokee I owned a Durango which had the same engine in it but had a much larger body and a towing suspension in it. I liked driving the Durango way more but my wife didn't like it at all. Even in the winter, the All wheel drive, which the Durango had vs Four Wheel Drive, which the Jeep has. I felt I had better traction (way better) in the Durango vs the Jeep. Could've been more weight related, but either way my next vehicle I'll be looking for a larger vehicle, whether that be an SUV similar to the Durango or getting a truck. Far as size of the smaller trucks, I did not like how I fit in them. Those consoles make the seating space feel pretty small in them. Plus I'm only 6' tall but when I drove the Tacoma my head was touching the ceiling!
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